"Cuz He's Black" by Javon Johnson
History of Slam Poetry
- 1980s in Chicago by Marc Smith
- poets compete against each other --> attract customers to bar
- soon grew to other regions of US & world
Dr. Javon Johnson
Purpose/Form of Slam Poetry
- Winner National Poetry Slam Competition 2004 & 2005
- Received PhD in Performance Studies
- Teaches Communication at San Francisco University
- Performances judged by audience members --> poets must engage audience to win
- Therefore, two elements are critical to success: oratory skill, & literary content
- Not only engage audience thru performance, but by writing about contemporary issues that audience can identify with.
- More than winning a competition, slam poetry's goal is to engage audiences by speaking to the everyday.
Themes of his work
- Racial and gender identity & experience in the US
- How African American experience & poetry influence each other to create innovative forms of slam poetry
National Poetry Slam Competition 2013 semi-finals
Sean Bell, Abner Louima, Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, & Rodney King were all attacked and/ or murdered between 1991 and 2012 by the police.
All were physically assaulted.
At least one was sexually assaulted.
All were black.
At the time Johnson recited this poem in 2013, the Trayvon Martin case was still in progress, and Trayvon's death was definitely still fresh in his mind and the minds of his audience.
Javon Johnson brings these 6 men up in his slam poem. By doing so, he:
- reminds the audience of the recurring problem of police brutality against black men,
- points to these men's fate as the reason he and his nephew are so suspicious of police.
Great performance b/c expressions/emotions shift as the feeling in his poem changes:
- happy outing w/ nephew --> laughs & smiles
- nephew's fear of police --> shouts & angry
- realizing nephew's fear is not unfounded --> cries & deeply saddened
--> Draws audience into emotion of situation Johnson describes; makes us feel we're experiencing it w/ him & his nephew
- When his nephew sees police car and says they "gotta hide," Johnson is angered that he has learned to fear the police at 4 years old.
- He tells his nephew there's nothing to be afraid of, but then confesses to the audience: "I wonder if he can hear the uncertainty in my voice. Is today the day he learns that Uncle is willing to lie to him? . . . We both know the truth is far more complex than 'Do not hide.'"
- This is effective b/c shows his insecurity with interacting with police officers as an innocent black man.
- Unlike his nephew, he remembers how policemen . . . Rodney King, how police officers . . . Abner Louima, how the police . . . Sean Bell.
- Describes internal struggle btw knowing he has the right to be w/o fear b/c he is not a criminal and knowing that frequently black men are maimed and killed for being nothing but black.
- This is effective b/c masterfully conveys this duality to audience members and pulls them into the story of his poem.
Discussion
Why did I choose this rant & why does it matter?
- What part of the poem most impacted you? Was it a certain phrase Johnson used? An aspect of his performance? A topic he brought up? A character in the poem?
- Well written & well performed
- More importantly, it addresses a major problem in the US that many, including myself, often forget = excessive police violence against black men
- Moreover, Johnson shows two real black males grappling with this reality & how it affects them personally
- A slam poet is highly dependent upon their audience for their score in the competition; therefore, the content of the poems often reflect the audience's composition and/or contemporary issues. Although in the video I showed you cannot see the audience, what do you imagine the audience was like, based on Johnson's poem?
Works Cited
Burrows, Alyssa. "Slam Poetry: A Brief History from
Chicago to Seattle." History Link.org. 16 July, 2001.
Web. 19 March, 2014.
Chan, Sewell. "The Abner Louima Case, 10 Years Later."
The New York Times. 9 Aug, 2007. Web. 20 March, 2014.
"Sean Bell." The New York Times. 1 Dec, 2011. Web. 20
March, 2014.
Taylor, Marisa. "Rodney King Case Changed Perceptions
of Police Brutality." ABC News. 17 June, 2012. Web. 20
March, 2014.
Wiesenhofer, Rebekah J. "Slam Poetry and the Poetry
Slam: A Research Guide." School of Library and
Information Science, Indiana University Bloomington.
Web. 19 March, 2014.