By Emily Clark ‘15
There were students and community members filling every seat, leaning up against the walls, and sitting in the aisles. With every space in Blount Auditorium filled, students spilled out into hallway, creating almost a roar of laughter and conversation. Yet when Sonya Renee Taylor took the stage, absolute silence fell over the room—but only briefly.
“I’m going to start this with a call and response,” she shouted into the crowd. “Y’all are from the south—you know how to do that, right?” Within moments, the crowd was shouting, clapping, and laughing, and the poetry hadn’t even started yet.
Sonya Renee is world-renowned slam poet and founder of The Body is Not an Apology, a networking and support website for “radical self-love for everybody and every body.” She works to “foster an unapologetic self-love, body empowerment, and healing around the world.” Sonya Renee visited campus on February 2nd for an hour-long poetry performance and brief information session about The Body is Not an Apology.
The topics of her poems ranged from playground games to breakups, cancer patients to virginity. There were instances of humor juxtaposed with moments of deep humility and reflection. The audience was encouraged to shout out, clap, and interrupt the poem. First-year Rachel Windmueller explains, “My first poetry slam was one hundred percent a slam. The spoken word resonates in a way so different from written poetry or prose that the distinction is undeniable, unpredictable, and unforgettable.” One of Sonya Renee’s poems that began with a commentary on shopping in Sweden transformed into a reflection on the power of a smile to promote positive self-images, and the importance of sharing joy. “Joy is survival,” Sonya Renee said at multiple moments throughout the night. “Joy is survival, and we’ve got to share it.”
Sonya Renee’s poems are driven from real-life experiences. She related that she feels like she has been put in challenging or humbling situations so she can later write about them and share her realizations, thoughts, and reflections with others. In many instances, she was inspired to write a poem because of oppression—either of herself or others. “Oppression oppresses everyone, even those who oppress,” she explained. And, while these poems may come from a place of anger, Sonya Renee said that she doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing: “Anger turns into a catalyst for change.”
It was anger about societal issues surrounding women’s body acceptance—and the way her friends were treating and talking about their bodies—that inspired the line “the body is not an apology” in a poem. Four years ago, that line turned into The Body is Not an Apology project, which then shifted to be a social network and support group. Now, Sonya Renee travels the country not only as a poet, but also as an advocate for a “self-love movement.”
Sonya Renee’s visit was in conjunction with Rhodes’ V-Week, which is the annual week-long event leading up to the performance of the Vagina Monologues. V-Week also promotes female empowerment, sexual health, and solidarity and allyship with women who have experienced violence.
For more about The Body is Not an Apology movement, visit: http://thebodyisnotanapology.com/