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A VASJ poet speaks her truth
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April 10, 2018Poetry is a wonderful way to express personal feelings on topics through the use of clever words and a structured body. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fully share those feelings to a group of fellow poets? One of our Vikings knows that feeling firsthand.
VASJ senior Hailey Barnett took part in a competition known as One Mic Open at the Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern. One Mic Open is a grassroots youth literary arts program which is geared to bridge the gap between adults and youth by creating a safe space for all to share their works in a series of poetry slams and open mics.
“I heard about this competition through the Twelve Literary Art One Mic Open Fellowship,” says Hailey. “I am a part of the program and was chosen, along with several other high school students who have a passion for poetry, to meet twice a week and grow more conscious in the literary arts.”
A poetry slam is a competition for poets to share their original work with others. The goal of the slam series is to form a 4-6 person team to compete in an international competition known as Brave New Voices. One Mic Open seeks to provide a platform for artists both young and old and allow them to share their message in hopes of building the community around us.
“I am so blessed to have been chosen and given the opportunity to share my love for the arts with other ambitious and amazing youth!”
The piece Hailey performed was titled, “I Am, We Are.” The poem was centered around the perspective of an abandoned house, a perspective that was given to her as a prompt from the Twelve Literary Art One Mic Open Fellowship program.
“I was extremely nervous to perform,” says Hailey. “Questions constantly ran through my head like, ‘what if I forget the words? What if people don’t fully understand the poem? What if I don’t do well?’ Eventually, I went up and performed my piece. I did mess up one line, however, I ended up being in second place and moved on through the competition to the finals.”
Although Hailey did not advance past the finals, she was invited to be a part of an ensemble known as Six of Twelve. This is a group of six members of the Twelve Literary Art One Mic Open Fellowship who perform at venues with a storyline based off of the novel Evicted by Matthew Desmond.
“I was very surprised when I was asked to be a part of the group,” says Hailey. “I was surprised because I was surrounded by so many creative and outstanding poets, including Raja Freeman who was last year’s international slam poet champ.”
The VASJ community is extremely proud of Hailey Barnett for her amazing achievements in the literary world.
Khalid Mitcham is a junior at VASJ. In addition to being a member of PR Club, Khalid is also involved in Drama Club, LIFE (Living in Faith Experience), and Science Olympiad. In his free time, he enjoys photography and writing poetry. After graduation, he plans on attending college and majoring in journalism.
