Pair of poem presenters paw prizes

By Juan Reyes
Bridge Staff Writer
Originally published in the print edition on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021

During a recent poetry slam event, students shared cultural experiences through the voice of poetry.

Two of Texas A&M International University’s Greek Life organizations, Sigma Lambda Beta and the Delta Xi Nu “Honeys,” hosted the event at the Student Center, providing food for attendees and prizes for poem presenters.

Based on Instagram posts promoting this event, the slam poetry event was organized to allow students “to show pride, critique, love and more for your culture.”

“Since October is Global Diversity Awareness Month, we wanted to use this slam poetry event as a way for students of all different cultures here at TAMIU to talk about their culture through poetry,” Sigma Lambda Beta representative Diego Cruz said.

Cruz said TAMIU is also home to students who aren’t from a Hispanic background, so this was a good opportunity for them to express their feelings about their cultures while providing the majority of Hispanic students with a multicultural glimpse.

Delta Xi Nu representative Julia Joelia said the poetry slam could also provide a great opportunity for students to air out any grievances they might have about their culture, such as racism and classism within the culture.

However, the event itself had a low turnout with only two students presenting their poetry to those attending.

The first presenter’s poem, recited entirely in Spanish, discussed growing up as a woman in a Hispanic culture. The final student’s poem discussed what culture means and who defines it.