Portland observer., February 08, 2012, Image 1

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‘City o/Roses’
Volume X X X X I, Number 6
Wednesday • February 8, 2012
Com m itted to Cultural Diversity
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Art educator and poet Turiya Autry speaks to what it
means to be a black woman and all the things that
entails.
beyond Category
Local poet speaks o f life as an African American woman
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Turiya Autry’s work as an educator, artist and performer
encompasses a lifetime of experiences as an African-Ameri­
can woman.
Whether teaching university courses on the role of black
women throughout history, leading youth workshops, or
slamming poetry on the mic, Autry is on a mission to
encourage everyone to look more critically and lovingly
upon the world around them.
Since moving to Portland in her 20s, she has competed in
national competitions and performed in various venues,
which catalyzed her career as both a teaching and a perform­
ing artist.
“My art and my work speak to what it means for me to be
a black woman and all the things that entails,” said Autry, a
single mother of two teenagers, who has opened for well
known figures, including Angela Davis, bell hooks, John
Trudell, Nikki Giovanni, Ursula Le Guin, Lyrics Bom, Spear­
head, Saul Williams, Kevin Garnett and Hillary Clinton.
Her love of literature, fiction and poetry, however, emerged
in childhood through her own experiences reading the voices
of other black women, including Alice Walker, Toni Morrison,
Maya Angalou, and Ntozake Shange.
“I think coming into the words of women writers helped
me to define my voice because I felt and understood so much
I have a really vested interest
in a better reality for women, for
women o f color, and people of
color because o f the injustice
that there is. -EducatorandPoetTurlyaAutry
1
of what they were speaking about,” she said.
As a performer she’s shared verse and vision to crowds
throughout the country by sharing her work, which reaches
thousands of individuals from all walks of life each year.
“I think my greatest hope with my work as a teaching artist
and as an artist is really to help people find their voice and
be true to their experience, and have a better understanding
of the role they play in the world around them,” she said.
Her experiences teaching art include various workshops
and residencies with more than 50 different K-12 schools
throughout Portland area.
She has taught 15 courses, totaling over 200 credit hours,
at the college level, including classes on the movements of
Black Feminism and Womanism throughout history.
“I have a really vested interest in a better reality for women,
for women of color, and people of color because of the
injustice that there is,” she said.
“In Black Feminism, the idea is that the more we under­
stand the things we are facing, the better we are to make sure
everyone is taken care of.”
Although the movement looks differently to everyone,
continued
on page 5