The Power of Words

And that passion for spoken word snagged top honors for Lynch at the Power of Words Poetry Slam Wednesday evening at the San Business and Cultural Arts Center, 5820 w Chicago Ave. The American Idol-styled contest featured students from fourWest Sideschools. The teens went through three rounds of elimination to get down to five finalists. Each received $50 and a job with the West Side McDonald’s chain owned by Lofton and Lofton Management, which co-sponsored the event. Lynch also walked away with the grand prize – an additional $100.

Many of the students’ pieces were personal. They used metaphors and imagery to weave stories about teen pregnancy, self-love, divorce, and youth violence. Lynch, a 16-year-old junior, did a piece promoting inner beauty, called My Black is beautiful. She used a murder trial as a metaphor to explain how blacks are often unfairly judged by the color of their skin.

“A lot of black people are insecure about their color because the way people treat us,” said Lynch, who began writing poetry three years ago. “That was the inspiration for my poem – that color, don’t matter and you can make it regardless.”

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