This research explores the transition of the communication art form, Spoken Word, from the late 1960s to the present. It investigates how African American leaders, orators, and artists use this form of communication during specific periods in history—Black Arts Movement and Black Power Movement. The research also chronicles the usage of specific terms that are appropriated in culture, especially a 21st century ‘technologizing’ culture. Moreover, it analyzes the similarities and differences between the past and present functions of Spoken Word as a communication tool.; My method of investigation was auto-ethnography with an emphasis on history-telling as a way of connecting the artistic cultural praxis and traditional use of storytelling that embodies Spoken Word's performative characteristics in the African American culture. In focusing on the National Columbus Slam team (from Columbus, Ohio) and participating as a member of the team, I reinforced our position as artists centrally located within this transitional use of orality. My subjects consist of six African American people, both females and males, between the ages of 26 and 34. Through in-depth interviews the poets conveyed their identity as active artists in the community of Columbus, Ohio, as well as abroad, and discussed their relationship as it pertains to events of the late 1960s–1970s and how these experiences influenced their art production.; Because this research revolves around the cultural understanding of ‘identity’ my results are not finite. Rather, it is an ongoing journey that allows for future generations to re-appropriate terms to accomplish specific goals that are prevalent and relevant at that particular time in history.
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