- 6 weeks ago
Celebrate your story with a one-of-a-kind, handwritten poem. In this intimate experience, you are invited to share a moment of joy, a tribute to our community, or a word that defines you. Our poet will listen, engage, and distill your spirit into ink. Witness your essence become a handwritten verse penned just for you, penned just for us.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, everyone. Welcome to Essence Fest 2025. My name is Monique Lorden. I am an author and an
00:09artist, a poet from my hometown. Can we give it up for New Orleans right now? That's right.
00:15We showing up. Hey, friend. You know, everybody is a friend and a cousin here. So, hey, friend.
00:21So, I wrote a poem for you, and I'd like to write more poems for you. This activation is all about
00:28you. I'm going to encourage you, after I read this poem, to come up and have a little conversation
00:34with me, and I'm going to write a poem just for you, a keepsake that you can take home to your
00:39friends, your cousins, right, in your hometown. So, this is for you. Essence 2025. We came bold,
00:51braided, brilliant, full of rhythm and reason. This ain't just a festival. It's a freedom
00:58song. A second line of joy through every generation. We didn't just show up. We made this. We are not
01:06footnotes. We are foundations. It's our essence, and it's our story. So, I'd like for you all to come
01:15up and share a moment with me, and I will write a poem for you. Does anyone want to come up? Come on
01:23up. Oh, oh, oh, we got a line? Please, come on up.
01:36How you doing? You could come to the front, so we could talk, talk. We could talk, talk, girl.
01:43What's your name? Pamela. I'm Monique. Nice to meet you. Hey, cousin. Hey, cousin. Where are you from?
01:49Yeah. Where are you from from, then? Okay. What high school you went to? I didn't finish high school
01:56here. I finished high school in Milton, Florida. Okay. All right. A Navy brat. We got some military
02:03families up in here traveling. That's right. Okay. So, what's on your heart today?
02:08Okay. Oh, my. So, rest. Rest. I think we could all write, talk, feel, hope for a little bit
02:21of rest. So, I'm going to write a poem for Ms. Pamela about rest. Yes.
02:27So, I'm going to title this one, rest is a part of the work. Because we know rest isn't just resting.
02:41It's not a weekend off. It's not just a vacation, because that takes work. But rest is a part of the
02:46revolution, right? It takes us to nurture ourselves and to rest, to have what we need to be rested and do
02:54the work. Oh, yeah. This works? Okay. Oh, girl, you want a TV, girl. Look. Okay.
03:06She said she liked it the other way. Girl, smile for the camera. Come on, Pamela.
03:24Miss Pamela, rest is a part of the work. That came to my mind immediately because she said this is her
03:35first day off. And she decided to take her first day off and come to Essence to be a part of what
03:40we made, right? To be a part of our Essence and our story. I think that's beautiful in itself.
03:44So, rest is not only a part of your work, but it's a part of your revolution. And I pray that you
03:48continue to rest and put yourself first, because in order to change the world and do the work for
03:54community, you've got to rest. So, the poem is very short and sweet. It's rest is a part of the
03:59work. It's a part of the revolution. And Miss Pamela, you are the revolution. So, keep on fighting
04:04and keep on resting. Let me sign it for you. Sign it, cousin. I also want to share my Instagram with
04:14Miss Pamela. And I'll do the same for all of you that walk up. It is 1985 Poet. That's where you
04:20all can find not only my art, like some of those sculptures over there that I painted. Well, one
04:25of the sculptures, but also my poetry. Get some rest, girl.
04:34Oh, you sure? Hello. Welcome. How are you? You got a mic? I do. Oh, I don't. Her mic's not hot
04:52yet. Let's see. I don't need it. Hello. Hello. Thank you. Yeah. Does that work? Okay. Star of the
05:02show. What's your name? Bree. Bree. Where are you from? Colorado. Colorado. Okay. I was just in
05:08Colorado and the altitude got me. Because, you know, we're below sea level. Yeah. So, that was
05:13next level. And it's dry. And it's dry. It's very dry. Oh, my goodness. Yes. Are you enjoying Essence?
