issues and challenges

Some of the main issues I’ve found in spoken word and slam poetry are authenticity, systematic marginalization of minorities, perpetuation of stereotypes and the lack of opportunity to pursue spoken word as a lucrative profession.

The battle to eradicate systematic inequality has been waging for generations. Throughout American history, movements have always failed to provide an equal ground for minorities. Even though laws have been put in place, custom and informal social controls have always trumped law. The Jazz poets brought a consciousness of humanity to the mainstream culture. They appreciated art for arts sake –but it wasn’t enough to promote change. The Negritude movement saw that power was being abused. It brought a political consciousness to the black community. The Beat generation provided self-awareness. The self is the core of humanity, and movements have to begin building within the self. The Black Arts Movement combined humanity, political and self-awareness –but they too failed. Hip-hop lacks the mature political views of previous generations, but it has the youth and innocence needed to fuel the fire of change. But it’s failing too. Hip-hop has become synonymous with materialism, misogyny and violence. The consumer capitalist culture, which began dominating in the 1950s, caused hip-hop to sell-out and abandon the fight for equality. Authenticity was traded for profit. Heart-felt rhymes were traded for gold chains. Spoken word has a new chance to succeed where other generations failed. Slam is public performance of the underground. It brings all other failures into the open and asks people to look inside them. Laws will not change society, but individuals coming together to form sustainable communities have the chance.

The performance aspect of spoken word brings a whole new group of issues to light. Since slam is performance-oriented, the poet must work for the audience, engage them, and captivate them. The poet is held accountable to the audience. Authenticity can easily be traded for fame, for money, for points. An ongoing problem is authenticity, or lack there of (selling out.) Since the 1950s and the rise of consumer capitalism, a growing middle class has given power to popular culture. Profit is considered the most important aspect of many pop-culture endeavors. The scopeophilic gaze focuses on white teenage males, because they have the largest disposable income. Once the motive for art becomes money, it is arguably no longer art, but only a product for consumption. Slam is often used as a springboard to get into the mainstream scene. Career advancement is important to many poets. But when it becomes a main goal, the system itself is being exploited. Slam is a commodification of the art form. Slam poetry created a product ready to be consumed. Some pros to this is a wedge into the world of academia and the mainstream culture. Slam poetry reaches a lot of different people and has the potential to influence them.
An example form JeFF:

"I ironically see hope if slam loosens up and incorporates more spoken word. Now that we've got some superstar poets who can tour and say anything without having to worry about pleasing the audience, we might get somewhere. Despite the theoretical ability of any poet to speak his or her mind at a slam, there is an implicit censorship. Tyranny of the majority, if you will. Beau Sia, on the other hand, can post something to YouTube and get Rosie O'Donnell to apologize for an insensitive remark, something the faceless thousands couldn't do."

A problem with slam is it provides only three minutes for a poet to explain an issue. These time constraints force poets to simplify their messages. While this can be beneficial, it can also be detrimental to the original message. When simplified versions of complex issues are presented, a lot of context must be left out. The idea has to be cropped down for time restraints and dressed up for consumption. Slam also is meant to appeal to the largest number of people, so it becomes more of a median than a self-expression. A lot like our two-party political system, outlying opinions have to be shaved off, leaving only the most popular platforms. This causes a lack of diversity –in our political arena as well as in slam.
Slam limits expression in another way as well. The desire for authenticity drives many poets to present only themselves and their own experiences. When a poet tries to explore other cultures they are considered posers. There are not many men writing about women experiences or blacks writing about Chines culture –unless the topic is conflict. Unable to explore, the poet is limited again to produce a product that looks more and more like everything else available.
A growing problem with the National Poetry Slam is that superstars are being created. People are taking the points seriously and are building a system that parallels rather than counters the traditional poetry system in the US. The issue of authenticity arises again.

JeFF says:

“Slam provides an outlet for voices that have been marginalized, but it also gives the opportunity to perpetuate stereotypes. It's hard to get out of cultural assumptions when you can actually see a person. The best scoring team piece in the history of the National Poetry Slam finals was Super Hero by GNO, Jason Carney, (a different poem from Jason) and Jason Edwards. It's about how "I wanted to be a black/redneck/gay superhero" and the associated powers of that person. Guess what? The black guy is the black superhero, the gay guy is the gay superhero, and the white guy with a twang is the redneck superhero."

"I'm particularly afraid of this phenomenon because of what it means to emerging nonwhite slam poets. You go back ten years or so, and you see Patricia Smith and Saul Williams doing a lot of play, a lot of exploration of language, of culture. And frankly, they were some of the best actual poets at the time period. Today, I see the most exploration of language coming from a handful of white poets with a university background. I see a whole lot of "I'm black so this going to be about the ghetto in cliched language" poetry, a lot of "I'm Chicano but can't afford to speak too much Spanish so I'll include a few words you can easily translate in context," still not much Chinese or Korean or Japanese except to insist that these are not the same you ignorant American. Now, are the white poets in a cultural bind, too? Certainly. They're not exploring, perhaps for fear of accidentally appropriating, but the culture to which they're being restricted remains dominant in the US."

Another interesting point JeFF brought up:

"Since slam is guided by the audience's wants, it flourishes better in times of peace. When the stakes are really high, like during a war, we demand that the messages are made simpler, easier to understand and rally behind (regardless of which side we support). Before 9/11 there was a great deal more innovation in slam, exploring the boundaries of what could be done. After, and especially after Iraq, it's more about shoring up the boundaries.”

Women also have a hard role to fill in spoken word. They must tackle the multiplicity of being a woman, while still remaining attractive to audiences. Women must balance their inner slut with their motherly instincts. Sexuality and identity are often topics discussed by women poets. Since males dominate spoken word, women may have a hard time feeling comfortable enough to really express themselves. So alternative venues have been created for women. Poet Jessica Lopez of Albuquerque says these alternative venues are not trying to provide equality, not about counting numbers. Instead, its about providing a place where women feel safe enough to speak and celebrate themselves.

Here is a little from Leanetta Avery, who helped found and host Mic Check. Avery has also performed at Revolution Café’s Javashock and Speak or Be Spoken 4. She now lives in Dallas.
Avery said one big problem with spoken word is the systematic under-representation of women.

“There is a lot of sex poetry from straight women. I rarely run into any straight women in spoken word venues. So I would say that perspective is under represented, and at times poorly.”

Avery is also aware of the complications that can arise in a space of completely free speech.

“There are no rules so anything goes. Once a white male poet got up and gave a poem that was quite, um, well borderline unacceptable for free speech about his girlfriend who had been abused and raped not putting out. One can only reply with words, not tell him his feelings are wrong. So you can see how the no rules thing can cause problems.”

Avery said the strength of spoken word lies in voices, especially voices that would otherwise go unheard. Spoken word opens venues for people to express themselves who would not necessarily have the option in academia or other mediums.

“Spoken word is so subtle you could almost miss it. What is the opposite? Unspoken.”