Laura “Piece” Kelley-Jahn wowed the crowd last night with her spoken word, slam, hip-hop, and free style rap. As I type this, she is hard at work with a small group of GHAers on a rap for their original album. (This project will be used as a GHA fundraiser for Invisible Children—more information to come soon).
I first became aware of slam poetry through one of my college students. I immediately fell in love with the form and have been listening to and watching performances for a little over a year. There are a few rules associated with slam poetry. First, slam poetry is performance poetry. Second, the poem cannot be accompanied by music. Third, the performance cannot be more than three minutes in length. If one is hoping to compete in a slam competition, the poem must be memorized. Slam grew out of the hip-hop culture that emerged during and after the Civil Rights Movement. Most slam is concerned with social and political themes. The goal of slam is to make the audience think. Oh, and the performer wants immediate audience reaction.—laughs, claps, hoots, and hollers are welcome!
Heather Taylor and her classes took pictures with "Piece" after the performance.
Piece has been writing poetry and performing her work publicly since the beginning of Seattle's slam poetry movement. In 2000 and 2001 she earned a place on the Seattle Poetry Slam Team to compete in the National Poetry Slam competition, and she was crowned the Seattle Grand Slam Champion for 2004-2005. Her unique delivery and lyrical content is integrated with vintage soul and Hip Hop to create a vehicle for social change. She has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and the documentary Underground Poets Railroad. In 2004 she released her self-titled debut album. She is currently working with Brave New Voices and has a new album coming out soon.
Piece’s day began with an early breakfast with the faculty and staff. She then spent the rest of the day in my classes, [title of course] and Modern Crossroads, working through different writing exercises and poems. After some rest at the Gresham Inn, Piece delivered her performance in Wailes Theater. The students and faculty had thoughtful questions and were able to get pictures and autographs after the show.
I hope that the students walked away with a new understanding of performing and poetry. I know that Laura “Piece” leaves GHA and Bethany with nothing but good things to say.
--Heather Taylor
