Nia Gooden - Participating in spoken word events (2-3 points)

 

              On November 20th, I performed in Spelman College Speech and Debate’s performance called “Same Story Different Font”. The performance included aspects of speech, debate, spoken word, dance, and even music. The theme of the show was the story of Blackness and the unique experiences had by Black people in America throughout various decades. To go more in depth, the decade groups explored topics such as art vs. activism, the civil rights movement, the messaging and cultural impact of rap and pop music, and capitalism and its connection to anti-Blackness, with a culminating decade performance about the way race is handled on social media and in our current decade. The process of bringing the performance to life was transformative and educational from the brainstorming period all the way to the night of the show. I deeply enjoyed forming closer relationships with members of the team and also doing some basic research on our decade and my selected civil rights activist, Pauli Murray. 

Leaning more into the creative side of speech was a welcome challenge for me. I worked industriously to memorize my piece so I could spend more time adding theatrics and movements to make the piece more expressive, entertaining, and impactful for the audience. The themes we explored in the performance reminded me of the content I was learning in my IBQC class (“The Black Intellectual) where we studied Ta Nehisi Coates’ novel Between the World and Me. His novel details his own experience with race, blackness, and the complexity of being Black in America in an earnest letter to his son. Similarly, the purpose of our show was to display the intricacies of the Black experience and how that complexity remains year after year. In Coates’ novel, he juxtaposes the critical consciousness of a subjugated position in society and the rewarding experience of time in Black spaces such as his “mecca”, Howard. In our show we juxtaposed the beauty of Black art with the injustices, prejudices, and systems that harm our community. 

The diversity of ideas and forms of art throughout our show increased my knowledge of Black history and my participation in the performance stretched me as a speaker and performer. Creating our own decade’s narrative from scratch also allowed me to improve my skills of collaboration and flexibility. I learned that I like to play many roles and am happy to contribute in any way I see necessary to progress the group. I plan to apply the speech techniques learned from this particular performance to speech competitions in the future. My increased flexibility will benefit me in work settings or research groups where I am tasked with collaborating with new people to accomplish a set goal.

By: Nia Gooden