S.T.E.P.U.P. @ ArtReach

Yesterday, we mentioned S.T.E.P.U.P.'s performance at the Whippersnapper Gallery for ArtReach Toronto. Rahel, S.T.E.P.U.P. member and summer student at DPC, is here with an account of the event:

WHIPPERSNAPPER GALLARY WAS OFF THE HOOK! It was more than just an outreach - it was people coming together and realizing that the youth are the future and we can accomplish great things by doing what we do best and that’s getting out there and getting LIVE!

The S.T.E.P.U.P. crew did their thang, and I’m “oh so proud”. The crowd showed us a lot of love and we all felt the vibes in the room – can’t lie, the S.T.E.P.U.P. crew felt like celebrities with all the cameras following our every move! One day we’ll get to do “big tings” as Klyde would say and everyone would know our name INTERNATIONALLY.

Thanks to ArtReach Toronto for having S.T.EP.U.P. perform and get out there with our goods.

Rahel was also kind enough to let us post the finished poem that S.T.E.P.U.P. performed:

Discovering My Soul

My first poem copied another
and within that crime
I became a mother
Poetry
was doing me, writing itself
Pen picked me up,
I spilled out ink
Words made me look within
I finally saw what my heart truly thinks
My soul speaking

carved marks in my stone heart
and warmed by Ink’s lust,
red and black expressed my clustered thoughts
infused my veins
until they cradled in my chords to be grown like crops

I reached for the mic
Stage enlightened my mind,
livity’s lightning struck
so I took it as a sign and left church
Born again poet,

flames resurrected the ashes
then danced on the pages in between the lines
until Ink and I intertwined
“Freedom!” my poem cried aloud

and I, like a babymother, oh so proud
heard my child for the very first time