Concert will showcase multicultural acts
Members of the Asian American and black communities will come together to create a night of art, storytelling and unity on Friday. The Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, Undergraduate Student Government and Black Student Assembly are hosting the second SPEAK USC: Asian and Black Voices, an opportunity for artists to showcase their talents and celebrate their identities.
This event aims to bridge the gap between the Asian American community and the black community. Members of these ethnic groups share experiences, struggles and stories, but there are very few opportunities for these groups to come together and engage with each other. By providing a platform for students to express their stories through art, student organizations hope to facilitate conversations and bonds that have rarely been seen before.
The lineup for the night includes Empress Christian, a sophomore majoring in theater, will perform a short play called “Dressing” by Tala Manassah. The performance will tackle topics of race, identity and privilege.
“As a black woman, with family and friends who inhabit black bodies, this monologue is the most difficult thing I have ever had to perform,” Christian said on the event page. “This is not a piece to be enjoyed or consumed or even understood. It is a piece that’s meant to be felt.”
Another performer on the lineup is Leo Xia, one of the organizers of the event as well as a singer-songwriter. Xia just released his first EP Hyphenated, bringing awareness to the experience of Asian American artists in the music industry.
“Different ethnicities are pigeonholed in different ways, but for Asian Americans, we’re pigeonholed in a very specific way as the ‘model minority,’” Xia said, in an earlier interview with the Daily Trojan. “I want to tell other Asian Americans that you can actually do whatever you want to if you set yourself to it.”
According to the the L.A.-based rapper and activist’s website, “Jason Chu is on a mission to speak hope, healing, and justice in a broken world.” Chu, who will host the event, was part of the team that inaugurated the event last year.
With increased popularity of the spoken word and social justice-oriented art, APASA, BSA and other cultural student organizations have been proactive in bringing artists to campus and giving students the opportunity to express themselves. SPEAK follows events such as performances by Alan Yang and Rupi Kaur, InspirASIAN and BSA’s CreEx initiative. In conjunction with Vision and Voices and art initiatives on campus, these groups are facilitating conversations among underrepresented voices.
SPEAK: USC has garnered a lot of student excitement as well as support from non-USC community members. These highly anticipated performances are sure to move audiences and spark emotional responses from those who attend.