In honor of Black History Month, Student Diversity & Inclusion is hosting “Power to the Poet: Reclaiming Black Stories Through Poetry” on Wednesday, February 8 from 6–8 p.m. in Perkins West Lounge.

The keynote spoken word poet is Ebony Stewart, an international touring interdisciplinary poet, writer and performance artist. Stewart’s work relates to the Black experience with emphasis on the themes of gender, sexuality, womanhood, queer-positivity and race.

Based in Texas, Stewart’s work has been featured in Button Poetry, Teen Vogue and The Texas Observer, and she has a Woman of the World Poetry Slam Champion title under her belt. But don’t get hung up on her accolades; Stewart herself said she wants students to focus on her performance on Wednesday and how it impacts them.

“It doesn’t matter what I’ve done before; all that matters is how I make folks feel in the moment,” she said. “I want students to feel seen, represented, hopeful and inspired. I want it to be fun and intimate in a way, too.”

Drawing inspiration from her own life, Stewart started writing at the age of 8 but she doesn’t define poetry as her “calling.”

“It’s more of something I’m good at and enjoy doing,” she said. “To me, callings seem like they come without doubt and I often doubt my work and self. I think my life is very colorful and full; it has a lot of twists and turns and feels somewhat like a movie or Netflix series. But I use all my trials and hurts and motivation to write and create work. I am always intrigued by my life and what it teaches me—the patterns and healing that comes from it all.”

Stewart is a mental health advocate and former sexual health educator with a master’s degree in social work.

“I think my work as a sexual health educator and clinical social work has definitely impacted and inspired my work as a whole,” she said. “More than anything, I believe it allows me to be relatable and more personable on and off stage through my work and person.”

Additionally, Stewart has penned two one-woman shows—“Hunger” and “Ocean”—which have received B. Iden Payne awards and the David Mark Cohen New Play award respectively.

“I ended up branching into playwriting as a way to expand my creativity and skill. I also needed more from my writing: a way to tell stories in different ways without the constraints that poetry and slam have,” Stewart said. “Slam poetry is restrictive in time, whereas playwriting through a script allows for a more expansive thought with a throughline and the flexibility to say more in several ways like movement, dance and song.”

Stewart will also help cross off an important milestone by performing at the University of Delaware. The poet has performed at more than 200 universities and colleges across the country in 48 states thus far—with the exception of Delaware and Montana—so this performance will help her reach her goal of checking off every U.S. state.

Before Stewart’s performance on Wednesday, several UD students will help open the show by performing poetry of their own, including first-year biomedical engineering major Tayah Burnett.

“I’m exciting to hear [Ebony’s] poetry and what she has to say,” said Burnett. “I believe it’s important for Student Diversity & Inclusion to host an event like this because it gives people the opportunity to share their experiences in any form of poetry that they desire. It makes it easier for people to share their opinions and experiences so that other people can understand their reality.”

Burnett is a self-published author; she wrote her book “Avenge or Revenge” during her sophomore year of high school. Like Stewart, she draws on her own life for inspiration and said poetry gives her an outlet to express herself freely.

“I typically write poetry when an emotional experience embeds itself into my memories and thoughts,” Burnett said. “Attempting to explain the experience aloud is challenging for me; therefore, I typically write it in the form of poetry. This way, I can explain how I feel in a form of writing that’s not always straightforward. The piece that I will be performing will explain how my views in life have changed without bluntly saying, ‘My views are now different from what they were before.’”

Stewart offered some words of wisdom to poets like Burnett, as well as other aspiring creators at UD, especially womxn of color.

“Be you. As much as you can and as many times as they tell you not to be and even when you’re unsure, be you,” Stewart said. “You’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to write the same poem more than once. You don’t have to write every day to be considered a writer. Find multiple ways to create.”

Don’t miss Power to the Poet on Wednesday!