Inspiring Arts
Inspiring Arts Profile
A Slam Dunk
by Mike Yoshiura
KEALOHA WONG is SLAM to Hawaii, like Lebron James is to Cleveland.
"Slam Poetry is really performance poetry that's performed on stage and judged. It's poetry that was meant to be performed," said Kealoha Wong.
The modern day "slam" poetry competitions supposedly originated in 1984 by Marc Smith at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago. In the 90's critics often-linked slam poetry with the edgy-street lyrics performed by those in the hip-hop industry, and to this day many comparisons are still being made.
At a slam competition the artists get up on stage to perform, and judges in the audience score them based on poetry and performance. "Slam is just a gimmick. It's a gimmick that we as poets use to get audiences. There are no winners or losers. The real winner is poetry."
Kealoha Wong, 28, is a Honolulu resident who's expressing himself doing what he loves, and inspiring others in the process. Wong is making a name for slam poetry in Hawaii through his performances as well as his weekly workshops, which are inspiring community members of all ages. This local poet also assembles slam competitions once a month in teenage and adult categories. "The whole idea is to unite communities and high schools."
Wong graduated with honors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) in 1999, where he received a degree in Nuclear Physics. "I was a science and math nerd in college. I use the same analysis in my writing that I learned at M.I.T. I learned that writing, like a math problem, has to be broken down into composite parts, which should wrap up a solution."
While away at college this free-spirited artist claims that he could not write at all because of a lack of creative inspiration. "Once I finished college I just started writing ferociously. It's like a dam in front of a lake, over time the pressure builds and then it just bursts."
At the turn of the millennium, while pursuing a career in business consulting Kealoha had a revelation… "While in San Francisco I told myself 'it's time'. I went out and performed in front of the nation's largest crowd at the time," he says. "It occurred to me that this was what I was all about. I didn't know that I could make a living out of this. This is the dopest way to get what I have to say out to the world."
Once Kealoha jumped on the right path, it led him to exactly what he was looking for. "I had many questions in college. I didn't know what I was about or what was important to me. Once I figured that out it was easy to get on the right path. Once you figure out what's important to you, like; family, community and integrity, you can base all your decisions from there."
WHEN DOES KEALOHA find the time to write? "Everyday I write whatever's on my mind. I try to keep a pen on me at all times. I've even been known to pull my car over on the side of the road just to write," said Wong. "My best writing has been on hikes in the mountains. It has to do with being surrounded by life. It's the connection between the roots and the soil."
All of this writer's inspiration comes from conversation, philosophy, essays and movies. The work of another local writer, Lois Ann Yamanaka, has been inspiring Wong to write since he was in high school. "She just writes about growing up from a local perspective. Her style is so particular to me. It's a local-free-flowing style that really speaks my language."
Wong has not yet made 30, but his poetry speaks volumes, like he's lived two lifetimes over. "My writing is all about my life experiences, and all the things that has happened to me. My perspective is specific to what I've experienced."
Photos by Guy Sibilla
