Stay Woke: Write Yourself In
On Friday, November 14, Fordham students, faculty and members of the public gathered together at both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center for Stay Woke: Write Yourself In.
At Rose Hill, the Fordham b-Sides began the event on Eddie's, right outside of Dealy Hall with a rendition of The Beatles' "Let it Be" as well as the civil-rights song "We Shall Overcome."
Attendees then moved to the McGinley Music room, where they held an engaged discussion on their personal experiences with race, their thoughts on events in Ferguson, and their feelings about identity, followed by a creative writing exercise.
Several hours later, at Lincoln Center, students, faculty, and community members met to hold a remembrance for Michael Brown and other victims of racialized violence in the United States. The group sang "This Little Light of Mine," processing from within Lowenstein, down 9th Avenue, and stopping at the famed Lincoln Center fountain. There, the group recited some of the names of the fallen, including Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, and Kandy Hall, among others.
The group then silently returned down 9th Avenue back to Fordham University, where they sat down with other students, faculty, artists, and community members to talk about their experiences of race in the United States. Following this the group took part in free-writing sessions and then shared their poetry and prose with the room.
Artists from around the country joined the Lincoln Center group by writing in real-time on a Google Doc which was projected onto the front of the room.
The Fordham Creative Writing Program has documented this event through photos, video, and hand-written materials. To view this powerful archive, click here.
