Performing Race in Spoken Word

     Now that we have thoroughly looked at both spoken word poetry and performing race, let's put them together.  While these two might seem like they are not connected at all, I argue that both are connected more than how it might meet the eye.  I feel that the element of performing in spoken word is not only about the performing of the poetry, but in many different instances we can see the performing of race also.  Now, it would be unfair to say that all spoken word artists are performing race while they are performing race, but in the case of the poet, Poetri, I think it is the case.  In many different instances in his performances we can see very small pieces of the Jim Crow character that we have seen in the past.

    Poetri is a spoken word artist that hails himself as a 'poet rock star.'  Poetri has performed on "Russel Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam" on HBO, VH-1 Black History Month, "Showtime at the Apollo,"  and many different appearances on sitcoms.  He has also won an Emmy, which a very prestigious award for any poet to have.  As a lover of spoken word poetry, I do not feel that it is right to be overly critical of someone else's work and so the use of Poetri here is merely an observation.  

    I feel that in many of Poetri's poems, he very much evokes this idea of Jim Crow.  He tends to talk disparagingly about black people and also speak in a way in which I believe is how he feels he should speak. By doing this he is not only evoking the Jim Crow character, but he is bringing this character back into the mainstream poetry scene.  This character was seen as jovial, happy and just generally as an entertainer and I think because of this, this character is easy for any entertainer to fall into.  

     Now I realize that the only videos I have seen of Poetri are the one of him as the performer.  These videos generally feature him as a Poetri and not as the person he is when he is not performing.  But I am a believer that you cannot seperate the art from the artist, so is he really performing his race or just being himself?  Watch the videos and let me know what you think about it! Thank you!