This was my second time attending this event. As someone who had never experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault, Take Back the Night was an emotional yet empowering event for survivors. Hearing survivors talk about their experience in the Healing Circle and marching alongside with them to Downtown Ashland was incredible.
It was also the same night where I met two of my heroes: Sister Outsider.Sister
Outsider consisted of two great spoken word/slam poets, Denice Frohman and Dominique Christina, who are award-winning diverse poets that perform narratives as women of color (WOC). They celebrate "their 'otherness' and calling into account the systematized and institutionalized practices that see people of color, women, LGBTQ communities, and historically and contemporary marginalized communities, minimized and erased in society, and thereby in curricula."
I discovered their poetry through Button Poetry's YouTube channel. When I clicked on Denice's poem "Dear Straight People," I scrolled through more poetry on Button Poetry's channel. After watching other poets such as Alex Dang (another favorite of mine) and Neil Hilborn, I uncovered Dominique and her period poem then their poem together "No Child Left Behind." Watching their videos was like listening to Michael Jackson for the first time. I have become a fan.
Fast forward to Take Back the Night. I heard from my friend who was organizing the event that Sister Outsider was going to perform. If someone asked me how would I react if I met my favorites in person, I would always say "just calmly introduce myself and start a conversation with them."
When I met Sister Outsider in person, my answer changed. I freaked out. I wasn't sure how or what to say to either them. I loved them since "No Child Left Behind." A good friend of mine, Melanie, calmed me down. "Hey, they're sitting outside right now. They're pretty chill."
I quickly assumed that they were practicing their pieces. "Really? I didn't want to bother them."
"No, you're fine. They're out there right now. Do you want me to come with you?"
I had to think for a moment until I nodded and we both headed out to see Sister Outsider before their performance. I wasn't sure where they were sitting, but I looked over to my corner and there they were: Sitting across from each other and scrolling through their phones.
I screamed internally. I used to think fangirlling over people from TV or YouTube was ridiculous. Why bother screaming over a couple of human beings?
Meeting Sister Outsider was surreal. Denice was calm and super chill. Dominique was equally chill and friendly. I think I mentioned how excited I was to watch them perform or stunned that they were here. Southern Oregon University Poetry Slam team—Victoria Morgan, Asante Sankofa Foree and Bekah Krum—performed their brilliant pieces before Sister Outsider went on. Later that night, they performed new pieces and their well-known, individual poems such as "Dear Straight People" and "The Period Poem." After their performance, they held a small Question and Answer with the audience. I was one of the last two people to ask them a question.
"When you two read each other's work, was their a piece one of you said, 'Oh, don't do that. It might embarrassing'?"
Dominique answered no and explained that their poetry is their story, their own experience. There wasn't anything embarrassing to share. That answer quickly turned into a hilarious story about Dominique's incident with the Diva Cup in the bathroom while Denice was performing her slam.
After meeting Sister Outsider and watching them live, I had more respect for the poetry duo and Take Back the Night. As a writer, Sister Outsider brought inspiration and determination to write my stories, including embarrassing ones. As an ally, their poetry helped me learn and respect the survivors who were brave to share their experience.
Thank you, people who organized Take Back the Night and Sister Outsider, for the night I will never forget.
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