Theatre

As a Korean American living in Ohio, Im constantly find myself in cultural situations where I am the minority. After all, we are only about 0.4 of the population. In a way, this made the task of immersing myself in another culture quite easy for me, as it is something I have to do every day of my life.  However, most of the opportunities I have to co-mingle with other races and ethnicities primarily involve Anglo-Americans, so when I heard about an event called the Women of The World Poetry Slam which was involving a significant number of the African-American population, both as audience members and performers, I thought this would be a great opportunity to immerse myself in some new cultural experiences.

    The Women of the World Poetry Slam was actually a 3-day function, running from March 10-13.  I only attended the events on the evening of Friday, March 12, 2010, since that was best for my schedule.  Even so, I was able to get a rich and diverse experience in just those few hours.  The poetry readings occurred in multiple locations.  Three separate coffee shops - Urban Spirit, Zanzibar and Kickstart.  I spent a short time at each, but most of my time was concentrated at the Urban Spirit coffee shop.  Urban Spirit has a kind of old jazz bar feel, with many old, black and white photographs of African-American entertainers on the walls. Not surprisingly, this was the location that drew the most African-Americans, and I felt it was better suited to give me an experience that was out of my everyday norms. As a Korean, I know how disabling and frustrating dealing with cultural stereotypes and myths can be, so I wanted to be sensitive and aware of how this also impacts other ethnicities.  Asians often get tagged with the stereotyped of being more studious and bookish, but African-Americans have had  to contend with stereotypes of them not being as interested in learning. I know that is a fallacy, but I also know how deeply rooted erroneous beliefs can become in society. 

    As I entered the coffee shop, I have to admit, that I felt a little concerned about feeling out of place, upon going into Urban Spirit, but although there were many Black people, there were also quite a few people of other ethnicities in the crowd, and I felt much more welcomed and at home than Id expected.  People were friendly and smiled.  I got a few curious looks, but nothing hostile.  I think the looks were more a reflection of the fact that people were pleasantly surprised to see a Korean woman in that space. 

    The performances were really great. A lot of high energy and artistry.  Plus, I liked that the great skill inherent in doing spoken word poetry helps to challenge the stereotypes of African Americans not being as interested in intellectual pursuits.  The Black artists I saw were really thoughtful, educated, creative, deep thinkers.  And, much of the poetry touched on personal experiences of the artists as Black women.  Although I didnt get any great new ephiphanies about Black people or race, in general, during the performances, it was more interesting to see how these womens experiences were so similar to my own and many of my Korean family and friends.  I think oftentimes we focus so much on differences that we forget how much we are alike.  But, as our society becomes more global and technology allows us access to much of the same information, music, videos, fashion, etc., I think that young people are finding they have more in common than not, regardless of race. 

    Overall, I had a great experience at The Women of the World Poetry Slam. The performances were fun and I met some lovely people who I probably wouldnt normally have the opportunity to share with.  I even had a casual conversation with a sweet lady at a table near me.  I mentioned that I was Korean and she told me about   a slam poet named Ishle Yi Park, the first Korean American woman to compete in the National Poetry Slam.  The evening was worth it just to find out about this artist and I intend on looking into more of her work in the future.  I love the idea of Korean women taking advantage of this medium to express our creativity too.