Spitting: Slam Poetry at its Core

 What received laurel crowns in the ancient Greek Olympics, makes people cheer for it like a wrestling or football match, and is world-renowned? Slam Poetry of course! A poet named Bob Holman sums Slam up pretty well in a poem he calls Praise Poem for Slam: Why Slam Causes Pain and Is a Good Thing:

Because Slam is too much fun.

Because poetry.

Because rules.

Because poetry rules.

Because the poetry gets lost.

Because poetry is an endangered species Slam finds and revives.

Because you cannot reduce a poem to its numerological equivalent.

Because hey, its poetry in every day life every Sunday at 7:30 PM.

Because I can do that. (Sommers-Willett i)

This poem really touches the heart of slam poetry, which can be shown to an even greater extent when examining the founder, Marc Smith and the history of Slam, the poets and the coaches, and finally the amazing community and even more amazing audience.

Smith, also known as “the Slampapi,” is a subject that should always be brought up when Slam Poetry is mentioned, and with him, some of the history of slam as well. The Slampapi was a construction worker-turned poet who wanted more for the world of poetry. It all began when he started the open mic nights at the Get Me High Lounge in 1985 (Smith 2). By doing this, Smith brought poetry back from the dead, according to Susan B.A. Sommers-Willet, author of The Cultural Politics of Slam Poetry. Marc Smith talks about the beginning days at the Get Me High, “My initial goal was to increase the audience for poetry. In the early 1980’s even the most established poets in Chicago had little or no audience. From a handful of people at the Get Me High Lounge the Slam audience has grown to include tens of thousands across the world” (yaSalaam 1). The poets that came to perform at these open mic nights started calling themselves the Ill-Bred Poets of the Get Me High (Smith 10). This set off a world of Slam, Atlantic and Harper’s soon found a nontraditional audience for poetry in Chicago’s working class and bar rooms through Slam (Sommers-Willet 4). Kalamu yaSalaam, author of In Defense of SLAM! Nation, quotes Smith’s statement, “At the time, poets were scoffed at if they “performed” their poems. Critics said it cheapened poetry. Us Ill-Bred Poets of the Get Me High did not care. We began to attract more audience than our critics could” (1). Many of these Ill-Bred Poets of the Get Me High moved on to become the founding members of the Chicago Poetry Ensemble (Smith 9). Chicago Poetry Ensemble was held at the Green Mill Tavern, which Smith describes to Kalamu yaSalaam by saying that in the beginning it was not really a competition so much as a variety show that he directed and that the Chicago Poetry Ensemble performed (yaSalaam 1). The Chicago Poetry Ensemble included now-esteemed poets such as John Sheehan, Rob Van Tuyle, Anna Brown, Jean Howard, Ron Gilletle. Dave Cooper, Karen Nystrom, and Mike Barrett (Smith 9). Because of these poets, “Slam has given forum and microphone to more poets than any other audience for poets in the last 20 years, and its influence continues to grow” (Woods 1). All of this makes up an interesting history that Marc Smith has not only created, but lived for.

The history of Slam Poetry is not only interesting, but also integral in truly understanding the meaning of Slam. Even though Slam may be fairly new, and poetry had supposedly been dead as of August 1988 (Sommers-Willet 1), the spoken word tradition is as old as speech itself (Smith 21). There are many different examples: during the ancient Olympics, the Greeks would award laurel crowns to winning poets (11), Basho, a famous Japanese poet, made his living off of judging Haiku contests (11), “signifying” word battles have been held for hundreds of years, and are still being held, in Africa (11), even in books such as Don Quixote, poetry tournaments are mentioned (11). This human nature to express themselves in a spoken word manor is amazing to think about, especially in this day and age where the arts are looked on as so expendable. Once local and state-wide slams got going, the National Slams started. The very first slam, The Uptown Poetry Slam, began on July 20, 1986 at the Green Mill Jazz Club in Chicago (Smith 22). Then the first National Youth Poetry slam was held in San Francisco in 1996 (Gehring 1). There are now three annual National contests, all of which are presided over by a non-profit organization, properly named Poetry Slam, Inc., that oversees poetry slam and interests. It also registers slams all over the world, along with numerous slam publications, documentaries, and films (Woods 1). After what seems like really no time at all, Slam poetry is a world-wide sensation. Def Poetry Jam, a reality television show about slam poets, premiered on the cable channel HBO 6 years after the first National poetry slam, held in San Francisco. It featured lineups of the nations best adult performance poets. This act shot Slam poetry, and the poets who excel at it, into a near celebrity state (Gehring 1). There are now poetry slams on every continent, and in most countries (Woods 1). There are global Championships held in England, Germany, Israel, and Sweden (Glazner 12). The history of Slam Poetry is an intrinsic part of what Slam is today.

