News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Madgesdiq raps with Sisters middle schoolers.
Students in Sisters last week got a chance to tap into their creativity with the artist known as Madgesdiq, a poet, activist and teacher from Portland brought to Sisters by artist and teacher Kit Stafford.
Madgesdiq headlined a poetry reading at Sisters Art Works last Thursday night and visited Americana Project classes at Sisters Middle School and Sisters High School. He also met with Sisters High School writing students.
At the middle school, Madgesdiq led Stafford's class in a free-writing exercise designed to unlock their verbal creativity. He started with a warm-up rap that laid the foundation of rhythm and rhyme for the students to work with.
"Be patient with yourselves, too," he told the class. "I know we only have 20-25 minutes, but 25 minutes is a very long time. Be patient, 'cause once the flow starts, it only takes three, four, five minutes to write something good."
He explained the idea behind the exercise.
"At this age, kids have yet to realize their own creativity when it comes to writing."
Indeed, some students seemed inhibited about putting pen to paper, while others swiftly filled pages with their inspirations as Madgesdiq walked among them, urging them to express their dreams and goals.
Madgesdiq (Antoine Stoudamire) was once regarded as a basketball prodigy (he is a cousin of Damon Stoudamire and part of a sports-driven family). He received a full-ride scholarship and attended Georgetown University before transferring to and then graduating from the University of Oregon.
After a brief professional career, Madgesdiq made the transition from athlete to entertainer and began performing in 1999.
Madgesdiq has independently released two albums, "The Rebirth" in 2002 and a self-titled album in the summer of 2005.
The music has proved popular in Sisters.
"A lot of kids are listening to hip-hop," Stafford said. She noted Madgesdiq's music spread quickly through the middle school via downloads to iPods.
"I guess the whole bus was full of Madgesdiq's music this morning," Stafford said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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