Poetry, music make it a night to remember at the Eagle Poetry Jam

With fierce verses and melodic voices echoing through the first floor of the Farrison-Newton Communications Building, last Monday night’s Eagle Poetry Jam, hosted by N.C. Central University’s Ivan Dixon Players, made the University Theater the place to be on campus.

The night started with a surprise when CPR, NCCU’s newest modeling troupe, strutted their way across the stage as the showcase’s opening act. Fascinating the audience with their choreographic and sartorial style, the troupe was able to set the tone for the evening.

Antwan Hawkins, the evening’s emcee, kept the audience engaged all night with his charisma and upbeat spirit. He led the audience into the first spoken word performance of the evening by senior Christina Boyd, who opened and closed the poetry portion of the show with her two-part interactive piece “One God, One People.”

Other spoken word artists that evening included Travis Bullock, Kapryya Hunter, Kamryn McCorkle, Shani Roy, and Lauren Bonner, all NCCU students who shared personal battles that they have endured, aspects of their lives, and opinions about prominent societal issues issues within their work. Topics ranged from broken homes and relationships to self-esteem issues and racial inequality.

Musical acts within the showcase consisted of emcee Antwan Hawkins, Isaiah Mudd, and Jasmine Logan. Mudd, a guitarist and singer in his own right, performed solo as well as collaborating with both Hawkins and Logan. Logan also had a solo performance towards the end of the showcase. All three Eagles brought exceptional talent to the stage.

Chamar Little stood out at the jam for choosing to perform neither a spoken word nor a musical piece. Instead, the senior opted to deliver a monologue from the seminal black theatre classic “A Raisin in the Sun.”

When asked about he felt on the stage taking on the role of Walter Lee Younger, most notably played by Sidney Poitier in the 1961 film adaption, Little said “I feel free performing because I am going out of my comfort zone to get my voice out to the public (and) have them leave with something different than when they came in. Whether it’s good or bad, I want them to gain knowledge.”