05:18I am. I'm loving it. It's my first year. Nice. Yes. Are you going to come back? Yes. Awesome. All right.
05:24So, what's on your heart? I think just relieving anxiety. Just getting rid of the anxiety and the worry.
05:32Okay. Okay. So, Bree wants to get rid of anxiety and worry. I'm thinking she wants a clear mind
05:41and a clear heart. And there's no differentiation between the two, right? What we store in our
05:45heart often feeds to our mind. And what we feed in our mind feeds to our hearts. And so, Bree,
05:52I'm going to write you a poem about the power of the mind and the heart.
05:54Okay. I love it.
06:02So, Bree.
06:03So, I'm going to write you a poem.
06:25So I wrote the power of the mind and the heart.
06:52Think with your heart.
06:53They tell us all the time not to think with our heart.
06:55To think with our heads.
06:56But there should be no differentiation, right?
06:58So think with your heart.
06:59Let your thoughts be as rich and as sweet as sweet tea and porch songs.
07:06Let them ground you and sound you.
07:08And I pray that this levels you and balances you.
07:11And then you can breathe because there are people who rocked on those porches and drank sweet tea that came before us who knew how to deal with what we tend to struggle with.
07:21So lean on the people that came before you who took a simpler approach, you know, and saw life one day at a time, one moment at a time, and breathe your way through it.
07:31You're welcome.
07:31Thank you, Brie.
07:39You too.
07:46Awesome.
07:47Hey, cousin.
07:48How are you?
07:49Good.
07:50How are you?
07:50I'm fine.
07:51What's your name?
07:52Sheena.
07:52Sheena.
07:53Where are you from?
07:54Virginia.
07:54Okay.
07:55First essence, second, third, fifth?
07:57First.
07:58Ooh.
07:58Okay.
07:59And you coming back?
08:00Yeah.
08:01I think so.
08:02I come back.
08:02Okay.
08:03For sure.
08:03So what's on your mind, your heart?
08:05So I was thinking, and two words came to mind, calm and reassurance.
08:11Oh.
08:12That came to mind.
08:14Calm and reassurance.
08:16I think that's powerful because, so a lot of folks will tell me I have a very calm demeanor.
08:22I'm very like, you know, peaceful, but reassurance, a lot of people think it takes being assertive.
08:28And I am assertive, but I'm more of the peacemaker and the calm person, but I'm also very reassuring.
08:35So it's how do you use your softness to reassure?
08:39Just existing in your femininity and being soft.
08:42So I think I'm going to write a poem about the strength of your softness.
08:45Okay.
08:45And how that reassures.
08:47Okay.
08:47And how that reassures.
09:15Would it be helpful for y'all to hear what I'm writing?
09:29But I got words going in my head all the time.
09:31So just bear with me.
09:33Be soft like a whisper.
09:34It's your softness that screams strength.
09:38And I'm trying to let the rest of the words come to me.
09:40Be soft like a whisper.
09:41It's your softness that screams strength.
09:57It's in the words that you don't say and the prayers that you don't pray that you can lean on for reassurance
10:04and for all that you need to conquer another day.
10:10Yeah.
10:11Let me remember that.
10:12Okay.
10:12Let me write it down.
10:13Okay.
10:13Be soft like a whisper.
10:14It's your strength that screams strength.
10:16It screams strength.
10:17It's your strength that screams strength.
10:34It screams strength.
