I wondered how I could help myself. Been tortured by my past present and what if future? Who else can I talk to?
My emotions are sinking me deep into this pit where there’s no help. I’m drowning, craving to be heard. I’m yelling, with love I wanna be fed.
I live in pain and loads of questions and yet the only relief is the sound of my pen on paper, The sound of the teardrop… I watched Annie lay down broken and helpless.
Her eyes are deeply in their sockets, damn she’s so scared. All she wished for was that there’d just be a wind of miracle. So she could breathe free clean air. But her life feels like an incomplete puzzle.
She hears my words as they tickle her ears. Here, her eyes closed and her hand tight in mine, she sighs in tears… Her cheeks all pink, she smiles. I could see the relation.
Although she knew there was no time, She had what she wished for. I had never seen her blush in so many weeks. The smile on her lips sat Inbox
Dear Poets, Ladies and Gentlemen of our beloved Poetry Community,
As a community, we all need to help in seeing what we hold dear grow up. We need to do things that support, not only our individual growth but also, the collective growth. One sure way is collaboration and slam poetry performance, and my interest here is about “Slam” in Ghana. Slam poetry has been with us for years, and since its birth in the 80s by Marc Kelly Smith, a local poet and construction worker in Chicago, it has given birth to some of the great voices of our time globally. This is also evident in Ghana, but not many people are aware.
My proposition is to present to all of you who already know, and all who are yet to know, what slam is and why we need poets like you and I to take up the mantle to challenge ourselves for what is coming. This is also a time to open the floodgates of creativity - to walk out of comfort zones - into something that is needful for the entire community of poetry and spoken word.
Slam poetry is the ‘ish’ now, and though it is competitive, it is also a healthy challenge (real life issues to deal with) among equals and gives poets opportunities to travel as well. I am proud to say that our slam journey did not start yesterday. It began way back in 2009 at Alliance Française d’Accra. We have seen what it has become and what it is still becoming. Below are some of our own first-generation slammers who were participants of the first slam we organized here in Accra following my own slam experience in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Mutombo da Poet, Juno Mamacita, Crystal Tettey, Jahwi, Joss, Fapempong, Rhyme Sonny, D.K. Osei-Yaw, Andy Aryeetey, Nana Asaase, Nii Lantey, Etc.
My submission is to let us know that these early slammers - good poets in their own right - did not have any fear whatsoever about who won or who lost. The motivation was to ignite a drive into the poetry scene; a key element to the development of the landscape, and to also see what new works could be generated from subsequent slams (bearing in mind that one cannot perform the same piece twice or bring back a poem that has already been on the slam stage). Slam encourages you to do more and to create new works every time. Who benefits from slam but the slammer?
If you can hear my words, let it resonate in you, give yourself a chance and challenge the poet in you. You will be proud that you took a stance for something that will help uplift the face of poetry in Ghana.
May I be honest here to speak about your selfishness and mine. Feeling we have arrived as poets in our fragile zones of comfort will not help anyone. It will not help the community. We need to open up the space to innovations and new forms of doing this thing called art regarding performances. We need you rise beyond me, my mouth and mic mimics and walk into some new grounds, for we have come of age. Poetry in Ghana is viewed highly by other Africans more than you can imagine; even more reason for us to wake up and live up to some of these expectations for us.
Currently, there are some slam poets across Africa who are willing to come to Ghana to attempt slamming with our slam poets just to sharpen themselves and to meet and see all the good they hear about Ghana. Yet, we have a community of poets who have refused to rise to the call of the times. This is the time for Slam Poetry, and it is not surprising that the 2nd edition of Africa Cup of Slam Poetry just ended last November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with Guinea emerging as the Africa champion. And, the 1st edition of the World Poetry Slam Championship will hit the city of Brussels, the capital of Belgium, in September 2022.
I propose that, over the next three years, we challenge ourselves to mentor slam poets and a willing community for the next generation. We need all hands on deck to meet this urgent call. I know that not everyone is willing or has the guts to slam, but we all can do something to see the development of this movement become what it supposed to be.
Ghana is strategically well-positioned to possibly host the Africa Slam Championship here in Accra, but we have to work to see venues hosting slams and poetry events regularly.
We need to: • initiate conversations and discussions around slam and poetry, • organize workshops and training programs to facilitate our readiness for what we are expecting, • increase visibility in schools and communities, and introduce the movement to them, • use the medium to tell our own stories, advocate and to show young people that there is power in their voice.
Slam Poetry is the last art cry to hit our nation’s capital. Slam is the new face of poetry in Ghana. And slam is going to be the undeniable platform for exposure and cross-cultural experiences.
The Maiden Edition of the SheShe Slam began at exactly 7:06pm at the Folks Place, National Theatre on 3rd March, 2022. 15 talented ladies signed up for the slam and they all made it to the show.
Nii Musick welcomed slammers and the audience with his melodious voice and strings.
The MC for the night, Miss Affumwaah, did the introductions and set the ball rolling.
To be fair and just, five volunteers were randomly chosen from the audience to serve as judges.
