Visions and Voices unfolds untold stories
Performers condemned social injustices in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
By JASON PHAM
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is not only recognized as a national holiday, but marked a pivotal change in American history that has been celebrated for decades. On a chilly Friday evening, Visions and Voices hosted Nobody Knows: UnMuted Voices, a grand assemblage of poetry, film, dance and music honoring Dr. King Jr. at Bing Theater.
A line quickly formed behind the ticket booth consisting of students, professors, alumni and children, all eagerly waiting to sink their teeth into the mystifying show that provided little to no preview.
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Guests flooded into the theater commons and scurried to their seats. By 7 p.m., the lights dimmed and attendees hushed one another.
Ronald McCurdy, a professor of music, and Anita Dashiell-Sparks, a professor of theatre practice in acting, began the event with a bang by advocating equality for all. Dashiell-Sparks acknowledged the stolen Native American land on which the USC community performed and detailed how all “unmuted voices” deserve to be heard.
“We’ve solicited a group of very talented students, poets, composers, filmmakers [and] dancers to tell their stories in a very authentic way,” McCurdy said. “What you’re going to experience tonight are raw stories from some of our most talented students here at USC.”
With expectations set high by McCurdy, the performers did not disappoint.
Ranging from spoken word slam poetry to singing and dancing, students projected their untold stories for the audience to hear and see. Some performers spoke of racial and religious isolation within on-campus communities, while others drew inspiration from childhood experiences and complicated relationships.
Performers at the event consisted of students artists including actors, dancers, poets and composers. (Joy Wang / Daily Trojan)
Nash Rahman, a freshman majoring in acting for stage and screen and one of the performers at Nobody Knows: UnMuted Voices, shared a piece titled “The Only Thing I Knew About You Was The Feeling I Had For You” — stemming from her new experiences at USC.
“It’s essentially about not wanting to be dependent on someone else for my happiness anymore, to be able to see the kid in other people and have them see the kid in me,” Rahman said.
Rahman also performed an ensemble piece inspired by “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, in which she described her experience as a Bengali Muslim woman and people treating her unfairly on the basis of her identity.
All performances were in collaboration between students in Thornton and students in SDA, creating beautiful blends of artistic composing and emotional acting. Many of the acts coincided with Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy for racial equality and identity.
Abraham Gutierrez, a sophomore majoring in urban studies and planning, performed a rap poetry titled “South Central L.A.” detailing his experience as a South Central native in the era of gentrification.
“[My poem] is a little bit of my worries but also my passion and love for L.A., combined into one piece,” Gutierrez said. “Going home in the community and coming back to campus [are] two different spaces, but I think about gentrification throughout the whole commute that I go.”
Gutierrez and Rahman delivered powerful poetry onstage. Accompanied by dramatic music and stark slideshow images, Gutierrez and Rahman were among many students who shared their unheard stories that night.
“I felt a lot of uncertainty, just in different ways,” Gutierrez said. “But seeing people do their pieces and seeing the audience out there made me want to perform my piece even more, just let my words out.”
Panelists presented at Nobody Knows: UnMuted Voices, discussing diversity, equity and inclusion. The panelists consisted of USC staff who specialized in religion and diversity. (Joy Wang / Daily Trojan)
The production also included a panel portion featuring USC faculty and staff specializing in diversity and religion.
Brandi Jones, a research professor and moderator for the panel, asked panelists and student performers for their thoughts on racial equality within campus communities.
“By the virtue of just being at a university, these spaces were not created to be accessible for all,” said Naddia Palacios, the assistant vice provost for Student Equity and Inclusion. “From the roots of the University setting, we’re already looking at how to dismantle oppression within it.”
Additional panelists expressed how universities hold the responsibility to foster these safe and equal spaces to advocate for their students.
“I believe the work of USC is to seek human flourishing,” said the Rev. Brandon Harris, associate dean of Religious and Spiritual Life. “That is the purpose of a university is to seek the well-being and flourishing of all peoples no matter where they are in the world.”
Nobody Knows: UnMuted Voices concluded with a group poem by all of the participating performers, each going one after another recalling Dr. King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech as a uniform frame. Many students longed for free self-expression and identity, listing dreams of nostalgia and unity.
“I’m hoping that we provided a platform for people’s voices who would not have been heard to have been unmuted,” McCurdy said.
