SEQUIM — Slam poetry and its wiry cousin, hip-hop, tend to sit people up and make them take notice. The Spoken Word Revolution, a book celebrating the two, got Tim Richards’ attention. He saw it in his 17-year-old son’s homework stack this spring.
Tonight, Richards will speak to the Sequim School District Board of Directors about Revolution, which he says is rife with references to sex, drugs and stereotypes.
The School Board will hear from Richards after its regular 7 p.m. meeting in the board room inside the Performing Arts building at 533 N. Sequim Ave.
Already Richards has asked the school district to “withhold [the book] from all students,” due to its “vulgar language,” and “‘poetry’ that uses obscene imagery.”
Revolution features work by 50 poets from the slam and hip-hop movements, many of whom can be heard on the book’s companion CD.
“Unfortunately this genre of music is ingrained with [obscene] imagery,” Richards wrote to the district’s Instructional Materials Committee.
“The lives of these artists are known for their violence, antisocial behavior and demeaning treatment of women.”
Exposure to younger teens
Revolution may be OK for college students or high school seniors — which Richards’ eldest son will be this September — but he doesn’t think it belongs in a library younger teens use.
“More than this specific book, I would like to encourage a broader examination of obscenity standards in our library,” added Richards, owner of a Sequim medical equipment company.
The Materials Committee met May 24 to consider Richards’ complaint, and voted unanimously to keep Revolution in the high school’s stacks.
The book is also available in the North Olympic Peninsula public library system.
At Sequim High School, the single copy of Revolution has been checked out only once — by Richards’ son.
Sequim Schools Superintendent Garn Christensen pulled the book last Thursday, however, and kept it in his office for School Board members to view.
