The Brief – April
APRIL 2021 CONTENT April’s Shower of Poetry Wisdom Wednesdays, with retired corporate executive Richard “Stick” Williams The Forum, featuring Yale Divinity Scholar Eboni Marshall Turman, Ph.D. SenseMaker® Series • Thoughts from Kristen Eshleman, The Charlotte Center 5 Questions with Poet Boris ‘Bluz’ Rogers, Blumenthal Performing Arts A Word April’s Shower of Poetry EVERY APRIL BRINGS a showering of poetry thanks to observances of National Poetry Month. Language conveyed playfully and powerfully moves and even changes us. Since our January debut, the Center has routinely presented poets and poetry in our interrogation of civic life.
Richard Blanco, a presidential inaugural poet, made a splash as our first guest speaker, and a steady stream has followed. We have reflected on the words of young poet Amanda Gorman, hosted Irish theologian and poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, opened and closed programs with the lyrical, mystical poet Rilke, and interviewed slam poet Boris ‘Bluz’ Rogers for this issue.
From traditional villanelles to contemporary spoken word and every form in between, poets enliven language, dropping rhymes and making words skip and dance. Poets featured by the Center have stirred us to contemplate “how to love a country,” consider reconciling and repairing the past, and ponder happiness in the mundane. Poets’ remarkable gifts of creativity and imagination remind us how poetry distills truths and compel us to drink in words, however sweet, bitter and potent.
In the humanities, poetry refreshes our view for clarity on what is, was and can be.
"We don’t open poems; poems open us."
– Abram Van Engen, Ph.D., professor of American literature and history Join us this Wednesday! WISDOM WEDNESDAYS A conversation series of free inquiry into the soul of the matter.
Topic: “The Soul’s High Adventure” 
Coming up in May 
SenseMaker® Series Thoughts from Kristen Eshelman, Director of Innovation Initiatives at Davidson College, and leader of The Charlotte Center’s community outreach and SenseMaking initiative 
Because I work in innovation, I am often asked, “What is your theory of change?” The one I’ve come to believe in has its roots in anthropology and its scientific look at humanity. I studied these analytical frameworks first as an undergraduate and again in graduate school. They inform how I work and think about change, both professionally and personally.
My theory of change boils down to this: The people who are closest to the problem will have the best ideas.
Unfortunately, those who are closest to the problem are rarely in a position to influence the policy decisions that impact their lives. Instead, these decisions are informed by trained experts, many of whom do not live in the communities they serve nor do they directly experience the same challenges. Experts often rely on big data (largely quantitative) to help identify the “what” and “where” to focus on social transformation.
It’s harder to understand the “why”.
I believe only thick data can get to those insights. Thick data is qualitative, drawing on peoples’ emotions, stories, and mental models of the world. But thick data is hard to do in large numbers. Because of this, the data are easier for experts to dismiss as simply anecdotes. We need ways to move from anecdote to “anecdata”.
SenseMaker does this. The tool and method provide a capability for doing thick data, at scale.
As a community, we will become smarter about policy decisions when we can create the space for both experts and community members to be in conversation on a level playing field. This balance is the epistemic justice outcome we seek through The Charlotte Center.
Charlotte is a deeply relational community. Our stories define who we are and motivate us to change. We will flourish as a city and region when we empower those closest to the problem to propose and help drive solutions.
The Charlotte Center, along with the City of Charlotte, is poised to do something distinctive to move the needle. You can read more about our SenseMaker Series here, but I wanted to take a moment to share why I believe this tool and method is a timely approach for change that is needed in Charlotte. We hope you will join us in this effort! 5 Questions • Boris “Bluz” Rogers An interview with the Emmy Award-winning poet, slam master and coach of the three-time National Poetry Slam championship team Slam Charlotte, and director of creative engagement for Blumenthal Performing Arts
BY VALAIDA FULLWOOD
A published author and recording artist, Boris “Bluz” Rogers creates poetry that is universal. Bluz uses his poems as tools to dismantle barriers and foster transformation. In affiliation with NASCAR, Bluz has worked with CBS Radio, ESPN and SPEED TV, where he wrote and performed poetical intros for nationally televised shows. His performances with the NASCAR Hall of Fame have made history, since he was not only the organization’s first performer but also its first African American performer. Bluz has shared stages with such distinguished poets and wide-ranging musicians as Nikki Giovanni, Taylor Mali, Pink Floyd, OutKast, and The Roots. He also has performed on albums with hip-hop artists Deniro Farrer, Yung Jezzy and Ludacris. For decades, Bluz’ voice and talent have helped Charlotte win the All America City Award, the Carolina Panthers and the Charlotte Hornets.
It is National Poetry Month, what’s one experience that helped solidify your becoming a poet?
It’s probably two experiences. One would start in my junior year of high school when our English teacher challenged us with the idea of rewriting a Shakespearean play. I chose Romeo and Juliet. At the time, I wrote it for the “modern 90s,” if you will. [Laughter] I thought it was good, and she gave it a C. I felt it was much better than a C. That was my first dive into writing from this imaginative standpoint.
What really solidified it: I was in love with a girl my senior year of high school. We were going to do the long-distance thing. She was in Savannah. I drove down to see her, it went tragically wrong, and we broke up. I cried all the way back to Charlotte. It was high drama—high young drama. My heart was so broken. I used writing to help me cope.
As a Black man or as Black boys, we aren’t really taught to deal with our feelings. We’re not taught it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to hurt. I didn’t know what to do with all that, so I started writing. At first, it was all very emo—dark and brooding. It was the worst. Eventually, it turned into more positive work, helping other people and inspiring people. There was definitely a shift.
