Spoken word artist creates poetry by drawing from pain — to help others cope with theirs

Spoken word artist Jah Smalls texted poems to his teenage daughter to help her cope with depression last year. Smalls had experienced depression just months before and a poem he wrote changed his outlook, he said.

“The only thing I can give her is what I have,” said Smalls, 47, of Charlotte. “So I started writing her love notes, sending her poems and texting her messages.”

The poems Smalls wrote for his daughter, Mianna Smalls, are published in a book, “One Hundred & One Love Notes from Dad.”

Smalls’ writing and teaching methods are based around acknowledging trauma. “I want people to know that it’s OK not to be OK, but it’s not OK to stay there, in that spot,” he said. “Just letting it out, whether you’re writing it or saying it. That is the beginning of the process of your healing.”

Since COVID, Smalls has been hosting an open mic night for poets on Instagram Live, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. As a member of Charlotte Art League, a nonprofit group that offers programs, classes, artist studio space and monthly art exhibits, he also coordinates and hosts CAL’s new program, “The Drive In: Poetic Edition.” It’s 4-6 p.m. Sundays through August.

Rising out of trauma

Smalls’ drive to help others is born out of traumatic experiences and bouts of depression. He is the oldest of eight brothers and sisters, born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y.

He was 19 and working as a DJ when acquaintances robbed and shot him in his home for his equipment. He was struck by four bullets; one is still lodged in his jawbone. Smalls suffers from constant pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a 78% loss of vision in his right eye.

He moved to Charlotte in 1997 for a warehouse job at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Over the next several years, he moved from Kissimmee, Fla., to Charlotte to New York and back to Charlotte. In 2012, while working at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, he suffered a head injury that disabled him.

Smalls had written poetry in elementary school, often for his friends to give to a girl they liked. He moved to writing short stories in middle school. By high school, he was serious about freestyle rapping and known as a battle MC in competitions throughout New York City.

After his head injury, Smalls returned to writing. “I couldn’t do much of anything at this time,” he said. “The only thing I could do was write. I got back into writing.”

Empowering students

Smalls brings out the talent in others, said Natalie Frazier Allen, founder and director of The Arts Empowerment Project, an organization that connects kids to the community through arts.

Since 2016, Smalls has been serving as a visiting artist for Promoting Peace, an Arts Empowerment program that brings kids, artists and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department together for dialogue.

In a Promoting Peace activity that Smalls called “Poetry Gumbo” he instructed students and police officers to write one sentence. He put the lines together, read it aloud, and the group saw how their collective words formed a poem.

“He’s one of the people that showed them that they could do it,” Allen said. “Having that mechanism was truly empowering for them.”

Smalls works in elementary, middle and high schools in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and other districts, along with Shane Manier, founder and executive director of Guerilla Poets.

They’ve offered workshops about art and writing. Smalls gives writing prompts and teaches students how to rhyme. Manier shows them how to paint.

The two met several years ago at an event sponsored by Guerilla Poets and quickly became close friends and colleagues. Manier noticed how Smalls connects with others, especially teens, through his ability to talk about gun violence, mental health issues, and post traumatic stress disorder.

“Jah has this really smooth powerful cadence,” Manier said. “You can tell his heart is in his work. He’s such a good storyteller too. He can take you to a memory and it makes you feel like you’re walking right there beside of him. He does it in such a gentle way that even though it’s powerful and it may be some heavy themes, he presents it in a way that you know it’s a safe space to share that journey.”

Last year, Smalls worked with Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s “The Poet is IN” during April’s National Poetry Month. He wrote poems on demand for people at the main library. He organized writing workshops, bringing in other poets to help with the programming.

Finding his ‘go’

Smalls writes in his living room with John Coltrane blasting on his television. Coffee and the book of poems he wrote for his daughter are always nearby. He does a “word dump” to clear his head and waits for his “go.”

“Once that space is clear, I can focus on what I am writing,” he said. “I write from the pain that I am going through, whether it’s physical or emotional without writing about the pain. I’ve learned to channel that energy into whatever that topic is.”

Smalls and his brother, Kaleek Morale (Mr. Witz) started Grannae’s Boyz in 2013. They perform at events and teach writing and performance workshops. Students learn how to create a metaphor and storyline in classes. They study poems and find out how to self-publish. Smalls coaches one-on-one and in small groups, helping them perform their work.

In 2016, he met Rochelle “Blaqbaree” Stanley, an inaugural member of the Charlotte-based Respect Da Mic Poetry Slam team. She asked him to take over coaching the team. Smalls agreed and has been taking a team of four each year to the annual Southern Fried Poetry Slam, a festival and poetry competition.

“When we (Grannae’s Boyz) started open mic poetry events, it was just for us to free ourselves through our writing,” Smalls said. “I never wanted to become a slam poet. I refused to do slam at the time. She (Stanley) introduced slam poetry to me in a way that I fell in love with this idea. She began to teach and coach me on what we can do and what we will do.”

Helping kids through trauma

Smalls envisions opening a space specifically for middle school students because it may be one of the most traumatic periods of childhood, he said. He wants to teach workshops, have therapists, medical personnel and educators on staff. It would be a welcoming and safe place for children to hangout (and adults in the evening.)

“I want to teach them: You count, your feelings count, whatever you’re going through counts,” he said. “I want to teach them that it’s OK to be vulnerable. The world is so brittle now, we won’t show our vulnerability because we feel like if we do that, the world is over. We don’t open up enough.”

‘The Drive In’

What: The Drive In: Poetic Edition is Charlotte Art League’s answer to a COVID-safe open mic night. Poets, singers and musicians perform on the CAL loading dock while guests listen and watch from cars.

When: 4-6 p.m. Sundays through August.

Where: 4100A Raleigh St.

Cost: $10 per car or $5 per person

Details: charlotteartleague.org. To join the open mic list contact Jah Smalls on Instagram, @coachjahsmalls

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