Poetry has been a common form of communication and expression of intense emotions and complex ideas for millennia, and in that tradition, the writer’s group Poets Against Racism and Hate (PARH) held a Social Justice Poetry Reading.

Located in the center of the Rowan University Art Gallery, this was the first PARH event ever held in New Jersey. 

Carol Smith, Ed. D., an adjunct professor in the writing arts department, organized the event after discovering and joining PARH.

“As a poet who writes a good bit of my poetry about racism or antiracism, I searched online for like-minded poetry communities. I found poets against racism and hate. I joined and then in one of their emails at the bottom, I read, if you would like to host an event in your area, contact us,” said Smith. 

Readers stood at the front of the gallery, where a lectern and microphone had been set up behind the main check-in desk, with chairs set up in three rows for the audience to sit and listen. 

Poetic Justice, an organization that allows students to write poetry with a focus on social justice, was also in attendance. 

For the official reading lineup, Danih-Lael Alexandre, the director of recruitment, and Mia-Sara King, an organization senator, each read one poem to represent Poetic Justice. 

“We’re big on giving people a voice and using that voice as one for change,” said Alexandre.

The lineup consisted of seven speakers, including Alexandre and King, who all read poems dealing with themes of racial justice, inequality, LGBTQ experiences, and gender roles. 

The first to read was Tabassam Shah, who had driven two hours from Reading to attend shared “White Passing,” a poem about someone she knew who used skin-whitening creams in her Appalachian Pakistani community, as well as the colorism within the culture. 

“I suspected, but couldn’t confirm that one of my peers included in her daily regimen// a liberal application of a thick white cream// to get that glow and lovely, that bright boost// These are the freshly rebranded tools by the likes of Unilever and Johnson & Johnson promising// race-diluting miracles for those desiring to be fair and flawless// to be wed and employed. Multinationals drawing all that profit from selling whiteness as beauty,” said Shah. 

Shah also shared works from other perspectives than her own, reading poems about an undocumented teenager working in a factory packaging Cheerios, a woman named Jill Nelson who was arrested for Anti- Trump chalk graffiti in New York during the pandemic, a poem about the recent Hurricane Helene and the toll it took on Asheville, NC, and a final poem about a young Palestinian boy building sand hospitals in Gaza.

The next reader was adjunct composition professor and MA in writing Rowan alum Sean Wolff, who shared poems about masculinity, gender stereotypes, and queer relationships.

One poem entitled “Ponyboy,” used the 1967 S. E. Hinton novel “The Outsiders,” to explore what it’s like to experience an LGBTQ romance in an unaccepting town.

“It’s really all grease and rolled up sleeves, gives me someplace to store my ciggies// since my pockets are full with licks and excuses of why I’m home late// the truth is simple but impossible to repeat in a town like this// where boys are born to scrimmage not kiss each other and watch sunsets,” said Wolff.

Alexandre and King each read one of their own articles. Alexandre’s poem centered on police brutality, specifically the killing of Sonya Massey, featuring a direct quote from Martin Luther King Jr. 

“Sonya Massey// executed by America’s demons// Rebuke// They shoot, they must not know the meaning// See, some can’t believe in the dream// because their fugitives from the nightmare// of how ‘please don’t hurt me,’ or ‘I’m sorry,’// aren’t the right prayers,” said Alexandre. 

Mia-Sara King’s poem was entitled “Panic Perfect,” which spoke about feeling overly well-equipped to deal with stress due to her experiences of being black in the United States. 

“To live in a black body in the United States of America is to live on the edge of perpetual panic// There’s a tiny horror that I live with that grows into a larger horror when I stare// when I reach too far// when I think too hard// there’s something in my bones have remembered to be afraid since before I was born,” said King.

Smith returned to the lectern to perform some of her own pieces. 

She openly speaks about going on an anti-racist journey in her mid-adulthood after realizing she was “raised a racist in a racist home.” All of the pieces she read feature the idea of white people in similar situations to Smith herself, if not reflecting her own experiences of race and working to become anti-racist.

One poem, titled “Nice People,” featured the story of a white person getting pulled over and not getting a ticket because the officer said the narrator looked like a nice person.

“I told myself it was nervousness// or conditioned respect for authority// anything but the seductive allure of privilege// that made me miss the moment and swallow the question// what do nice people look like?” said Smith.

Two of her other poems featured white narrators noticing that their friends or service workers were able to easily overlook people of color. One story was of a white woman sitting with a person of color named Vera, and being invited to sit with a group of white friends, who failed to acknowledge the presence of Vera. The other featured the narrator feeling guilty that a woman of color at a bar had not yet been acknowledged by the bartender, though the narrator had their order taken as soon as they walked up to the bar. 

Laura Coccia, who had been invited specifically by Smith, shared a piece called “Friendship,” about her friend Jack, who she had known when he was terminally ill with AIDS.

“Hey, kiddo// he’d say to me with his arms open wide,//soulful and lovely, my friend// And to this day, I love saying Hey kiddo// always being a little off balance// Remembering Jack// And today, I greet my friends with open arms// Hey, kiddo. Always remembering, Jack,” said Coccia.

Willeena Booker was the final poet in the official schedule, sharing a poem on hair discrimination, telling the story of how a white girl would lean back and play with her hair over Booker’s desk when Booker was in school. 

“I wanted to feel my hair blowing in the wind// in their face// in their eyes// in her space// to no end as she stretched and arched her back across my desk// just one good pull// I wanted to put her disrespect in check,” said Booker. 

Once the official lineup had been completed, Smith announced a brief intermission where attendees were encouraged to go to a table set up off to the side, where they could fill out impact cards, which would allow them to give feedback to PARH about how the event had impacted them and their perspectives.

Attendees were also given the chance to sign up to be a part of PARH themselves or sign up for the open mic that was set for after intermission. 

A number of students from Poetic Justice shared their work, including organization president Kiara Ajayi, sharing a poem titled “Flowers Blooming in Antarctica,” about climate change.

“But when I hear that there are flowers blooming in Antarctica// I realize that maybe growth is not always a good thing// this endless cycle, this cancerous production, this artificial evolution// changing the carefully curated balances of the Earth// even the Earth herself takes time to rest,” said Ajayi. 

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