Oral History Interview: Shawn Welcome, Orlando’s Poet Laureate

Shawn Welcome is Orlando’s Poet Laureate. He is the founder of Central Florida’s longest running open mic, “Diverse Word,” which is currently hosted at Bang & Olufsen on the first and third Tuesday of each month.

As a professional poet, Welcome has performed tailored content for Universal, Disney, Nike, the Orlando Magic, University of Central Florida, and more. As a long-standing member of the local community, Welcome has curated educational poetry experiences with the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, Valencia, Bethune-Cookman University, 33rd St. Jail, and Orange County Public Schools. Along with his role as Poet Laureate, Welcome also currently serves as the Orlando Chapter President for Next Level Speakers Academy.

Listen, as Welcome reflects on his experience and work through an oral history interview:

My name is Aida Lashinsky. I’m here at the Orlando Public Library with Orlando’s Poet Laureate, Shawn Welcome, and the current host of Diverse Word, Marquis Lee. The date is June 10, 2024. To begin, could you please tell me where and when you were born? (0:22)  

I was born in Brooklyn, New York. And, that was on April the 25^th, 1983. I think it was a Thursday. Fun fact: I was born in the same hospital as Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson. So, that’s Cumberland Hospital. And, I don’t know… that’s me, kind of associating myself with greatness… for no reason, because you didn’t ask. I just threw that out there.  

What are some early memories that you have of your time there, growing up? (1:02)

Brooklyn was kind of like the wild, wild west. As a young kid, I remember… So, I lived between… both with my mom and with my dad. Which, they lived in separate, kind of like parts of town. So, when I was with my mom on the weekends, or vice versa… it was just different times when I was with her. Sometimes, it was during the week and I’ll go to my dad on the weekends. But sometimes, I was with my dad during the week and my mom on the weekend. So, there wasn’t a lot of consistency with that. But, I’ll give you images of both sort of scenes.

So, when I was with my mom… Yeah, it was just a lot of kids, you know, playing in the street, going to the corner store… remember my sister playing Double Dutch across the street with like, you know, girls and stuff and it was just fun. I have memories of kids riding on the back of the city bus, hitching rides and stuff and hopping off. And so my memories, when I was kind of like with my mom, was just fun.

We had a lot of family. My family’s from Guyana, so I’m first generation American. We have my grandmother, or my great-grandmother’s, house where all the grandkids would go to and stuff like that and you know that was a whole other scene. So, a lot of my family that immigrated to the United States kind of found their space and we would go to different people’s houses or whatever. So, I just remember, you know, food, family, fun, kids, playing outside… that sort of lifestyle. Fire hydrants open… just playing and that stuff.

When I was with my dad, somewhat similar: music, food, people. My dad would… I do remember him giving me like, ordering me, weekly readers. It was like a subscription to these children’s books and stuff like that. So, yeah. Just really, he was really big on like, education and stuff like that, and kind of was a proponent of that.

But, yeah. I mean, I think I was kind of young to understand adult dynamics. I just know I was always at people’s houses, kind of shuffled around a little- not shuffled around- I don’t know if it was intentional, but there wasn’t a lot of stability from a nuclear family standpoint. It was like, certain people were responsible for me at different points until I moved to Orlando.

And, what did your parents do for work? (4:06)

So, my mom was a nurse, and my dad worked for the New York City Transit. He was a car inspector. Like make it like, you got to check the trains before they are released to go into the subway. So, his work involved something to do with that. So, yeah.

You’ve described yourself as an Afro-Guyanese American. Could you share a bit about your connection with this heritage and what it represents for you? (4:43)

Yeah. So, my family on both sides of the family are all from Guyana. Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America. And, the population is primarily made up of Africans and Indians. Africans were brought there as slaves. They were enslaved. And, Indians as like indentured servants, so to speak. And of course, there’s indigenous folks that were there, but that’s like the dominant population.

So, the Guyanese folks on the African side is kind of like my lineage, heritage, and so forth. And, we have influence from Indian culture, which is why we use a lot of curry and roti. And, you know, just spices in our foods and stuff like that. So anyway, what it means to me… I think growing up, it really helped to identify that I had a culture, period, that had certain traditions.

So like for example, around Christmas time, we would bake bread. And then, there’s this dish called, “Pepperpot,” which is a mix of like different meats and sauces and, and whatever. But like, it was consistent that if you were Guyanese, you would have bread and pepperpot, right? And I can bake bread to this day. Like, that’s a thing. It’s like, “Oh, I gained a skill.”

But also, it was helpful as I started to learn about the plight of black Americans, to be rooted in something. Like, I didn’t feel lost, per se, as maybe others might from feeling disconnected from their African heritage. I kind of felt like I had something, right? So, I feel like I almost wasn’t as… I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. I wasn’t as maybe bothered, or shaken, by it because I had a culture to latch on to, so to speak. So in that regard, I think it was helpful to have certain traditions, and a certain way that we speak and a certain… you know, like I had a culture to feel proud about.

What was your experience with moving to Orlando in elementary school? Do you feel that you were able to adjust quickly, or were there challenges that you faced? (7:38)

Great question. Yeah, there’s definitely challenges. So, I went from Brooklyn to Jacksonville first, to live with my aunt for a year. And so, I lived there for a year and then I moved to Orlando when I was about 10 years old, in 1993.

