The lawn outside of Lucille Clement Hall saw students from across campus come together to share their different talents. Hosted by the Black Affairs Association and Buctainment, students were able to enjoy a night of expression at the Street Jam.
“It was just a chance to kind of get everyone together,” Brook’ale Anderson, president of the Black Affairs Association said. “See what kind of talents we have; give everybody a chance to express themselves.”
Anderson said that this is the second year that the Street Jam has been held, and it was very well received during the previous year.
“It was a great night,” Anderson said. “People got up and showed off their talents. It was a really good vibe.”
Anderson said she likes the Street Jam because she is a poet, and she likes to share her testimony and hear others share their testimony as well.
“I like the unity of it all and being able to come together under one common goal of self expression,” she said.
The host of the event was Jha’mai Milindez, who traveled from the Poetry Cafe in Greensboro, North Carolina. Milindez said she was at ETSU with Poetry Cafe last spring, and she was asked to come back to do the Street Jam.
“I enjoy being here with the students,” Milindez said. “And being able to do the show and just how engaged y’all were. It wasn’t a hard decision to come back.”
Milindez said that she had been co-hosting the Poetry Cafe out of Greensboro for four years. She also said she’s been hosting events on her own for a year and a half. Milindez said this is the first time she has hosted a university event.
“My favorite thing is between the person that shows no interaction in the beginning, but by the end of the show, they’re laughing, they’re clapping, they’re snapping,” she said. “They’re taking videos and really participating. The other thing would be when it gets toward end … just seeing that overall evolution of [audience members] kind of being to themselves and branching out and being a part of the community.”
Throughout the night, audience participation was encouraged as students wrote down their craziest memories of college and Milindez read them aloud. Individual students also played music, performed stand up comedy and read poetry.
Freshman Katelyn Gabler sang at the Street Jam. She said it was a cool event, and she would come to the event again.
“Even if you think it may not be your thing, just come and try to experience it all,” Gabler said. “Hopefully you’ll find something you enjoy.”
