Bishop’s Centenary girls speak out

The concert, titled Unplugged, was held at the Little Carib Theatre on March 14. It featured 14 teenaged girls who wrote and shared their personal stories and concerns related to social issues, including gender based violence, adoption, body shaming, bullying, teen suicide, the country’s crime rate, the economy, and racism.

Hannah Parris started off the evening with the self-aware spoken word piece, Who Am I? She highlighted her place in her family, the things she loved, her personality, but in the end recognised, “I am no ordinary girl. I am Hannah.” In When I Share A Poem, Karissa Ali discovered her voice.

She said she was no longer the girl sitting in a corner and keeping her thoughts to herself.

Instead, when she shared her poems, they were as “a mirror into her soul” and it made her feel free, refreshed, and renewed.

Tahirah Williams expressed her fears of being a young woman in society in her poem What is Fear? She told the audience that she could not walk the road and feel safe. Instead, she wonders if or when someone would snatch her, rape her, traffic her or murder her.

Shenelle Vincent made members of the audience think when she asked what they thought when they heard the word “woman.” She lamented that some men still believe that they can own a woman, that some men openly lust after a woman and then take the woman as their own. However, in the end, she said that “woman” was not just a word that stemmed from the word “man,” but that woman meant resilience, strength, courage, and “all that is good.” Tishauna Jones sang about the black woman – how she may be ridiculed because of the colour of her skin, but that same skin was a coat of amour with which she blessed her children. She encouraged darkskinned women to be proud.

One of the highlights for the evening was the song, Birth of a Nation by Aaliya Holder and Jaqueline Frauenfelder Haynes. The girls sang in harmony with piano accompaniment.

“We’re fighting this war for a nation where sticks and stones break no more,” they sang to a resounding round of applause and shouts for an encore, which they reluctantly gave.

The two-hour event was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, with the girls encouraging audience participation as they performed, many of them for the first time.

The pieces were short and sweet, as well as insightful and moving. It was also obvious that a lot of critical thought and emotion went into writing the pieces, and it was both sad and encouraging that the girls were so aware of the challenges facing them in today’s society.

Co-founder and executive director of Girl Be Heard, Jessica Greer Morris, explained that the organisation was an international New York-based organisation that hosts after-school, girl empowerment programmes.

It develops, amplifies, and celebrates the voices of young women through socially conscious theatre.

It creates safe spaces for young women to share personal stories and raise awareness about social justice issues affecting girls locally and abroad.

She said it was a job-creation programme aimed at helping to create more jobs for artists and activists.

Morris told Sunday Newsday Girl Be Heard was invited to Trinidad after Nicole “Ms Brafit” Joseph-Chin saw them do a show about sex trafficking in New York.

“When we came here it was like a calling. We’ve been to eight countries but unfortunately, although they want the programme, there’s no funding. Steve Weekes of the US Embassy found us a grant and made it happen,” she explained.

She added that Girl Be Heard was basically a listening programme that also taught the girls how to write, express themselves, and even a little theatre.

“What we do, they say it’s so innovative and radical, and we won all these awards, but basically we sit in a room and listen to girls.

Who’s listening to girls? Who’s asking them what they care about, what they dream about, what they want the world to be. If you listen closely enough, young people, the next generation, could lead us to a better place.” Unplugged was directed by Penelope Spencer and Deneka Thomas, and was held in collaboration with Jean Claude Counard, director of 2 Cents Movement, which is the licence holder of Girl Be Heard Trinidad and Tobago.

The student are also scheduled to perform at the Bocas Lit Fest at the National Library in Port-of-Spain on April 30; and at the Central Bank Auditorium, Independence Square on June 29.

Individuals and organisations are encouraged to sponsor a girl or a school so that the six-month programme could continue. Those interested are asked to contact Girl Be Heard TT programme manager, Takitah De Four at takiyah@girlbeheard.

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