Unsilenced

     “I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.” Post-graduate Adam Ahmed stood under the dim lights of Assembly Hall and opened Friday night’s spoken word showcase, “Unsilenced,” with Langston Hughes’ famous words. What followed was a moving evening of spoken word performance from students representing a broad range of races, sexualities, genders and cultural backgrounds. As students took the stage, quotes from the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Malala Yousafzai flashed on the screen behind the performers.

     Conceived and organized by upper Nada Zohayr, the event served as a prelude to MLK Day and an introduction to this year’s theme, “At the Crossroads of Liberation, Oppression and Solidarity.” English instructor and head of MLK Day Committee Mercy Carbonell, who advised “Unsilenced”, noted that it was a very effective way to set the tone for MLK day.

    According to Carbonell, the event questioned “what it means and feels like to be silenced, what it means and feels like to find and use one’s voice and what it means and feels like to be listened to and heard,” which are all central to MLK day.

     “The gift of those who performed were acts of courage Martin Luther King Jr. would have honored, recognized and used as inspiration,” Carbonell said.

     Performer and upper Chris Agard echoed Carbonell’s sentiment. He described MLK day as “a day that celebrates a man who wanted to bring to light the voices of the oppressed and who wanted to see change.” The evening gave a platform for people to express their beliefs on societal issues, which Agard believes is a beginning point for societal and systemic change.

     The event also served as an open space for students to share touching stories. Zohayr said Gyasi Ross’ moving spoken word video “Harvard” gave her the inspiration for “Unsilenced” as a meaningful way for students to open up about their lives in a dramatic and moving manner.

Senior Annie Ning, co-head of the club WORD and one of the performers at the event, explained that spoken word made the topics “Unsilenced” conveyed more accessible to the audience.

     “Slam poetry is very raw, very urgent––it’s standing in front of an audience and conveying our emotions and experiences in the most direct way possible,” she said. “When we’re vocalizing the political and social injustices that we see in our own lives everyday, when we’re talking about them and finding empowerment in giving voice to these issues, I think that’s what resonates with students the most.”

     The performances also sought to expose the many different types of people who face oppression on a daily basis. For upper Raul Galvan, the event showed him the extent of the issue past just the typical race discussions students often have on campus.

     “I always thought the point of MLK day was about bringing attention to black people and the racism they face,” he said. “I think the point of the event was to show that it’s more about diversity and the perspectives of all races. It taught me how everyone can have similar kinds of problems.”

     Indeed, Zohayr said that the purpose of the event was to hear about the experiences that are rarely publicized. “We had pieces about what it felt like to be sexualized, to pieces about what it felt like to be degraded because of your race or religion or gender,” she said.

     Upper Aidan Wolff-King emphasized the importance of the event in regards to understanding intersectionality: how different forms of oppression come together and are structured around the same systems.

     “When people listened to lower Maria Heeter’s powerful piece about being a woman, it was important to realize that the things she described are influenced by her race, not just her gender,” he said. According to him, women of color are often fetishized beyond what white women face. ‘Even though we both look white, I benefit a lot more from that than Maria because I am a man.”

     Performer and senior Cesar Zamudio agreed, echoing that the point of the event was to show how the pieces all connected. He described the similarities between his piece about immigration and Heeter’s poem about being a woman. “It all comes down to those crossroads and how we’re basically all in this together, the allies and the oppressed, to work on becoming a better community and a better nation,” he said.

     Zamudio encouraged those who benefit from systems of oppression to “listen to the stories of the oppressed” and to “feel compassion and a sense of duty to advocate for them.”

     Like Zamudio, senior Amy Azubuike also emphasised the importance of listening to the oppressed and encouraged students to take action.

     “I believe that open conversation and respectfully engaging with people affected by systems of oppression are some of the best ways to start tackling those systems, but don’t just stop there,” she said. “Those benefiting most from systems of oppression can use those privileges to support those disadvantaged.”

     Carbonell commended the overall success of “Unsilenced”, especially the different speakers’ ability to speaker powerfully and convey a range of emotions to the audience, some of which were exciting, and others which were frightening.

      “Listening to the performers last night, I was reminded of how crucial it is to allow those who have been silenced to speak,” she said. “I can simply say that I felt, even as someone who has been silenced and marginalized and found a voice at times with which to speak, an array of emotions: honor, sorrow, gratitude, shock, disbelief, frustration, celebration, joy, forgiveness, empathy, etcetera. I did not speak with anyone who did not find it really crucial and captivating.”

Contributions from Emily Pelliccia