By Shana Trammell, Special to the AFRO
Art has many characteristics. It is fluid and ever changing. It cannot be dictated nor limited. Mecca Verdell aka Meccamorphosis is much like the art that she creates. She holds no bars when transforming words and ideas into spoken art.
Mecca Verdell (Courtesy Photo)
As a teaching artist for Dew More Baltimore, a community-based organization dedicated to using spoken word to illustrate social issues, Meccamorphosis is influencing tomorrow’s creative minds. “I am inspired by any youth coming up in Baltimore just finding out to express themselves and then expelling that into poetry. As a teacher for DewMore I don’t know what I would do without my students.”
Mecca has performed at numerous venues including Busboys and Poets, and the prestigious Kennedy Center. Using social media platforms such as YouTube, Mecca has transfixed hundreds with her powerful pieces. Creating doesn’t just include her impressive bevy of spoken word and poetry but also “Soapbox Poetry Radio,” a show that interviews and highlights nationally and locally known poets and writers.
Meccamorphosis’ passion for poetry is evident on all of her works. It’s her calling card, her fingerprint. “At first poetry was very random for me and I felt like growing in this craft for the sake of conquering, but recently when I started writing more for my own mental health and to teach others it became more natural…more for me.”
What’s on the horizon for Meccamorphosis? “The future for me is be the free black woman the world is afraid of. I want to show black girls not to be afraid of their voice no matter the accent, the ‘twang’, or the volume.”