I didn’t know I was a poet. I was a dude just trying not to be heartbroken.
What process, principles, or rituals do you have in place for your writing?
It’s always different, depending on what I’m writing about the approach is always different. Generally, I have the last line of a poem—the last word I want to say—in my head. I’ll then work a poem backwards. Some people completely get it when I say that, and others are like ‘what do you mean?’ I know exactly the end thought, the one thing I want to say, and I try to build on the idea and the structure from there.
From project to project, it’s different in terms of ritualistic things. For corporate stuff, I do all my research on what the corporation is, what their manifestos are, who they’re trying to reach, and what their message points are. There’s lots of research there.
But, if it’s something I’m writing, it’s usually the experience of whatever is happening in that moment and I try to reflect it. I don’t overthink, I just let the emotion come out and let it ride. There’s very little go back and edit. If I’m hired, there are definitely edits. There’s also some emotion and soul because I want that reflected in the poem. It’s just not as off the cuff and raw as other things I do.
You’re an influencer here in Charlotte and the father of daughters, what change would you like to see in the world for the next generation?
The answer that immediately comes to mind is we go back to human normalcy. I mean human connection. My youngest is growing up, and she had a whole year of not being with her friends—of being disconnected physically from hanging out with them.
Just last week, they planned a picnic. It was so funny to see these 12- and 13-year-olds plan this get-together, which consisted of a Domino’s pizza, a Monster Energy drink that someone brought (for some strange reason), Kool-Aid packets and some cookies. That was the lunch, and just being outside and hanging together. They spent 70 percent of the time on their little phones—that part is obviously normal.
I want this younger generation to not forget to go and see each other. To go and look someone in the face, and remember the shape of their face, the tone and timbre of their voice, how their hair looks, and how their skin looks—what they look like on a gray day and on a sunny day, not just in a Zoom box or an Instagram connection but actually human interaction. I would love for them to be able to get closer than six or seven feet apart, to hug each other and for it to be okay.
There’s a generation that may miss out on what we had growing up in terms of being able to hang out without fear of getting someone sick or dying. There is something these kids have lost and have adapted to because that’s their resilience, but they’ve adapted and pivoted away from having human connection.
Human connection is such a wonderful thing; that’s what really bonds all of us in this existence, physically not just virtually. There’s something to be said about meeting a friend for a drink or going out to play in a playground or park, whatever your age. When that is lost, humanity is going to look different if we can’t get back to that.
Where’s your happy place why?
Ahhh…oh man. It’s two places, and they’re such “man answers.” One is on the couch in front of my television. That’s when I know I don’t have anything else to do. When I’m not responsible for anything, I can sit there and binge watch a TV show. It’s a space I’m in, when no one is bothering me and I don’t have to wash a dish or take out the trash.
The other, I didn’t really realize, is driving in the car on the way to a show or something. A month ago, I went to Durham to tape a show and I realized I hadn’t left Mecklenburg County in a year. I hadn’t been anywhere and before that I was all over the place. In the car, I get to listen to music. I’m a big into 80s Rock bands and 90s R&B—a music fan, period. To be lost in the music and the nostalgia it stirs and lost in the sound of the road, those are my happy places.
The most fun places I liked to drive, when I was touring a lot with colleges, were in the Southwest. I always enjoyed the open spaces and all that desert sky. It was nice to have the windows down and the mix of cold and hot air, depending on the time of day. People may say, ‘your happy place isn’t poetry?’ Poetry is fun and my escape but not my happy place. When I’m on the couch or in the car, I can just be there and let whatever is around take over my mind. A happy place is when I don’t have to do much and I can just chill, smile and reflect.
Blumenthal is bringing back CHARLOTTE SHOUT! What excites you most about that?
All the things we’re getting ready to do! There’s so much!
We have this big project, “Of Earth and Sky,” featuring poetry in a lot the uptown places. Not just poets doing poems, I’m talking about poems on things—in the grass, on the buildings and in as many places as we can install big lyrical art ideas. If you thought murals were great, you’re going to see poems everywhere. We get to be clever at how how we install them and where we install them.
There’s “Made in CLT,” a big arts initiative, where we’re inviting a lot of Charlotte creatives—whatever your avenue or your genre—to come and do your thing and present and be a part of this 17-day celebration. Lots of local music will be part of SHOUT! I’m a big advocate for hip-hop, especially Charlotte hip-hop, which doesn’t always get its platform in the city unless we carve and create the lane for it. It’s really a chance for the Charlotte hip-hop community to shine on a whole different level. The food ideas we’re bringing are exciting. The innovative thinkers were trying to bring are going to be phenomenal.
What really excites me about this whole thing is that we get to expose our city to culture by bringing it in and by exposing what’s already here. Charlotte is still a banking town, but it is so full of colorful, creative individuals who make this city beautiful and great. We often overlook them. This will be a chance to remind Charlotte of what’s already here and who we are, while also letting the world know who we can be.
You can follow Bluz on IG @bluzbluzbluz Why The Charlotte Center?
A more perfect union asks that we listen and learn. It asks that we seek common cause with people with whom we disagree. It asks that we engage in the civic enterprise.
The more we know about ourselves and the human experience, the wiser we are in what we do. The Charlotte Center brings people together and the wisdom of the humanities to bear on the challenges and opportunities of civic life. Why must we gather?
OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.
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The Charlotte Center operates with support from financial donors and generous sponsors such as those listed above and you. A WORD 
“Poets, prophets and reformers are all picture-makers—and this ability is the secret of their power and of their achievements. They see what ought to be by the reflection of what is, and endeavor to remove the contradiction.”
FREDERICK DOUGLASS American abolitionist, orator, and statesman 
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