I attended my first poetry slam in 2018, at Seattle’s Neptune Theatre, with island friend Spring Hecht and Numbers-to-Names colleagues from Tacoma. We were a motley crew of African, Indian, Korean and European descent, ranging in age from 22 to 70. We all self-identified as racial justice activists, and we came to hear the Youth Speaks finalists dazzle us with their words. When Nikkita Oliver took the stage as the event’s emcee, I felt the room sizzle, and soon I was blown away. Oliver wove her words of protest and power amid her clear passion and advocacy for the young poets who subsequently took their turn at the mic. Spring and I knew we had to bring Oliver to Vashon.

Spring Hecht, Parents and Friends for Racial Equity team member, later wrote, “I’ve seen Nikkita work her magic and I came away feeling moved, inspired, empowered, and hopeful. She has a very special ability to speak to your heart and make each person in the room feel like they belong and that their voice matters, especially youth — the ones who we are looking to make tomorrow better.”

Fast forward to Oliver’s upcoming Vashon appearance, and the credit goes to Leah Mann, of Lelavision fame, to our determined multi-racial planning team and to Oliver, of course.

The Beachcomber has included an article about Oliver with the details about her performances scheduled for June 7, so I want to focus on what makes this event so significant, in my opinion, as an old white woman and long-time racial justice advocate.

As a founding member of Vashon-Maury Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), I am often disturbed by white islanders who tell me we don’t have a problem with racism on Vashon. I am confounded by folks who say they just wish they “knew some people of color” so they could ask them about racism.

It might surprise some to learn that over 24% of our island school district is comprised of students of color, and that, while the island is predominantly white, it is changing. It does not serve us to pretend that we live in a static bubble. We have immigrants from Seattle to Syria in our midst, and many of us believe that diversity strengthens and enriches the life of our community.

I guarantee that Nikkita Oliver will lay it out for us — what it means to live in brown skin, what it means to care about children of color, brown girls and black women and men.

And she will lay out for us what it means when she says that Black lives matter. She will do it through nuanced words set to a beat, through her poetry and music, and through her steadfast presence in a room of mostly white folks. She will make us laugh at ourselves (always a good thing) and cry over the injustices in our midst. And best of all, she will set our hearts on fire, focus our minds and inspire us to do more.

Instead of defending or denying our white skin privilege, we have the opportunity to use it, to make waves, to show up in solidarity and to liberate us all, one beat at a time.

Many of us want to do the right thing and don’t quite know what that is. So, we hesitate and hold back. Here’s our chance to let it all out, to celebrate our commitment and to learn from a singularly talented woman, one of my all-time heroes.

As Oliver spoke in her poem, “Black Lives Matter” (find it on YouTube), “When I say, ‘black lives matter,’ I am not trying to take anything from you. I am simply trying to dig deep below the muck and the mire and the bodies and the streets to find the seed of hope that still persists to remind myself that My Life Matters Too.”

— Janie Starr is a racial and social justice activist with V-M SURJ, Parents & Friends for Racial Equity on Vashon, Indivisible Vashon’s Immigrant/Refugee Rights Team, and VIGA’s Food Access Partnership.

Reading

“Pebbles in My Shoes” with Nikkita Oliver will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 7, at the Vashon Presbyterian Church. Advance ticket purchase is advised. See nikkitaoliver.brownpapertickets.com.

Oliver’s books will be available for sale, and she will sign copies upon request.