UNIQUE hosted An Evening of Spoken Word on March 10, an event celebrating Women’s History Month with poets Gabriella Garcia Medina and Katie Wirsing reciting poetry alongside two student poets.

The show began with original poems recited by two Sacramento State students. The students were then followed by a recital by UNIQUE adviser Ajamu Lamumba.

“It was just like you were talking to the audience,” Lamumba said. “I wanted to try and encourage student involvement.”

After Lamumba’s performance, Wirsing took the stage. Her performance involved not only poetry, but also had her telling a story to the audience.

Between each of her poems, Wirsing engaged the audience in conversation, telling them what each poem involved and what it meant to her. After Wirsing, Medina took the stage as the last performance of the night.

Medina performed six poems in total, with one of the first poems she performed being what she called a self-empowered love poem. Another poem was titled, “At Least I’m a Good Poet,” a poem about her attempts to cook. “These poems all represent a broad spectrum of my work,” Medina said.

Her third poem dealt with abuse faced by four women as well as abuse she faced in the past herself. The poem was the first time she had written about it, Medina said.

After the show, Medina stayed for a couple minutes to greet audience members. One student, criminal justice sophomore Esmeralda Ramirez, said she enjoyed the message that Medina conveyed in her poetry.

“I felt that it was very empowering,” Ramirez said. “It was great hearing her talk about women’s issues in particular.”

Medina was appreciative of the patience the audience showed throughout the entire performance.

“I was really humbled that everyone stayed seated as long as they did for two and a half hours,” Medina said. “I hope they left the show feeling inspired.”