Student oratory competition celebrates black history

The Black Faculty & Staff Association (BFSA) hosted its first Black History Month Student Oratory Competition at Arellano Theater on Feb. 23. Four judges evaluated a series of student speeches. They stressed that the purpose of the competition was to give students a voice.

The six student speakers prepared speeches based on one of three quotes by Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama or Michelle Obama, relating their personal experiences and struggles and its relevance for the future.

The most popular quote was from former President Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

The winner of the competition, sophomore Johnnie Johnson, received a $100 gift card to Starbucks. The judges stressed that every speaker impressed them with their sentiments about race in America, personal identity and black culture.

The judges were Associate Professor of Sociology Katrina McDonald, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Calvin Smith, Senior Associate Dean of Student Life Tonia Blackwell and Associate Dean at the Center for Student Success Irene Ferguson.

Stacy Spence from the Pratt Street Library said that oratory contests help preserve African history, which is based on oral history and songs.

“Oratory history is critical to the legacy of people of African descent, for our genealogy and to keep our tradition,” Spence said. “People who don’t have census records, it’s important for grandmas, great-grandmas to give people a sense of tradition. It’s true for our immigrant brothers and for people of African descent.”

Other speakers talked about personal experiences with microaggression and sexism at Hopkins and in life. Student speakers also said that the presidential election rekindled their activism. Junior Dikachi Osaji explained why she decided to participate in the oratory competition.

“My friend Tiffany [Onyejiaka] sent me the link and suggested that it would be a good opportunity for us to speak out. We both spoke out, and I’m very excited to be a part of this, especially during black history month,” Osaji said. “It’s about the past, present and future and about being a good friend and a black friend. Most of my ideas came from my experiences with microaggressions and sexism.”

Senior Tiffany Onyejiaka used King’s quote to touch upon the topic of racism. Onyejiaka said the culture shock of college inspired her to become active in social justice.

“In high school, I was very far from being a social justice warrior. I wasn’t marching, I wasn’t protesting, mostly because I didn’t feel a need to,” she said. “I grew up with all sorts of people from different races, and when I came to Hopkins, it was a culture shock. I experienced more racism than I have before. I realized that this is the real America. This is the real world, and lots of people are not exposed to diversity.”

Second-place winner Indu Radhakrishnan, a sophomore, shared her dismay as she saw the results roll in on the night of the presidential election in which Donald Trump won. The situation reminded her of a Barack Obama quote, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

Radhakrishnan decided that the task of change was up to no one but herself, and she encouraged the audience to think big, even if they believe their influence is small.

“I think that on that night, I was grieving the sudden and unexpected death of some other person. Some other person was my excuse for inaction. Some other person was that judicious and responsible world-changer who was going to go out there and do the right thing on my behalf,” she said. “And on that night, I realized that other person was dead and gone, and there was no other person but myself. I grieved because of how heavy the burden of change was.”

Johnnie Johnson, the father of the first-place winner Johnnie Johnson, said he was proud to see students expressing themselves.

“I loved the fact that they have dialogue in this type of arena,” Johnson said.

A local resident named Phil who attended the competition echoed Johnson’s sentiment.

“I like enjoying the young folks in the competition. The message that came across the strongest were the ones that made things personal for themselves, and the ones about reaching back to help people and be the beneficiaries of those who come before us,” he said.