Poet ends Black History Month with powerful message from MWSU Campus Watch on Vimeo.

Students gathered in the Atrium for an adventure in spoken word. The night’s entertainment included local artists and student performers and the show was interrupted by an unexpected twist .

The night’s headliner Odd Rod.

As a child he faced many challenges one of which living with a drug addicted mother and a father who was nowhere in sight. To escape his reality he turned to poetry.

“My first poem was a suicide poem. I wrote that poem and I didn’t know that I was writing a poem. I was honestly writing a suicide letter and it was my ticket out of here. And it rhymed and when I saw the creativity of that letter I was encouraged,” Odd Rod, spoken word poet, said.

And that was his turning point.

He decided to pursue a college degree. Over the years, he’s used his talent to speak to others to spread his message of acceptance and that it is okay to be unique. He wants to give message that can inspire students.

Tyera Breeze, respiratory care sophomore, said “It opened up different views on how to look at things and how to express how you feel about certain situations. Other than violence, it’s a different energy that’s what I got from it.”

Brett Lincoln, communication junior, said “I was just empowered beyond all belief. You know seeing somebody who is giving art in an unconventional way and it being so well received. Just really going out and speaking not to the people who think of themselves as fine connoisseurs of poetry but the least among those. That’s empowering there’s a crowd for all of us.”