By SARA EBENSPERGER

Contributing Reporter

“My father sold me into marriage to a 50-year old man. He rapes me every night, and keeps me locked in his house. I am 11 years old. F— my life.”

This was an excerpt from a spoken word piece by OU student Masudur Rahman, who read it aloud at the “Language of Rights” at a poetry contest on Monday, March 30.

This event was one of many put on by the the Oakland University Student Congress, specifically the Legislative Affairs branch, for their Global Issues Awareness Campaign, going on all week on campus.  Many issues were addressed during the readings, including poverty, human trafficking and breaking the social norms of racial identity.

Jarrel Lowman, who one first place for his untitled piece, was hoping to express his urge to break free of the stereotypes people place on the African American community, by going to college and getting an education.  He was inspired to write his piece, in the style of a hip hop song, after going home to Colorado and seeing his family and friends, many of whom hassled him for going to college in the first place.  

“I want to show that there are always bad apples,” he said. “But there are good apples too, not just in the black community, but in the Asian, white and Hispanic communities too.”

Amy Ring, one of the organizers, said she was “surprised” by Lowman’s piece. “I work with him at Busch’s and I’ve never seen this side of him” she said.  Ring was impressed by his talent.  

Rahman, who won second place, related his spoken word piece to fmylife.com as a way to connect with a more modern audience, experiencing the everyday trivial troubles of life.

In fmylife.com you’ll see daily updates from people describing various incidents that have happened to them that can only be described as “F— my life” moments.  The excerpt from Rahman’s poem won’t be read there though, as it’s an original piece trying to tell what some unfortunate people around the world experience.  Unfortunately, it is a regular occurrence around the world, where girls are forced into arranged marriages at ages where they should be outside playing on a playground, or in a classroom gaining an education.  

“I was hoping not so much that people realize that the troubles most people on fmylife.com are trivial and they should appreciate their fortunes,” Rahman said. “More importantly, I was hoping that people realize that there are people around the world who have it so bad, are in such desperate situations, and need so much help. Hopefully someone who heard me may consider helping at least one of these poor people.”

Nick McCormick, the organizer for this event, said on Rahman’s piece that he “liked how it tied into our generation.”

Along with Rahman and Lowman, the other poets who read were Megan Michals, Luke Hunter, Sai Myint, Hawra Abogilal and Anne Switzer.  Their topics ranged from human trafficking in a poem by Michals, to the social and political issues in Burma by Myint.  

Both McCormick and Ring were happy with the event and said that they hoped to do it again next year, or perhaps apply the idea of a poetry slam to other themes besides global issues.  

“It’s a good way to express their views” McCormick said on the various poets who read their work.

Along with the poetry slam, there will be other events going on this week on campus to address global issues.  Among them will be the documentaries “Black Gold” and “Flow” which will be shown on Wednesday and Thursday at 5pm in the Fireside Lounge.  Friday will feature an art exhibit entitles “Through Their Eyes” which will feature pieces of art hoping to address various issues through the eyes of those that experience them everyday.  Finally, to wrap up the Global Issues Awareness Campaign a Rock4Rights concert will be put on in the banquet rooms above the OC on April 9, starting a 9 p.m.