Nowadays, conversations often do not contain more than simple, scattered text messages riddled with emojis. The interpersonal connections many take for granted have begun withering away rapidly.
Daniel DeLeon, A&S ’15, and Haley Kerr, A&S ’17, co-presidents of BC Slam!—Boston College’s student organization for the development and performance of spoken-word poetry—recognized this trend and decided to embark on a journey, along with the other initial members, to create a space dedicated to the expansion and proliferation of slam poetry.
The art of spoken-word poetry dates back several centuries, where the Greeks embedded it as an element in the ceremonies of the Olympic games.
Since those early performances, the art form underwent a meteoric rise to prominence beginning in the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes, was one of its first major proponents, and the style was also explored by Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I Have a Dream” speech before reaching its contemporary form.
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