Returning triumphantly to Ballantyne Auditorium, “Black Women Walking” made its second appearance at Kirkwood, again bringing a phenomenal event and giving a truly unique experience. Providing deep insights into Black history and women’s rights, the event showcases the historical experiences of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Rosa Parks.
While the event is geared toward education of a wider audience, it provides many opportunities to educate its own performers. “I knew about Harriet Tubman and, I guess, Willma Rudolph. Not a lot, but this opportunity and this process has allowed me to be like, oh, I didn’t know she exists,” said Isabella Penza, who performed as both Parks and the narrator of the event. “Rosa Parks, love her. I was happy to portray her. I always look up to her because I’m not her.”
Retelling these stories through a fusion of a variety of media, including song and dance, reenacts the stories of these courageous women during some of the most challenging moments in American history. From the Underground Railroad and the Civil War, to the Jim Crow era to the present.
However, the show goes beyond Black and women’s issues and examines the social struggles that permeate American society to this day. “It’s not only just women,” Penza elaborated. “It’s people because we’ve all been against each other. So I think this show really portrayed us trying to explain that.”
Destiny Welch, a performer for the event who worked through illness to perform, was also touched by the show’s spectacular offerings. “I feel like I can do anything. I had chills before it started, temperature in the bed this morning, headache, migraine, sensitivity…” Welch related, “and to still come in and do the run through and give the performance that I gave, it just, you know, it’s very easy to come in here and be prepared to perform.”
Categories: Campus News, News
