The Power of the Word

He drew from the creativity of his past which grew as he did not have much to play with but his mind.

As a Muslim he came from a religious background and his parents taught him about having a voice and standing up for what you believe in.

He recalled a female member of DMAD developed cancer in her knee and Dillon decided to have a show to raise funds for her medical expenses. After this, the decision was made that they would use their craft to raise funds to help those in need.

Every year they have three shows to help a particular cause.

He explained that theatre was his interpretation of another’s story while poetry was expressing his creative side.

In 2013 he entered the Verses National Poetry Slam and placed fifth. The following year he won the competition which he described as “a big feat for me”.

It was a difficult time as he was looking for an apartment and was robbed at gunpoint in Arima two months before the competition.

Among his possessions stolen was his phone with his prized poetry script. In retrospect he believe that he possibly would not have won with this script.

In 2015 he did not place but this year he placed third. Saleem’s poetry was initially about “bun(ing) out the system” and criticising government or poems about crime and poverty in countries like Somalia and Haiti. But his poetry broadened to poems about love, happiness and even about a He also started getting jobs and gigs writing for companies though he would not do anything inconsistent with his values. Another accomplishment was winning best actor at the Arima Drama Festival with his role as “Old Man”. In 2014 he would also win an award for excellence in literary arts from the youth arm of the National Joint Action Committee.

Saleem is also a member of non-profit youth organisation 2 Cents Movement and through the group he has participating in this year’s Courts Bocas Secondary Schools “Speak Out” Spoken Word Tour which takes spoken word into schools. This year they plan to visit 55 schools. The theme this year is “patriotism” and Saleem stressed that you have to be creative and make these topics relevant to the students.

For patriotism he wrote a poem called “Trini on the DM” where he likened the country to a woman he was interested in. The tour has been working closely on the project with fellow spoken word poet Derron Sandy. The duo has also been doing spoken word training for employees in Republic Bank. He also wrote a play for the institution to perform.

His other work include going into communities like Sea Lots and the East Dry River to teach youths aged nine to 15 spoken word. He recalled he was training some kids for the National Primary School Poetry Slam held earlier this year.

“A lot of stuff in spoken word from a boy who couldn’t go in front of a crowd, to winning the championship, to people now asking me to come to St Joseph’s Convent to do motivational speeches for kids.

Two years ago if you asked me that I would say ‘what I have to tell them’,” he said.

He recalled the positive effect spoken word has had on young people including one person suffering from depression and using it as a form of therapy. For Saleem it is important to be able to positively affect youths who have a sense of hopelessness into an ambassador for their community.

On the explosion of spoken word in the last few years Saleem pointed to foundation people like Muwakil and Akilah Richardson, and also the 2 Cents Movement which has “done so much” including the creation of the National Poetry Slam and the implementation of the schools tour.

Because of their efforts he and Sandy are able to be full time artists. The 2 Cents Movement is looking at having school tours in Jamaica and at colleges in the United States.

And personally for Saleem he is looking at eventually moving from being a competitive and occupational artist to a teacher. Outside of poetry he has also opened his own baking business called “Breadren”.

His advice to anyone really interested in spoken word would be to contact the 2 Cents Movement or contact him via Facebook. He has even received and vetted some people’s pieces and given them advice. He also stressed that they need to surround themselves with spoken word artists and not be in a “bubble”.

“You could only grow from there,” he added.