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As Adrianne Embry sat in a hospital room next to her father as he recovered from a serious motorcycle accident, a line of a poem she knew she had to write came to her.

That poem, “A Storm in Three Parts,” later ran in the Black Voices section of the Indiana Daily Student and was one of the works from Black IU students highlighted at a Feb. 25 showcase, organized by the IU Student Publications Alumni Association.

The section, which consists of stories, commentary, poetry and artwork from Black students, was launched in fall 2020 with funding from The Media School and in collaboration with IU’s chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. Soon after its announcement, the section received a donation of $250,000 from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, BS’81.

The showcase was hosted by Leah Johnson, BAJ’16, author and essayist whose debut young adult novel following a young Black girl in a midwestern town, “You Should See Me In A Crown,” became a best-seller last year.

“In my time in The Media School, I was president of NABJ, I dabbled at the IDS, so it’s so exciting to see a new generation of talented, young, ambitious Black storytellers taking up that mantle,” Johnson said.

One of those storytellers is contributor Jaicey Bledsoe, whose opinion column “What about Black greeks?” was highlighted. The piece highlighted disparities in the greek system, given that Black fraternities and sororities don’t typically have dedicated houses for their organizations.

Bledsoe, a sophomore media major, said she joined the Black Voices section because she realized she wanted to contribute directly to the conversation around race and racism on campus and in the nation at large.

“This is a way for me to do it in a platform that’s designed for people to pay attention,” she said.

Another highlighted piece was junior Stefan Townes’ column “Is being tokenized worth a full ride?” describing IU’s full-ride scholarships for underrepresented students as filling a diversity quota while providing a markedly different experience for minority students.

“At the end of the day, IU bought my attendance,” Townes writes in the piece. “As poorly represented as I am on campus, or as poorly as this campus cares for students like me, I still accepted the deal.”

Black Voices contributor Alicia Harmon, a junior, said she wrote her poem “Part the Clouds” as the 2020 election was unfolding, reflecting on milestones for Black Americans that ultimately hadn’t dismantled racism. Her poem uses the image of a mountain peak, visible in the clouds that people promise are parting, but have yet to clear.  

“‘First’ hasn’t necessarily gotten us anywhere,” Harmon said.

Junior Donyá Collins’ digital painting “We are majestic,” showing two Black angels holding each other in the clouds, includes the caption: “Remember who you are, you are royalty, made of gold and sunshine, something pure and a goddess of both heaven and earth.”

Collins, who is Christian, said the piece was personal, a reminder of Black beauty given that much western Christian imagery is overwhelmingly white.

“Jesus is white, Santa’s white, everyone’s white,” she said. “Where are the Black people? I feel like we as a community sometimes forget who we are. We radiate sunshine.”

The showcase also included a discussion with section editors Jaclyn Ferguson and Nick Telman, both seniors who emphasized their role in providing continuity for the section as they look toward graduation at the end of this semester.

“We’re focused on building the right foundation for Black Voices right now,” Telman said.

They’ve already selected their successors and have begun to train them, setting the stage for Black Voices to continue providing a platform for Black students in the years to come.

“If I’ve learned anything in the years that I’ve been writing books, it’s that you are the person who is going to make the lane,” Johnson said toward the end of the showcase. “I literally cannot wait for five years down the road when you all are signing my paychecks.”