Brown University

I learned a new slur during my first day on my slam team. The “M-word,” coined by the former president, was “melanin.” To her, Black poetry was overdone, so she advised Black teammates to avoid racial topics, fearing they would “bore the judges.” “We get it— you’re black,” she quipped, “can you talk about anything else?” Following that meeting, I avoided Black poetry. My racial experience was a broken record— an earworm of sob stories over events only read about in history books. However, after experiencing all the distinctive, poignant Black pieces at my first slam competition, I realized…