We recently connected with Brandon Williamson and have shared our conversation below.

Brandon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

As a spoken word artist, you get the opportunity to share your story with the world. The best part about this is that you get to tell your story in your own words and in your own way. The reason why I started Pure Ink was to create a platform that allows people to have and share their voice and their story. In doing so, it has opened doors for me to be able to work with students in high school and even elementary school. Some of my most meaningful projects came from helping students find their voice and write their story in their own words. If you are ever able to witness the excitement that comes across a student’s face when they explore different ways to tell their story. It’s almost like a whole new world of possibilities has opened up to them and they want to explore it all.

I live for the moments when a student or an adult is able to build the confidence to be able to share their story before an audience of peers or strangers because that’s what we do as spoken word artists. We share stories in hopes that they’re received well by the audience. It’s always a risk, it’s always sacrifice, but to many it’s always worth is as well.

Brandon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Brandon Williamson and I’m the creator of Pure Ink Poetry. I’m a spoken word artist, a creativity consultant, actor, teacher, and more. I first got introduced to spoken word through Def Poetry Jam on HBO. I saw artists get on stage and spit poetry with such confidence, wordplay, theatricality, and presence and it felt like home to me. I thought to myself, I could give that a shot, so I started writing. Mostly religious poems and a few other basic topics. Then one night while I was sitting in the dorm room of my girlfriend at the time, she was painting a picture to turn in to the school for the Rosa Parks Scholarship. I was just sitting there in the room with nothing to do, so I pulled out a pen and paper and decided to write a poem on the spot. It was on the theme and idea of Rosa Parks, so I decided to turn it in to the school. I ended up winning the scholarship and that planted the idea in my head that maybe there’s something to this poetry thing.

For years I had a strong performance background and spoken word is a combination of writing and performance. I was able to lean on my strong performance as I wasn’t really a strong writer (in my opinion) For years I continued to write and was introduced to the world of poetry slams through Ntare Ali Gault and the Njozi poets. I learned what a poetry slam is, what makes it different from open mics and other types of competitions and platforms. I traveled with the Njozi poets to various poetry slams across New York and up in Canada.

In November of 2011, The Emtea Coffee cup announced that they were no longer going to be hosting their poetry nights anymore. This was the local hot spot for spoken word in the city for anybody honing their craft or just showing off. I felt the void that would have formed with the loss of the Emtea Coffee Cup’s poetry nights, and I decided to be the change I wanted to see. So I started the process of creating my own poetry event.

I didn’t want it to be an open mic, I wanted to raise the stakes. Since I was introduced to the world of Poetry Slams, I wanted to create a poetry slam here in Buffalo instead. Since January of 2012, we have been running and grew through the community to become the Premier Poetry slam in the City of Buffalo.

I work with our community of poets on workshops that span from writing, performance, DEI, to creativity as a whole. The goal is to empower everyone to find and share their voice in a space that welcomes those voices, while acknowledging that we’re all still growing as artists. I’m all about helping our poets develop their craft while effectively telling their story. We have hosted tons of workshops, live performances, poetry slams, and other opportunities for poets to shine.

In these efforts, I have taken time to hone my craft as well as I put a lot more focus on my writing and storytelling. I’m always excited to be able to share that growth with my community. But you can find us at Pureinkpoetry.com and BrandonWilliamson.us

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Pay your artists for their art. We live in a world where we think that entertainment is free. We discourage people from becoming artists because they “Can’t make a living off of art,” or “Art isn’t that important in the world we are living in.” That is objectively false. We absorb entertainment every single day in a wide variety of forms. Although there are always artists trying hard to get their name out there, their art takes sacrifice and has value. Whether it’s a visual artist, or a spoken word artist, their work should be valued. The running joke about doing shows for exposure is that you can die from too much exposure. I’m guilty of accepting shows for free or at an extreme discount just because I want to be able to share my work with someone, but it doesn’t do the next artist any favors when they’re trying to do it for a living. Support your local artists while still holding them to a high standard.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

This question is easy because it is and will always be inspiring someone else to write and even share on the stage. I can’t count the number of times someone has come to me and told me that they were inspired to write after seeing me perform. What I hope to do in my poetry is to introduce new perspectives, and to inspire everyone to explore their own. Any time I hear that I made a difference in someone’s creative journey, then I feel like I’ve accomplished the very thing I’m still here to do. One day at a time, I hope to inspire and to make a difference in the lives of the people around me.  x     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Brandonwilliamson.us , www.Pureinkpoetry.com
• Instagram: Bwilliamsonpoet , Pure Ink Poetry
• Facebook: Brandon Williamson, Pure Ink Poetry
• Twitter: @BWilliamsonpoet
• Youtube: Pure Ink Poetry
• TikTok: @Bwilliamsonpoet Creativity consultant webpage www.BWCreativity.com

Image Credits
Autumn Christine louise Bradley JW Design+Photo