Meet Sean Battle

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sean Battle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean , thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Any bouts I have with imposter syndrome get overpowered by one sentence: “ I may not know how to do a thing, but I know it ain’t suppose to be THAT.”

I can trace this to the first poem I wrote, and first performance, that made me realize I had “something:” Junior year, Pennsauken High School social studies class. I had to write a poem inspired by World War 1, and ended up writing one in the lunch period right before class, in the voice of a soldier in said war.

We had a reading contest in class. Many of my classmates where on the sports teams or other clubs, and oozed confidence in those areas. But when reading their work—some trying to rap—their hands were shaking as they
mumble read their work.

I knew little to nothing about performance, crowd control, etc. at that point, but I knew what energy and confidence needed to look like.

So on my turn, I stopped over thinking and just went for it….energy energy energy. It led to a standing ovation, and me winning the reading contest.

From that point on, I knew I had a thing regarding poetry. I still needed to figure out what that thing was, but it was there.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

As a poet—both writing and performance—I have been at since 2006. Poetry has been the foundation for developing my personal and political voice, thus impacting how I move in the world. It’s what led to my BA and Masters being literature focused (English BA and Creative Writing MFA, both at Rutgers). It’s what guided me back to education when I thought, after 2020 my time as a teacher was over (I’m back to teaching English at Essex County College).

It also guided me to being a business owner, after seeing a need for more poetry-based programming for myself and others. An offer to host a weekly, free open mic at the Coffee Cave (R.I.P.) in Newark, NJ ultimately led to starting a poetry-centered programming and performance collective—EvoluCulture—in said city.

Our mission is to hold space for artists and art lovers to connect, form, and express community. We present one of the longest running open mic events in Newark, as well as an annual poetry gala to celebrate agents of change within the community.

But all of this doesn’t come without me gaining the audacity to manifest worlds with words. I am known for talking to myself LOUDLY in public without me realizing it. Looking back, those moments were poems signaling to be pushed out, and for me to provide space for them to exist.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Consistency, empathy, and audacity keep me going. A choice to live at times where Black folks of any shape, size, and backgrounds are shown and told, as Audre Lorde put it “we were never meant to survive.”

Fearlessness is a myth. People are choosing to simply do and say things afraid, rather than have dread and disappoint squat on their hearts, rent free, alongside said fear.

My only advice: Do it afraid. You’ll breathe better.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

We at EvoluCulture look for partners and collaborators who prioritize a cultural bottom line over an economic.

To be clear, compensation for folks’ time is a necessity, and we always take care of those working with us. Artists and curators should be paid and paid well.

That being said, those who talk too much about business—to the point where it feels soulless—are not the ones to work with us. What’s best for business isn’t always what’s best for the culture.

Our current climate dictates (pun intended) that prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion for the sake of a balanced access to and for quality talent……must be ignored. Or else, lose funding and favor. Short-term fear or unmasking that leads to long term devastation of the business anyway.

Choose people. Choose culture. Choose fairness. Choose quality. Choose while afraid, because “we were never meant to survive,” but look at us now: still breathing.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Image credits: NJPAC, Ameerah Shabazz-Bilal, and EvoluCulture Ventures

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