One morning, Reneesha Reed wrote a poem about the love a woman should have for herself.

The freshman elementary education major read her original poem, titled “The One I Love the Most” at the “Let the Women Take the Stage” open mic event Wednesday night in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Throughout the reading, Reed addresses the poem as if to another person.

At the end of the poem, listeners found out the person Reed was speaking to was herself.

“I was thinking I had to get myself together and back on track,” Reed said. “I had to remind myself of who I loved most to motivate me to do better.”

The event gave female students the opportunity to address anything at the mic.

The event was part of a week-long set of festivities culminating with the Miss Black EIU Pageant Saturday.

The event began with event coordinator Charrell Barksdale, a senior pre-med major, reading a poem titled “What If I Am A Black Woman?” by an unknown author.

The poem features lines like, “So what if I am a black woman, is it a crime?” and “so what if I am a black woman, I want happiness, not tears.”

Barksdale also read the poem “A Strong Black Woman is Dead” by author Laini Mataka.

“‘A Strong Black Woman is Dead’ is about things that hinder you from getting ahead in life,” Barksdale said.

Brianne McGee, a sophomore nursing major, read a poem called “Sister My Sister” by an unknown author who said, “We need to stick together; it would be great if we could.”

“I wasn’t nervous,” McGee said. “I liked the poem and how it addressed problems on campus.”

The poem addressed themes of not talking about people behind their backs and sticking together.

Tiffanee Franklin, a junior family and consumer sciences major, sang the song “Don’t Wait ‘Til Midnight” by Brent Jones and The T.P. Mobb.

“It’s my favorite song, and it reminds me not to wait to call on God,” Franklin said.

Barksdale had poems already printed out for students to read.

“I figured people who came would get comfortable in the setting,” Barksdale said.

Then, after participants had read the poems she chose, Barksdale hoped they would want to get up and do their own works.

Barksdale picked the poems because they were empowering for African-American women.

“A few were talking about women in general as well,” she said. “They gave some of the positive aspects of women.”

Along with Barksdale, six other students took the stage during the open mic event.

Events kicking off the Miss Black EIU Pageant

Thursday: “Hair Show” with beauticians featuring different hairstyles on their models with different categories at 7 p.m. in Lumpkin Auditorium.

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or haholm@eiu.edu.

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Charrell Barksdale, host of “Let the Women take the Stage”, recites a poem titled “What If I’m A Black Woman” during Wednesday’s event in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. (Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

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