I experienced culture shock. I remember the first day walking- this is like the tail end of fourth grade- and, my mom walking me to the classroom and it was the first time I’d seen a classroom full of white faces. Like that, it was just a new experience for me all together. And, I remember my jaw just dropped. I panned the room, like literally, recognizing I was only black kid in the class, right? And, not having a context or a file folder for what that even meant or was, but it was like this hyper awareness that like… you know, it’s like that fight or flight. Like, “Am I in trouble? Am I in danger, here?” I remember whispering to my mom and I was like, “Mom.” And like you know, I’m beckoning, telling her to come down here. And, I was like, “There’s no black people here.” And she was like, “Oh it’s okay.” And she’s just trying to make me feel better about it…

And, I guess there was one other black kid in the class- name was Frederick- Fred. But, he wasn’t there that day, you know. So anyway, it was just wild. And, I think the class also didn’t know what to do with me, either. Like, what does this mean? What are their preconceptions of a black kid? And so, East Orlando in 1993 wasn’t like a mix. And, I couldn’t tell the difference between white people and Spanish people. Like, everyone’s just light-skinned, you know what I’m saying? In my eyes. But, there were Hispanic folks in there, too.

But anyway, in my young mind I’m like, “This is wild and crazy. And moving to Orlando- this change is wild.”

So, long story short, fourth grade I did experience challenges with racism. I remember we were in line going back to the class, this kid turns around and just punches me in the stomach, no reason. I remember being at the lunch table and this white kid, Michael Waters, punched me in the face- like, “Hey!” And just kind of nicked me.

So, I had very… I didn’t know how to process it, right? Because, when I was in Jacksonville, my aunt led me to the Lord. Like, I had a really strong understanding of the Gospels because we just went to church and home and school, church, home, school… like, that was it. And so, being in that environment, I felt this sense like yeah, I want to do that. Like, it was stable. It was like, okay. And so, I gave my life to God at that time and I felt like cursing or hitting back. I felt like I was almost sinning or doing something bad… to express myself against the things that I was experiencing.

And so, that was the tail end of fourth grade. And, then I started watching BET and watching all the hip-hop videos and realizing like, “Oh, I’m the cool one.” I almost started to feel pride in like, black culture. You know what I’m saying? Like, hip-hop culture. And yeah, I was like, I’m not taking crap from anybody anymore. You know? Like, this is ridiculous.

Do you feel that you’ve always been creative-minded? What were some early ways you indulged in self-expression? (11:45)

I think I was always creative. The first move to Jacksonville, before Orlando, I remember my cousins coming over and I would make up like little puppet games, puppets scenes. Like, I’m like, “All right, you say this line, you say this line…” And, I would like create like a little show, because we had nothing…

We lived in a one-bedroom house on cinder blocks, like in the hood hood. Like, crack house next door. You know? There was just extreme poverty. I mean, at that point, you’re kind of like, “Eh, whatever.” But looking back I’m like, “Oh, this is like hood hood.” You know?

And so, my aunt ran a daycare through her house and so there was always educational materials out there. Like, teaching kids how to read… you know, have like the big letter, “C-A-T” and then switching out the “C” for the “B. CAT, BAT, THAT,” or whatever. And so, I was in that environment for that year. I would write books. I would write like, little stories out of construction paper and I would fold them, and I would write, “Disney” on the corner because the books that I was exposed to had “Disney” in the corner, and I would author them and stuff like that.

And, I remember in third grade, they would ask me to read to the first graders. Like, they would take kids to impart into younger kids, so I was one of those. This is the first part of fourth grade- I would do stuff like that. So, I think I was always creative-minded, but never really into like, poetry- I didn’t even know what that was. Yeah, there were definitely some signs of that.

Did you have any early mentor figures who inspired you as a child? What was the lasting impact (if you did) that their influence had on you? (13:45)

Not really. Not early on. I think some of the mentors that I have more so came on as an adult. But, none that I could remember that like, really inspired me as a child. I mean, I think I gravitated to Malcolm X and Dr. King in elementary school and I saw how these men were fighting for things to be better for black people, for conditions to be better. That was really inspiring and kind of modeled what it like, meant to be a man. You know, like I started to put some pieces together. So, I think I got a lot of that inspiration more externally than in my own space.

In high school, you moved back to Brooklyn. How was this transition for you? What new experiences did you discover as a teenager in New York, and was there anything that you felt like you were leaving behind? (15:05)

So, growing up in Orlando and then moving back up to Brooklyn my senior year of high school, definitely left behind friends and stuff. But, I think I was really clear on what I didn’t want at that time. And, some of what I did want. So, the experience was eye-opening in terms of what I was exposed to from other artists.

So, in my high school, the kids on my basketball team and in my class- they were all writing and performing rap lyrics. And so, that was like just the perfect time for me to be like, impressed upon with their skill set. Because, I was kind of like a blank slate. You know?

It was like, I left New York when I was a kid. I would only go up there in the summers. And when I went up there, I would stand on like one block. You know what I mean? So, it wasn’t like I traveled New York and was familiar with everybody or had all these friends, it was just my family, and on like one street.

