Shahaddah Jack holding her book "Underrated Royalty" (Source: Stephanie Moka)
When 18-year-old Shahaddah Jack speaks, the room is full but silent. The crowd watches her in awe, eager to hear her words and feel what emotion she will evoke next.
"You've dedicated your living to discrediting my blackness, exposing your envy of my beautiful black grace," she recites. Shahaddah is not afraid of the bright lights. She has been writing and performing spoken-word poetry since the age of 12.
Born and raised in Toronto, Shahaddah Jack is a bilingual spoken word poet, art facilitator, performer, youth activist, and published author. Her book "Underrated Royalty" was published in 2022. It features poems she wrote between the ages of 12 and 17 years old.
Her poetry promotes human rights and social justice while exposing her experiences as a Black woman in Canada.
"Poetry is kind of like walking through the halls of your mind and unlocking doors that you didn't even know were there," Jack says.
HER DRIVE
Her mother, Laurette Jack-Ogbonna, is the Children's Program Coordinator for the Eastview (Toronto) Boys and Girls Club. Shahaddah would accompany her single mother to work as a child.
"How important was it for you to fully immerse her in this?" I ask.
"I didn’t. It's just a fact of life being a single parent as well. It's like, I'm coming to work, so are you," Laurette says.
She attributes her success to her mother’s words of motivation and support.
"I've always grown up with my mom saying whatever you choose to do be the best at it," Shahaddah says.
"If you want to pick blades of grass, you be the best blades of grass picker, if you want to be a doctor, be a doctor known for something, but just always be the best you," Laurette adds.
"My Mother’s Daughter" is a poem featured in Underrated Royalty. It is dedicated to her mother, Laurette.
"Poetry is kind of like walking through the halls of your mind and unlocking doors that you didn't even know were there."
HER INSPIRATION
"I had an incredible poet come into my school, Britta B. She is my lifetime mentor, now a great friend of mine that I'm so blessed to have," Jack says.
Award-winning artist Britta Badour was the spark that lit the fire in Shahaddah to want to pursue a career in spoken-word poetry.
Shahaddah says she does not have to look too far to find inspiration for her pieces. "Stories are everywhere. There’s art everywhere," she says.
Her poem "Scarborough," for example, pays homage to the area in the east end of the city where she grew up. She pulls inspiration from the community around her, but mainly from within.
The poems in Underrated Royalty are coupled with the faces that inspired them. The book features photos that Shahaddah took and edited on her phone, reminding us that she is a woman of many talents.
HER ACHIEVEMENTS
For her efforts, Shahaddah was named BGC Canada’s 2022 Youth of the Year. She has been volunteering and developing programs there since she was ten years old.
According to her website, she has performed on stages like the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Theatre, Meridian Hall, and Toronto Centre for the Arts, among many more.
Her spoken word poetry has been heard at events such as:
- Toronto International Festival of Authors
- TDSBCreates
- Black Women in Motion: WAAR Conference
- RISE in the Parks.
Her works have been featured on print, stage, radio, and film, such as on CBC Radio-Canada, JAYU HRFF+, Artworksto, and AGYU.
Shahaddah is currently a journalism student in her first year at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is pursuing a career in broadcasting and wishes to find a way to mix human rights journalism with the arts.
Her hope is that her poetry inspires people to actualize change through their own forms of art as well.
Her book "Underrated Royalty" is now available on Amazon.
More information:
Book: Underrated Royalty
Website: ShahaddahJack.com
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