10:35thank you thank you thank you i hope you like this poem i will thank you thank you
10:58so commercial break cousins i am an artist and an author and i briefly mentioned that there's some
11:07west african drums with the stories of us just to the left of us and there's some more drums
11:13diagonal to us these are some fantastic stories that not only myself but other artists are telling
11:19and have told and it's not just artists from new orleans although we will be highlighted on that
11:25side it's artists from around the world around the diaspora so i urge you all to go check out that
11:31in addition when you come up here i have books that i have written so this is my book of poetry
11:37that went number one on a few different major retailers like amazon and walmart and so this
11:42is ramble young girl ramble it's a book of poetry and then i have a book called i wish for freedom
11:49a children's book that was a response to my children asking me what's going on in the world
11:55you know all of these social social uh things that were happening around george floyd and a few other
12:02things in the news right that they could not articulate so i wrote about a book to help
12:06him articulate that so take a look while you come up here hey cousin
12:11what's your name katrina katrina where you from i'm from here i had a feeling okay because i could
12:21tell you know i got my performance voice on girl but i could tell you from here okay all right so but
12:28where you from here um uptown uptown all right uptown representing so what's on your heart um depression
12:36and anxiety depression and anxiety so we know that a heavy mind and a heavy heart will hold you down
12:48and not in a way that will ground you but in a way that will keep you where you are instead of lifting
12:53you up so i think i'm going to write something about having a heavy heart and mind and and we need to
12:59figure out as a community because we all deal with things like this what we can do to
13:06stay grounded and not
13:10held in a place we don't want to be right we want to be grounded in love we want to be grounded in light
13:15and community and all the things but not held down in a place where we can't feel lifted and and free so
13:22okay
13:36so
13:38so
13:40so
13:42so
13:44so
13:46so
13:48so
13:50so
13:52All right, Katrina, I pray that you feel held by arms of those who came before you,
14:20that they lift and separate you.
14:22That you feel grounded and rooted in soil that nurtures you.
14:26That you continue to grow.
14:28And you continue to blossom and bloom into the woman that God destined you to be.
14:32Because God has already ordered your steps.
14:35He's already written your story.
14:36And we just got to read it.
14:37We just got to walk in alignment with what he's doing in our lives.
14:48Thank you, my friends.
14:49You know how you show up to Essence and you see familiar faces everywhere, y'all?
15:05This right here.
15:06This girl right here.
15:08Hi, Bestie.
15:09Hey, Bestie.
15:11So what's your name?
15:12I'm Claire Vae.
15:13I didn't know that.
15:14Oh.
15:15Where are you from?
15:16The West Bank of New Orleans.
15:17Okay, West Bank is the best bank.
15:18Don't let him tell y'all no different.
15:20Okay, anybody from the West Bank in the...
15:22Nobody.
15:23Crickets?
15:24Nah.
15:25East Bank is so much.
15:26Not the East.
15:27Y'all got to go.
15:30West Bank is the best bank.
15:32Y'all come over to our side.
15:34Uptown.
15:34I love Uptown, though.
15:36I can't argue with none of that, though.
15:37At all.
15:38And I used to stay in the East, so, you know.
15:40What's on your heart today?
15:42Well, sis, we always check in on each other.
15:46So, standing in line, the Lord asked me to ask you to write a poem on God's timing for big blessings.
15:55Yes.
15:56Because I'm being very impatient with myself and with him.
16:00But I know that you can give me the words to just meditate on for this.
16:05God's timing is everything.
16:07You would have never told me some months ago that I would be on stage at the wellness house, first of all.
16:13A little girl from New Orleans, right, from the best bank.
16:16And have my own situation here.
16:19Like, that's wild.
16:20And so, God's timing is everything.
16:23And the steps that he orders for us is everything.
16:25So, you've got to trust in that.
16:26Yes, ma'am.
16:27And I always see God moving in your life.
16:29You know that.
16:30So, trusting in God's timing.
16:32Amen.
16:55Amen.
16:57racist, greens, VS, & Bati
16:59They're contributing.
16:59You're good.
17:00I'm not saying that you are not kidding me.
17:01You know it.
17:05Now, once you take a sentence, you get into your own situation.
17:07Remember, maybe you come in love with the Jifpo.
17:10In the way, thank you.
17:11I mean, you're right.
17:11It's an awesome church.
17:12So, I'm not trying.
17:13So, tell me, I'm not going to play a tournament in the место.
17:15So, we're going to pray for you.
17:16You know what?
17:17Pa's doing the confessional.
17:18I'm not trying to keep souka.
17:19I'm hoping that I'm getting into yourão.
17:19So God's timing goes beyond our clock.
17:40It surpasses space and our wants.
17:43It rests in our needs and requires us to trust in him fully and wholly and wholly.
