by Shania Russell
After a very insightful performance at our school, The Bronx Academy Of Letters, I got the chance to sit down with Aja-Monet and ask a few questions about her creative process. During the performance, she spoke briefly about her personal connection to poetry and shared multiple pieces of her own work. With both her poetry and her speaking parts, I noticed a common theme – social justice. Naturally, this is where the interview begun.
Q: So you mentioned social justice a lot. Would you say that it’s your main motivation for your poetry?
A: I don’t think it’s a motivation so much as a side effect of the creative process. It’s an integrated manifestation. All art is reflective of the injustice we face.
Q: What other social issues have affected you enough to get an in-writing reaction (poetry or otherwise)?
A: I want to say sexism… it’s a big one. As women, I think we’re constantly always aware of our sex in contrast to men. Women are the most oppressed of all cultures and nationalities, so it’s a unified struggle that I feel overwhelmingly, more than any other struggle. And a side note to that – women are the only people that actually go to bed with their oppressors every night, so that says something.
Q: It is only social issues or do you do a lot of personal pieces?
A: Definitely. Poetry helps me look at writing songs more intuitively. Every person has a rhythm, has a song, and learning the language to share that is what poetry does.
Q: Have you ever found your creative interests extending outside of poetry?
A: Yeah, of course. I make songs, I’ve been writing music, I’m trying to teach myself guitar right now using YouTube videos… It’s going to be a long grueling process. Maybe next year or two years from now I’ll be able to come with a guitar and play a song for you all!
But I love doing a lot of other things – I love painting and drawing – I won’t say I’m as good at that as I am at poetry because that’s what I’ve invested most of my time in. I’ve put more years into that work – so I’m probably better at that.
Q: If you could say one thing to the students of Bronx Letters, what would it be?
A: The world needs you to love yourself enough to contribute your voice to the issues. Know that you matter and we all have the capacity to change the world each day, and it starts here – in every little interaction you have.
Aja-Monet is a poet, a performer and an educator whom we were very lucky to receive a visit from. To learn more about her or her work, check out www.ajamonet.com.
The Raven 