LaShawna Griffith – A voice for the voiceless

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

As you still try to belittle and ridicule me for my nationality
So I will frown and continue to be angry
Until you learn how to respect me
Hashtag till the cows come home
You cannot and will never replace me

Angry Black Woman… Here’s Why
LaShawna Griffith, 2017

When this dynamic, young woman called me, I could not help but sit back and listen to her speak. She had seen our newspaper online, and she was interested in writing with the paper.

As usual I screened her, asking questions about her passion for writing. She answered each question humbly, not giving away the fact that although she was only 26, she had already accomplished quite a bit.

LaShawna Griffith is a breakout poet from the sunny island of Barbados. She is the author of: “La Shawna – Unlock The Door,” “Release the Energy Within,” and the latest powerful book in her series “R.O.G.U.E,” (available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited).

She has been featured in online magazines Afro News and was on the front page of World Poetry Canada as their featured artiste. She has also been featured in: Strawberry Lit Magazine, Urban Black Writers Association, Our Poetry Archive, and was voted Writer of the Year 2019 – 2020.

Every time I go online, I see this young woman speaking out against injustices, utilizing literary devices as sword and shield. She most recently announced that she would be running as the DLP candidate for St. James South Barbados in the next General Elections (2023). I would like to take this time to introduce to you, our Barbados representative, and our Woman Empowered Feature, the lovely LaShawna Griffith.

“I am turning 27 years old this week Simone,” LaShawna started of the interview telling me.

“I know love, and you have done so much for such a young woman. I am really excited about hearing your story,” I replied.

“I guess I can start where my journey begins. I lived in Haynes Hills for 17 years of my life. Life was interesting. It was a small community, with a lot of different people, which created a special dynamic. It is here that I grew up and excelled.

I always was a good student. I loved reading and literature. My teachers realized that I had a talent. I was in class two or three, when I wrote my first piece Miss Bam.”

She stopped to chuckle,

“It is about my teachers bum. It used to hit me when she walked by. My teachers called my mom and told her that I had talent.

When I was in school, we read a book of poems, ‘Tales from the Banana Man.’ I was so blown with the writing. I thought to myself, I could do this. So, I started writing.”

As LaShawna’s skills developed, her teachers noticed, and urged her to start speaking as well as writing.

“I began to perform. I spoke at the National Independence Festival of Creative arts (NIFCA). It is one of the largest showcases for creative held in Barbados. My drama group got a lot of positive feedback. It is when I realized that I had a knack for playwriting as well.”

LaShawna attended the University of West Indies and this sparked her interest in politics. With a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, she began to utilize the knowledge she had acquired to write pieces that spoke to political and social issues that she observed in Barbados and around the world.

“I used to write a lot of pieces under the pseudo name Political Poet. People kept telling me to put a book together, so I started to put pen to paper. I wrote about: sex, domestic violence, mental health, and bullying.

This first book I wrote, I was unsure about writing it. The first section was erotic poems about how I looked at sex. That morning that I decided to upload it, was May 23rd, 2015, it was my mom’s birthday, “LaShawna Unlock the Door.”
The book changed my life.”

She shares with me that after the book came out, there seemed to be a spiritual unlocking.

“I have performed in places I never dreamt of performing. I got my first five-star review, and I remember screaming and running to my mom. Things have continued to move for me since then. I spoke at the UN house in Barbados. I have been invited to do literacy tours, and I was asked to present at Carifesta XIII as a featured poet.”

Although Lashawna’s educational career was growing in leaps and bounds, things were unravelling at home. At the age of 22, her parents separated, and she had to leave the home that she had grown to love. Thankfully, the community that she moved into was a family focused community, and the elders welcomed her family with open arms. This was helpful for her because it provided support systems for herself and her mother.

Going into 2020, she wanted to run her own business, and be able to stand for what she believed in. She left her job last October because she was not happy. She didn’t like the fact that she was working so hard and not seeing the fruits of her labour. She couldn’t grow there, so she resigned.

She worked in the hotel sector for a while, and then made the decision to go back to building her small business (Writer Right PR Services) that she started four years ago.

“It excites me. I felt like it was a step that I needed to take. I also felt driven to use my degree, and this is what led me to running. It is the fact that I discuss a lot of politics. I like to argue things. I am passionate about helping working class people. When the opportunity presented itself to me, I spoke it over with those closest to me. I wanted to be a politician; I know this is something I needed to do.”

It was like she had come full circle.

“I had to close a door for a better one to open. In the last year, there has been so much growth. The decision I made to step out into the unknown was what I needed to do.”

She loves writing pieces to promote change in the world. You can find her poetry on Facebook, Instagram: @lshawna25, and on Twitter: @shawnagriff.

Her goal is to become a voice for the voiceless, a hope and an inspiration.