“A Love Song, a Death Rattle, a Battle Cry”

On Nov. 2 the Gender Excellence Learning Community (GenX), and the Health and Wellness Center brought Guante to UNC Charlotte for “A Love Song, a Death Rattle, a Battle Cry”. Guante is a hip-hop artist, two-time National Poerty Slam Champion, social justice activist and educator whose work has appeared all over the world – his trip to McKnight Hall certainly didn’t disappoint. Guante, a proud transgender, incorporated some of his stories about dealing with his sexuality and accepting who he is. Being born female gave him the opportunity to think about situations from two different points of view. Guante expressed that he is able to think about a situation from a woman’s point of view as well as a man’s. Guante, an advocate for the black lives matter movement, has created multiple pieces on the movement and expresses how powerful it is and its impact on society as a whole, not just black people. Gender and sexuality was the focal point of his message - speaking about this matter for a great deal of time. As a transgender, this topic hits home for Guante. Not only did he talk about sexuality and gender but he mentioned the violence and brutality that is associated with being in that community.

Since hearing Guante I’ve been thinking a lot more about activism than before. Guante said that activism is the most important part of being involved with any movement. “Saying that you are involved with a movement is different than actually going out and making yourself an integral part of the movement,” voiced Guante. This made me think about how there a lot of people who believe in the Black Lives Matter movement, but are reluctant to truly commit. I was elated to know that Guante felt as passionate about activism as I do.

While at the event, I learned a four things that could be beneficial to anyone who is wanting to become an activist. Firstly, activism doesn’t just stop at protests; it can also include social media. Social media is a very powerful tool that can change any situation and bring awareness to social justice issues. Secondly, just because a story is being told, doesn’t mean it has to be your story. Guante did a piece on sexual harassment and someone asked him if the piece involved him. He responded that it wasn’t his story but he put the piece in that particular format to emphasize how common sexual assault is and how many times it gets overlooked. Thirdly, it takes a special person to be able to tell a story through spoken word. Spoken word is an art form that not everyone has the skill to do well. Storytelling is an integral part of spoken word, and I feel if there is a story to tell, it makes the spoken word relatable. Lastly, there are so many obstacles in the world that prevent people from reaching their full potential. Guante described the “bigger picture”; we have huge corporations controlling everything we see and do. Corporations are in charge of TV shows and other content that is displayed in the media. The way Guante explained it, it made me think about how we really don’t get to have a mind of our own because from birth we’re implanted with these ideas and concepts of what’s right and wrong. If we don’t think the way that society thinks, we are penalized and ostracized.

Aside from a couple blemishes, “A Love Song, a Death Rattle, a Battle Cry” was well thought-out and I would recommend Guante to anyone. One problem that I had with Guante was that he wasn’t very humble with his performance. Most of the spoken word artists that I’ve seen are very modest. They don’t do it for the money, they just do it because they enjoy it and they want their voice to be heard by the world: Guante was a bit cocky about his work. It was as if he was told that he was the best so many times that he had to make sure that everybody else knew as well. Other than that, I really enjoyed myself. I’m confident that he has a strong talent with spoken word and it could be put to good use, but I don’t think he’s as good as he thinks he is. If Guante were to ever come to UNC Charlotte again, I would honestly watch him again to see how deep into social justice issues he can go.