Sister Outsider appeared on stage for the first time at the University of Indianapolis on Tuesday, Sept. 16. as part of the Diversity Lecture Series. The slam poets had eight poems lined up for the night.
This award-winning duo is representing two of the top three female slam poets in the world, Dominique Christina and Denise Frohman.
“They showed a great deal of enthusiasm [and] passion with the work they do,” said junior business administration major Korey Rogan.
The duo started the show by motivating the crowd to participate. The first poem they performed together was called “No Child Left Behind.”
“At the entrance of a West Philadelphia High School officer with gun perched on each waist. Asks me if I have any weapons. I hold up my book he tells me that he does not find that funny,” Frohman said in the poem.
The duo elaborated on how in this poem the students fall through the cracks and how the program does not help as much as it should.
The second poem talked about how Frohman’s mom was not well spoken in English and was looked down upon because she spoke Spanish. Frohman did this poem slam solo.
“If you are a little uncomfortable, that’s cool, probably will be,” Frohman said after she was finished. “That is how we grow. So lean into it and examine that and figure out why that is.”
The third poem was about how Christina “is where the anger resides in her,” with all the violence that she has seen and the history of all the violence seen by her family members.
The fourth poem, performed by Frohman, was about Muhammad Ali.
The next poem which Christina performed was titled and about “The Bombing of Birmingham Sunday.” In this poem, Christina explained what struggles the survivors felt and the emotions that traumatized so many people and caused them to be afraid of the world.
The sixth poem they performed together. This poem called “Similar Emotion” provided context for what it is like to be characterized a certain. In the poem, they talked about “what it is like to dodge Jehovah Witnesses so early in the morning.”
The seventh poem, which was performed by Frohman, was about how she was harassed about her relationship with her female lover. Frohman began the poem with “Dear Straight People,” which also was the poem’s title. The second line, “Gender and sexuality are two different things,” emphasized how people do not yet differentiate these words.
The eighth poem’s title is “Dear Nameless” was an introduction into reality.
“This [event] was a change, since I am normally playing sports on campus,” Rogan said. “Poetry is pretty helpful to express what you feel deep down inside.”
