My students in Palo Alto SLAM!

A few years ago, in the middle of a poetry unit, I showed my sophomore students Def Jam Poetry, an HBO show produced by Russell Simmons & hosted by Mos Def. This show consists of poets who "slam" on stage. Most of the poetry has a hip-hop, rhyming slant to it, but not necessarily. The poetry addresses issues from personal (love & loss poems) to political, and nearly all have a left-leaning viewpoint. Some of it has profanity, but I try to show the students PG-13 poems & skip through the ones laced with vitriolic obscenities.

Last year, two former students, inspired by Def Jam Poetry, decided to form the Paly Slam Poetry Club. Since then, they've organized at least 3 slam poetry events. I sponsored the club last year and went to one, and I was floored by the talent of the student poets who performed. The poetry varied in tone, style, and length. 45 students showed up to poetry slam in my classroom in June 2008. We moved stacked the desks near the walls & invited attendees to sit on the floor. Then we proceeded to turn out the lights. At first, the atmosphere was a little awkward, but as some students mustered up the guts to take the stage at the front of the class, more students came up to read for the first time. By the end of the slam session, we all felt cleansed & renewed - even though many did not read, they felt emotionally connected to the ones who had. For me, it was an eye-opening experience. Teenagers have a lot of say, and many have the eloquence to write it & the bravery to perform it in front of large groups of people.

One of the co-presidents of Paly's Slam Poetry Club just sent me a youtube link to one his performances at Gunn High School. The poet Shihan from Def Jam Poetry inspired him most to write. Here's a taste of Dan's poetry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAwRy4O_CII

Enjoy!