A spoken word trio of STRONG WOMEN

To close out National Poetry Month, I thought that I'd highlight three female slam/spoken word poets, StaceyAnn Chin, Alix, Olson, and Suheir Hammad. All three have been featured on Russell Simmon's HBO Def Poetry Jam and are notable for speaking truth to power and their extraordinary rhetorical and lyrical power.

For me, I think they remind me that poetry began as a spoken art form--it began in the tradition of Homer--the oral repetition of stories, recording the lives of heroic men and their exploits in love and war. These three women are the inheritors of Homer, taking the form to a new level, telling their own particular truths and stories, recording the heroic aspects of their own lives.

StaceyAnn Chin:




Alix Olson:




Suheri Hammad:

The last word on APA heritage: Beau Sia

So maybe he isn't the last word for APA heritage month, but I'm concluding this week-long series on Asian Pacific American history/heritage with a shout out to spoken word artist Beau Sia. He is of mixed Chinese and Filipino heritage, which I think makes him a fitting spokesperson for my last APA heritage month tidbit. I'm going to post three of his YouTube performances below, the last of which is a spoken word tribute compliments of the now defunct AZN channel (a cable television station that had been devoted to all Asian/Asian American programming--sort've like the Asian Telemundo or BET). It's a slamming piece, if I don't say so myself, but so are the other two, the first called "Hip Hop" and the second "An Open Letter to all the Rosie O'Donnell." For more on Beau Sia, go to his official website. And of his art below, watch, listen, and learn.


["Hip Hop"]


["An Open Letter to all the Rosie O'Donnells"]


[Asian Pacific American Heritage Month PSA]