Judging rules were very simple – A judge should not be related to any of the slammers in any way. – Judges are to lift a number between 1-5 after each slammer’s performance. – After every vote cast, the highest and the least would be taken off and the average becomes the slammers points or score.
Rules for judges were understood. Rules for the slammers were laid out as well: 1. All slammers go two rounds 2. All pieces must be original 3. Each piece to be delivered within 3mins either recited by heart or read. 4. No props 5. No engagements with audience
Erfiyah served as the time keeper. Every slammer had 3 minutes to perform a piece. And Gadede served as the score keeper.
The rules were read and understood by all, and then the games begun — 15 well crafted ladies with $100 to be won.
She Rhyme was the first to start the slam, followed by Gyimaah, Twita lit, Noble Echep, Margical, Xorlali, Tizamaah, Nassam, She Northener, Bonkua, Grace, Korkor, Berlene, Brianna and Ohemaa the poet
It was a very tough and thrilling slam as all the slammers brought out the best of the best of their talent, they all managed to keep the fully packed Folks Place thrilled and on the edge of their seats as they went neck-to-neck, piece after piece.
At the end of round 1, the top 5 slammers were, Bonkua and Briana who secured 15 points each, Nassam with 14 points, and Twita lit, Xorlali and Korkor with 13 points each.
Nii Musick and Ayorkor refreshed the audience with their soothing voices after the first round, as the slammers rested themselves to come for the second round.
Rules remained same for the second round, but the order of slammers was changed from middle to bottom and then top to middle.
It was another round of fireworks as the slammers kept spitting fire, dropping truths, and giving the audience bars after bars.
In about 40 minutes, round 2 came to a close and there were ties at the top three positions.
In 3rd place were Noble Echep and Xorlali with 21 points each, in second place were, Nassam, Berlene, and Korkor with 27 points each, and in first place were Bonkua and Briana with 30 points each.
In order to split the tie and find the Charm for the maiden edition of the SheShe Slam, who will walk home with the $100 price. Brianna and Bonkua went neck to neck as they performed their tie-breaking pieces for the audience.
At the end of that round, Bonkua scored 12, earning her a total of 42 points whiles Brianna scored 13 earning her a total of 43 points, making her the first SheShe Slam Charm in the history of Ehalakasa and the National Theatre.
It was a power-packed event filled with chills and thrills. This only tells how grounded female poets and spokenword artistes are in the art. EHALAKASA – it lives in us!
I am , a Spoken word artist with stage name “”Ohemaa the Poet””. I have a strong passion for Spoken word poetry and I see it as a tool that touches the soul of the soulless.
Over the years the poetry and spoken words scene in Accra have seen many male performers than female performers and this imbalance is what Ehalakasa is hoping to adjust with the maiden SheSheSlam2022.
It is our obligation as a community to give sisters the space to tell their stories in different forms, one of such is slam. Slam is a three (3) round healthy competitive performance where poets perform their original written spoken word poetry before a live audience and are judged by 5 randomly selected audiences as judges judging on the scale of 0 -10.
Each piece or performance must be within 3 minutes at length.
This slam is a Herstoric moment in the spoken word landscape in Ghana. It’s the first of many to come, so let us take this chance to get women out there, let the landlords know that we have matters of importance we can bring onto the table.
Some kind of women parliamentarians addressing the state of the nation. “Ehalakasa, It lives in us!”
Artist Profile
“We don’t smile because we are happy but we are happy because we smile.” Born Eastwind-Blessman Al-Jewellace Bhryte Mann Kobina Ebo Diamond and known as Diamond King-Speaks, one-third of the trio spokenword Kings. Started writing at age thirteen since Junior High School and has since evolved and matured greatly. Most popular pieces being “The B.e.a.utiful Woman” series and in most recent times, giving his audience tragic stories from his upcoming project known as “Broken Bottles”.
Party Time
Diamond recounts how he saw a video many years ago that intrigued him, but he didn’t understand the contents until his big brother came from the university and explained that it was a spokenword video and introduced him to the concept. Though he has been writing since age 13, he started doing poetry in 2014 after he attended a couple of poetry shows, including EHALAKASA, and other slams. Diamond also listens to and watches other artists while working on himself.
Storyteller is how he describes himself, rather than a rhythmic poet or spokenword artist and this is evident in his style of writing and performance. Diamond writes very captivating pieces and believes recitals are great, however, stories are more relatable and people can feel the emotions.
Starting off with “Breaks my heart to tell you I love you”, then “Tragic”, it was a party filled with sadness and heartbreaks; one for the ‘sad boys’. For our open mic session, Ethelyn Echep chipped in with a musical interlude. Her silky smooth, yet powerful voice served us “You are who you are”. After, the guest act of the day kept everyone’s attention with a “15-year-old marriage without a child” story and a sad “emergency wedding”.
For his last piece, Diamond called for three random words: seed, uniqueness, shadow. He produced such a mesmerizing piece!
In conclusion, the captivating storyteller hinted that he would engage in more studio work this year, and he is already working on his project “BROKEN BOTTLES”.
, a Spoken word artist with stage name “”Ohemaa the Poet””. I have a strong passion for Spoken word poetry and I see it as a tool that touches the soul of the soulless.
