Spoken word artist Shameaca Moore was among the line-up of local Black artists that performed at Native Tongues: We Speak, Tripp Fontane, host of Native Tongues, said. Photo credit: courtesy of the Lincoln Theatre
Black artists in the Columbus community are now sharing poetry and music around a common microphone.
The Lincoln Theatre hosted the first in their new monthly Black poetry collective performances, “Native Tongues: We Speak,” Friday.The collective is hosted by Dayton, Ohio, native and spoken-word artist Tripp Fontane, who said the event is a reprise of another Black poetry collective that used to take place in Columbus.
“‘Native Tongues’ is the rebirth of an old event called ‘Black Tuesdays,’” Fontane said. “It was, from what I hear, a legendary space specifically for Black creators to come and be safe and express fellowship.”
“Black Tuesdays” was a hip-hop-based open mic –– something that was rare in the city of Columbus at the time and still is now, Fontane said. While reinventing this event, Fontane said he went back to the drawing board to come up with a new name and style, and worked closely with Malcolm White, an organizer for “Black Tuesdays,” and DJ BERN to plan and produce the new version of the event.
“What it is now is a premiere open mic, if you will,” Fontane said. “The open mic is where you come to learn, where you come to cultivate, where you come to practice, where you come to be amongst your community.”
When it came to creating “Native Tongues,” Fontane said the idea wasn’t to take away from pre-existing open mics around Columbus, but to add to them — standing on a foundation of paying artists, treating them with respect and setting higher standards.
“In Columbus, we noticed that there’s a void for artists who are in a similar space to myself in their careers, in that a lot of times you either have made it or you haven’t, and there’s this weird middle ground where people are trying to navigate what to do now,” Fontane said. “We wanted to build a show that fills that void. This may not be the biggest stage you’ve hit thus far, but it’s definitely going to be well-produced. You’re going to be taken care of. You’re going to be paid.”
Fontane said the organizers are making a point to book local artists for “Native Tongues.” However, not every artist invited to perform will be from Columbus.
“We don’t want to be inaccessible to the community we claim to be of and the community we claim to serve,” Fontane said. “But as we grow, we’re definitely reaching higher and further out because we believe that one of the ways that you bring equity to a space is to branch out and bring people from other places.”
Spoken-word artist Shameaca Moore, jazz and hip-hop violinist Stephen Spottswood, Christian-based rapper Armond WakeUp, DJ BERN and vocalist Quan Howell of the Grammy Award-winning band Sounds of Blackness were among the lineup of performers for the “Native Tongues” premiere event, Fontane said.
“The people are here for a treat to be honest,” Fontane said. “It’s a very dynamic show. We wanted to bring folks in from multiple genres, which is something that we try to focus on because we don’t just want to expose one form of art.”
Spottswood is the founder of the Columbus Cultural Orchestra and teaches middle school orchestra at Reynoldsburg City Schools. He said as an educator and a musician of color, his mission is to help raise the percentage of classically trained musicians of color and teach students to tell their stories via orchestral instruments.
“It’s really significant for our city to see performers — specifically performers of color — be shown in the best possible light,” Spottswood said. “If you can see it, you can be it, right? Seeing me up on that stage, they can then say, ‘Oh, I can do that too.’”
Fontane said he hopes people will attend “Native Tongues,” either in person or virtually, and see Columbus as a city worth appreciating.
“This is not a city you have to leave in order to find what it is that you’re looking for, whether you’re an artist or you’re an attendee,” Fontane said. “It’s possible to be a high-level artist in Columbus, and it’s possible to see and appreciate high-level art in Columbus.”
Fontane said details for future “Native Tongues” performances and open mics are still being worked out, but the event is set to occur monthly and feature a series of local, Black artists.
