Tucked behind the Released Reentry building, mismatched chairs were set up around the basketball court-turned-makeshift stage for the night's poetry reading event.
Wednesday evening’s event was the second open mic night in a four-part series commemorating Gun Violence Awareness Month. The Open Mic Poetry Nights are hosted by Impact GNV, a city initiative focused on gun violence prevention.
Brittany Coleman, who manages the city’s Gun Violence Intervention Program, said the idea for the events came from a question from the Impact GNV team: “What can we do to get people together in a way that's powerful in the arts?”
They determined spoken word and poetry was the best way for people to share their thoughts on gun violence and their own stories.
Before the event officially started, children played basketball together while adults chatted and enjoyed snacks provided by Nest + Nibble, a charcuterie cafe that hosted the series’ first poetry night June 3.
Wednesday’s event was hosted in collaboration with Released Reentry, an organization dedicated to helping individuals returning home from prison with the difficulties of reentry.
Tracey Brown, Released Reentry’s board president, said the event was the perfect opportunity to bring awareness to the struggles of formerly incarcerated people.
“We are a part of the collaborative ecosystem in the community,” Brown said, “so when events take place, we are part of it.”
Released Reentry hosts its own poetry nights on the second Tuesday of each month.
The themes of the night’s performances weren’t limited to gun violence; many people shared other struggles, like their time within the prison system or battling past addictions.
Jared Folds, a 41-year-old community director and service coordinator, was the first speaker of the night. She read two pieces, including one titled “13” about the unfair treatment of incarcerated individuals.
“I've been writing my whole life,” Folds said. “It's been a mechanism of healing for me.”
Part of the night’s program included poems submitted by currently incarcerated individuals, which were read aloud by Released Reentry staff members.
The poems touched on the individuals’ hopes for life outside of prison and the things they missed about their homes.
Mixed within the spoken word pieces were multiple songs and a dance performance. The performances included both humorous songs and ones with more serious topics like religious beliefs or hardships in life.
Throughout the event, a notebook was passed around to create a “revolving poem” with each person adding two lines when it was their turn.
As the night came to an end, the poem was read aloud as a thank you to everyone who came. Its last line was, “The loudest sound after a gunshot is the silence it leaves behind.”
The Open Mic series has two more events planned this month: a June 17 youth night in Depot Park and a June 24 reading in Bo Diddley Plaza.
Contact Brandy Sumner at bsumner@alligator.org.
Brandy Sumner is an anthropology and English junior and this summer's music and performance reporter. This is their first semester working at the Alligator. In their free time they enjoy playing guitar, reading and writing.
