One of the submissions from our first-ever video contest. Keep an eye out for our next submission period, open soon!
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If you loved this poem, check out Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib: http://bit.ly/HanifGhosting
Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.
We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry’s audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.
A poet and activist originating from the war-town region of Darfur, Emi Mahmoud is the Individual World Poetry Slam Champion of 2015, and the co-Champion of the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam.
Currently a senior at Yale University, a Leonore Annenberg Scholar, and Global Health Fellow, Emi studies Anthropology and Molecular Biology at Yale in the hopes of one day alleviating structural disparities on maternal and child health in disadvantaged communities the world over.
Outside of academics, Emi is involved in the Yale Refugee Project, contributes to an international research initiative, and teaches spoken word poetry on campus and through ConnCAT in order to empower youth with the power of voice in various communities. In recent years, Emi has participated in and co-coached the Yale CUPSI slam team. As a child and adolescent, Emi was a public speaker presenting poetry across the country as part of the Darfur Alert Coalition and raising awareness and aid to address the often blood-relative victims of genocide in Darfur, her homeland.
A member of the Loser Slam NPS 2015 National team and 2015 World Champion, Emi has and continues to collaborate with various artists in an attempt to use poetry and other art forms to celebrate the full extent of human expression.
