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“My family is a group of redwoods / that sought god instead of ground...” Samoan American poet William Nu’utupu Giles reads his poem “Prescribed Fire” at the 2015 National Poetry Slam. Giles won the National Underground Poetry Individual Competition in 2015, the first Pacific Islander to win the award.
“What do I even have to leave behind? This body? I crack it open and another falls out. I’m like a Russian doll of the dead. So many eulogies, so many eulogies written at the brim of my mouth.” In this video from Button Poetry, Nkosi Nkululeko performs “Not Finished Yet” at the 2015 National Poetry Slam in Oakland.
"It's not about whether or not the shooter is racist. It's about how poor black boys are treated as problems well before we are treated as people." Award-winning slam poet Javon Johnson performs a personal and impassioned poem at the 2013 National Poetry Slam semifinals in Boston.
“Since when does being a teacher mean having to swear not to help??” Dylan Garity performs “Rigged Game,” his poem about a flawed educational system, at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, MN.
Poet Benjamin Barker performs his poem, “Rubik’s Cube,” at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Salt Lake City, Utah.
