Poetry, Floetry, and Soul
New Youth Poet Laureate Brings Style, Tradition and New School Swag To The Game
By Kia Lisby
Sainey Ceesay - winner of the 2021 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate (PGC YPL) Slam Finals.
Congratulations are in order for 19-year-old Sainey Ceesay hailing from Greenbelt, MD, as the winner of the 2021 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate (PGC YPL) Slam Finals.
Ceesay was introduced to poetry at a young age. Her aunt Sonja Henry wrote poetry when she was younger, and her uncle Milton Anderson was an orator. Being a part of a family with writing and speaking skillsets, her family members encouraged her to read and take in the arts.
When growing up, she attended Camp Shule at the University of Maryland’s Nyumburu Cultural Center, in College Park, MD. Every morning campers would recite writings such as “The Rose That Grew From Concrete” by Tupac Shakur and “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes.
Camp Shule “instilled black art, culture, and our history into us, and kind of helped us to have a pride in familiarity with poetry and things of that sort,” Ceesay says.
Ceesay, who was shy and kept a lot of things to herself, began writing in her middle school years. Writing became an outlet to manage her frustrations. “Around that time, I was dealing with a lot of depression and mental health issues. I was going through a lot at home and I didn’t really feel like I had a place to really speak or voice my opinions.”
Various experiences allowed Ceesay to break out of her shell. “I think at one point the need to speak out overcame my shyness which gave me more courage to share. Slam and Open Mic audiences in the youth space tend to be very encouraging and have good energy, which helped to ease my nerves. Overtime it began to be less and less scary for me to go on stage and speak in front of large groups of people, and that helped my confidence over time.”
Putting her shyness behind her, Ceesay’s influencers in poetry helped to catapult her own journey.
Her poetic influence began with Maya Angelou and continues with modern and slam poets such as Crystal Valentine, Dominique Christina, Porsha O, her mentor Ephraim Nehemiah, and other poets around her that give her inspiration. All of this and her natural talent prepared Ceesay for poetry competition. She decided to compete for the title of Youth Poet Laureate because she has a passion for poetry and serving her community.
“Being the Poet Laureate allows me to do both of those things, while also providing me with opportunities for my poetry to reach more people, which includes the ears of elected officials who have a lot of capacity to create change on the local level.”
To become the Youth Poet Laureate, contestants go through an evaluation process. There is a three-round judging process to be considered for the finals, with maximum score of 900 points allowed.
In the first-round, contestants submit five of their best poems for judging. They also, must provide a resume and background information on who they are, what they do, civic engagement, and their commitment to the community. If contestants score high enough, they move into the second round consisting of an interview to see if they would be a good candidate for Poet Laureate. The third and final round is the slam, when contestant’s performance ability and content delivery are judged.
With all the criteria being met, Ceesay made her way to the final round, scored the most points out of the other contestants and took home the “W”.
Although she is currently a student at Prince George’s Community College, Ceesay’s future goals are to “strengthen my craft and my skills so that I can be as much of a resource to my community as possible.” She also wants to be a part of the change and to make a difference in people’s lives.
