The Beatles said it best.
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one” is the slogan for SLAMnesty, a fundraising event hosted by Amnesty International, Saint Louis University’s human rights organization. The slam poetry, fundraising barbecue and social justice awareness event will take place Saturday, April 19, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Busch Student Center Room 170. The event was originally supposed to be held today outside of Tegeler Hall. The time and location were changed due to forecasted rain.
At its heart, SLAMnesty will draw attention to “awareness of human rights associated with Guantanamo Bay,” said Kate Strycker, Amnesty’s urgent-action coordinator.
Def Jam slam poet Big Poppa E, from Austin, Texas, will headline the event and emcee the “spoken word” poetry session, which will feature at least eight local slammers and spoken-word artists.
The public will be able to buy food at Amnesty International’s fundraising barbecue tent, listen to music and visit information tables manned by some of SLU’s social justice groups, including Una, Keep a Child Alive, Students for Life, Rainbow Alliance, Just Earth and Students United For Africa. The outside organization Missourians Against the Death Penalty will also be at the event to answer questions.
Tina Li, publicist for Amnesty International, said that the slam poetry and spoken-word event will be new for Amnesty International this year.
“Usually [as an annual event], we do JAMnesty [a concert where the club brings different bands to perform on campus], so this is something different.” she said. “We really thought that the spoken-word is liberating and sort of an art . people expressing issues that are going on today.”
Strycker said she thinks SLAMnesty will bring both awareness and entertainment to the SLU community.
While SLAMnesty is featuring human rights at Guantanamo Bay as the event’s major focus, Li said, the group has not asked visiting artists to limit their content to that topic.
“We told the poets to give us their best work and whatever they are passionate about,” she said.
Jason Braun, one of the local artists scheduled to perform at the event, said that the content of his work tends to be “politically conscious,” but that he incorporates different elements, including “retelling ancient tales from the past.”
Braun said that his work includes a lyrical reprise of Dante’s Inferno and a modern twist on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare.
“I do hip-hop sonnets and perform them with gusto,” he said. “It’s about making music with words.
“Slam [poetry] is the bridge between the academic poets and the rappers . [it is] poetry that speaks to the youth . and speaks loudly.”
SLAMnesty is free and open to the public.
