In celebration of Black History Month, the WKU Forensics team performed their annual Black Excellence Showcase at Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center Recital Hall on the evening of Feb. 8. 

The exposition was a student-run event that provided a platform for Black students to share their voices and stories with the community.

The event was funded by the WKU African American Studies Program and Potter College of Arts & Letters Dean’s Office. 

Performances ranged from topics such as the intersectional experiences of being Black to the consequences of manufactured consent. 

The five performers at the showcase were Rashon Leday, Danielle Williams, Reginald Jefferson, Cecelia Alali and Andre Swai. 

Tani Washington, junior international affairs and history major, led the event and announced performers. 

Washington, who has participated in forensics since high school, said this event is important because it allows team members to practice their performances in preparation for future competitions. It also allows her to connect with people. 

“This is an opportunity for us to show off what we’ve been working on for the whole year,” Washington said. “The pieces that you’re seeing on the stage are pieces that are going to the national tournament.” 

Rashon Leday, the first performer, gave a persuasive speech about incarceration in the United States and the impact it has on Black and Latinx individuals. 

“The most incredible thing about it is that it allows me to educate someone on a topic they may have never heard of or given much thought to,” Leday said. “There’s also the very rare time when your message truly resonates with someone. To see how much you have affected them is the greatest part of it all to me.”

Leday said the showcase is an opportunity for Black members on the team to demonstrate what it means to be unapologetically Black. 

“This showcase is specifically to highlight the unique Black experience,” Leday said. “It’s also an important thing because it allows us to celebrate each other.” 

Cecelia Alali, a sophomore on the team, performed a poetry interpretation about the African immigrant experience in America. 

“Growing up as the Black child of two African immigrants, I was raised without fear of America and told to pursue every opportunity made available to me by my parents,” Alali said. “However, now as a grown, Black woman in this country, I’ve been made painfully aware of what it means to look like me here. Thus, granting me the burden of educating my parents on how the America they were promised does not exist.”

The showcase was concluded by Andre Swai, who performed a portion of his Lincoln-Douglas debate. Swai used a technique called speedreading in which his speaking gets progressively faster. 

His debate focused on systematic issues in the American government that have perpetuated Black inequality and exploitation. 

“Despite the fact that we’ve had a lot of Black faces in places of power, those places of power are systematically denying what we want to have happen,” Swai said. “My style of debate is essentially fighting against that.”

The performers were greatly applauded at the conclusion of the event, and a reception buffet followed.

To learn more about WKU Forensics, visit https://www.wku.edu/forensics/.

News reporter Madison Carter can be reached at [email protected].