The Chattanooga Hamilton County Branch of the NAACP announced the winners of the 6th Annual Black Ink Interactive Poetry Contest.
Black Ink is was co-created by Vincent Ivan Phipps and Valoria Armstrong. Black Ink is a poetry contest created in recognition of Black history month. The "Black" represents the culture of African-Americans. The "Ink" represents the poetry.
Black Ink is an free, open mic, spoken-word, written poetry competition open to the community.
There are two categories: Youth Division (Poets 17 and under) and Adult Division (Poets 18 and older).
Contestants are judged on the following:
- Poems must have a theme of any aspect of Black History (Past-Present-Future)
- All poems must be original, free of vulgarity or offensive language.
Contestants are judged in four areas of: Content - Originality - Performance - Audience
Interaction
Black Ink was held on Friday, at the EPB Building.
The aspect making Black Ink, unique from any other poetry contest, is that after the delivery of each poem, the audience and poet have a chance to interact with each other. The audience asked the poet direct questions about their inspirations. The poet can share their personal motivations.
Black Ink winners:
James N. Blount III (first place), Aurelia S. McConnell (second place), Patricia Spells (third place), Janisha Watson (first place - Youth Division).
Judges were Endia Kendrick
D'Wauna Young
Marsha Morton-Mills
Michael White
Master of Ceremonies:
Vincent Ivan Phipps. Black Ink Creators are Vincent Ivan Phipps and Valoria Armstrong.
Winners receive cash prizes, plaque, and a full year's membership in to the NAACP. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the nation's oldest Civil Rights Organization. For additional information, please contact Vincent Ivan Phipps at 423 400-1040 or Vincent@CommunicationVIP.com.