The power of the spoken word

By Ivan Saul Cutler, Carolina Peacemaker / March 15, 2024

The significance of Black History Month resonates all year, emerging from the empowering creativity of Greensboro authors, artists in all media and especially the spoken word.

A passionate presentation by Jasmine and Clement Mallory highlighted an evening at the African American Atelier in downtown Greensboro. The couple’s commanding performances projected the power and purpose of Black America’s continuing struggle for justice and equity.

To the rapt attention of a standing room only audience, the evening opened with the magic of pulsating-vibrating African rhythms, as colorfully resplendent Samantha Dandara Boyd twisted and turned to set the tone of the evening. Also known as Mama Dandara, Boyd is an organizing member of Greensboro’s Kwanzaa Collective.

Moments later, the audience’s smiles quickly transformed into serious countenances as Jasmine Mallory emerged holding a large photo of a contemplative Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, with hands clasped. As she lowered the photo, the palpable hushed tones of the audience acknowledged the famed booking photo of King at the Birmingham Jail, suspended from her (Mallory’s) neck.

Dramatically staring into the audience’s faces, Mallory forcefully began reciting her original poem inspired by King’s famous August 1963 Letter from the Birmingham Jail, written in longhand responding to eight Southern White clergymen advising him to be cautious while nonviolently protesting segregation. The poem was commissioned in 2021 by the Fuquay-Varina Arts Council. It addresses the evils of racism, festering “like a nasty boil infecting the skin. American’s pus is harboring,” calling for intentional action to drain it dry, washing it away to heal.

After thunderous applause, Clement Mallory stood at the microphone alternating between shouts and near whispers, reciting myriad achievements of Black Americans in the arts, industry, commerce, academia and neighborhoods. He presented “Black Poetic Faces,” a series of classic and contemporary poetry ranging from Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Malcolm X, to hip hop artists such rapper Rakim.