Only the word itself means what it said
Performance by Savanna ‘Sweetwater’ Morgan, with Kelvin Sholar
Performance
Fr., 11.4.2025
22:45
Angie Stardust Foyer
Free entry
Courtesy of Savanna Morgan
Inspired by the legacy of Nikki Giovanni and in light of her recent passing, Savanna ‘Sweetwater’ Morgan presents Only the word itself means what it said, a sonic and poetic dedication to the influential poet. This commissioned performance is a direct response to Giovanni’s 1968 poem ‘For Saundra’, which wrestles with the absurdity of making art in a world on fire.
Through poetry and sound, Sweetwater crafts an epic that captures the contradictions of Black life in the US, centring a child’s coming-of-age in East Texas while affirming the resilience of Black diasporic traditions. The piece interrogates how Black bodies and cultures are simultaneously exploited and celebrated; their images weaponized in service of US power on the global stage.
Merging classic blues, Blacktronica, and jazz, Sweetwater fuses her musical heritage with a deeply personal reflection on identity, history, and the weight of US imperialism. As both a subject and beneficiary of these forces, she channels her experiences into a sonic landscape that is at once intimate and expansive.