In celebration of Black History Month, the University of Kentucky students opened space for a talent showcase with poem recitals, dance, musical performances and a play act on gun violence.
UK’s Martin Luther King Center hosted the “Night at the Apollo” on Thursday, Feb. 27 in the Harris Ballroom at the Gatton Student Center.
Organized by Gabrielle Copeland, an MLK Sister Circle intern and a junior majoring in theatre and arts administration, said that some of the performers said the show came together to share the struggles and pride of the Black community across its history.
“I know that the Black population at UK isn’t that big, it’s not huge. There’s only a little circle of us and there’s even a smaller circle of us who are actually into the arts and performing and stuff like that,” Copeland said. “I want them to be heard, I’m one of those people.”
Tiffany Madden, a junior theatre major and Ms. Black UK 2024-25, opened the show by performing her original rap, “859 Anthem.”
Madden said she composed the rap in 2024 for the Mr. and Ms. Black UK Scholarship Pageant when diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives started to be “taken away.”
“Being a girl from Lexington, Kentucky, born and raised here, I had to make sure people know we really do this (Black art), we really are out here, there are people here, we exist, we are not dissolved,” Madden said.
Najiya Clayborn, a senior double major in arts administration and theatre, also performed at the event, singing “Weak” by SWV with Copeland as well as “Home” from “The Wiz.”
Clayborn said she chose these performances because she knew the crowd would react to them with intensity, as it has been culturally well-known by the Black community.
“Black history is what you see every day, we just have the opportunity to get to showcase that tonight,” Clayborn said. “I couldn’t say it in a lot of words but that’s what Black History is, is speechless.”
Myka Smith-Jackson, a political science senior, was another performer who recited an original poem she wrote after having the phrase “drowning by the whiteness” stuck in her mind when reflecting on the daily life of a Black woman.
“My favorite line (of her poem) probably would have to be, ‘giving one-fourth the dollar to my brothers and sisters while I can’t take care of my own hair cause y’all wanted to take all my little sections in Walmart,’” Smith-Jackson said.
Smith-Jackson said she not only wanted to stress the past but also what Black people have done with “the cards we have been dealt” to show people every space the Black community is now in.
“Hosting a space where people can share what they are going through, share their art, share their experiences, their growth, their light, their joy and be able to show that we can come together as a community, but we also need to be open-minded,” Smith-Jackson said.
Aniah Coleman, a secondary education and African American history freshman, used storytelling as another performing art represented in the showcase.
Coleman said her passion for education came when she first felt seen and heard by her fourth grade substitute English teacher and how that has connected her to become a future teacher who advocates for belonging and respect.
In her speech, Coleman said she still recalls the day she and other Black students in her elementary school had their hair “messed up” by the water activities on a field day and how upset she felt among the white kids around her.
On that same day, Coleman said the substitute teacher explained to her that what she felt was more than a hair issue, which she said opened her eyes to her Black identity.
“She has allowed me to really see the importance of representation, the importance of understanding your students, the importance of being there and supporting your students outside of what you may like or what you may know,” Coleman said.
Lyric Johnson, a public health senior and one of the event’s attendees said Black art is “multifaceted” and it is more than just an event that people are at.
“Nobody has limits when it comes to Black art,” Johnson said. “Art is to be shared.”
Aniyah Maxey, a social work sophomore who also worked in organizing the event, said she saw the showcase as a way to end BHM’s events on a good note by making Black students’ identities and creative minds known.
“Showing it to other people who really need to see that the community is really out there just trying to expand its horizons and that we all really have to stand behind each other,” Maxey said.
