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@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:27

Claiming Our Voices with Maya Angela Smith

article image placeholderOpinion | Enunciating Power: Amanda Gorman and My Battle to Claim My Voice
I feel so lucky that I came across Dr. Maya Angela Smith's article and then stated Power Amanda Gorman in my battle to claim my voice, this essay really impacted me, and I was so excited to learn more about your work, Doctor Smith. So before I ask more questions specifically about this piece and its content, I just want to let everyone know a little bit more about you based on your bio attached to the article. So it reads

How do race, language, & identity connect? Listen in. #books #voice https://s.swell.life/SSQRBGk0wTN3ziH

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@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:59

Your voice journey

My first question has to do with a moment in this essay where you talk about Amanda Gorman in an interview with Anderson Cooper, and they connected over speech difficulties that they both had growing up. And you go on to say, quote, I was transported to my own struggles in third grade when I was pulled out of class so that I could learn to properly pronounce the letter s to my unwillingness to speak up in class
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 2:45

Voice, social justice, & the future

I thought that was such a powerful sentiment at this moment in time, when so many of us are so used to connecting now through mediums where we're not using our voice all the time, but instead we're using text. We're using visual mediums to stay connected or various kind of messengers and social media. And I know for me I find communication with the voice, whether it's on the phone, on video chats, voice messages here on Swell, where I can hear people's intonation
@MayaAngelaSmith
Maya Smith
@MayaAngelaSmith · 0:36

#voice

Thank you so much, Bowie, for that introduction and for having me here. This is my first time speaking on Swell, so I'm very excited to explore this medium. The irony is also not lost on me that this is specifically an audio platform, and as someone for whom speaking in public does not come naturally, it will be very interesting to see what the experience is like
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@MayaAngelaSmith
Maya Smith
@MayaAngelaSmith · 4:23

My voice journey

The rest is really a haze. I somehow passed the exam and I think it was because I had proven to the rest of the committee that I knew the materials because of all those one on one meetings with them. They decided not to put all the weight on the performance and focus more on the competence that I had proven throughout my studies in preparation for the exam
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@MayaAngelaSmith
Maya Smith
@MayaAngelaSmith · 2:28

Power of speaking

I don't think I would have ever learned all the languages that I did if I was going to use them simply to read and write. Speaking allows for real time connections in a way that writing does not, but the space that I have most realized. The value of speech is through teaching. I've always been pretty good at speaking in one on one situations. It's when I have to speak in front of groups that I get nervous, but for some reason teaching is different
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@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:37

Such an inspiring story!

And I thought it was really interesting to hear about your experiences in academia and then taking a break and how that period of time and distance from the Academy was ultimately essential in you realizing you needed to go back to continue your research and finish what you started. And I can only imagine how helpful it is for your students to learn about all of the different kinds of things and experiences you've done and how that's informed your work today
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:37

The process of the essay

The first is about this particular article that you wrote about claiming your voice. I believe I read online that you actually first published it on medium and before it was picked up by yes magazine. And I'm curious if when you decided to write and publish it and put it out on medium, how it all began, was it one of those pieces where when I read it, I felt so emotionally impacted by it in your story
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:06

The process of the book!

And a followup question I have to that is about your book Senegal abroad. You mentioned a bit in the story of your journey about going to Paris and beginning to do your research. And I'm wondering wondering if you could share a bit about the story of creating this book from reading about it. It sounds completely fascinating. And also I can only imagine just how much research you had to do
@MayaAngelaSmith
Maya Smith
@MayaAngelaSmith · 2:57

My process in writing essays

I also get very singularly focused when I want to share something I'm thinking about, I'll pretty much drop all other writing projects, so I spent a couple of days only thinking about Amanda's speech and my reaction to it, put my words on paper and decided not to wait until I found a place to pitch the piece. I wanted it out in the world. A friend of mine read it on medium and suggested some venues that maybe would like to republish it
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@MayaAngelaSmith
Maya Smith
@MayaAngelaSmith · 4:26

The process of researching and writing Senegal Abroad

I then went to Rome and interviewed about 25 more people, almost all of whom had been in Italy less than a decade. The Senegalese community are quite different in the two spaces partially are mainly because Senegal, as a former French colony, has had a lot longer tradition of people migrating from Senegal to France, I was embarking on a comparative project that looked at issues of language, race, and belonging
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@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:36

@MayaAngelaSmith Your grandfather's story!

Wow, Maya, please keep us in the loop and share that piece about your grandfather whenever you publish it. I am so excited to read it and hear about his story. Then in just the few minutes that you shared about him, what an incredible life. I'm really looking forward to hearing more of his story and in particular, hearing his story told through your perspective and with your voice. So thank you for sharing that with us
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:23

@MayaAngelaSmith Really looking forward to your book

It was really interesting hearing about your process, making that transition from dissertation to book, and the way in which audience factored into how you made certain changes or shifts in perspective when it came to language and how you presented so much research. I think that's incredible, because even in my experience, I got an MFA
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:43

Voice & visual art!

And I believe a lot of these on your website are oil paintings, and they're so gorgeous. I love all the different use of color, especially the way that blue is featured throughout a lot of them and various shapes and patterns. And so I'm wondering if you think of voice as influencing your visual art as well, or the role that voice plays in your visual artwork, if at all. Thank you so much for the conversation. Thus far
@MayaAngelaSmith
Maya Smith
@MayaAngelaSmith · 2:21

Relationship between art and voice

The tagline on my website is where scholarship and creativity intersect. I thought it was important to put my writing, research, teaching, and visual art in conversation because they are all connected. They all aim to make sense of the human condition. Not surprisingly, my artwork touches on many of the same topics that my writing does. I've created works to express anger, fear, sadness, happiness, relief, desire. I also think a lot about representation
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