Justin is a student in his junior year at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a business major in The Wharton School of Business and a basketball player. Justin has been writing spoken word for around four years. For those who are unfamiliar, spoken word is a form of poetry performed either with music or without. (If you are interested type in Spoken Word or Excelano on YouTube a ton of performances pop up!) After sharing some of his pieces with some well known spoken word artists, he continuously got positive feedback on his work. He was even encouraged to audition for Excelano.
Excelano is a group at UPenn that is well known for their talent in writing a performing spoken word. Excelano performs in various competitions and has a great reputation. They have opened for several artists on tour such as Busta Rhyms. The group has very competitive try outs every year and is extremely selective about who joins. However the group's criteria does not only include talent, but appearance, or should I say ethnicity. Needless to say when Justin tried out this past year he was told that he was extremely talented...for a white poet.
After much controversy they denied Justin the spot in Excelano with no explanation, no advice on how to improve (if need be) and no encouragement to try again next year. Justin was confused, why was he encouraged to try out by so many members if he was just to be turned down. Later he came to find out that the only thing was the color of his skin. Interesting. Can one claim that this is justified? I don't think so, but I would love to hear the argument.
Justin convinced himself that it was all behind him and he kept writing. He let all of his frustration out through poetry. Though he could barely go a day without hearing someone express disappointment or shock that he was not initiated. It was not until a few months ago that Justin received an e-mail to change his mind. The President of Excelano from this past year (his Sophomore year) e-mailed Justin to apologize for what happened and beg that he audition again. The President had been keeping up with Justin's spoken word and realized that he had made a mistake. Justin thought it over, took some advice from his family and decided he would try one last time. But that he would not let this decide whether he was a good poet or not.
The tryouts are tonight at 10pm on Penn Campus. Justin is not even sure that if he is chosen, if he will accpet the invitation. But tonight he will perform the poem that he wrote shortly after the last audition.
No good comes from any form of racism no matter who it is aimed towards. Whether it's against Hispanics, Whites, Blacks, Asians, Indians, or any other race. It is all wrong. Not only does it injure the group it is directed toward but it decays the quality of life of the human being that uttered it. No prejudice towards any group is worse or better than that towards another. Regardless to the amount of oppression our ancestors went through, no one should be discriminated against. No one.
I chose to blog about this subject not only because it frustrates me that it is year 2008 and we are still dealing with such ignorant and narrow minded situations, but also because it's a little closer to your heart when it happens to your older brother.
Here is the piece that Justin will be performing tonight
Response
She said...'I guess your ok, for a white poet'
As if my pale skin tone walks side by side with my ability to iterate
lyrical undertone and the throne of passion cannot rise above ethnic boundaries,
and this realm we call poetry is fixed vastly
in a place without growth,
as the DNA slips from my fingertips onto words consequently perceived
without merit, any parrot
can regurgitate lyrical styling but
when i get on the mic and start wylin'... my peers close their ears,
because some day in the future I've been judged on past,
that my green eyez could never have seen the face of sorrow,
as my powder colored hands have never reached into tattered pockets to
find nothing but keys,
my lips have never touched the forehead of a fallen colleague,
and we've never played mind sweep,
on college park boulevard,
dodging land mines while tryin' to land mine,
and I've never spent time with my mind
on snake eyez,
so as I break ties
my voice falls on deaf ears,
because clearly I could have never felt the slightest resemblance of struggle,
cause my kind always stares from bedroom windows at the mailman
passing through my white picket fence,
I don't even have the right to picket since
...I've never been wronged,
so whether I write poems or write songs,
I will always have that ghostly white cloud hanging over my head,
and the ceiling above my bed
is the floor beneath their feet,
so as I rise up and accomplish a feat...cunning or clever,
even if my shit is wack...I get an E for effort,
so thurs no added pressure
because the bar has been set at eye level
...like you said level the playin field,
and the weapon I wield
is comprehension...no not comprehensive,
because that would be a scary thought
...to think my words should be heard,
but I can explain it to you in a word...self-preservation,
maybe that's one and half but when they laugh
and say i've gone off the reservation,
Reilly...huh someone must have lost my invitation to the show,
funny I much prefer the glow
of two than the bushel basket of eight,
so lets get one thing str8... I can go on forever,
and God knows I want to badly,
but imma be the bigger man and let you tapp out...just say Daddy,
gladly ill walk the road from here to the stable,
don't worry they know where to find me...ill be at the white table.
I'll let you know what happens tonight!
If you are interested in seeing more of Justin Reilly's work you can see them on his Facebook in the notes section.
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