Rhythm and Rhyme Youth Poetry Slam
showcases young poets’ talent
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
The participants in the
summer camp at W.R. An
derson participated in the
Rhythm and Rhyme Youth
Poetry Slam for the fourth
year. The poetry slam took
place on Thursday, July
18, at the center, with over
60 kids across three age
groups participating in the
event.
The theme for this
year’s event was Love,
Peace and Soul, based on
the television show Soul
Train. To pay homage to
the show, the campers per
formed rehearsed dance
routines prior to the show.
The young poets put in
a lot of work preparing for
the poetry slam, said Betty
Wallace, event coordina
tor. Wallace praised the
young people for their tre
mendous effort this year.
“What we did differ
ently this year is we start
ed a little bit earlier, we
started in April, because
some of the kids attend the
center during the school
year and they were more
advanced for the summer,”
said Wallace. “We also had
the parents a little more in
volved this year, by giving
them an outline of things
they had to follow in order
to get the kids prepared.
“We also gave them
a link for things about
There were over 60 children who participated in the poetry slam at W.R. Anderson this year.
the Soul Train era to look
at. We then gave them
helpful words to use in
their poems to help de
scribe what they were talk
ing about.”
To help give the kids
an understanding of the
theme, Wallace showed
them clips of the Soul
Train show and discussed
how the world has evolved
since the 1970s.
“We made a compari
son between what was
happening then to what is
going on now in this par
ticular generation,” she
continued. “We found
out a lot of the songs dealt
with love, war and peace
and those kinds of things.
“We are still dealing
with a lot of issues we
were dealing with dur
ing that era and the kids
are more aware of it, so
they had an opportunity
to share their ideas. It all
started from a couple of
clips on YouTube and then
they integrated their ideas
within their writing.”
The winners from the
three age groups were:
Harmony Bowman (group
1), Addison Barnes (group
2) and Chloe Moore (group
3). Moore has been a win
ner in previous years of the
poetry slam. Wallace had
high praise for the intense
research and preparation
Moore put into this year’s
poem.
“Chloe has experi
ence under her belt and
she would often come to
me for private coaching,”
Wallace said. “Every day
we would kind of work on
her piece. She spent a lot
of time wanting a lot more
coaching by coming to me
and asking me how she
could enhance her writ
ing.”
According to Wallace,
the young poets had a lot
of competition between
themselves leading up to
the poetry slam. She said
they would practice with
one another to help sharp
en their skills.
Wallace said it was a
group effort putting to
gether the poetry slam. She
was very pleased with the
performance and turnout at
the center. “Everyone did
their part as far as making
sure that we were on point
and that the people got the
vision of what we were
trying to talk about,” said
Wallace.
Moving forward, Wal
lace would love to expand
the poetry slam to include
other centers. She feels
if they can include more
kids, it will expand their
summer experience be
yond the norm.
Leo Rucker’s Tainting Happy Hill’ opens at SECCA
BY JUDIE HOLCOMB-PACK
THECHRONICLE
Judging the success of
an art opening is more than
just the number of people
who attend; it is also how
enthusiastically they in
teract with the artist. Leo
Rucker’s opening recep
tion on Thursday, July 18,
had both.
Attendees filled the
gallery where his show,
“Painting Happy Hill,” is
displayed and friends sur
rounded Rucker like at a
family reunion.
Indeed, for some it was
a family reunion. James
McDuffie,
of one
of
the subject
Rucker’s
por-
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traits, had numerous fam
ily members taking selfies
with him and the portrait
of him and his brother as
children walking on Libe
ria Street. McDuffie said
that in the photo from
which Rucker painted the
portrait, his brother was
trying to get him to smile,
but “I was being grumpy.
We had been to church ...
you can tell because we
were wearing our polished
shoes.”
Rucker said he found
about 300 photos that Mel
White had collected when
he worked at Old Salem.
(Mel White was formerly
the circulation manager
at The Chronicle in the
late 1980s). Rucker cred
its White for starting the
Across the Creek project
by collecting photos of
Happy Hill and said the
project evolved when he
started reviewing the pho
tos. “It was just waiting
on the right opportunity,”
Rucker explained.
To see the photos that
Rucker painted from, to
see not only the detail, but
Photos by Judie Holcomb-Pack
James McDuffie (on left) with Leo Rucker in front of the painting by Rucker from
a photo of James and Melvin McDuffie as children on Liberia Street in Happy Hill.
the emotion that he puts
into each piece, is awe-
inspiring. Portraits include
Virgil Foy and Harriet Foy,
called “We Happy;” Alice
Simmons Pitts, “Ms. Al
ice;” Priscilla Walls Mc
Gee, “In Front of Ms. Mot-
tie’s House;” Frank and
Melvin McDuffie, “Shake
On It;” John Forney, “The
Stoneman;” and Spen
cer “Popeye” Anderson
and Wilbert Burl, “Dan’s
Place,” are just a few of
the portraits that capture
the heart and soul of this
vibrant community.
Rucker credits the Arts
Council of Winston-Salem
and their support of public
art for getting him started
in his successful career as
an artist. His love for art
began at an early age and
after receiving awards in
high school, he attended
Rutledge College, receiv
ing a degree in commercial
art. A competition at the
Sawtooth Center for Visual
Arts led to the first of many
portraiture and mural com
missions. He completed
a series of drawings and
paintings for the Forsyth
County. Partnership (Smart
Start) and has done work
for Segmented Market
ing Services, including
an ongoing column, Role
Models, for Sophisticate’s
Black Hair magazine that
has featured more than 200
ethnic women from around
the world.
Rucker has taught at
the Sawtooth Center and
presently works as the lead
historic interpreter at Old
Salem Museum and Gar
dens at the St. Philip’s Af
rican Moravian Heritage
site. His show will be on
display at SECCA through
August 11. To learn more
about Leo Rucker, visit
www.ruckerart studio.
webs.com.
Also on display at
SECCA is the exhibit,
See Happy Hill on A2
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