By SARAH CLARK
News Editor
Social justice is often fought for through art, and one poet, educator, and activist has written her own way towards advocating for the truth.
Mahogany Browne performed poetry at the Huxley Theatre in the New York State Museum on Thursday, and spoke with attendees about what her role as a poet, writer, activist, and educator has meant for her and the communities she serves.
The event was defined as a celebration and an opportunity to reflect on the importance “of how social change is achieved both in the past and present,” according to Cassie Andrusz- Ho Ching, a NYS Writers Institute graduate assistant and PhD candidate, and Browne has been a pivotal performer within the poetry community while educating those outside of the affected communities as well.
“I understand that if I do not tell my story, someone else will and they will do it incorrectly,” said Browne. “The value is knowing that my truth and my experience will not be shaped to fit an agenda of someone else.”
When Browne is teaching, there is no censorship. This is to encourage her students to express their truths while also standing by their words.
For a high school class assignment, Browne rewrote Dante’s Inferno and mixed it with lyrics from the band N.W.A. The teacher for her course returned her assignment dissatisfied and told Browne she would fail the assignment if she did not rewrite it. It was at this moment the PBS NewsHour-featured poet set poetry aside and turned to journalism.
“That one moment of someone telling me that even my creative thought into critical thinking was invalid was enough for me to say ‘I don’t want to do this’,” said Browne.
When Browne became a journalist, she did so with the intention of telling the truth.
“If it’s reporting the truth and that is deemed fit and worthy, then I am going to do that, I am going to tell the truth,” said Browne. “And the reason why I stopped doing journalism was that an editor told me he wasn’t going to print what actually happened.”
When her editor refused to publish a story that exposed an attempted assault, she turned back to poetry.
“At that moment I thought ‘All this time I’ve been doing it right, and trying to go with the rules and I had someone tell me that was wrong too’,” said Browne.
Since 2001, Browne has written poetry to tell the truth that herself and others live daily through her experiences.
Throughout her performance, Browne explained her pieces and the activism that inspires her poetry.
“Woke: A Young Poet’s Call To Justice” written by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood teaches adolescents from the age of eight about being a global citizen and how to address the racial issues, such as racism, gentrification, redlining, that are experienced from young ages.
“Once we like filtered through all of this oppressive systems and the capitalism that it’s feeding,” said Browne. “The human that is suffering is the most important part and how do we become better humans to each other. So I tell them about activism everywhere.”
The consequences of silence was a topic that Browne highlighted, and she uses activism and education to speak the truth she sees in the world.
“I am able to talk about not just diversity issues and silencing issues, but also the way in which we’re ignored and erased completely for our efforts. So that is a constant filter in which I look at the world,” said Browne, “So if there’s an important thing I’m thinking about it’s to not be silenced.”
When it comes to bringing her pieces to the pages, Browne said she uses different literary devices and other writing methods to help guide readers through her poetry. Throughout her writing process, she uses enjambment, slashes, and she will also omit line breaks in order to make readers certain emotions such as anxiety. These are a few of the techniques Browne uses to craft her poems and express the messages she is passionate about.
“On the page I wanted it to stand alone without me guiding you physically,” said Browne. “There’s times where there’s only one sentence on the page because I want you to feel loneliness, I want you to feel abandoned, I want you to have time to sit with the words. So the line breaks now work as a visual poem and score.”
Sydnie Helsop, a film and performance student at SUNY Albany, attended Browne’s performance.
“Her pieces were very powerful, very inspiring, relatable,” said Helsop.
Another SUNY student commented on the significance of a performance like Browne’s.
“I think we as humans are so constantly caught up in everyday, we have jobs, we have work, we have college, we don’t realize the effect that moving so quickly has on us,” said Neshana Murray, a documentary studies student. “I think it’s important to take a note from her book and sit back and reflect on the important moments in our lives and how it affects us.”
Andrusz-Ho Ching said that Heslop and Murray were part of a new program called the New York State Writers Institute Author Ambassador. In this program students learn about different authors and their work and then receive mentor advice from the author. The students were able to meet with Browne, where both received mentorship from her.
While she advocates for those who face injustice, Browne inspires the members of her audience through the art of writing and education while leaving society with the opportunity to reflect on what it means to be a global citizen.
“I don’t think any of us are walking through the world unscathed regardless of our background,” said Browne. “I think the most powerful poem is the poem that is always most honest.”
