Writer, poet, and spoken-word performer Amena Brown is passionate about voicing the cry of her generation for what is real.
From the time she was 12 years old, Amena has been writing poetry. At age 17, she began blowing audiences away with her spoken-word performances. She attended Spellman College for four years, where she continued to hone her skills and soon realized that she did not just want to be another artist. She saw poetry as one of the artistic languages that God uses to express His love to a world that is in desperate need of Him and it is with that purpose that Amena writes, speaks, and lives.
In the last few years, Amena has been traveling the country speaking to large and small groups alike. These events include Fusion and Leadnow conferences, created by Rightnow , a division of Bluefish TV. No matter what the audience, Amena remains dedicated to living a life driven by truth, and she challenges and inspires her generation to do the same.
Amena Brown “Unplugged”
Our team spent some time working with Amena on a ministry project. During that time, we asked her some questions about her faith and her poetry. You can see more of Amena in one of the Bluefish TV video resources on the right.
Bluefish TV: When was it that your faith became real and personal?
Amena Brown: My faith became real when I left high school…I was a church girl growing up…most people knew me and knew that I was a Christian…but when I went to college nobody knew me. I really had an opportunity to decide what kind of woman I was going to represent myself as. I remember just feeling like God stared me in the face…and I wondered to myself, do I really know God? My mom isn’t here and the pastors aren’t here, the youth pastor isn’t here. That was a great time of learning…I think that’s when the Bible and prayer and all these things I had been taught as a child really made sense and became more real everyday.
Bluefish TV: When did you realize you were gifted in the area of poetry and words?
Amena Brown: I realized I had a gift with words when I was 13. I started just writing poems about different things that I felt and my mom found one of them in one of my notebooks. She read it and the look on her face was like, “how are you writing that and you’re 13 years old?” So, I think that was the moment that I thought maybe there is something to this.
Bluefish TV: What is one of your favorite, most meaningful pieces of poetry you’ve written?
Amena Brown: One of the pieces that stands out is called,”You.” It’s the first piece that I did at the first worship event I ever did…this piece is my attempt at writing a piece that was all about God. It’s amazing to me how far God has taken that one poem…that poem has gone around the word, but it was the poem that had the least of me...and I think that’s the most amazing part about it.
Bluefish TV: What is your purpose in writing and sharing poetry?
Amena Brown: For me, writing poetry is offering this gift back to God…every time letting Him say what he wants to say. I think that’s what the essence of worship is, that we offer our lives to God…it’s so awesome to me how he shines and how I can’t take credit for it, it all points back to Him.