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• SPEAK for women’s empowerment

SPEAK Café will hold its latest show on March 19 at the Palette Café at the Krannert Art Museum from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The show — free of admission — takes the theme “The Women Gather” in correspondence with Women’s History Month.

SPEAK, Song Poetry Expression Art and Knowledge, started five years ago when a class taught by Dr. William Patterson collaborated with the community. In order to set up a space, Patterson went to Kathleen Harlemen, director of Krannert Art Museum. The Museum’s café was an optimum space for SPEAK because it has space for both a DJ and an open mic.

The intimate atmosphere is also key for SPEAK. Harlemen and the KAM staff were happy to help Patterson because they hoped it would “help bring new life to Krannert and bring the community onto campus,” said Aaron Ammons, moderator for SPEAK Café.

In order to further the community feel, SPEAK Café is not a contest, but rather a means of encouragement.

“It’s about social empowerment,” Ammons said. “People should expect to hear artists really expressing themselves.”

SPEAK Café was previously part of the Black Power Movement, which used to be on the UIUC campus, and had themes of race, roots and resistance. Ammons now has incorporated sub-themes into SPEAK which, for the March 19 show, will focus on women.

The title, “The Women Gather,” was taken from the title of a song by Sweet Honey and the Rock, an African American female group that focuses on liberation music from the civil rights movement.

The first half of the showcase will give the first speaking opportunities to females, but males are welcome to contribute later in the show.

Ammons said he hopes that people will feel confident and be able to express themselves through the platform of SPEAK Café.

“It is an intricate part of our democracy to speak up,” Ammons said. “We always hope people get inspired to find out what their creative genius is.”

SPEAK Café is co-sponsored by African American Studies, Krannert Art Museum, the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, and 40 North/88 West.