“Speech is a very important aspect of being human. A whisper doesn’t cut it.”

– James Earl Jones

If you’re reading this and have never done much public speaking, worked with crowds, performed, etc, I highly fucking encourage you to give it a try in some forum. It’s a rush of hyper-awareness that’s like running at full speed and occasional tripping, but never slowing down. In part, it’s because words matter, very much, and how we use them to vocalize what’s within us is an incredibly powerful thing. That said, it’s also incredibly vulnerable – and chemically, that feeling isn’t very secure for us. But, it makes the experience that much more rewarding.

So, when I moved to Tacoma, there was a deeper sense I felt to begin exposing myself in a way I’d only just tried: reading my poetry and learning to perform it for an audience. I was deeply privileged to have Kevin Thomas ask me to read some of my work at Hillmatic in the spring of 2017: a piece I’d written about the experience of spending the three days before the presidential election in D.C., was something he thought needed to be heard. And that support, confidence, and assurance that my voice was valuable in a moment was one of the greatest momentary highs I’ve ever felt.

Arrogant? Sure. But life-saving? Absolutely. It was like validation, on some level, that my expressive truth was real – and true to someone else.

I’ve never sought an audience or made an effort to be published since college; even that was just working with the campus English creative editorial published every spring. Since then, my idea of an audience had been dead. But Kevin and Stephen (holla at ya!) were two friends who cultivated a confidence in my voice – in my sense of truth and expression.

Now, I read at open mics in Tacoma and Seattle, have been fortunate to work with the African American Writers’ Alliance of Seattle, and local musicians on projects. In general, my life has turned from career dedication to spending my emotional energy curating what I write into what can be spoken – to reflect an energy, both socially and politically – that people can identify with. But also, I find it self-therapeutic to read/perform more personal pieces about my experiences with anxiety and depression.

Ultimately, what’s spoken is truth – even in a moment. And like Guy Faux in the Wachowski Brother’s V For Vendetta says, “Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.”

Here’s to truth.