Zion

TerpPoets:

Performed in front of ~30 people 

Native Roots:

TOTUS WEEK 

A week of events that are meant to market TOTUS to the surrounding campus community as well as involve past and current TOTUS members 

Tentative Schedule: 

Monday: TOTUS Community Service (Go to a halfway house, old persons home and do a writing workshop) 

Tuesday: TOTUS Happy Hour 

Wednesday: TOTUS Movie screening 

Thursday: TOTUS Juke Joint Takeover 

Friday: TOTUS Presents: The Awakening (bring out well known artists in the area, and have an atmosphere of creativity and networking) 

How?

In order to do this there would need to be work done during the summer, and the brunt of the work would have to be done by MICA. However, if it is opened to on campus organizations as well as the college of Arts and Humanities there would be less of a burden on MICA. Each event would have a committee that could include TOTUS alumni and current TOTUS participants. The Friday event could serve as a practicum for the TOTUS students. The event would occur once a year.

Materials/Funds 

This week of programming would need a lot of materials and funds. There would have to be rooms booked out each day (except for Thursday) and snacks/refreshments would have to be purchased. In addition AV for the rooms, and the rights to show whatever movie we decide to show. 

The Numbers

I project that this would reach out to a majority of the campus. College students love free activities and would love to participate. The Juke Joint Takeover would reach out to more than 200 people, due to the fact that is a standing event that many people attend. 

Determining Success

Final Practicum 

Well, the story is always the same. Just like before I battled in the same war. The unending struggle of spoken versus written work. But this battle was different. The topic became an unwelcome aggressor. Turning my battle into two against one. I had no idea how I was doing to describe the stories of everyone, it seemed like all my creative juices had dried up and I couldn’t get a poem out as hard as I tried. 

I started a different poem, that died a swift death after the first line. I still was stuck. Until inspiration hit. What did all minority communities have in common: white people. White people have the impressive ability to take credit for work that they did not do. It was like the story was always the same. 

My first draft was good, but it was missing something (see, the story is always the same). So I just rewrote it, but to me it wasn’t finished. (Now that I look back that’s a good thing because our stories aren’t finished). 

When I first read it, it didn’t hit. It wasn’t powerful and my message wasn’t conveyed. Here presented a new battle, this wasn’t a poem that I could read I actually had to perform it. So I practiced, and practiced and practiced.\

Showtime. 

I’m actually running late. I’m supposed to go first and the basketball game has the traffic backed up from what seems to be Xfinity to North Carolina. I’m running up stamp hill in booties and make it in time to see my fellow classmate just finishing up. With no time to catch my breath, I’m ushered on stage and told to preform.