So, when I moved back up there and I was taking a couple of trains to get to school every day, and going through the little metal detector and my book bag like that… I mean, school itself- school culture was a different experience because we didn’t have to go through metal detectors in Florida, right? And, we weren’t all inside of one building. Like, schools here are very open-spaced and stuff like that. So, that was new. But in terms of what I gained, it was the discovery of the fact that I can write creatively.

You know, and that was just being exposed to… like, I don’t even have an appropriate adjective for how talented these guys were. But, it just blew my mind. It’s like, when I listened to rap or hip-hop, whatever music like on the radio- these were the talented ones. These were the people that made it. And, to have that same feeling in my classroom with the talent that they had, I was like, oh my gosh. So I started to ask myself, can I do that? And so, I started scribbling raps and stuff and I would bring them to these ciphers and I would get affirmed.

And, can you explain what a cipher is? (17:38)

Yeah, so a cipher is when a group of people take turns performing their original rap lyrics, their stories, their content, their performances. And, everyone just is kind of self-entertained, in a group. And, that would happen in the hallways, it would happen on sidewalks outside, like after school. But these crowds would get huge. You know what I’m saying? Like, you could either be like dissing somebody and talking about their shirt or their- you know, whatever.

But, it’s like the creative use of language to either break somebody down, or to talk about how awesome you are. You know what I mean? It was like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “This is fun. This is entertaining and fun.” And, I had the creative mind for it. I just never knew what it would obviously turn into. But, that was some fun times. And, I brought that same energy back, when I moved back to Orlando after graduating high school and discovered spoken word… And, the rest is history.

Can you recall the first encounter you had with spoken word poetry? In what ways did this art form resonate with you? (18:51)

Yes. So, I’m on Valencia’s East Campus and a buddy of mine, Roderick Mentis (Rod)… He heard me doing my raps at the lunchroom… Because, I’m coming back with this newfound talent. And so I’m like, sharing with everybody. Like, “I spit down.” You know, “I rap. I got bars.” You know, whatever.

And he’s like, “You remind me of this dude.” And at that time, I had locks in my hair. He goes, “You remind me of this dude named, ‘Saul Williams.’” And I was like, “Who was that?” He was like, “You got to watch this movie: ‘Slam.’” He’s like, “You got to watch this movie, ‘Slam,’ and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

So, I go to the library (where we are now) and I rent a VHS tape of the movie he recommended, and I put it in. And, there’s this scene in the movie where Saul Williams is in the middle of this courtyard, jail courtyard, and he starts doing this riff, right? And, he’s talking about, you know, the prison system, and he’s basically doing spoken word, but you know I didn’t have a name for it at that time. The poem’s name is, “Amethyst Rock,” I learned later. He performs that, and I identified with it.

I was like, “Oh, that’s what I do.” You know? Because, he wasn’t locked into a “A-B-A-B” rhyme scheme or any sort of consistent… It was just like, using your own cadence to create the images that you wanted to create, and say it how you wanted to say it. But as he’s performing, they stop like, lifting weights and doing whatever they’re doing.

They start gravitating to this performer as he’s talking about all this deep stuff, poetically. I was like, “Ah, this is so cool!” It’s so cool. And, I was drawn in, too. I’m like, “Yeah this cat, this is dope.” And so I went back to Rod, I told him, “I watched it. I see what you’re talking about.” And, that was my first introduction to spoken word, what I now know is spoken word poetry.

Did you ever participate in poetry slam competitions, or did you prefer the environment of open mics? (21:07)

Well, I first did open mics to share the content that I had, and then I started to perform in poetry slams as they had them in my community. And, the most memorable one was going to National Poetry Slam in 2006 in Austin, Texas… where, there was a team out of Winter Park. “Broken Speech,” maybe?

They had a teammate that could no longer participate on the team, and I guess in the slam competition, poetry competition, I was the next ranking person. And so they were like, “Hey, this slot’s available- we see that you’re next. If you want to go to Nationals, you just got to pay for your plane ticket to Austin and you’ll be on the team.” And I was like, “Okay cool.”

So, I went out there and I got to see poets from all over the country perform- blew my mind. And when I came back to Orlando, I was like, “I have to bottle this energy here.” Like, what I experienced was nothing like what I experienced in Orlando up until that point. So yes, I did participate in poetry slams, but I think what I enjoyed more was the diversity of people, the differences of styles of performance, seeing all those group pieces… I mean, mind-blowing. Mind-blowing. And, I didn’t want that to leave. So, I created something here in Orlando.

When you returned to Orlando, you founded your own Open Mic, “Diverse Word,” in 2006 at Dandelion Community Cafe. What was the drive for forming this new open mic? (23:09)

Yeah. So before going to Nationals that I just mentioned, I would go to different open mic nights- namely, “AKA Lounge”… there was a spot called… oh gosh, I forget the name of it. Anyway, “Will’s Pub” was another one, ran by Todd Caviness. CeCe Teneal did AKA Lounge with the comedian host, Rod-Z. There was… Oh! “Vocalization.” Bam. “Vocalization”- I forget the venue, but that was the name of the night where it was kind of like an open mic. So, I would go to different spots. But to me, they felt very homogeneous. “Broken Speech” was another open mic that existed…

Yes, but it felt very homogeneous to me. It was nothing like what I experienced in Austin, Texas. And so, I would get my poetry fix from going to all these different mics. But I was like, “I wish I could have all this in one place,” you know? So I was like, “Man, I’m the one to do that.”

