DETROIT – The theme was “Black excellence, all the time” at the Lewis College of Business on Thursday as the Pistons held their 21st annual Poetry Scholarship Competition.
It featured the best young poets and artists from across the city of Detroit, competing for a $20,000 scholarship to the school of their choice. The event is the brainchild of Pistons legend Rick Mahorn.
“When we started this, something in my mind said we got to celebrate Black History Month in some way, somehow,” Mahorn said on Thursday. “Now it’s an annual event, and to see young people get a chance and an opportunity.”
The 1989 NBA champion and legendary “Bad Boy,” first pitched the idea back in 2005 to former owner, the late Bill Davidson.
It has become a yearly event that has grown exponentially since current owner Tom Gores moved the team back to Downtown Detroit in 2017.
“We’re in Detroit,” Mahorn said. “You know, we were in Auburn Hills. We were in Pontiac, but we’re in Detroit and one thing about being in the city, it gives you a new vibe.
“It’s all about giving back to the community,” Mahorn said. “I don’t care how much basketball I played, that doesn’t mean anything, because you still have to live life.”
The competition featured 10 artists and 10 poets from various Detroit high schools.
The scholarship fund is named in honor of Earl Lloyd, the NBA’s first black player, who played nine years in the league from 1950-1960, including playing his final two NBA seasons in Detroit.
He also served as the Pistons’ first black head coach, having coached 77 games in 1971 and 1972.
“I had a chance to meet him,” Mahorn said. “I keep in touch with his son. I went to Hampton and my college coach’s dad played with Earl Lloyd.”
The young artists’ pictures were on display while the poets competed in a poetry slam. Each had two minutes perform their best poem for the crowd, with the theme being “Black Excellence.”
“My sister was actually the runner-up in 2024,” Kady Robinson, a senior at Detroit Marygrove High School, said. “I use my platform to uplift Black brilliance and beauty.”
Robinson, 17, was the winner of the poetry slam and the $20,000 prize after an electrifying performance. She wore a patch that represented both of her equally talented sisters.
“It was a big part of my family growing up,” she said. “My parents really instilled Black excellence in us, specifically how we need to help Black people and uplift them.”
Robinson headed to the University of Michigan, and she says she eventually wants to start her own media company. The winning artist was Marygrove’s Cherokee Barrow.
Two other poets -- Renaissance High School’s Meadeux Williams and Davis Aerospace’s Leonard Shirley -- finished second and third, respectively, and each received scholarships.
“For me, it’s like coming out of my shell and getting to be alive,” Shirley, 17, said. “I was always suppressing my voice because I didn’t like how I sounded when I was younger.”
“I really don’t think I’m that good at poetry,” he said. “Because of a couple of people and a couple of (school) advisors, is why I’m able to be here.”
While the teens clearly took their poetry and art seriously, they spent most of the time hanging out with each other and left with new friendships because many of them will be attending the same colleges this fall.
“I really made, like, a lot of friends today, and I am, like, so happy that I’ve been able to connect with those people, because it really wasn’t a competition,” Robinson said. “At the end of the day, we were all a community at the same time.”
As for the original “Bad Boy,” he could do nothing but marvel at how creative these kids were and says the future is in better hands than people think.
“It gives you goose bumps,” Mahorn said. “But they bring you to now, and they make you really enjoy it, because they’ve learned, and they learn to express themselves, and that’s the biggest thing.”