A fascinating history of the art form that has transformed the
cultural landscape, by one of its influential practitioners, an
award-winning poet, professor, and slam champion
In 2009, when he was twenty years
old, Joshua Bennett was invited to perform a spoken word poem for
Barack and Michelle Obama, at the same White House “Poetry Jam”
where Lin-Manuel Miranda declaimed the opening bars of a
work-in-progress that would soon revolutionize American theater. That
meeting is but one among many in the trajectory of Bennett’s young
life, as he rode the cresting wave of spoken word through the 2010s.
In this book, he goes back to its roots, considering the Black Arts
movement and the prominence of poetry and song in Black education;
the origins of the famed Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the Lower East Side
living room of the visionary Miguel Algarín, who hosted verse
gatherings with legendary figures like Ntozake Shange and Miguel
Piñero; the rapid growth of the “slam” format that was pioneered
at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago; the perfect storm of spoken
word’s rise during the explosion of social media; and Bennett’s
own journey alongside his older sister, whose work to promote the
form helped shape spaces online and elsewhere dedicated to literature
and the pursuit of human freedom.
A celebration of voices outside the
dominant cultural narrative, who boldly embraced an array of styles
and forms and redefined what—and whom—the mainstream would
include, Bennett’s book illuminates the profound influence spoken
word has had everywhere melodious words are heard, from Broadway to
academia, from the podiums of political protest to cafés, schools,
and rooms full of strangers all across the world.