by Janiyah Gaston
Andre Council (Left), Jakayla Sherrod (Middle), Nigel Singleton (Right) pose for photo at Oratorical Competition in Student Center Old Main room Feb 26, 2024 in Carbondale, Ill.
(Photo provided by Jakayla Sherrod)
With this year’s Black History Month theme being ancestral healing, the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. asked Black students “What would you tell your ancestors?" On Monday, February 26th in the Student Center Old Main room, they hosted their third annual Oratorical Competition.
Nigel Singleton, President of Alpha Phi Alpha said this event is for Black students to participate in. “We [...] host this event to give black students on our campus a chance to be heard while talking about topics that are important to our culture,” Singleton explained. He also stated that this event will help students improve their public speaking skills.
The topic for the competition was not solely picked by us, Singleton said. “Mildred Williams, from the Black Resource Center brought a poem to my attention and the basis of this poem was a group of black people [who] went back in time to tell our ancestors about today's world,” he stated.
To start off the competition Andre Council, Secretary of Alpha Phi Alpha, introduced fourth-year student Jakayla Sherrod; whose poem was called “Resilience Echoes.” Her poem reflected on how the Black community can do so much more when we come together as one.
Sherrod stated that the topic for the competition and the theme of Black History month complimented each other well.
“I think it just goes to show everybody different [ways] on how they want to relay the message about ancestral healing,” she stated. “I feel like this is a good opportunity for students to really be creative on how they interpret ancestral healing.”
If Black students take anything away from this event, I hope it is that what has been talked about today can be applied to everyday life, Sherrod said.
Darrius Gunn shares what he would say to his ancestors at Oratorical Competition in Student Center Old Main room Feb 26, 2024 in Carbondale, Ill. @janiyah_reports
Darrius Gunn, a second-year student, was up next to share what he would say. Gunn would apologize to his ancestors for all the hardships we are still going through as a community.
Council was next and he expressed his gratitude for all that his ancestors did for him to be where he is today and how it helped shape him as a person.
Demetrius Lovejoy, a third-year student was the third speaker of the night. His piece spoke about how our ancestors are more than just what society paints us as.
Lovejoy stated events like these are important to the Black students on campus because it reminds them of their history.
“Being black and being at a PWI it's not something that we’ll often acknowledge, really. So I feel [...] being able to speak at this event, [it] just really reminds people that look there's more to your history than what you think,” he commented.
When speaking at impactful events like this our words have a bigger impact on people than we realize, he said.
“When you're speaking like this, any type of dialogue words have power and words of influence. So if you say words with a healing intent you're going to be healing yourself and others around you. But if you try to use your words in a demeaning way, words carry, they follow they have emotions,” he said
Acknowledging our history as Black students has a huge effect on how we approach how we choose to heal ourselves, Lovejoy commented.
Anastasia Williams shares her piece at Oratorical Competition in Student Center Old Main room on Feb 26, 2024 in Carbondale, Ill. @janiyah_reports
Second-year student Anastasia Williams was the final competitor of the night, her piece was dedicated to Madam CJ Walker and how she helped change the view about Black hair.
After the judges voted it was a tie between Sherrod and Lovejoy. Both contestants gave one final speech to break the tie. Lovejoy’s speech acknowledged where Black History came from. Sherrod’s speech focused on the struggles Black Women have gone through. At the end of the event, Sherrod was declared the winner of the competition.
“We honestly are just looking to inspire students to be leaders, to do things like participating in events like this, and to show SIU’s campus a good time while talking about an important topic,” Singleton remarked.
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