17:49Fully and wholly and wholly.
17:53Thank you, sis.
17:54Love you.
17:55Love you.
18:04Hey, cousin.
18:05Hello.
18:08Come on out, girl.
18:09You got cameras.
18:10Hello.
18:11I know, right?
18:12What's your name?
18:13Jessica.
18:14Jessica, where are you from?
18:15Houston.
18:16Houston.
18:17Okay, you're my neighbor, girl.
18:18That's right.
18:19That's right.
18:20I like your earrings.
18:22You got them here?
18:23I've had them.
18:24You woke up like this.
18:25Yeah.
18:26Okay, she woke up like this.
18:27What's on your heart today?
18:29I'm seeking balance, peace, like confidence and stability within myself.
18:35Mm-hmm.
18:36I know I got it, but sometimes it's hard to bring it out.
18:40Yeah.
18:41Yeah.
18:42Jessica says she's seeking balance and peace and confidence and she knows she got it.
18:47It's there.
18:48But she's like, how do I bring it out?
18:50I mean, she's confident.
18:51She's confident.
18:52She's up here.
18:53Right?
18:54And her spirit is very peaceful.
18:56You're very humble.
18:57You're very soft in the best way.
18:59Just like, who was talking?
19:01I was talking about softness a moment ago.
19:03So I think Katrina, the strength in our softness.
19:05And so, Jessica, I'll write something about peace and confidence for you.
19:10Mm-hmm.
19:11Let's see.
19:12Mm-hmm.
19:31I got that poetry, mm, from Jessica.
19:34Mm.
19:35Mm.
19:36Mm.
19:37Yeah, there's pieces.
19:41It's hot.
19:42You want to say something to the people?
19:43No, ma'am.
19:44I'm not y'all coming up here and being Essence Performance.
20:10Performances.
20:11All right.
20:13I feel like this is more of encouragement.
20:18But, you know, someone asked me, how do you write poetry on the spot?
20:21I think you have to be the poem and there's no separation.
20:23And so the way that we represent, the way that we talk and speak and walk is a poem.
20:27So don't let nobody tell you you got a rhyme and you have to have these stanzas.
20:32And yes, there is a science and an art to poetry.
20:34But if you are the poem, there is no separation between it.
20:37You are the poet and the poem.
20:38So peace requires wholeness because it gathers the pieces of us to make us whole and healed.
20:45And in that, your balance rests.
20:47And in that, you can walk confidently.
20:49And in that, you'll have that reassurance you need to be exactly the woman that God destined you to be.
20:54To be the woman that shows up and shows out.
20:56To be the woman that's bold and prophetic.
20:59It's already in you.
21:00You don't have to go looking for it.
21:01It's there.
21:02Oh, I love this.
21:04Yes.
21:05Oh, thank you.
21:06All right.
21:07We just have, you're welcome.
21:09We just have a few minutes for the last two people.
21:17Okay.
21:18All right.
21:19Now some fast and furious poetry.
21:22I can't do my cousin like that.
21:23Come up here, girl.
21:25Hey, cousin.
21:26Hi.
21:27What's your name?
21:28Sonia.
21:29Sonia.
21:30Where are you from?
21:31San Antonio.
21:32Oh, okay.
21:33Not too far.
21:34All right.
21:35What's on your heart today?
21:36Aging.
21:37Arthritis.
21:38Aging.
21:39I got to talk fast, y'all.
21:41I've been thinking about aging.
21:42I'm going to be 40 this year.
21:44And a big part of thinking about aging is knowing that I am carrying what came before me and it's a beautiful thing.
21:50It put me in check.
21:51Because I was looking at things about myself like, girl, you got wrinkles.
21:54You need creams.
21:55You need all these things.
21:56But the truth is, my lines tell a story.
21:59And so I want you to see that as you age, the way your back feels and your body feels because you lifted and you did the work.
22:05Or the way that your face is resting now, it's because you're carrying stories of people who came before you.
22:10The way your hands or your neck look, it's a beautiful thing.
22:13So I pray that you age well.
22:14And I'll write you a poem about that.
