CalSLAM: A Place to Spit Your Shit

Go to any CalSLAM event, and you’re sure to find out why this is one of the most talked-about groups on campus. The atmosphere is welcoming, and you’re almost guaranteed to walk out of the room at the end of the night with a mixed feeling of appreciation and speechlessness. If heartstrings were a thing, they would surely be tugged and pulled at, and maybe even severed.

It’s no varsity sport, but the intensity is comparable. These aren’t just poems – they’re reflections, laden with metaphors about abuse, mental illness, love and family. Slammers are given space where they can pour out their hearts and just “spit their shit”. It is definitely not for the faint of heart; it gets deep, it gets dirty, and it gets personal.

If you’re not familiar with how slamming works, here’s a quick rundown:

Slam poetry began in the 1980’s as a way to get individuals to perform and listen to poetry. It truly is a means of expression, and never fails to help start a dialogue and bring about a sense of community.

The competitive slams during the semester are a way of determining who will make up the team that will then go on to compete at the annual College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) in the spring. This year’s nationals will be held in March in Boulder, Colorado. Last year, the CalSLAM team took 7th place!

There are 10 spots on the list. The first five who sign up are guaranteed spots; the rest are entered into a lottery to see who will take the remaining seats. Each poem is required to be no longer than 3 minutes; after an additional 10-second no-penalty period, half points are deducted for every 10 seconds over the limit (although, the time restrictions are really just part of the competition – there should be no restraint on what you have to say. As everyone always says: “fuck the time penalty!”).

At the beginning of each slam, the facilitators randomly choose 5 audience members who are given the task of judging each poem on a scale of 1-10. After each performance, the high and low scores from the judges are dropped, and the remaining numbers are added up. There are two rounds per slam; all 10 poets perform in the first round, and the top 6-scoring individuals move on to the next round. After this round, the slammers’ points are all added up, and they are respectively awarded additional points that will go towards helping them qualify for Grand Slam Finals in December.

Last night was the second competitive slam of the season. It featured eleven student performers (ten competitors and one “sacrificial poet” – someone that slams at the beginning of the night to give everyone a feel for how things work), as well as special guest Jose Vadi.

I arrived with a few friends when the doors opened around 7 pm. The room was already packed, and I could tell that this was going to be a beautiful night filled with plenty of words. A very enthusiastic MC interrupted our small-talk conversations with a reverberating announcement, telling us it was time to get started. Faint hip-hop music playing in the background, he quickly ran down the rules of the night before introducing the poets. First came the “sacrificial poet”, who would perform a piece that would be scored, but not for the purpose of competing. This would both give the judges something to compare their scores to, as well as help set the tone for the rest of the night. Throughout the night, we heard a wide variety of compositions. Within each was surely at least one verse that would really hit home. Memorable lines like “when will they see that terrorist is not a race” and “I hope he didn’t think I was asking for more…he did” left the audience stomping their feet, groaning and snapping their fingers in approval, roaring with applause after each performer had finished telling their stories.

One of the performers was Caliber’s very own Rosemarie. She was nervous, but I kept telling her that she was going to kick so much ass tonight. And kick ass she did – for the next 3 minutes, she crooned out an amazing piece about how some people just really fuck us over. There was literally so much truth to it that it hurt.

Upon conclusion of the first round, it was time to introduce the feature of the night. Jose Vadi is a writer, performer, and educator currently residing in nearby Oakland. For the past few years, he has served as a Poet Mentor for the Youth Speaks program, a national literary non-profit organization. Jose has coached several slam poetry teams, and is himself a two-time National Poetry Slam champion. He also facilitates workshops at colleges and detention centers around the nation and is involved with The Off/Page Project, which is a collaboration between Youth Speaks and the Center for Investigative Reporting. Last night, we had the pleasure of listening to him perform some of his work for us, including an excerpt of one of the plays that he’s been penning.

The rest of the night flew by. Following a short intermission, the top 6-scoring performers read out their second pieces, again leaving us all wide-eyed and touched. As we left the hall and entered into the brisk night, it was all we could talk about, despite the cold continuously biting at our tongues. In my mind, I was still mulling over all of the various words I had just heard. It took me some time to really digest and process it all — going to poetry slams never fails to make me think. Although I didn’t have anything prepared to perform this night, I am intent on trying the next chance I get.

If you’re interested in slam poetry, whether it be performing or just listening, there are so many opportunities to do so! The 3^rd competitive slam will take place on Friday, November 8^th. There is also going to be a workshop and open mic (featuring Franny Choi) on Thursday, October 24^th, from 7-9 pm at the Multicultural Community Center. In addition, the group hosts weekly writing and editing workshops. Check out more information on CalSLAM’s Facebook page.