For the month of February, Walking Worthy will be dedicated to the celebration of Black History Month.
We have loved the Casual Conversations and intentional emphasis that Southeastern has devoted to diversity on our campus and in our churches. This month, we will continue the discussion with posts from students and faculty.
We serve the incredible God who created the entire universe. As creatures made in the image of God, we have the ability to reflect our great God in the things that we create. Today's guest post is from talented C@SE student Shaq Hardy. He uses his passion for the Lord and the creativity of the spoken word to share the Gospel and his story. Be sure to watch the video of his performance at the end of the post!
My name is Shaquille Hardy, and I am majoring in Christian studies and English with a minor in theology at the College @ Southeastern. I am a spoken word poet. I've now been performing as a spoken word artist for almost three years.
Spoken word poetry has become a popular form of art in main stream media over the past few years, but the art form itself has been around for years. It actually dates back to the ancient Greeks. Modern day spoken word, however, dates back to the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the 'New Negro Movement.' After the abolition of slavery, the Harlem Renaissance movement birthed new forms of expression in music, art, and poetry that expanded from the African-American community in the northern United States. The movement would rapidly spread throughout the world during the First World War. Today's spoken word poetry was birthed out of this movement.
Spoken word poetry is written, but it is usually performed with a focus on the actual words and the artist's gestures and facial expressions. This form of poetry usually tells a story of some sort - usually something that the poet has experienced or something they are passionate about. It is often quite personal and meant to evoke some sort of emotion in the audience.
The video in this post is from my second ever performance. In this performance, there are two stories being told: the story of God and a piece of my testimony. The performance then moves to how we should respond in light of what God has done for us. Enjoy!
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