On April 10, renowned poet and activist Porsha Olayiwola (also known as Porsha O) visited Hamilton’s campus. Deasia Hawkins ’18, on behalf of Our Voices, We Speak, invited Olayiwola to lead a writing workshop in the Red Pit, titled, “Glory: On Radical Self-Love.”

Our Voices, We Speak “aims to inform the communities about the roots, prevalence, and repercussions of bullying, self-harm, and suicide.” Olayiwola’s visit is one of a series of ongoing projects the organization has in the hopes of raising awareness of the intersectional issues which contribute to injustice on campus and at large.

This year alone, Porsha O has spoken to at least 18 colleges around the country, sharing her poetry and advocating for change at schools like Trinity University, Middlebury College, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She describes herself as a hip-hop feminist and womanist, and her work consistently includes themes of injustice. She currently works in Boston at Mass Leap as the Lead-Teaching Artist & Program Manager, and co-founded the city’s first poetry slam venue in 2014. She also works to address issues surrounding queer women of color in the Boston area, serving as a member of Boston’s Hispanic Black Gay Coalition on the Women’s Council. In addition to her workshop at Hamilton, Olayiwola recently spoke at a ResistArts program Resist and Rejoice in Boston.

Olayiwola earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in African-American studies and Women and Gender Studies. She is the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion.