First Impressions \u2013 Inner Expressions
\nPoem #2<\/p>\n
by Octavia, age 15, Garfield High School<\/p>\n
\n
If art is healing then sickness is not being able
\nto express yourself.
\nIf sickness is not being able to express yourself,
\nfunk is the cure\u2026
\nCuring your heartbreaks, curing your loss,
\ncuring your loneliness, curing the cause.<\/p>\n
Funk sounds like laughter louder than their whispers.
\nFunk feels like healing\u2026
\nhealing the pain that caused so many tears.<\/p>\n
Healing feels like you getting over a struggle\u2026
\na rash spreading rapidly that has weakened your body
\nand taken over your soul with no way out.
\nScreaming is pointless because you\u2019re the only one that hears.<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s tears, from her eyes, to her cheeks, to her ears
\n\u2026she was the strongest through it all\u2026
\nsmiling through her pain is when she\u2019s the prettiest to me.<\/p>\n
Funk is music.
\nA generation of self-expression and fun
\n\u2026my grandparents with high afros and high shoes.
\nFunk is the cure of a sickness no one can control.
\nA healing process that makes all troubles disappear
\nand all the tears fade away\u2026 all the memories grow faint.<\/p>\n
Funk makes life easier\u2026
\neasier to drown out the hate, easier to ignore the doubt.
\nYou can\u2019t be mad, can\u2019t be sad. You just let funk take over.<\/p>\n
Funk is when you\u2019re you.
\nIt\u2019s when you\u2019re smiling to destroy the ones that like to see you cry.
\nIt\u2019s when you\u2019re standing tall, upsetting the ones that like to see you fall.
\nAnd, when you are being yourself,
\nno one can take that away.<\/p>\n
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The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) Youth Curators i<\/a>s a community outreach program that introduces local teens to the Museum world and encourages their creativity and expression through themed projects. The 2012 project, First Impressions \u2013 Inner Expressions,<\/em> was co-facilitated by Daemond Arrindell<\/a> who led the students in a process to write and speak their opinions. They became familiar with navigating rhythms, owning their expression and connecting to the power of words. Much of the inspiration for the spoken word was derived from the current NAAM exhibition Xenobia Bailey: The Aesthetics of Funk. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Octavia will present her poem along with other student poets on Saturday, April 7, 2012,<\/strong> 1:00 – 3:00 at the Northwest African American Museum <\/a><\/strong>to celebrate the exhibition opening and the 2012 Dr. Carver Gayton Youth Curator Program.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First Impressions \u2013 Inner Expressions Poem #2 by Octavia, age 15, Garfield High School If art is healing then sickness is not being able to express yourself. If sickness is not being able to express yourself, funk is the cure\u2026 … Continue reading