So, yeah. The inspiration was both what I experienced at National Poetry Slam… Prior to that, I didn’t mention here, but I had facilitated a poetry workshop at 33rd Street Jail for two years. So, seeing the impact on the youth offenders there, being at the national competition in Austin, and the recognition that our open mics in Orlando were extremely homogeneous in my opinion- like, either the same group of people or the same type of content, I was like, “I have to fill this gap here.” And so, that’s what I did. I started my own thing, and that was almost 18 years ago.

How do you think it benefits people, to hear a diverse spectrum of stories? (25:21)

Oh man, I think people become more compassionate, empathetic. I think it increases people’s critical thinking skills. I think it brings people out of their own world and into others’ in a way that isn’t threatening… because it’s through the art, right? And, that’s hard to do with speaking, because we take people literally most of the time, right?

When you’re performing, it’s either just someone’s perspective on a situation or how they want to kind of put together their life experiences with words in a way that feels best to them, right? So, I think we all benefit from it. I know I have. I’ve benefited from listening to all kinds of people over the years. Like, just like listening to people.

It’s almost like a washing of my brain in the interest of understanding like, where people are coming from, you know? And I think for me, it’s made me… I’d like to think, a very empathetic person. It’s made me a better person. It’s made me a better leader, I think, being in the open mic space, facilitating an environment like that, which can be challenging.

But yeah, I think everyone can benefit from listening. Like, just stopping and just listening. You know? We’re used to our own lens- putting our own lens out there, but listening is powerful. Because, I think it gives us time to process, you know, and understand that we don’t live in a vacuum. We don’t live in this world by ourselves. And, you know. That’s me- I love it, and I encourage it.

What did you find inspiring about other artists within poetry spaces? Did you feel a sense of community, as you became more involved? (27:53)

Yeah, I did. So, at Diverse Word in particular, I began to notice people connecting with each other, outside of me. But, the poetry open mic space sort of became like a lightning rod for these other social networks to strengthen, right? And so, I think there’s benefit to that.

There’s a quote one of my buddies, BJ Page- he says, “Your network is your net worth. Your network is your net worth.” And, that has to do with, if you understand like social capital, that’s a real thing. You know, the people that you’re around, the people you have relationships with, the people you have access to, the people in your phone list that you can call on… not even necessarily for money, for another contact, for another relationship. Like, that’s huge, in terms of our own elevation of the socioeconomic ladder.

It’s like, who’s in your network? And if we don’t have a broad enough network, we limit the amount of resources we have access to. And so, I see some of that happening in the poetry open mic space and there’s people that like, ask people to marry them and, propose… You know, all kinds of meaningful things have happened socially that I’m, in many ways, unaware of, you know over the years that have happened. But I know to me, it feels all positive. So, yeah. I don’t know if I even answered the question, but that’s what came to my mind.

At the end of hosting each Diverse Word open mic, you would repeat a phrase: “Peace, love, and poetry.” Where did this come from? And, what do these words mean to you? (30:00)

Yeah, so I think I was just looking for something to do consistently. Right? And, I don’t know, I might have just riffed it like once at the end of a show and I was like, “I like that.”

There was one open mic that I went to in New York- Nuyorican Poets Cafe, where the host- he was like, “Take this hand,” and he would shake his right hand. And he was like, “Take this hand,” he would shake his left hand. He was like, “Now, put him together,” and they’re like, to make everyone clap. But, he did that over and over. Like, every time I went to Nuyorican Cafe, he would do like the same thing in the show. And I think I might have been maybe, I don’t know, six months… a year- I don’t even know how long into it. But, I knew I wanted to do something consistently, right?

And yeah, I can’t even tell you when I started saying that, but it felt right. It felt like what the night was about- like peace, love, like we’re chill, poetry… And, there’s something about saying these affirmations, these positive words, that help kind of set the temperature of an atmosphere, an environment… to kind of mitigate some of the egotistical beasts that would arise out of, you know, people having a microphone. It’s like, “No, we’re good. Everything’s cool. We’re chill here. Just grab your tea, grab your coffee, grab your little snack cake or whatever and we’re just going to listen. Like, it’s going to be chill.” And, that’s kind of like my heart, too. Like, I like people to get along and you know chill and just enjoy each other’s craft.

You know, I’m a fan of the art. I’m a fan of the art. And, I know how much it’s done for me. I wasn’t a strong reader growing up. I struggle with reading comprehension… Not terribly, but like, see this interview note here- I can read this- As a young kid… I can read it clearly, but if I’m asked questions about what it means, and all that kind of stuff, it was like, “Ah, why are you asking me that question?”

You know, it took me a while to process like paragraphs and stuff. I always had to like, reinterpret things in my own head to make sense to me. So, I was a little slower with that. But, writing poetry and performing has sort of, I think, level set me to where I am a great speaker and reader and processor. I think critically, I can analyze things, and I have the art form to thank for that. So, I know that as an educational tool and exposure to it, it can happen for anyone that’s struggling either with reading, speaking, thinking, writing… Like, it’s a level setter for me, regardless of how you start off.

