RAPPER GIVES POETRY PROGRAM A TWIST
BENNINGTON - Atlanta rapper Quanstar brought a different culture to Bennington last week through written and spoken words as a guest teacher in a summer poetry class.
After two weeks of focusing on slam poetry and more traditional poetic styles in the summer program, Quanstar introduced the class to rap and asked members to write songs that flowed with musical beats. "I want them to enjoy it and do something fun, but I want them to experience the art of song writing and what goes into doing this," he said.
As a recorded emcee, as well as a publicist, songwriter and movie producer, Quanstar also gave participants in the free program an inside look at the music business, which he said is focused on money and has little concern about messages it promotes.
"Any company, but record companies specifically, since the '40s have been out for money and absolutely nothing else," Quanstar told the class. "You got the record labels telling you you've got to do music like this, because, to be perfectly honest with you, it's what sells and record labels are in it to make money. They're not in it to make social change, and they shouldn't be; they're a business."
A number of students disagreed, saying businesses have a responsibility to inspire social change as well as consumers. While the rapper from Compton, Calif., agreed with the premise, he said it's up to the artist to determine what they want to promote.
"Those are the questions as artists that we deal with - should we do this or should we do that - on a daily basis," Quanstar said.
Slam poetry and rap was chosen as the main focus of the program to draw students into a class that teaches poetry - a topic that by itself didn't draw much interest, said Robert Marine, director of summer and after-school programs for the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union, which sponsored the four-week program through a grant.
"Get them involved"
"I want to get them involved in poetry, and I want to do more than that. I want to get them involved in expressing themselves, a way for kids to talk about things that interest them or bother them, and through slam, that's what it's all about," Marine said. "This is a great way for youth to talk about the things that bother them in their life or things they want to improve ... I think that slam poetry, hip-hop and rap give them an avenue where they feel comfortable expressing their ideas and who they are and finding their individuality and personality."
Individuality is part of the focus of slam poetry and hip-hop, said the program's first instructor Kiah Morris, who was involved with a group that promotes urban arts and culture to youth in Chicago called Kuumba Lynx before moving to Bennington.
Through the program, Morris said he tried getting students to expand their writing comfort zone and their confidence.
"I hope they get not only a confidence of how they can use their voice, but also that they see themselves as poetic artists and learn that their voice is valued," she said.
The second week was led by Jessica Marine, Robert Marine's daughter, who focused on poetic literature and structure.
This week, published poet Clara Rose, of Brattleboro, is teaching the class, which is held at Southern Vermont College.
Unlike many Mosaic programs, the poetry session has also been available to the community as a whole in addition to students.
