Ronaldo Martinez

Staff Writer

This past Tuesday, UNCG’s Articulate, a spoken word club here on campus, hosted the “All Black Affair.” It consisted of beautiful and original poetry, singing, and spoken word pieces. The vibe that the club was able to capture in such little space was stunningly enticing and joyous. You walked in and the room was dark, only lit by the few candles placed on each table spread throughout the room. Red balloons peppered the floor and ceiling, and all the attention was directed toward the front of the room where various people got to show off their art. Despite taking their work very seriously and passionately, the staff was conscious of people not being very familiar with customs in that particular environment, and provided guidance on when it was appropriate to snap or clap, or give an artist encouragement while they performed. The subject matter that the artists touched on was powerful and, at times, tugged at your heart strings. The singing almost put you in a totally different head space. One spoken word poet that performed did a piece called “Headphones,” which was about reverting back to music despite whatever adversities your surroundings hit you with. She spoke in a way that painted the clearest image of what she was talking about. She was able to highlight something everybody goes through in a special way. The event was incredibly empowering and absolutely worth it.

Categories: A & E