Slam Poetry would not be the international sensation that it is today on every single continent of the world, including Antarctica, without the poets, and without the coaches. Poets are what make up the poetry slams; they are the ones filling people with their words, using those words to stop violence, make a protest, stand tall, or just make you laugh. There is not any real ‘average’ slam poet, because these poets vary so much, but some basic ideas as to what it takes to be a Slam poet can be construed through further readings. In Jackie Wallace’s article, The New Voice of Democracy: How Poets, Not Politicians, Are Politicizing Ottawa Youth, Ingrid Joseph says, “I was going to become a diplomat, but I’m not diplomatic. So [sic] becoming an outspoken poet and a driving force behind the city’s Slam scene was the next best thing” (2). A lot of these “Slam” poets wear unique and distinctive clothes during performances, almost showing their identity, or displaying their own self-discovery (Davidson 3). As Diana Zwinak, slam poet and coach to the Indian Creek Creative Writing Club Slam Team, states, “They love writing, they’re imaginative, enthusiastic, and very creative. They’re willing to try anything” (Cross1). Some of these qualities are what lead teens to slamming, and according to Dimitridadis, author of Performing Identity/ Performing Culture: Hip-Hop as Text and Lived Practice, “Young people turn to hip-hop and slams as a kind of out-of-school curriculum. Schools are becoming so test-driven. A standardized curriculum doesn’t have much to do with their lives. This has opened a space where young people can create” (Gehring 1). Slam gets the students who have been drilled about iambic pentameter, form, and long-dead poets to whom they cannot seem to relate to get fully involved in the performance as well as the creative process of it (Smith 7). “The people who are put down, and are not heard, pick up a microphone” (Gehring 2). It is easy to see how truly amazing these poets are.

Although the poets are the whole show, what the public does not appreciate as much as it should are the coaches. These wonderful people with passion for poetry, passion for helping poets to refine their pieces, and passion for helping them to show the world what they are made of, are the real untold heroes in the background. As with any other coaching job, coaching slam poetry is not always easy, but it is usually incredibly rewarding. Zwinak mentions that working with the poets is, “Rewarding and aggravating all at the same time. When they’re on, they’re on! They’re working and focused and awesome . . . but when they’re tired, or worried about school or homework, or their priorities get in the way, it’s more difficult. What I try to do is really show them that this is serious” (Cross 1). Many coaches make many sacrifices for their Slam Teams. Coach Zwinak talks on some of her sacrifices, such as paying the entry fee, spending a fair amount of time as a non entity in her own house, and being at school more than home. She also talks about sacrificing her sleep as well as some of her sanity, but in the end it is more of a trade off because it is deeply rewarding and it does not feel like true sacrifices (1). These coaches, especially for inner city kids, are role models; it is these coaches that keep kids out of gangs as much as the slams do (Rodriguez 203). Smith, Slampapi and founder of Slam poetry, has written several books on Slam poetry, one being Take the Mic: The Art of Slam, Performance Poetry, and the Spoken Word. In this book are many valuable tips for coaches and poets in training for a slam. Though there were many incredibly useful tips, the three that were found to be the most useful are included here. The first and foremost tip would be to develop a rehearsal schedule and stick to it; rehearsal is the discovery of not only the individual, but also the group, the coach, and the pieces themselves (135). The second tip would be to have the poets run through everything, including volume, tempo, facial expressions, and everything in between. Make sure that there is variety in their movements to keep the audience on their toes (92). The final tip would be to make sure they warm up before every rehearsal and performance, practicing Laban’s four elements of movement: weight, time, space, and energy flow. They should also practice his eight efforts: pressing, floating, wringing, gliding, punching, dabbing, throwing, and slashing. These are the fundamentals of on-stage performance (111-117). Through the intense training and major effort on the coaches behalf, Slam Poetry has become something truly wonderful.

