Written by Tanya Terry
“We learned to move through the thickest of times,” stated Lisa Sarno in her winning poem.
Featured photo: Lisa Sarno in Washington, D.C. There, Voices of the Revolution, a poetry collective Sarno was in, was part of Poetry for the People, The June Jordan Experience by Raymond O. Caldwell and Adrienne Torf -for a full week at Theater Alliance in D.C.
Lisa Sarno, a Flint resident, was reading the Flint Courier News online last month when she came across information about a writing contest with the theme “Dealing with the changes in Black culture.” Intrigued, she entered the contest – and she ended up being the winner!
It occurred to Sarno that as she watched dances from various time periods such as the Cha Cha Slide, the hustle, the electric slide the Jitterbug, the Charleston, all those dances of the Harlem Renaissance – that they all originated from ancestral dances. She also noticed there has been a lot that has not changed about these dances.
“That need to gather; that need to be together; the need for that kind of communication and unity and togetherness in the community has always been with us, even through the worst of times,” said Sarno. “In fact, it may get us through some of the worst of times. That may be what got us through.”
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Sarno started playing a drum set at age 16. By the time she was 20 or 21, she was playing in clubs. She went on the road officially with a reggae band for a few years in her early 20s.
Despite the excitement surrounding making a living in the music industry, Sarno struggled with substance abuse in the earlier years of her life.
“Then, a bunch of life changes with life and love and relationships, and I ended up in Flint, Michigan in 1997. I got into recovery in 1997 and I learned about recovery in Flint, Michigan. That’s why Flint is such a dear place to me. It gave me a beginning. It gave me a place to heal and to join a huge community of recovering people, especially during that time in 1997. So, Flint became home.”
Sarno then went to college, moved temporarily to Ann Arbor and worked at the U of M hospital for a period of time as a researcher on alcoholism. She later attended Michigan State, and she earned a master’s degree in clinical social work in 2011.
“I continued to play music. I’ve had a couple bands here in Michigan, including an all women’s band out of Lansing. It was called Sometimes Y. We got around Michigan quite a bit and had a huge home base in Lansing.
“I’ve always been a writer. I’ve always thought: ‘Well, I’m going to write a novel one day.’ Then, I thought : ‘You know what? This poetry stuff is beautiful to me.’ So, I started writing poetry more seriously. Then, in 2018 or 2019, I joined an all-women’s poetry collective in Lansing called Voices of the Revolution. Then, we started engaging in community events. We did fundraising and protests and a lot of political activity. We would present poetry. We started collaborating with a woman in San Francisco who is a composer and pianist who has partnered with the late, great active poet June Jordan.”
In addition to performing and collaborating with other artists, Sarno started conducting poetry workshops. In fact, she will be holding a free and open workshop starting at 10 a.m., on March 14 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 2474 S. Ballenger Highway. No registration or experience is needed.
Dr. Fairy C. Hayes-Scott, Ph.D., is the owner and publisher of two companies: a traditional publishing company called Robbie Dean Press, LLC and MarketingNewAuthors.com (MANA), a self-publishing company.
This year was the second time MANA has offered a writing contest for Black History Month.
Hayes-Scott pointed out she made it very clear that participants in the contests did not have to be Black. She wanted writers of all kinds to focus on the Black culture and the theme.
Short stories, poems and essays focusing on the theme were all acceptable.
“We’ve had to deal with so much and still have a positive outlook – because if we did not, we would die,” said Hayes-Scott. “But, we have a spirit within us that’s phenomenal! No matter what, as Maya Angelou says, ‘we rise.’”
In some ways, Hayes-Scott can also relate to Sarno’s story of almost rising from ashes, as a rose that grows in the dust would.
Years ago, while teaching various types of composition and English classes at Mott Community College-Flint, which she did for 45 years, Hayes-Scott wanted to get a book for her deaf students. Hayes-Scott’s students, and then a colleague suggested she “do her own book.”
Hayes-Scott’s first book was written to help deaf students with their writing skills. It was originally going to be published through her colleague’s small self-publishing company – until that colleague got very ill.
Hayes-Scott said she was “down in the dumps” after that.
Another colleague suggested Hayes-Scott start her own publishing company, and her husband also encouraged her.
Robbie Dean Press began in 1991.
By 2002, Hayes-Scott was being approached by people who wanted to publish books that were not text books. She had an idea to start a self-publishing company. Hence, MANA was born!
When asked what stood out about Sarno’s work, Hayes-Scott answered: “Her work embodies a spirit…Mainly she talks about our music, and I believe it’s true that our music is the thing that keeps us going.”
In addition to receiving a monetary award, Sarno’s work will appear in the MANA newsletter and blog, offering Sarno additional exposure.
Because Sarno secured a grant from the Greater Flint Arts Council with two other artists, on May 22, the artists will present an interactive theatre musical performance called “The Awesome, Difficult Work of Love.” The performance also takes place at the Unitarian Universalist Church. More details on the performance will follow as they become available!