What did it feel like for you, personally, when you first started writing and performing your own spoken word pieces and found that expression? (33:03)

Yeah, it was empowering. It was very empowering. Yeah, it was like I had control over something. You know? These were my thoughts. This was my way of expressing myself. It was a way for my peers to affirm me, even though I had a ton of affirmation in basketball because I was an avid athlete. I did very well in that area growing up. But I didn’t play college ball, although I was recruited for it, because my dad and I had issues with agreeing on what my, you know, future would look like.

And, the main reason I moved back to Orlando was like, I didn’t see myself in a future that I agreed with in New York, if I wasn’t playing basketball for a college. So yeah, when a lot of that energy shifted into writing and performing, it was like I still had something, you know what I mean? Like, after my hoop dreams went… it was like, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on- I’m still climbing.” It’s funny. Quick, funny story- I promise I won’t be long…

I used to say like, “Oh man, I ain’t make it to the NBA, right?” Like, because that was my dream, play for Syracuse, play for the New York Knicks, be like a star, and be you know, seen on TV playing basketball. And, of course that didn’t manifest. But in 2015, I wrote commercials for Orlando Magic and I ended up making it to the NBA as a writer. You know? So I was like, “I still did it suckers! Take that!” But yeah, it is full circle. It’s like, okay, this is my real superpower, you know?

You became increasingly involved with poetry, continued hosting Diverse Word, did events with Valencia, worked with youth poetry camps, facilitated poetry workshops, and worked with youth offenders at the 33rd Street Jail (as you mentioned). How do you think the art of spoken word can empower young people? (35:29)

Oh, man. So for one, when you’re exposed to somebody expressing themselves and being like, just confident in that expression, it does something. There’s a saying that says, “Leadership is more caught than taught.” And, I think the same principle applies to being exposed to spoken word poetry. It’s like, there’s some things that when you’re exposed to it, you just kind of like catch it. You’re like, “I get it.” Like, something just clicks. And so, I think exposure to someone performing, in a way, almost models what you can potentially do, right?

And so, I think if you’re not exposed to something, it just doesn’t exist, right? So for one, I think for young people, it gives them a vision for what they can potentially write about or perform about. They can see themselves in you, as a performer. I think that once they practice it, you’re now engaging that young person in the exercise of critical thinking. You’re engaging that young person in an exercise of writing coherently, or maybe incoherently, but creatively. And, you’re setting precedents for them to speak well, and to command an audience in a stage.

Communication is central to any line of work that you’re doing- police officer, basketball player, you know… you have an admin job, you’re emailing… Like, communication in general is central. So, I think we’re setting kids up for success if they gravitate to this art form. There was something else I wanted to say- it left my mind…

Yeah like, the confidence man. Confidence is everything. You know? And, I think when you learn how to master an art form like this, like poetry, that confidence translates in the other areas of their life, you know what I mean? Dang- there was something else I was going to say. Anyway, it’ll probably come back to me later. But, I’m just a huge advocate for the social, emotional learning aspect, that poetry does for young people, and the increasing literacy rates part of that process.

And it’s non-threatening, so to speak, right? It’s like, it’s not so clinical. You know? Like, when it’s personal, and it’s about you- like, you can write about yourself, you know? You know about yourself and so it’s not like a tall task to just reflect on what has already happened, and pull from that to write. Right? So, I think it’s low-hanging fruit to get kids started. If, you know, they can kind of get over that fear of like, “Oh, everyone’s going to see me, or know what’s going on,” or whatever. Like, you can write. You can write anything. You can write it, you can explore.

Oh, I remember what I was going to say. Bam! I knew it was going to come back- thank you, Lord. Bloom’s Taxonomy. So, in the education space, there’s a there’s a pyramid, right? And, this is generally understood in pedagogy- the levels at which people learn. And so… I hope I don’t jack this up… or, you know, don’t quote me this.

But, at the base of that triangle, at the bottom level is, “Remembering.” Right? So like, early on in elementary school, we’d sing songs and you remember it, you repeat the song, whatever. Like, that’s the first level.

The next one up is, “Understanding.” Right? So like, understanding what it is that you’re saying, like to be able to relay that to somebody else. The next level up, which if we were to number it, would be number four, right (of six)? So, we got, “Remembering” (six), “Understanding” (five). Four would be- don’t tell me…there’s one that I’m skipping, and I’m going to pull it up before this interview ends, but I know, “Analyzing” is one.

There’s something- I forget what four is, but let’s move up. Six, five, four… So, three would be, “Analyzing,” right? Like, being able to pick apart what you understand critically. “Evaluating,” which is more into judgment, like placing a judgment on that thing. And at the top of that pyramid is, “Creating.” Right? Creating something is, in terms of what we understand in levels of difficulty in the education space, is the hardest thing to do.

And so, to bring kids into an entry point of creating, which is the pinnacle of how the brain works in terms of levels of difficulty… It’s like, we’re making kids better- like, super smart, you know what I mean? And, in touch with their emotions, in touch with their ability to like understand and analyze and evaluate.

And you know, the bottom part of that is remembering, like memorizing, right? That’s like the easiest part. But all of that construction in the mind- I think we don’t give enough credence to how difficult that is. And so I think, if that’s the entry point for kids, we’re doing them a huge service by exposing them to spoken word poetry.

