Culture, community alive at Poet Club's open mic night

The Auburn Hip Hop Congress got lost on its way to the Lincoln Poets Club's Open Mic event, but the message wasn't lost on the audience: Culture and community is everything. For an event set at the Salt Mine Church, the Auburn Hip Hop Congress showed up at the Salt Mine Thrift Store instead. Pushing the event back 25 minutes, they found their way to the church building. Alan Lowe, the event MC and organizer, introduced the evening, reminding the 10 participants that train tracks are visible from the door and if you are speaking into the microphone while the train comes by to pause your poem if you want to be heard. As if written by a sitcom crew, a train passed by seconds later, pausing the introduction and making the audience giggle. The Auburn Hip Hop group was introduced and filled the room with music. A rapper by the name of Beans began with a song called "Fancy Free," which explores the struggle of working a 9 to 5. It ponders the question: How can one follow society's rules while staying true to themselves? "I'm gonna do what I want because it pleases me," he rapped. "I don't care about you, yeah, it's all about me." The second song he performed was "Human Music," which explored the struggle of being positive throughout hardships. "Sometimes we need to stay patient, away from ourselves in the crummy situations because who needs the aggravation? Play your life's game but there ain't no Play Station. Ain't no world of recreation. Reality is a trick to that - there's no debating." The second performer from the Auburn Hip Hop Congress was named CoU'RaGe. Before he performed, he shared with the audience he is an adolescent mental health worker who works with schools throughout Placer County. He shared a poem from his high school days titled "No Change Despair," which explored how pain can grow us into stronger individuals. The rapper then went into a song titled "Bless," where he had the audience clapping to the beat. "Happy to be breathing. Yo, I'm blessed. I just keep on moving through the stress." He finished his set by performing a poetry titled "My Earliest Memory," which shared his thoughts of watching his parents cope with a difficult divorce and how it inspired him to be a good father for his family. During the question-and-answer portion of the event, the group answered questions about dealing with young children in the digital age and fatherhood. The main advice given was that children struggle with connection and trust in our current society - the best thing you can do is be open with them, hold them accountable and guide them to greatness. After a short intermission, the members of the Lincoln Poets Club began their open mic portion. The group members showed inspiration from the hip hop group by adding beats to their poetry. The club's next Open Mic is Sept. 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Salt Mine location off of 6th Street. The guest poet is the poet laureate of El Dorado County.