Micah Daniels
Micah Daniels is a twenty year old black woman currently in her second year at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She joined Oak Park and River Forest High School’s spoken word club her junior year of high school which ended up being a life changing event for her. She had the wonderful opportunity of joining Oak Park and River Forest High School’s competitive spoken word club, called the Slam Team, her junior and senior year and went on to be a poetry apprentice and join the 2020 Bomb Squad team. She now studies neuroscience at her university while also working with a number of organizations to bring about education reform. Poetry was her first love and first source of peace and through her poetry she shares her experience as a young black woman growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and hopes to speak for voices that are often misheard or misunderstood.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
I had always deeply struggled with my identity, which is something I’m getting more comfortable with saying everyday. I grew up in a primarily white town in primarily white schools and as a result, I had a primarily white point of view which I would say was an infection that continued to spread from my mind all throughout my life until I took a deep look at myself. I also struggled with mental illness and opposing opinions to my parents, which didn’t really allow me to have a safe space in my home or even inside my own head. I truly had no sense of identity. I just thought I was someone who was alive to aid other people’s stories. But poetry was one of the only things I have ever organically done without any influence from other people. I think there are very few things people do in the world that didn’t derive from an outside influence, and I think those things might be truly what makes you who you are and are what you love. I have written poetry as a way to cope and as a way to express joy, confusion, hopelessness, and curiosity since elementary school. When I first began, I viewed it as a way of journaling that took less pressure, because it could be super short and hidden in figurative language and really only make sense to me. If I wasn’t ready to fully break something down, I could sneak it into a poem and it worked as an effective outlet. I think it’s still really important to write poetry with no expected result because it allows whatever to flow out, that needs to. But now, I also write with more intention and I really try to create meaningful art that can add something to the world, and when I feel like I’ve done that, it feels amazing. I never would have guessed that my little hobby of writing poetry would lead me to join the spoken word club which allowed me to meet some of the most diverse and genuine people I have ever met in my life, with the most supportive and loving coaches that now feel like family. To be around relentless authenticity when most of the world feels the opposite, is life changing and completely empowering. Being in the spoken word club allowed me to feel comfortable in confidently being myself and fostered the belief that I could make a lasting difference in the world. It also taught me how important relationships are, that are 100% centered in love.
Connect with Micah poetry
Writing Prompts
Write a poem from the perspective of one of your ancestors/distant relatives
Write about a quality from a past family member you’ve inherited (good or bad)
Think of names you were almost given. How would your life be different if you were named that instead?
Write about the origin of your nickname
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Jose Olivarez - I love him because he’s a humble genius that creates such rich images and characters in his stories, they haunt my brain in a beautiful way and I could only wish to somehow recreate that.
Patricia Smith - Patricia Smith is someone whose stories and experiences deserve to be listened to most intently, she’s a black woman from Chicago who tells in depth stories through poetry (which is obviously short form), that’s very impressive to me.
Jericho Brown - He uses rather simple and easy to understand language to create intense images and I want to do that too.
Lyricists: Solange, Smino, Sam Cooke