黑料不打烊

Massachusetts poet laureate Regie Gibson visits 黑料不打烊

By Francisco Omar Fernandez Rodriguez
Publications Intern

Regie Gibson, the first poet laureate of Massachusetts, said words on their own don鈥檛 have meaning, but what is done with them can give them meaning.

鈥淲e have to do our best to give our words meaning. Some of our most sacred words, like freedom - it鈥檚 just a grunt. No more equivalent to breaking the glass in the concrete, unless we give it meaning,鈥 Gibson said.

He performed at the Heineman Ecumenical Center on April 1 to a full audience of faculty, staff, and students.

He said he is going around the commonwealth of Massachusetts to give words meaning.

鈥淲hich is why I鈥檝e been using the word commonwealth, as I鈥檝e been going around this commonwealth, getting rid of, not the notion of state, but asking people the question whether that state is who we are,鈥 Gibson said.

State is related to the word static, which is usually unchanging, he said.

The commonwealth is closer to the idea that we鈥檙e all connected and need to help each other, he added.

鈥淚 want to see if we can return to what that means, and not only just return to it but also expand upon it, so that we could be the commonwealth that鈥檚 more for more people than who it is we see in the mirror,鈥 Gibson said.

He said young people are surrounded by society that tells them not to reach out.

鈥淵ou have to be really conscious about creating that counter narrative and be repetitive about it,鈥 Gibson said.

Being repetitive helps people remember better, he added.

鈥淭he reason why we repeat things is because when we repeat things, it makes a little copy in the brain and you remember it better,鈥 Gibson said, before repeating the statement a few times.

Anything that is worth learning once is worth learning several times over, he said.
 

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