22:19Every line tells a story.
22:21So I pray that you age well.
22:24Because every line tells a story.
22:26And you owe it to the ancestors that came before you to continue the story they started.
22:31Knowing the story because they are standing there is no longer for you.
22:33And you need to know what you're there.
22:34And you know what you're there.
22:35And you won't see it.
22:36I don't think it's the same story.
22:37Even when you see it here.
22:38I can't talk about it.
22:39You can find the story.
22:40That's what's interesting.
22:41That's what I love you to say.
22:42That's what you're saying.
22:43And this is my way to do.
22:44Even when you're here, I'll feel your body.
22:46I need you to do it.
22:47You're not gonna do it.
22:51Be careful.
22:51And it's here.
22:52You look at that.
22:53I'm here.
22:54You're having to want to.
22:55and i wrote just that i pray that you age well because every line tells a story i really pray
23:10that you see the changes in your body everything about you as as a continuation of what someone
23:16already started you know we often separate ourselves but we shouldn't we we owe it to our
23:21ancestors we owe it to our children and those who come before us to continue the story there's power
23:26in those lines there's power in those wrinkles there's power in the blurred vision i could barely
23:32see y'all out there but as my body changes there's power in all of that so embrace it
23:38you are one of one my friends okay thank you you're welcome
23:43last but not least hi beautiful hi what's your name my name is jennifer rouge jennifer yes okay
23:57where are you from i'm originally from washington dc okay and i'm now staying over in europe so i'm
24:03over in switzerland wow and i'm coming to you and what's on my heart is my women's network and
24:10community sister fusion okay and i would love to have something to give them that involves being
24:18heard being seen and knowing that they're valued for the human beings that they are
24:24about joy and intentionality yeah and authenticity that's wonderful international
24:31sisterhood is important essence stands on sisterhood your organization stands on sisterhood
24:39absolutely and in that there's a lot of self-accountability right there's a lot of
24:43self-awareness and in that comes joy and in that is the spirit of happiness and laughter and peace and
24:48all the things i think sisterhood is incredibly important because it serves as a mirror we get
24:53to see ourselves in one another we also get to hold each other accountable and and help refine
24:58one another so i'm going to write something about the power of sisterhood thank you
25:05therefore i'm going to write something about this you know that i mean i don't remember that i'm
25:18going to write something about doin send me to my religion and i'm doing it out on her team on the
25:21claim is a trophy i know character that i haven't written the money under the i'm losing my
25:25defense what i'm doing and i want to focus on the label and uh the chart is we make sure that you
25:59I really like this. Do you mind if I dedicate this to all the women out there as well?
26:17You would make me very happy to do that. That's what it's all about. Our community.
26:20It is. So to all the women in the audience, as we come to a close, again, thank you. Thank you for being here. My name is Monique Lorden.
26:28And I want to dedicate this poem to you.
26:31The power of sisterhood dwells in each laugh and inside jokes and in the guidance we give and the shoulders that lift and the grandmothers and aunties and sisters that stand beside us, blood or water, thicker or thin.
26:45Sisterhood is in you. Sisterhood is in each of you. Sisterhood is in showing up for me and you don't know me.
26:54Sisterhood is the fact that you came and you sat and you are engaged and I see you smiling.
26:59This is my first essence when I stand before you and sisterhood has encouraged me to do it again and again and again, to keep walking and writing and keep creating, to keep praying, to keep working for people who look like me, for all of you.
27:13Right. I love you all. And I thank you for showing up for me.
27:16And I will promise to continue to show up for each and every one of you.
27:21I love you. Again, my name is Monique Lorden. I am 1985 Poet Online on Instagram.
27:26My books are Ramble, Young Girl Ramble, Book of Poetry.
27:31I have I Wish for Freedom, my children's book, and I translated it.
27:36Well, my daughter did. She speaks Spanish.
27:39Deceo Libertad in Spanish.
27:42So if we have any bilingual folks, we have books for the babies and poetry for you.
27:46Again, thank you. I love you.
27:49It's been beautiful.
27:50Thank you, everyone.
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