By snoadmin
Author and poet S. Pearl Sharp presented “Voices and Visions of Color and Depth: Poetry Readings by Artists of Color” at the Beach Auditorium on Tuesday.
Black studies professor Yolanda Reed, one of the event’s organizers, invited Sharp to the university to share her poetry with students.
Reed has been friends with Sharp for many years and said she enjoys her presentation of her poetry, adding that it allows students to engage and interact in the discussions. She said she feels that it is important for students to be involved.
“Exposure is important,” Reed said.
Uche Ugwueze, a part-time lecturer from the black studies department and an organizer for the event, began by conversing with the audience about the relationship between black history and poetry.
Ugwueze said that African slaves “would recite poems about the bravery and the values of their ancestors,” and added that “slaves found ways through songs, through dances, through poetry to regain and try to restore their humanity.”
Ugwueze described Sharp as having a bold and authoritative voice, which resounded throughout the auditorium as Sharp began her presentation by reinforcing the connection between poetry and black history.
Sharp recited a poem she wrote in 1988 about the Rev. Jesse Jackson running for president, this time changing the name from “Jesse” to “Barack” in reference to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.
Sharp invited students to read poem topics she selected, such as the 1963 assassination of NAACP member Medgar Evers, and poems by other writers like Lucille Clifton and Ruby Saunders. Sharp even inspired a student to share her own poetry with the audience.
The poetry readings were followed by a discussion on the impact that poetry may have had on them or on others who might read it. One student said that hearing poetry made her feel “passionate and empowered, yet also enraged.”
“Sometimes, you know, you write just to heal yourself, to get yourself through something, but you never know if it might also heal somebody else,” Sharp said. “Poetry is very personal. You can spend your whole life just writing for yourself if you wanted to, so when it connects with somebody, then that’s important. Then the poem is doing its work in the world.”
Sharp also presented a clip from her 2005 documentary, “The Healing Passage: Voices from the Water,” a film about the residual impacts of the trans-Atlantic African slave trade on the world today.
Jacqlene Corbin, a fashion merchandising and design major, said of the film, “I thought it was very enlightening. It moved me.”
Brook Hollreiser, a child development and family life education major, said, “It was powerful – definitely incredible.”
In addition to being a poet, Sharp is also an actress, director and broadcast journalist, and author of “Black Women for Beginners.” Her commentaries and essays can be heard on National Public Radio.