I’ve got to find out what the other one is- somebody give me their phone. Or maybe Marquis, if you could pull it up for me- just put in, “Bloom’s Taxonomy,” and then tell me the levels from the bottom. I think there’s two models, but one of them is, “Remembering” at the bottom, “Understanding,” “Something,” “Analyzing,” “Evaluation,” and then, “Creating”… Ah! “Applying,” that was the one I was missing.

It’s, “Remembering” (six), “Understanding” (five), “Applying” (four)… Applying- applying the information that you understand… “Analyzing,” “Evaluating,” “Creating.” All right. That’s probably going to sound real jumbled up on the recording, but that’s all I have to say about that.

Diverse Word, the open mic that you started, has grown to be known as the longest-running open mic in Orlando. What are some of the challenges that you faced along the way, and how have you surmounted them? (43:06)

Challenges… I didn’t have many challenges, I don’t think. Hurricanes maybe, because it was an outdoor venue.

You were weekly for years.

Yeah. Yeah. But it was fun. It was like gratifying for me, too. So it was like yes, I was facilitating, but I got so much out of it- it didn’t feel like work. It was like, “Oh, let’s go hang out. Let’s do poetry!” You know what I mean? Let’s you know, hear people. It’s almost like I created a whirlwind of my own entertainment, so to speak. I had so much fun facilitating that. And you know, I think people along the way started to enjoy what I enjoyed, too. And I had help, you know?

Oh, I remember one challenge- the crowd got too big for people to hear, because we didn’t have microphones in the beginning. We were just kind of like, on tables and whatever. And they’re like, “We can’t hear!” It was like a constant thing. And I was like, “Okay.” And so I remember a buddy of mine, he was like, “Dude, why don’t you get a PA system, like a microphone?”

And so, he let me borrow his for like three years. And I think around the third year, he was like, “Um… I don’t mind you borrowing my PA system and mic, but uh… can you get your own?” You know, like in a nice way. And I was like, “All right.” And so I remember starting this campaign like, “All right, we’re going to raise money for a mic and a PA- anybody that wants to donate, just let me know.”

And I did that for maybe… I don’t know, a couple months or something. I was like, “Hey, we need a mic and a PA… like, if anybody has whatever…” And I just kept repeating that, repeating that, and one day, this guy that was at the open mic night, he just comes up to me.

He was like, “How much do you need?” And, I forget what number I gave him… I don’t know, maybe a thousand dollars. I don’t know what it was at the time- or, I don’t even know if I had a number. I was just like, “I’ll figure it out later.” I didn’t have a hard plan. But anyway, long story short- he was like, “Meet me at Sam Ash. And, pick out what you need.”

And so, I went to Sam Ash, and I picked out everything I needed- which I knew, because I’d borrowed my friends’… because I was like, “I’ll just get the same thing that I was borrowing.” And, it ended up being like thirteen hundred dollars and he just swiped a card.

Matter of fact, that’s the same system that I have. That was like, in 2013. So yeah, so I used that and then everyone could hear like, “Yeah!” And then, so we had a mic and sound. And so that was one challenge, but I just kind of put it out there and people saw, you know. That wasn’t really for me, it was like for everyone. It was like a problem solved there, so grateful for that donation.

Can you explain the story of how there came to be a Poet Laureate in Orlando, and what does the role of a city Poet Laureate entail? (46:39)

Yeah, love this story. So, Mayor Buddy Dyer, who was elected in (I believe) 2003- longest running mayor or something crazy like that- goes to one of these mayor conferences that they do, I’m assuming every year. And, here’s another mayor bragging about their Poet Laureate. This is in 2017.

And, when he comes back to Orlando after that conference, I’m told that he reached out to Community Affairs and was like, “We need a Poet Laureate.” You know? Like, just coming from the energy from this mayor’s conference.

And so, the head of Community Affairs, Marcia Goodwin, collaborated with United Arts of Central Florida to establish a process by which they would select a Poet Laureate, which is a representative of poetry, literary arts, storytelling, in the city of Orlando. And so, they developed that process.

At the time that the press release was made, a lot of people were reaching out to me like, “Orlando’s going to have a poet laureate! Shawn, that’s all you! You got this- you should apply! Da da da…” And not shortly after, I got an email from the city saying that, “Hey Shawn, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the city’s in search of their first Poet Laureate and we would like for you to be on the first Poet Laureate selection committee.”

So, I was like reading… reading… looking at it… like, “Uh, oh. Okay. I thought you were going to say something else. Never mind.” But yeah, so I humbly accepted that role and I was like, “Oh, this is a huge honor and how cool would that be?”

And so, I was on the board with, I believe, six other representatives- Head of the English Department for UCF… I don’t know if that’s their official title but someone in English, someone significant in the English Department for UCF, someone from Rollins, Burrow Press- I believe, Ryan Rivas, who was a local publishing company… Yeah, a couple others that had credence in assessing poetry and English and stuff like that.

And I guess I was like, the street representative for something like that. I don’t know why they reached out to me. I mean, I kind of do.

