Photo by Cameron Adams<\/p>\n

Cameron Adams
\n<\/b>Editor-in-Chief\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Jackson State University\u2019s student organization Outspoken Arts and Collective members showed out during their performances at \u201cArt Night” hosted by the Mississippi Museum of Art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On April 18, 2023, three members of Outspoken were featured as primary performers for the Mississippi Museum of Art\u2019s \u201cArt Night\u201d. The members included Jamee \u201cJEM\u201d McAdoo, Ja\u2019Miyah \u201cJAMS\u201d Stokes, and Jasmine \u201cJT\u201d Thomas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each artist performed a powerful poem based on different art pieces that were on display in the museum\u2019s permanent exhibit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first performer was Stokes, the Vice President of Outspoken and a junior physiology major from Chicago, Ill. Her powerful performance immediately set the tone for the rest of the night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her poem was based on the art piece, \u201cThe Mississippi Wilderness\u201d, which displayed a black girl in a blue dress surrounded by a beautiful array of colors and trees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stokes seemed comfortable on the stage as if she was performing in front of her peers back on campus. However, Stokes expressed that the two felt like two different environments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been performing on campus since my sophomore year so in my opinion there was an extreme difference,\u201d stated Stokes. \u201cDuring my performance, I can say that I was nervous but I felt so grounded.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The next performer was McAdoo, a senior Journalism and Media Studies major from Little Rock, Ark., and 2022-2023 Miss Outspoken Arts Collective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McAdoo is a professional poet, award-winning playwright, former on-air radio personality, published author, and influencer. She also serves as JSU\u2019s MADDRAMA Performance Troupe\u2019s Performance Coordinator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her performance was based on a painting named \u201cKudzu\u201d. McAdoo claimed that she was inspired by this piece due to her love for nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe name of the piece I wrote was \u2018Kudzu\u2019 which is a type of plant,\u201d stated McAdoo. \u201cI was drawn to this painting because I resonated with the young girl standing alone in the wilderness.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McAdoo\u2019s performance was just as vibrant and colorful as the painting. Although McAdoo has performed in front of several crowds, she also expressed that the Art Night audience was much different compared to the campus crowd.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely is a different vibe performing in the community versus on campus,\u201d stated McAdoo. \u201cThe energy was great but there were less familiar faces. Seeing members of Outspoken come out to support definitely made me less nervous!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After JEM\u2019s performance, Thomas, a Jackson State University alum from Atlanta, Ga., had the final performance of the segment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas has a B.A. in media studies and performing arts from Fort Valley State University and a Masters in Journalism and Media Studies from Jackson State University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

JT has been writing and performing poetry for over 15 years. She has also been featured in several productions in her years of performing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her highlight performances are \u201cBeyond the Cave\u201d, the Nick Cave exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Art, \u201cPoetry Out Loud\u201d, and the Def Poetry Jam reunion tour in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her performance was emotional and had the crowd on the edge of their seats as she poured her heart out about the struggles of African-Americans and identifying their roots.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the main performances of the three Outspoken members, more members of the organization took their talents to the stage during the Open Mic segment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyndal Smith, also known as \u201cKyn\u0113tic Energy\u201d is a freshman elementary education major from Indianapolis, Ind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her poem was entitled \u201cStupid Boy\u201d, a piece that was written during the performance of her peers. Although the poem was written on short notice, she made a lasting impression.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When reflecting on the inspiration behind the piece she claimed that it was fueled by her past experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was driven by old memories with a person that I’ve gladly left in my past,\u201d stated Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith then explained that her purpose in writing is to express herself as much as possible without any censorship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI aim to make my writing as authentic as possible, no time for sugarcoating. I live the truth so I write the truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Outspoken allowed local artists to step out of their comfort zone throughout several on-campus events. The growth of the organization continues to increase as the semester comes to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith expressed that Outspoken has caused her to grow not just as an artist, but also as a person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOutspoken has grown me in more ways than I thought possible, both on and off the mic. they truly made me believe in the power of my pen and my voice,\u201d stated Smith. \u201cI wouldn’t change anything about how my time with my OAC family has been, because they have embodied the meaning of the word in every sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Cameron Adams Cameron Adams Editor-in-Chief\u00a0 Jackson State University\u2019s student organization Outspoken Arts and Collective members showed out during their performances at \u201cArt Night”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11892,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11887\/revisions\/11892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}