Phoenix Rysing Poets Express Grief through Spoken Word

Credit: richmondconfidential.org

“Everything I can’t say, I can write. And then that’s when it comes out.” That’s what Johnae Collins, 16, told Richmond Confidential. Collins is a member of RAW Talent, an after-school creative writing program founded in Richmond, California by Jefferson Award-winning English teacher Molly Raynor and spoken word artist Donte Clark. Last year, the Triangle Lab, a collaboration between Cal Shakes (California Shakespeare Theater) and the Intersection for the Arts, paired up with RAW Talent to create Phoenix Rysing, a month-long spoken word workshop helping young people express grief and discover forgiveness in a community frequented by violence and death.

“Everything I can’t say, I can write. And then that’s when it comes out.” – Johnae Collins

On September 7^th, 2013, two months into the workshop, Collins sat staring in disbelief at a text from her mother. “Derrick’s gone,” it said. Derrick Wilson, 21, was shot to death in the streets of Richmond’s Iron Triangle Neighborhood — the city’s heart beleaguered by crime. Wilson and Johnae grew up together. Derrick’s uncle was Collins’ godfather and she called Derrick “cuz.” Prior to this tragedy, Collins had already lost a cousin, a friend and an uncle to gun violence. “I’m just looking at myself like damn… do I matter to the world? Cause he mattered to me. He mattered a whole lot to the world – so am I next to go?” Collins wondered.

Credit: facebook.com/richmondartistswithtalent

Raynor explained that although RAW Talent has always been a place for youth to process pain through creative expression, “but we had never explicitly discussed the impact of grief or explored specific methods of healing before.” In the beginning, RAW Talent staff wondered if poetry really had the power to mend the heartbreak of losing family and friends to violent death. They were worried that students would not participate in Phoenix Rysing because the workshop would compel them to confront their pain. “But, on the contrary, 10-15 young people have showed up consistently, eager to talk about their feelings and practice healing through writing,” Raynor told Richmond Confidential.

“I think it takes a huge amount of self-awareness and bravery to do the emotional work they are committed to doing,” Raynor says.

Credit: richmondconfidential.org

Raynor observed that these young people had one thing in common. They numbed themselves to pain yet were aware that they will not heal unless they allow themselves to feel it. So they expressed it through their written work, through spoken word. “I think it takes a huge amount of self-awareness and bravery to do the emotional work they are committed to doing,” Raynor said.

To Collins, RAW Talent feels like family, and she attributes her sanity to Phoenix Rysing. Today the workshop is a permanent part of the RAW Talent program.

Read more from Soulful Expressions here.