So, you were on the selection committee. And then, can you tell the story of how you became Poet Laureate? (49:25)

Yeah, I will. So, I’m going to tell you how it works. So, we assessed all of the works that came in on that first selection. And, our job was to, through a rubric system, select our top three, collectively. And so, those three individuals would be interviewed by the mayor of Orlando, and then he would interview them and make his decision.

So, we handled the meritocracy. And then, he handled the, I guess maybe, the political side or whatever- however he processed that. And so, three years goes by, 2020 happens, covid, protests, you know, the world’s upside down. And, they didn’t want to select a Poet Laureate that summer, which was when it was supposed to happen- for three years. So, they extended it a fourth year, in 2021.

And, I had a lot of encouragement to step down from the committee and to apply myself. I didn’t want to at first. I was like, a hundred percent content. But, kind of thought about it, I thought it would be really great to have a spoken word artist as Poet Laureate. I thought that would be really cool. And, I started to think, you know, ruminating on the benefits of what that might be. And so, whatever my process was, I did decide to step down. They switched around the committee members- it was like another group. And, I applied myself in 2021.

And then, you know, I was one of those top three that was selected to be interviewed by the mayor. And, the mayor interviewed each of us and a week or two later, I got a phone call that I was the Poet Laureate elect. And, it passed officially on October 11th of 2021, by City Council. And, my term is up in 2025.

What is the role of a city Poet Laureate, for people who might not be familiar with that term? (51:42)

Yeah. So, a Poet Laureate… easily googleable, by the way- everyone out there, listening. But, it’s pretty much a way for the government to recognize poetry and the arts on behalf of a region, you know, a city. And so, when there is the “State of Downtown” address, or there is some sort of official city event- Black History Month event, Hispanic Heritage Month event, Fourth of July, Independence Day- anything that the city’s putting on… and, they have people that speak, the Poet Laureate is a part of that process.

And so, sometimes I would custom create something that was relative to the nature of that event and perform it. And yeah, I’m almost like a figurehead for poetry in our region. If a school has some sort of reading event, they might want to reach out to the city to invite the Poet Laureate to perform a poem, or read a poem.

And it’ll look different across people- every three or four years, you know what I mean? But, it’s a way to get a rotation going, to say, “Hey, poetry is important enough for someone to embody that a few years at a time from our local community.” And so, that’s what it is, and that’s what it represents. And, I think each Poet Laureate will define what it means to be a Poet Laureate, based on how they move.

Like, for me, I custom create poems for conferences and trade shows. I teach spoken word poetry workshops. I teach students spoken word. I also give speeches and include performances. And, that style might be completely different from maybe, a page poet, who really reads stories, or someone a little older who might have been in World War Two or something, you know what I mean? Like, reflecting on their trauma.

So, it just kind of looks different. I bring a performance aspect to this role for sure, but it’s something that the city can always look forward to, to say, “Oh, who’s the next Poet Laureate, and what’s their story?”

You live in Orlando with your wife and your children- what has their response been to your involvement with poetry? How do they motivate you in your creative pursuits? And, do you ever perform for them? (54:15)

Yeah. I mean, they’ve heard me perform a lot because I perform in the shower, I memorize content. So, I’m probably annoying at this point, to them. But I mean, they get it. They’ve seen me perform for people, and kind of understand my role, like, in this world. What did you say, how do they encourage me?

How do they motivate you?

How do they motivate me? I think, presently, I’m motivated to leave an inheritance for them. So like, I’m motivated to use poetry as a service right now. Because I mean, I’m a business now- Shawn Welcome and Associates is what I have become, and I offer the service of poetry to clients. And so, the motivation for me really is just to bring stability and a good life for my wife and kids, through this art form.

And, I think there’s something to what I communicate as well, that has an impact. So, a lot of my work… I mean, it’s shifted over the years, but generally I tend to inspire and entertain and educate, if I could put it in those like buckets… which I think, is my desire for them- to be like, not a taker, like a contributor to society in a positive way. And so, I think the influence of the content on them and what me as a business provides… I think is the motivation for me, for me from them.

As a full-time poet, what does a typical day look like for you? (56:29)

Being interviewed by Aida at the library. That’s part of it, right? Interviews, performances, writing performances. So, on the custom content creation side of my business, there’s five processes that I go through.

The first is research. Then, it’s writing. Then, it’s editing. Then, it’s memorizing, and it’s performing. Research, writing, editing, memorizing, and then the actual performance. So, I could be on any one of those tracks at any given time, with a custom performance request. On the teaching side of things, I could be organizing a poetry show. I could be teaching poetry workshops. I could be planning, like organizing how I’m going to teach those workshops. And then, there’s the speeches.

Like, I have a few coming up this month for the Rosen Foundation, Harris Rosen. He owns some local hotels. A huge philanthropist, does a lot of community work. They’re celebrating his work and legacy over the years. And, I’m going to do like, a little speech about his work, and then perform a poem about Orlando.

So, a typical day would look like prep work. I do meet once a week with my assistant, and we go over engagements that are coming up- making sure invoices, W-9s are sent, doing social media, chopping up things to kind of show what I’m doing because I am a public figure now, right? So, I’m still figuring out what that looks like and strategies for helping people to understand what I offer, right?