The final thing that desperately needs to be discussed is the community and the slam itself. The community this creates is amazing, when you put multiple angry teenagers in a room to bare their souls in front of an audience for a score, you do not expect those teens to root for one another, but that is exactly what they do. Without this wonderful community, slam poetry would not have quite the appeal that it has today. One of the best things that the community does is fight violence. Mary Rose O’Reilley states, “I teach English so people stop killing each other” (qtd. In Bruce and Davis 1). O’Reilley was talking about how by bringing Slam into English classes, teachers can bring life back into the textbooks and inspire some people to turn over new, less violent leaves. It has been found in much research that there is a relationship between having more opportunity for verbal expression and lower rates of aggression and delinquency (Bruce and Davis 2). In their article, Slam: Hip-hop Meets Poetry—A Strategy for Violence Intervention, Heather Bruce and Brian Dexter are quoted, “Opening up ways for Hip-hop literacies to travel into the English classroom in the form of poetry slams gives both our students and us spaces and opportunities to speak and to hear more commodious language; language that makes room for our students anecdotal, personal, and cultural reflections; language helps to create a world full of space and time that will hold our diversities” (9). Another aspect of the community is the wonderful friendships and almost family-like atmosphere Slam teams have together. Kalamu yaSalaam writes, “The united states has been enjoying a sort of poetry renaissance [sic]. Currently the poetry slam, an event where drunken audiences hoot down sensitive poems about dying grandmothers or inevitable divorces and bestow twenty-dollar prizes on scatological doggerel, is sweeping the nation (1). Though this statement seems overly pessimistic, it is somewhat correct. The community it creates gives people a place to go and helps them realize that they are not alone (Rodriguez 202-203). Even Zwinak considers the community of slam to be magical and creative (Cross 1). No one really cares who wins, or who “the best” is. It’s all about the opportunity and the experience, so the harshness and competitiveness of normal competitions is non-existent (Smith 11). Why poets slam is just as important as the slamming itself. Political poet Ingrid Joseph gets involved herself by writing political pieces:

. . . If you

Disagree with the things you see

Get involved with the politics of your country

It’s your future and we need leaders

Like devoted people not disbelievers. (Wallace 1)

Another way to get involved is to fight the media. One poet who goes by the name of Akapta writes political poetry accurately explaining the truth behind the stories that the media spoon-feeds the world about his heavily- publicized hometown (2). By fighting fire with fire, the whole world gets burned, but what happens when these amazing poets fight fire with words is a thirst-quenching experience.

The Slam itself is simple enough, but hard to truly grasp without actually going to a slam oneself. There are few rules, but the ones that do exist are fairly universal. The first rules concern: the necessity of an original work with a running time of three minutes or less. Also, costumes and/or props are rarely, if ever, allowed to be used. The scoring is fairly simple to follow, “The scores can range from 1, for a horrible poem, to 10 for an orgasmic poetic experience. The host drops the lowest and highest scores so the highest score a poet can receive is a 30” (Betts 1). At the beginning of most bouts, the Emcee will talk about Slam, the history, the idea, and often mentions Allan Wolf’s famous line, “The points are not the point, the point is the poetry (Glazner 11). The two very best parts of a Slam would have to be a toss up between the atmosphere and the actual performance itself. Smith describes it as, “a carnival, a pageant, an interactive classroom, a town hall meeting, a con game, a versified boxing match, and a churchlike revival that electrifies and animates the people listening to and watching it” (1). The awe-inspiring atmosphere really makes one think, and some “student slammers find the experience of writing and performing poetry, ‘life transforming’” (Bruce and Davis 7). The audience is really unique because of the fact that performance poetry was created just as much for the audience as for the poets (Smith 8), because of this, Slam poetry gives audiences a voice. They hoot and holler, protesting scores and applauding poems (Glazner 11). Oftentimes when a poet is given exceedingly low scores, the audience can clearly be heard shouting, “Listen to the poem!” Poetry has become accessible to a broader audience, including youth, which was the least accessible age group in previous years, and it is all thanks to Marc Smith and his Slam Poetry (Sommers-Willet 6). These rules keep the already intense atmosphere from going completely chaotic.

After finding out more about the amazing community and audience, the poets and the coaches, and when examining the founder, Marc Smith, as well as the history of Slam, it becomes much easier to see how much Bob Holman’s poem touches the heart of slam poetry. It is funny, because when people think of performance poetry, they do not think of roaring crowds, of the ancient Greek Olympics, or of being as world-renowned as it truly is. The real question is, now will they?

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Bruce, Heather E., and Davis, Bryan Dexter. "Slam: Hip-hop Meets Poetry—A Strategy for Violence Intervention." English Journal (2000): 119-27. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. <http://www.englishjournal.colostate.edu/Slam.pdf>.

Cross, Alexandria. "Interview With Diana Zwinak." Personal interview. 13 Apr. 2010.

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Makhijani, Pooja. “Slam: Performance Poetry Lives On.” Writing! Apr.-May 2005:8+. Student Resource Center Bronze. Web. 8 Mar. 2010. <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docld=A130-30852&source=gale&scrprod=SRCS&userGroupName=shab76934&version=1.0>.

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Wallace, Jackie. "The New Voice of Democracy: How Poets, Not Politicians, Are Politicizing Ottawa Youth." This Magazine July-Aug. 2004: 6. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A119072316&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=shab76934&version=1.0>.

Woods, Scott. "Poetry Slams: The Ultimate Democracy of Art: Slam Takes Poetry Out of Textbooks and Classrooms and onto the Streets, Where Anyone Can Create, Critique, and Connect with Living Words." World Literature Today 82.1 (2008): 16+. Student Resource Center - Bronze. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A173463938&source=gale&srcprod=SRCS&userGroupName=shab76934&version=1.0>.

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