$25,000 Arts Scholarship: 17 year old Deena Allen Wins Poetry Slam
Deena Allen is a young 17 year old poet from Detroit, Michigan who competed against 27 high school artist and won the Detroit Pistons $25,000 scholarship. She’s a self-published author who’s passionate about helping others while using poetry as a tool to express herself. I spoke with Deena Allen about her love for poetry which inspired her to write and compete for a scholarship.
Tell us a little bit about you.
Hi, I’m Deena Allen. I’m in the 12th grade at Cass Technical High School in Detroit and I’m 17 years old.
Tell us about the award you just won?
I won the $25,000 Detroit Pistons Black History Month Poetry Scholarship 2020.
Nice, was it a competition?
It was a competition with about 14 poets and 14 artists displaying their posters. The contest was divided into two halves. First, the artist went one by one on stage displaying their posters. The other half of the competition was a poetry slam so we had to go on stage one by one and recite our poems under 2 minutes. It was truly an interesting experience.
Tell us about the experience of competing?
It was really nerve-racking. My teacher told me about the competition the day before the application was due. That night she texted me about the scholarship opportunity and said she thinks I have a poem that would fit. So I filled out the application and was told the next day to be ready to compete at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). I had to memorize the poem that night. It was also nerve-racking because I had to compete last. You go up there, you perform, then you have to wait. It was terrifying. After waiting two hours they called us on stage and said my name as the winner. It was surreal.
During your poem you gave a shot-out to the illuminate program at KANBooks.org. Tell us about illuminate?
Illuminate is a poetry and entrepreneurship program for youth in the city of Detroit which teaches not only to create your work and sell it but how to express yourself. I think that’s where it all started. I started writing my poem when I was 12 years old and I kept working on it every single year. So yea, illuminate is a really amazing program for the youth.
Where do you all meet?
We meet at KAN Books 9405 John R. and Kenilworth and we have open mics every 4th Saturday at 6pm.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
English and Science but I really like my acting classes.
Who’s your favorite teacher?
My Japanese teacher, she’s amazing!
What do you like about poetry?
I really like poetry because it’s a really good way to get how I’m feeling across. I’ve really always had a hard time conveying how I feel in a healthy manner so poetry helps me tell how I feel.
Who’s your favorite poet?
Elizabeth Acevedo is my favorite poet. She wrote Beastgirl and Other Origin Mythsbut I also like poem Lazy Lazarus by Sylvia Plath.
Tell us about growing up in Detroit?
It’s really interesting seeing everything change and shift. I like the adventure of Detroit like going to the River Days, Belle Isle, and going to the River front and meeting new people. I really like the since of community.
In 10 years, what do you want your life to look like?
I want to double major in forensics and performing arts. I really like acting. Hopefully I still continue to write poetry and self-publish while dvocating for people who can’t advocate for themselves.
Have you already written a book?
Yea, I’ve written a book titled Infinite available at KAN Books and Amazon. I’m working on a new book titled Black Flowers Don’t Exist because we aren’t born soft and I’m really excited about my upcoming book.
Excellent, and what are you going to do with the $25,000 scholarship you just won?
That’s hard. I’ve applied to twelve different colleges and been accepted to seven so I might go to Wayne State University, NYU, or University of Texas in Austin.
Any last thoughts about winning the $25,000 Detroit Pistons Poetry Slam Competition?
I think it’s a big change for me and even though I had doubts I came out on top. So, I think just not giving up and not letting self-doubt get to you is important.
— — — — — — — — — — — — POEM — — — — — — — — — — — — —
America’s Anxiety
by Deena Allen
Symptom 1: paranoid you are being watched all the time when surveillanced shopping, sleeping, slipping, shooting being shot, standing with no intention of moving.
Symptom 2: fear that whenever you’re pulled over on it’ll be the last breath you take, keep your hands out of your pockets, they are scared of pockets and papers that have things owned by us.
Symptom 3: urges to escape out of metal cages because “you dont belong here “ but neither do you
Symptom 4: feeling your hair stripped from your body and placed on an all-white canvas and call it fashion.
Symptom 5: having to hold tounge every time someone call you bro homie sis best friend my n-
number 6: there isnt one because we are not anything to be afraid of.
Melanin doesnt pierce through skin the way bullets do
Guns dont shoot people do
For Every stare, glance,comment, remark, title, bruise every single one of these are a day to day struggle of a coloring book that you don’t get to fill in
This is the picture of a broken America nailed into a wall
This is for every color in the crayon box
This is America’s Insecurity
— — — — — — — — — — — — — POEM — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Heaven by the Textbook
by Deena Allen
i am the product of overpopulated classrooms and underpaid teachers
10 dollars per student i’m closely calculating the cost of admission
that our lives never calculate to enough.. il let you do the math
because the body count only matters on count day
the 10 dollars isnt amounting to change
because you’re tardy
because youre absent
because youre slacking
its because youre not focused
how much is my education worth to you?
is it worth the fear of shattered glass and gun shot wombs
how much is my education worth to you?
is it worth Failling me because im constantly struggling from work to worksheet
how much is my education truely worth?
in a public school system its education education education education
when will we amount to enough
why is it so hard to get an education? Its
from the creaks under the floorboards
the mold in the cielings
from our lost dreams
you can feel the woodchips in our sides
its the possiblity of supension to success and angel wings
ive been in the school system all my life
the product of generations of degrenerates and hope
That one day we will amount to enough change to make sense out of everything
We are the youth built on the back bones on dreamers and believers and sky seekers
That one day I will have the ability to make a place for myself.
thats way more than 10 dollars worth.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Nzinga LeJeune- Poet, Author, Indie-film producer #WaterINJUSTICE
“It is 2020 and Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean Water.”
-Nzinga LeJeune
