A REVIEW
Women of Word, December 9, 2000

by Tianna Kennedy, NYCpoetry.com

So, I ventured to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe for "Women of Word" and was pleased. Upon my arrival, I drank a Corona and read the press release. Apparently, the venue has been around since 1974. Its mission is "to furnish the information and the vision to empower the underclass to join the mainstream and reinvigorate the American temper." Apparently, the featured women are all celebrated grass-roots activists and teachers and singers and dancers and (I hoped) poets. The Cafe seemed suited to a performance reading: replete with a full bar, raised stage, theatrical lighting, balcony, and warmth that has a little to do with the exposed brick, quite a bit to do with the poignant photos by Pedro Isztin (www.isztinfoto.com), but mostly to do with the attentive and dedicated staff.

First up was the leather clad Caridad de la Luz, "La Bruja." The success of the event was largely due to her excellent capabilities as MC. She proved the salt for the sluggish (but appreciative) audience. She introduced herself as an ambisextrist aquarius, said she was going to cut us open with sound, and soon had us involved with a "West Side Story Sing Along."

Helena D. Lewis was second. Her unassuming appearance and tiny speaking voice left us unprepared for the force of her perfectly crafted I-think-you're-an-idiot-and-I'm-even-dumber-'cause'-I-fucked-you poetry about STD freeze tag and the financial liquidation of women. Her poetry was about power and precision and momentum and all that is beautiful about well wrought repetition, variation, closure.

Aileen Cho was third. Her poetry centers on identity, image, and immigrant parents. And though the forced rhyming in her first set of poems was a bit difficult to bear, she rebounded beautifully in the second round with a damn fine personal narrative about the motions of monogamy: the holy trinity of love, sex and fucking.

Mariposa's more theatrical performance was a welcome addition to a night of straight poetry. Though the theme was common, 'sex, power, and the American dream,' the delivery was not. Any night involving whips, wigs, and body glitter is sure to be a good time.

Dawn Crandell's voice is strong and poetry lyrical. Dawn's primarily concerned with corporate dominance. This may seem passe, but is dynamic when personalized. My only complaint concerns her use of 'and then I woke up' devices.

I would argue that Women of Word exceeds Nuyorican's ambitions. Rather than inspiring the underclass to join the mainstream, the women I heard have created a reality the mainstream would be wise to attend to.