Words by Anj

When I first discovered Dominique Christina on YouTube, my body sat frozen and my eyes didn’t even want to blink in fear of missing her words. Sounding like a rap queen legend with her flow, she’s the kind of spoken word poet whose presence can hush an entire crowd into pin-drop silence.

It’s no wonder she holds five National Poetry Slam Titles under her belt. Her writing celebrates the underdog, the minority, the importance of our colours.

Since she has easily made it to my “Favourite Poets” list, I wanted to share 3 of my favourite performances of hers:

No Child Left Behind (with Denice Frohman)

A spoken word collaboration with Denice Frohman (who, by the way, is also incredible), this piece is all about America’s education system. How certain students are afraid to dream their dreams, where the wrong versions of “history” are drilled into them everyday. Their identities aren’t celebrated but killed in the classroom before they’ve even made it into the real world. They are “black and brown and gay and poor and different and other and not enough and too much”.

Collaboration performances are always interesting to watch. It’s like the poets pass on words like a baton to their partner who takes it and runs with their own individual flow. They merge together then separate into different strands whilst still staying on the same path.

For Men

It’s quite often that female poets speak on feminism and the beauty of being a woman. In this refreshing performance, Dominique celebrates men – the yang to our ying.

The Business of Womanhood Is In Your Handwriting

In this piece, Dominique Christina tells us how she grew up surrounded by women who were always regal and noble and gentle. Who never swore in public and whose spines were always straight. The epitome of feminine.

But she was none of the above and always felt like she was doing “womanhood wrong”. In this performance, she explores how polar-opposite she is to her mother.

“Womanhood is in your handwriting, it should not be prescribed.”

Hope you enjoyed this selection, let me know which was your favourite. If you liked her material, make sure you check out more of her on YouTube (she also goes by the name Dominique Ashaheed).

Words by Anj