Spoken word artist Harold Green visited SJC Brooklyn this week to help celebrate Black History Month.
Green began his common hour performance with an improvisation poem using five keywords given to him from the audience: reflective, transparent, suspended, intentional and pride.
“I think that’s a good list,” Green said. “I think that’s a poem in itself.”
He took a minute to think about the words before saying a poem about the challenges of overcoming adversity.
Throughout the event, Green recited poems he wrote about love, violence and racism, and the importance of following your passions. In between pieces, Green talked to the audience, sharing his inspirations for the poems and offering words of advice.
“Once I learned what impact my gift had on other people, there was no turning back,” said Green, referring to his poetry. “When you find that thing that makes your heart lock, don’t lose focus. Lock in. You never know where it will take you.”
BSA members Akira Williams, a senior marketing major, and Khadijah Cambridge, a sophomore biology major, agreed the performance was engaging and motivational.
“I liked that he took on a plethora of topics to express Black History Month,” Williams said. “He really brought his own poise and charisma to it.”