"TOUCHING, INSIGHTFUL, POWERFUL" - Readings zum Martin Luther King Day
„Let the texts speak for themselves“
Roberta Maierhofer
Celebrating Martin-Luther-King Jr-Day, a US holiday honoring the legacy of the civil rights leader and his struggle for racial equality, students from the University of Graz will present African-American texts as voices of agency, resistance, and the long fight for political freedom and equality.
Despite the US cultural narrative propagating freedom, democracy and equality, the Afro-American experience has been one of discrimination, exclusion, and inequality revealing contradictions of US-American culture and society. Listening to literary and cultural texts as individual expressions of lived experiences emphasizes the powerful strength of Afro-American self representation. (C.IAS)
Brief Report of participant & performer Anamari Slemensek:
In celebration of Martin Luther King Day, the Center for Inter American Studies at the University of Graz organized a remarkable event at KULTUM. Students from Prof. Roberta Maierhofer's class, "Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble: Black Writing Matters," showcased their talent by reading poems and passages from books written by Black authors. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to KULTUM for hosting our event. Their support and collaboration made this event possible, allowing us to create a platform for the voices of Black authors to be heard and appreciated.
One student, in particular, shared their impression of the event on social media, stating, "To celebrate #martinlutherkingday, I had the pleasure of lending my voice to amplify Black voices by reading an excerpt from #whentheycallyouaterrorist by osopepatrisse & #ashabadele. Thank you to C.IAS Graz for organizing the event and to everyone reading there! It was touching, insightful & powerful to listen to texts from all periods of Black American history in the words of those who live(d) it."
Overall, the event was a resounding success, fostering a sense of unity, understanding, and appreciation for the rich literary contributions of Black authors. We hope that this event serves as a catalyst for further exploration and celebration of diverse voices in our society.
Kurzkommentar von KULTUM-Diskurskurator Florian Traussnig:
Will das "Ship of State", wollen wir in eine gerechtere Zukunft segeln, so haben sich die Menschen an Bord auch den dunklen Strömungen und ambivalenten Zeichen der Vergangenheit zu stellen: "A necklace can be piece of jewellery, but it can also be a chain" – so Organisatorin Roberta Maierhofer, die selbst einen rhetorisch wuchtigen Text des Abolitionisten Frederick Douglass performte. Ein inspirierender Nachmittag.