So, I could be doing social media or asking someone to help me with social media. I meet with a business coach every now and again to talk about, you know, strategies for scaling what I do. I think sometime in the future, I might have to hire more people. The more money I make, the more help I’m going to need at the end of the day, right? So, my future may look like hiring a social media team or hiring a team of writers, and I kind of walk through them like, “Okay, how do you offer custom content creation?” You know? Or, whatever. Like, under the Shawn Welcome and Associates brand.

I mean, I don’t know exactly what it’ll look like in the future. But presently, that’s like some of what my everyday kind of looks like.

What experiences have you cherished the most, in your time representing the city as Poet Laureate? (59:47)

Yeah, I think… man, I love meaningful work. I think when I perform in spaces where words are like needed in that moment, and I’m able to deliver on that in a meaningful way, I cherish those moments.

So, the first image that came to mind was the sixth-year anniversary of Pulse, the Pulse tragedy. I was asked to perform a poem as Poet Laureate on site of the incident. And you know, you had survivors of those who lost their lives, family members, of course TV Crews and all that, all that stuff- dignitaries, city officials and stuff like that. And, there was a slot in the program where they wanted poetry, right?

And so, I was able to script a poem called, “Sunday Mournings.” M-o-u-r-n-i-n-g-s- kind of like that dichotomy between hope, but also recognizing the pain, right? And so, yeah that one was really meaningful for me.

Black History Month is always special for me. I mean, we celebrate Black History year-round. I love that idea, but you know, there’s of course a hyper focus on it in February. And so I have a poem that I wrote, which is a cover of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which is like almost 20 minutes long. But, I collapsed it into a five-minute performance. It’s really cool, you know, to kind of creatively recreate something that was really inspiring in the past, and that has present applications as well. The content has present applications.

Telling the story of the Negro motorist “Green Book”- this little publication that black people needed to survive. It had listings of all of the safe places that African Americans can go to, if they were traveling through the Jim Crow south- hotels, restaurants, gas stations… Like, a list of addresses in your area. And then, that expanded year-by-year by the black postal workers, because they knew all of the safe places that black folks can go to. So performing a poem, retelling that story- it’s just powerful.

Yeah. So I mean, as Poet Laureate, when I’m able to do meaningful work that highlights meaningful things that happened, I just consider it a huge honor.

And, even celebrating like, where we live. So, “Visit Orlando,” which is the primary (I’d say) marketing agency for the city of Orlando to get people to come here, reached out to the city’s Poet Laureate to perform a poem about Orlando for 407 Day, which is April 7th (our main area code is 407), and to celebrate like, local businesses and stuff like that.

And so, I wrote a poem with their theme called, “Unbelievably Real.” Which, was also the same time that they unveiled this mural to represent much of what Orlando is about. So the opportunity to color with words, the Orlando aesthetic, or attempting to do that, and performing that on a day like 407 day, that’s really cool.

And, that’s like, almost like national anthem in my opinion. Like, for Orlando. It’s a neat, it’s a really neat piece. But yeah, I just love meaningful work. And I think we all do. At the end of the day- regardless of what we do to make money, I think at the end of the day, we want to live in some sort of purpose bigger than ourselves. Right? And so, when I have those little moments that people will go home and like, reflect on later… You know what I mean? Like, those things really touch my heart.

That’s everything that I had. Was there anything else that you wanted to add about you and your story?

Yeah. For now, yeah. That’s it.

Okay. So to finish it off, would you be so kind to share a poem? (1:05:02)

Yeah, I’ll share the one that I just referenced about Orlando. So, this piece is called, “Unbelievably Real,” and it goes like this:

Orlando: Land of the free and home of the waves,

Where fireworks dilate the eyes of the night sky,

Bright whites, reds, and magentas bang- spread like spider webs across the constellation. We’re just colorful people creating a culture, comfortable in the winter,

Using soap suds for snowflakes with no shame.

Visitor symbols of space exploration dangle from keychains- the coast is a quick drive.

Atlantic Breeze, vibes.

A Sunday stroll through Lake Eola or Lorna Doon won’t cost you a dime

And the options for fine dining come a dime a dozen and doesn’t feel like the same meal.

It is unbelievably real. Ripley’s believe me or not,

I’ve seen orange flames disappear into the black abyss,

A sonic booming position for business, where innovation is limitless,

Where high-tech intersects with every industry.

Spring Bliss, Ourlando. The land of magic and microchips,

500,000-plus college students within 100 miles,

Absorbing the cutting edge of everything under the sun.

We take pride in our lions and guardians that govern the magic we run,

And we run laps. The flagship destination to put metaverse on the map: Orlando,

Land of many languages, reflected in the cuisine,

Where convention center conferences and upside-down buildings share the same street. We are playful where we meet, creatively serious.

We are EA Sports and Steinmetz Hall, dolphins and Gators,

And the Millenia mall and the Florida Mall.

We shop and kayak and get in where we fit in,

Because this expanding global hub either got something for everyone

Or blank spaces on the canvas, waiting for acrylic paint.

Where, your worst day could still feel like your birthday, especially in October.

Fiestas and parades. Look, we celebrate days like 407 Day.

Land of the free, home of the waves.

So much more to reveal. Between the water slides and the 400 ft wheel,

We are unbelievably real.

That was great! Thank you so much, and thank you for doing this. It’s been a real pleasure.

Thank you, my pleasure.

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