Peot Keno Evol performing a poem at his on-campus event. Evol used his workshop to try to encourage St. Thomas students to think imaginatively about complex social issues. (Annie Terry/TommieMedia)
Keno Evol, a local poet and founder of the nonprofit Black Table Arts held a poetry workshop at St. Thomas Feb. 26. This workshop brought an artistic and creative lens to St. Thomas’ observance of black history month.
In Evol’s workshop, he talked about what poetry means in today’s divided society. He asked the crowd of students and staff to think and talk about prompts related to their emotions and drives. He also read poems and quoted other artists, encouraging his audience to find art that they connect with.
Evol aims to create a space where participants can think critically and imaginatively about issues.
Evol hopes that his events will “(get) people to really think through some ideas that I think poets have thought out that I think are beautiful and important.”
This type of creative thinking with young people, in Evol’s opinion, has the potential to extract larger social change.
“Young people, college (students) and high schoolers, have always been the vanguard of social movements,” Evol said, “I think that does have something to do with imagination.”
This event was sponsored by the St. Thomas diversity activities board (DAB). This type of speaker is not one DAB would typically choose for Black History Month.
“We usually get someone that gives a traditional speech or a keynote speaker,” Mohamed Mahamud, St. Thomas senior and DAB employee, said. “This will be a little different and kind of teach the audience how to express themselves in a different way and how to connect to people that aren’t the same or similar as you.”
This difference, Mahamud said, is part of why bringing an artistic talent such as Keno Evol on campus is so important.
“I know there’s a lot of talented people who do different types of great things around campus,” Mahamud said. “Keno Evol can help connect and reach out to all (of) those people.”
Evol is confident that St. Thomas students can find inspiration in the art scene in the Twin Cities.
“There’s a lot happening in the Twin Cities right now. There’s a lot of opportunities to experience art and poetry that, I think, get people to think about the future of the country and about the future of our communities,” Evol said.
Annie Terry can be reached at Terr2351@stthomas.edu.