I still got to move so I got to get my ass up/ And be that beautiful brown child my mother tried so hard to rightly raise up
graduate student Barnabas Crosby recited from memory.
Last night in the Front Room at Baker University Center, the Epsilon Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta hosted a candlelit poetry slam. The event was to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the founding of the predominantly black service sorority. Many poems were read and recited, covering topics such as AIDS and the objectification of women.
Our chapter wanted to provide a forum for students to come and say whatever they're thinking said chapter president Bianca Butts, a senior finance major. It brightens her heart that students came together for a non-alcoholic event like this, Butts said.
The international sorority was founded on Jan. 13, 1913 at Howard University. The sorority now has more than 200,000 members, according to the organization's Web site (http://www.deltasigmatheta.org).
The Ohio University chapter was established last April.
We're a sisterhood of college-educated women that want to serve the Athens community Butts said.
Some authors presented original poems; others were read works by other authors. Butts recited two poems from Violets: A Collection of Inspirational Poems by the Women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Crosby recited three poems from memory. He began writing poetry when he was 17, he said. Proclaiming the poetic experience to an audience, or slamming encouraged him to pursue theatre in college.
It's a way to interpret my environment
Crosby said. I try to paint pictures with words.
T.J. Wright, who contributed several columns to The Post about his experience with the OU football team, read a poem at the slam inspired by the objectification of women in hip hop.
Hip hop objectifies women
said Wright, who also is a member of the rap group Million Dollar Athletes. There's a human side to everything. A lot of these girls have pain people don't know about it.
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