Feature Poet: Porsha O (by Hannah Lichtl)

Porsha O is a Chicago born and bred poet who uses spoken word not only as a form of art and self-expression, but also as a platform to spread awareness for social justice.  While the content of most spoken word pieces revolves around identity and intersecting issues of race, class, and gender, Porsha takes these intersecting identities to another level of critical thought  “by applying advanced political analysis to examine injustice while providing perspective on concrete solutions” (STRENGTH OF DOVES). Porsha uses her own identities and struggles as word fire that ignites a revolution of critical pedagogy within spoken word performance. As per her Facebook biography, she is “black, poet, dyke-god, hip-hop feminist, womanist, friend ….. performance artist who believes in pixie dust and second chances….. her intention is to speak, love, praise, and maintain a cypher that is undocumented, uncontrollable and just plain ole dope” (FACEBOOK).

​While Porsha was at the University of Illinois she wrote and performed but “never slammed.” It wasn’t until her move to Boston in 2010 that she began to venture into slam events. In the four years following her move, Porsha made her name in the spoken word community. She became a regular at the Lizard Lounge and began participating in slam competitions. Her greatest awards are the 2014 Individual World Poetry Champion, the 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion, and the 2015 Rio II International Slam Finalist. Porsha currently resides in Boston where she organizes and advocates for social justice, writes, and teaches. 

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Poems:
"Damn Right" & "Angry Black Woman"

“Damn Right”
starts out soft in both volume/texture/inflection
you can hear her smile
voice gets deep and faster as the poem goes on
rhyming schemes
word plays
education sys
gentrification
robin hood
barbie
health/food
govt. and media control everything
rape
10 mins worth of angry — crowd applause
voice breaks at “socialist”
LGBT in military
FUCK civil unions
Slavery
            poem slightly shifts gears here
nigger vs nigga
“bitch” (other women calling you that)
black men
hip hop
black on black crime
ricky rolls crack
            makes references
connects it all with her identities and brings back to big picture
conclusion of poem that she is insignificant to the universe as a black women
every reason to be pissed off
starts where she beings with “sweet” and soft voice

“Angry Black Woman”
slow and enunciated words
rhyming
emphasize words and rhyme
damn right this be church / praise / fly
but I'm broken
keep soul
astma— pipe / weed
burn fire with past memories
baby demons
keep from going
 
inside twisted
dad deported
cry for no reason
 
bible sister in tongues
 
starts shaking her head more intense
especially when
 
brilliant and fucked up
 
living and eulogy
 
supression depression
fire words
 
damn right this is church
voice goes back slow and more enacted
burning fire illusion ​

After listening to many many Porsha O poems, “Damn Right” and “Angry Black Woman” were arguably my two favorites. In her pieces, Porsha uses her voice truly as an instrument to convey her work. She inflects her voice differently at the beginning and ends of poems, and following her words is almost like flowing waves or the ocean. In both performances, she begins the poems with annunciated words with multiple inflections at a slower paced tempo. As the poem continues, the audience follows her voice forward as she beings to talk with more purpose and vibrato behind her voice. She adds texture to it and as the poem progresses, both the content and her voice become heavier and deeper. Both poems end with her voice and the words bringing us back to the benign of the poem (gentle again). Literally like a roller coaster from time you get on (start slow and builds) to the time you get off (roller coaster slows down and you're right where you are at the beginning).