VERBAL BLEND BREWS CONFIDENCE

Snaps for spoken word poetry.

Words by Madeleine Oliveros

Art by Lilly Chidlaw-Mayen

Verbal Blend is a haven for student poets at Syracuse University. Since its founding in 2007, the spoken word poetry group has worked to create opportunities for students to perform their work.

Cedric T. Bolton, the SU Coordinator of Student Engagement in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, founded Verbal Blend out of his own passion for poetry. Known under the pseudonym Blackman Preach, he has released several spoken word poetry albums about his life and identity. Despite his success, he hasn’t always felt his voice matters.

“It’s all about giving voice. It’s always been about voice,” Bolton said. “You know, when I was young, I never really had confidence in my own voice because I didn’t think that it mattered what I was saying.”

Bolton’s most recent project was his 2022 rap/ hip-hop album, 12 Years Gone. The album explores Bolton’s life experiences and his identity through spoken-word poetry.

Verbal Blend welcomes all identities and cultures and focuses on encouraging students who may feel like their narratives aren’t heard to create and display their work. Its main goal is to foster an environment of mutual respect and acceptance.

“Those students who are coming into the space have to be able to trust the space so they can be vulnerable and feel that they won’t be judged,” he said. “I have to be able to share the ground rules in the space, but also say that there is a poetic license and there is no judgment here as artists.”

Bolton strives for transparency with members about what to expect from the sessions. The group offers seven writer’s workshops throughout the semester where students are welcome to share their work and get to know each other. Students are given prompts and asked to edit their work with their peers, sometimes brainstorming as a group. Bolton said that by the end of the third week, students really get to know each other and feel comfortable in the group.

“This is the one space that they feel to be a corner of Syracuse that is theirs. When they feel that family, they do extremely well when they are not only in classes but also when they hit the stage if they choose to perform,” he said.

Sasha Temerte, a senior member of Verbal Blend, added that the group has become an inviting space for students looking for a community.

“I think Cedric and the people who run Verbal Blend do a really great job creating a safe, comfortable environment for students to be happy to share their work and willing to share their work,” she said. “It’s a very open, welcoming, very diverse community of poets. We have people from all backgrounds who come together and write about their own experiences,”

Temerte has been writing poetry since high school and self-published a book called Peace and Other Radical Ideas . However, she said joining Verbal Blend has helped her improve her poetry and expand her ideas even further.

“I mean, I’m just a very busy person, so I haven’t been prioritizing poetry as much as I used to, and Verbal Blend is kind of a way to force me to write poetry every single week,” Temerte said. “I sometimes find myself drawing from the same themes over and over, and Verbal Blend challenged me by presenting me with brand new topics that I haven’t explored before.”

Laurie Fernandez, another member of the group, has also found Verbal Blend to be a constructive distraction from her busy college life. She said it has helped her dedicate time to focus on her poetry during her busy weeks of student teaching.

“You don’t really have time to reflect because you’re always just in class, or you’re doing work, or you have a job where you have projects,” Fernandez said. “So having that hour or two once or twice a week is really helpful.”

Fernandez has been a member of the group since her freshman year and is also the president of Nu Rho Poetic Society, SU’s invitation-based Greek organization for poets. Before joining Verbal Blend, she used her poetry as a form of self-reflection to learn from her life experiences. But during her four years in the group, she has learned to expand her creative style from introspection to more audienceaimed pieces. She spoke about how essential it is to know a voice has value and importance.

“It got me thinking, what do I want to say to my audience?” she said. “If have a platform to say something, what do I want to take the time to actually acknowledge and say to people that is going to be not only important to me but important to them?”

Verbal Blend holds several open-mic poetry slams throughout the semester. Students have the opportunity to perform their poetry and practice their audience engagement to gain confidence. Sometimes, that confidence translates into other aspects of members’ lives. Fernandez said that even though she is not one to perform her poems frequently, she notices the ways that her performing has permeated her everyday life.

“As an art education major, I’m doing student teaching,” she said. “In some ways, I view it as a performance because regardless of what’s going on, I have to teach my lesson and say the questions that I have.”

Temerte also finds the Verbal Blend performances impactful.

“It instills a lot of confidence in your ability and desire to keep getting better and to perform,” she said.

Although the group dynamic is what attracts many students to Verbal Blend, it is Bolton’s leadership and commitment to providing a judgment-free outlet that keeps them coming back.

“He really knows how to bring out the creative side of people and inspire [them] to write about themselves and their experiences, and write for the people,” Temerte said. “So it’s a great opportunity to have your voice heard, and whether or not you perform, it’s a valuable writing experience.”