ASI Productions hosts poetry and spoken word open-mic on diversity, identity, social justice and heritage

Daily Titan

Students and faculty read poetry and performed spoken word to share stories of identity, diversity, social justice and heritage in the Titan Student Union Pub Wednesday.
Associated Students Inc. Productions (ASIP) hosted the open-mic event, Poetic Vibes and United Roots in collaboration with the Diversity Initiative & Resource Center (DIRC). A total of 15 people performed.
“We wanted to provide a space where students could speak freely and share their talents with other students,” said Chloe Okura, the emcee for the night. “It’s a space to speak and to listen and to be heard which I think is really, really important especially because this is an opportunity not every student gets to have.”
Alexis Galarza, a senior public administration major, started off the open-mic event with a poem he wrote in Spanish. Like many of the others who took the stage, he doesn’t usually perform in front of people.
“For all of you that have struggled and you feel that you’re powerless, just remember that by putting effort and putting will into things, you can create your own wings and succeed,” Galarza said.
Performing a spoken word about the racism she had experienced in her life, Danielle Harris, who works in the African-American Resource Center, spoke about what she had experienced as a woman of color from childhood to college.
“When I was a freshman in college, I learned it was okay to hang a Confederate flag in your dorm room but not pictures of Usher with his shirt off,” Harris said in her spoken word. “That day, I learned that a symbol that represents slavery is less offensive than a man in good shape.”
After the intermission, guests were told to write “I am” on a small piece of paper and then describe themselves so that they could combine them together to create one poem. The papers were ...

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