On the evening of Feb. 19, local artist Bettina “Poet Gold” Wilkerson came to Vassar College to perform original poetry, backed up by a cast of regional musicians and local artists of all ages. The Aula was packed with students and community members.
What followed was a multi-media expression of political struggle, local history and Black pride. The openers of the evening were two children who, together, performed a poem they had written. Their poem titled “Pledging your allegiance” set the tone of the evening. “I pledge my allegiance to no flag, of no United States of no America, and to no republic, for which nothing stands, one nation, under your description of God, unindivisible, with no liberty and no justice for all,” the middle schoolers boldly proclaimed to the crowd. “I won’t put my hand over my heart for something that never held mine,” the two girls concluded. Their poem was met with a standing ovation from the audience.
“I think it highlights where youth are in this moment. That they are awake, that they are thinking, that they are themselves. They have agency,” said Vassar Associate Professor of Political Science Taneisha Means, who helped organize the event. Shanti Garcia ’28 also reflected on the impact of the students’ poem: “It was really beautiful to see that they were allowed space to read their poetry… I never thought about the Pledge of Allegiance as a kid. We did it, but for them to be so young and already understand that you don’t have to accept the rituals that schools tell you to do was really awesome.”
Members of Vassar’s Black Student Union then performed poetry, singing and dance, followed by Poughkeepsie rapper Jaydee Great. After the openers, Poet Gold walked out with a band of four vocalists, a keyboardist and drummer in tow—all local musicians coming from Newburgh, Poughkeepsie and New York City. The showcasing of local artists resonated with Garcia, who commented, “I love that we could contextualize where we’re at, to give them respect in their artistry, while also acknowledging that they know Poughkeepsie better than us.”
Throughout her set, Gold focused on a central theme that she terms, “Be the poem.” “Imagine sunsets with orange hues across the sky, when the stars ascend the blanket at night, when things go dark, be the light in your life. Be the poem,” she shouted passionately into the microphone. After the show, in an interview with The Miscellany News, Gold elaborated on what “being the poem” means to her: “It means aspiring and doing self work, becoming your best self according to your own terms… ‘Be the poem’ is tapping into your love, your spirit, your hope and being authentic to that.”
Though centered on celebrating one’s spirit, Gold’s performance was also deeply political, with a strong reverence for both Black and Poughkeepsie history. This was evident in one of her pieces, “No Plaques on Market Street.” The poem was a meditation on the history of enslavement in Poughkeepsie, and the lack of recognition on slavery from the City today. “Poughkeepsie, New York! There are no plaques on Market Street, no monuments, no statues, no declarations stating slaves once stood and died here,” Gold bellowed in between the harmonious chants of her background singers, “Run off to freedom! Run off to freedom! Freedom, freedom, freedom.”
In the interview, Gold elaborated on some of the historical context that went into creating the poem. “Market Streets were known for marketing people. Black people,” she explained. “So, that resonated with me, and I wrote the poem.” According to Celebrating the African Spirit, enslaved Africans were “indispensable” to the development of Poughkeepsie and the greater Hudson Valley. They were forced to perform essential labor on roads, ships, mills and homes, and Poughkeepsie’s Market Street became a central hub where these human beings were bought and sold.
Gold’s performance also focused on Poughkeepsie’s present. Towards the end of the performance, she addressed the audience directly about what can be done to help alleviate what she believes are the struggles on Poughkeepsie’s Main Street. “Main Street, Poughkeepsie, is hurting, and there are a lot of great minds trying to put stuff together and spending lots of money trying to ‘think-tank’ this. But we’ve been ‘think-tanking’ it for years. I’m gonna keep it real… I think that this is an opportunity to have cross-conversation between Vassar, Marist [College] and Dutchess [Community College], and even the Culinary [Institute of America], and see how we can change the way Main Street looks.” She added, “There’s something more that can be done. And I think that that something has to come partially from the colleges.”
Downtown Poughkeepsie has faced severe disinvestment as a result of 20th century urban renewal, IBM’s presence in the region and suburban sprawl. After the show, Gold elaborated on some specific things that could be done for Main Street: “I think, one, a conversation with some of the business owners there, finding out what it is that they need… And then also conversations with the unhoused. People are afraid to have conversations with the unhoused, but they’ll give you the answers.”
Means echoed Gold’s sentiment about Vassar helping: “Vassar is a powerhouse in terms of its financial resources. Their funding can help realize dreams, in terms of initiatives and programs that require funding.” She continued, “I would say [Vassar] has a responsibility. We are here in this space, and our presence here has absolutely impacted different systems, and the way that things operate and happen here. The school districts, for example, wouldn’t be the way they were, if it also weren’t for larger institutions and interests, Vassar being one of them.”
In the middle of her performance, Gold led what she described as a “wake.” She invited the audience to get out of their seats and come to the center of the room, to join in song. She told them: “This is about community. This is about people connecting with each other. I don’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat, you’re independent, green, blue, yellow. I don’t really care. What I want is your energy, and what I want is you to connect with each other, and what I want is for you to be awake.”
As she gathered everyone together, she encouraged the audience all to raise their hands and chant to the beat of her song, “I’m awake.” The whole audience came together as she swayed with them, conducting their shouts: “I’m awake, I’m awake, I’m awake.”
After the show, Garcia pointed out the wake as one of her favorite parts: “I loved it. Before, I would look around the room and they would play the music and people were kind of reserved. As an audience member at a Vassar event you kind of put on a performance of like, ‘I’m here and I have to listen to you, and I’m gonna take it all in,’ but it was unorthodox… And I think people kind of tore down their walls of performance by going in the middle.”
Gold explained her motivation behind the wake, and why she chose to organize the crowd under the mantra. She explained, “We must rise. We must acknowledge that there is still community. There is still connection, and the only way I can get you really to acknowledge that is if you get up out of your seat and live that. Live that with each other… I know we may have phobias, it’s okay. Let’s lean into some trust, because whether you like it or not, we are going to need ‘we.’ And we should be awake to that. Don’t allow your fear to put you into a silo. We’re a community.”