Award-winning poet confronts stereotypes through haikus
Written by Sarah Laffin, Sep 12, 2011, 0 Comments
On Wednesday, Sept. 7, USF St. Petersburg welcomed spoken word artist Beau Sia at the Coquina Café. Sia has appeared on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam” and is a two-time National Poetry Slam Champion.
It was unusual for Beau to perform to an audience of less than 15 people. He was not disappointed to have such few people attend his event, though. Rather, he was glad to have the opportunity to address each person in the audience individually.
“This is a real treat,” Sia said about the intimacy of the performance.
Though Sia uses satirical comedy in his poetry, much of his work has a deeper meaning. He uses his talent in poetry as an outlet to express the discrimination he has encountered from others towards his race, as well as other prejudices he has witnessed.
In his work, Sia confronts stereotypes and stands up for those that can’t speak for themselves. He may be bold, but he never puts down others or shows disrespect in his poetry. Rather, he promotes acceptance and understanding of others.
Sia said that he likes to write poetry to help others. He said that if someone is going through a tough situation, he would like his poetry to be available “for encouragement or a connection, so they don’t feel so alone.”
Sia said that everyone is different—he believes everybody has some sort of ignorance regarding something, and he does not judge those that have prejudices. At the end of his performance, he thanked the audience for being “willing to listen to others, even if they aren’t what you are exactly.”
The Office of Multicultural Affairs sponsored the event.
Photo by Keeley Sheehan
