Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

Growing up Blxck, Queer, Non-binary, and Bible Belted in the Midwest, the Sermon I wish I’d Heard bears witness to Hicks’ journey towards self-love through spoken word, song, and movement–three friends that fed the indomitable spirit childhood required. Such is a blossom, which Hick says, ultimately saves their life; and perhaps, lives now as a call home to remember that we each are our greatest medicine and there lives no savior outside of ourselves. Audre Lorde asks, “What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence.” Engaging participatory poetry as a Blxck Freedom Art Healing Vortex, we’ll embody the fact of our freedom through the mobilization of our joy. Welcome HOMEplxce, Family! @homeplxce 

This event is free and open to the public. This event kicks off Blackness 360°: Art, Culture, Health, and Futures, a series of curated experiences designed to deepen knowledge about the multiplicity and complexity of Blackness and Black experiences. The series is organized by UF Black Affairs in partnership with its 2020-21 Faculty Fellow. Support provided by co-sponsors: UF Center for Arts Migration and Entrepreneurship, UF Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research, UF Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere, UF Center for Latin American Studies, and The Power Lab.

 https://ufl.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcuc-GvqjIpE9DMCSMFllxHHvvewof3vN_5

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Lakhiyia Hicks is a public health cultural shapeshifter, a freedom art warrior, inviting us to remember who are. Depending on our community needs at hand, this may mean masquerading as a spoken word poet, participatory action researcher, singer, director, dancer, curriculum developer, kuringa/joker, educational curator drawing forth leadership wrapped in your radical authenticity, and you name it. Pedagogy/Theatre of the Oppressed ground Lakhiyia’s feet with deep roots in multidisciplinary means for being the fact of our freedom in a world designed to systematically undermine our birthright to belonging.

Lakhiyia holds a Bachelors from Northwestern, Masters from USC, and lecturer experience from UCLA. Lakhiyia means “home” in isiXhosa and Haitian Creole. Lakhiyia is the founder and project manager for HOMEplxce, an educational consulting space dedicated to the mobilization of Survivors of childhood sexual assault as Liberation Arts Community Health Strategists across the Blxck Queer Diaspora. Come. Meet HOMEplxce at the intersections of Transformative and Healing Justice!