By: Maya Rosenberg
The Offices of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy (MICA) and the Nyumburu Cultural Center co-sponsored the Black Monologues and Juke Joint event on Feb. 21 to showcase different means of expression in the black community.
Taking place in Hoff Theater in Stamp Student Union, Black Monologues and Juke Joint operated as an open mic forum for anyone to express themselves through poetry, song, dance and more.
As a part of celebrating Black History Month, MICA, Stamp and other campus partners collaborated on a series of events, with the theme “The Black Movement.” Black Monologues and Juke Joint was one of many programs intended to “educate the broader campus community on the institutional issues affecting African descended members of the UMD community,” according to the Stamp website about the event.
“It was a good event showcasing the diverse talent within the black community,” senior biochemistry major and host Trey Huff said. “I was coming here expecting just poetry and songs, but we got a lot more.”
Huff sang an original song, which he declared as an “ode to” his late grandfather. It was the right platform for veteran participants like Huff and newcomers to freely express themselves.
Senior English major Hope Hynson shared her poetry for the first time at the event. One of the reasons Hynson was inspired to speak was because of her status as a senior.
“I always have a lot to say but I never step up and say it,” Hynson said. “I figured there was never a better time than now.”
Hynson read an original poem titled, “To the Little Black Girl I Used to Be.” Hyson is also a member of the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House, an on-campus living-learning community for the study of creative writing across cultures.
Other students of all ages read their own poems, essays and songs about different topics pertaining to the individual and collective black experience. Common themes included police brutality and struggles with physical self-acceptance, but also embracing one’s identity with love and pride.
Representatives from UMD’s step team performed, as well as beatboxers, dancers and singers. In between performances, the hosts and the performers frequently interacted with the audience, engaging in discussion about what different performances meant to separate members of the audience.
Black Monologues are a historical MICA event, but 2019 “is the first year Black Monologues has collaborated with the Nyumburu Center,” said first-year higher education graduate student Janai Raphael. Usually, the Black Monologues series occurs once a year, while Juke Joint sessions occur monthly in the Nyumburu Cultural Center.
Raphael, who is also the MICA graduate student coordinator said the collaboration between MICA and the Nyumburu Cultural Center was one of the strengths of coordinating the event.
The event had a DJ, as well as a greeting table with t-shirts, stickers, buttons and pens promoting MICA’s “The Black Movement” theme for this Black History Month.
Huff said the attendance could have been better. However, he said the Juke Joints are usually located in the Nyumburu Cultural Center, and the location change may have confused people.
Those who attended the event used the opportunity aptly as a platform of self expression. According to Hynson, these types of events, with additional support from both the black community and the broader campus body, help bring recognition and strength to Black History Month and the black student body as a whole.
“It’s so important to come out and support all of your fellow students, all of your fellow black students,” Hynson said. “We are our biggest strength, and our biggest weakness. If we don’t come together then we don’t really have anything. I think it’s really important to realize the strength the [black] community can have in [our] lives.”