Approximately 200 people attended the second Los Angeles Term Poetry Night held at Art Share in the city’s Arts District. A small group of spoken-word performers and poets from Azusa Pacific and other Southern California schools came together to share their thoughts on race and sexuality.
The first poetry night took place in the fall, and now LA Term plans on hosting one each semester.
According to senior global studies major Ipolani Duvauchelle, the co-emcee of the event and attendee of LA Term in spring 2012, the event was originally designed to “reach out to the community and have it be a free space to talk about social justice issues [students] were learning about at LA Term.”
All APU students as well as homestay families were invited to the event. According to Duvauchelle, placing it off campus was purposeful.
“To do it in LA is kind of a more freeing space,” Duvachelle said. “LA is kind of known to accept all people. LA is multicultural, multiethnic – there are just different groups of people from different backgrounds, so you kind of get out of this bubble of APU.”
According to Duvauchelle, the theme encompassed social justice issues that are noticed by students participating in LA Term and topics of conversations on campus.
Senior sociology major Jordyn Sun, who was part of the planning committee, said that it is important to discuss issues that affect larger people groups.
“It’s my belief that true community arises out of spaces that embrace uncomfortable topics and disagreement, where people can be liberated to speak and think out of honesty instead of fear,” Sun said.