The ETSU 2008 Homecoming Poetry Slam was held Friday Night with renowned poet, actor, writer and musician Saul Williams headlining. Prior to Williams taking the stage, there were performances from seven other poets.
There were three performances from ETSU students. Brannon Jett, a freshman from Detroit, performed two pieces detailing his infatuation with the ladies. A senior who was announced only as Louie, performed a piece which was from the perspective of a womb in a woman contemplating an abortion. Senior Indya Halloway performed two pieces detailing different facets and phases of relationships.
There were two performers from Science Hill High School. Zach Ross brought a piece titled “You Can’t Spell Compensate Without a Pen,” which he said was about the declining state of current curriculums, and as Ross said, about the “Dumbing down, not of content, but of communication.”
The other Science Hill student, Jordan Mallery, performed, “Babies.” He began snapping his fingers in time, and his emotion and energy grew as the performance progressed. Mallery said he was “Too old to be this young,” and wanted something more but don’t know what. As he reached the end, he resumed snapping his fingers, ending in the same more reserved tone he began with.
The last to go on before Williams, was Bryan Saunders, who was introduced as an ETSU alumni and international poet. Saunders did several short pieces, that he said were inspired from the movie Slam, about true stories from around the Washington, D.C., area prison system. “Fecal freak” was the humorous and disturbing tale of a prisoner who stored up his bodily excretions and threw them vengefully toward a television which he could only hear, but not see from inside of his cell. Despite the prisoner doing this repeatedly, the common sense to avoid being covered in shit shrapnel was no match for the drawing power of television.
Another piece performed by Saunders was “PCP Poetry,” which started with several dozen terms for narcotics being said in an increasingly frantic delivery. It progressed into exploits of users while high. Saunders told of a man being chased by police screaming “Where’s my fucking bicycle?! Where is my fucking bicycle?!” then adding, “And he didn’t have no bicycle.” The energy and intensity increased before Saunders forcefully ended with “and when it happens you’re fucked, cause ain’t no angels on angel dust,” which received the loudest applause thus far, and a standing ovation from some of the crowd.
The house lights which had been dimmed for the previous performers now turned back up to normal, and Williams emerged from behind the curtain. He passed the stage, and took the floor at the base of the auditorium, where he remained for the next hour.
After beginning with a nonstop seven minutes of intense energy and insight, Williams introduced himself and opened the floor to audience questions, saying that he didn’t want the evening to be a one-sided affair.
Asked about his creative process, Williams said, “A sense of spontaneity and urgency is important. Maya Angelou said write like a gun in mouth, or like Raekwon from Wu-Tang said, Gun in your mouth talk,” said Williams.
“I was listenting to Green Lanterns Obama mixtape, and Jay-Z said something that Barack has said, that we couldn’t have the next four years be like the last eight. We’ve had gangsters running hip-hop and running the country. George Bush and 50 Cent have the same birthday – July 6th.” Said Williams, who then furthered the analogy, showing similarities by paraphrasing the chorus of 50 Cent’s “Heat” as if Bush were saying it, “I do what I wanna do, don’t care if I get caught, The U.N. can play my mothafuckin’ tapes in court.”
“In 1990, they found burial grounds in the area of the World Trade Center, but they couldn’t get them all out because some were actually under the World Trade Center. I’ve seen enough scary movies to know what happens when you build on an ancient burial ground.
“The first thing Bush said after 9/11 was that we will show no sign of vulnerability. That implies that vulnerability is weakness. A drunken driver is vulnerable because they aren’t tensed up. The victim tenses up and breaks every bone in their body. Vulnerability can be powerful.”
An audience member asked about the inspiration for the Williams song, “Black Stacey.” Williams said “Stacey is my middle name. I went by Stacey until I was 18 and went to college. I grew up discriminated against by black people, not white. I would hear them say ‘You’re awfully cute to be so dark’, or ‘Make sure you marry somebody really light or your kids will be invisible.’ I saw my hero became lighter by disease or by cream (Michael Jackson). He fulfilled a dream many had, even if only subconsciously, and we saw how ugly it turned out.” He then performed Black Stacey, which received a standing ovation.
“My album ‘The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust’ came out last November. What I meant within that title, was that it was time to transcend artificially constructed race barriers that separate and divide us within ourselves before we can even relate to anyone else,” said Williams.
Williams performed a number of his works, took audience questions, and spoke in great depth on a number of issues.
“There comes a time when it’s most rebellious to be hopeful,” said Williams. “Don’t put negative premonitions into words, I know the power of words, I live off them.”
After the show, as Williams took pictures and signed autographs in the lobby, students gave their opinions of the evening.
“It was amazing, even though I may not agree with everything he said,” said Caleb Lewis, 23, Oak Ridge, Tenn. “It could potentially begin to breakdown the foundation, but in a good way,” he said.
“It was nice,” said Devin Thompson, 20, of Nashville. “It was interesting to hear his perspective on things,” said Thompson.
Two of the performers also remained in the lobby. “It was a great experience,” said Ross, “especially getting to set backstage with Saul.”
“This was the best experience I’ve had doing this,” said Mallery. “Saul’s an influence on my life and it was great to collaborate with him.

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