Checkin’ In – Year ONE in Review: Latiaynna

A couple of weeks ago I wrote down everything I have done (outside of paid employment and graduate school) in the last year – between December 2011 and November 2012 and I must say: I have been busy.  (The record just came to an abrupt halt. I had to stop myself right here. As soon as I wrote busy, I reminded myself that I may have fallen victim to The Busy Trap .) Let me rephrase this:

Mic Check 1-Two! has been doing good work. We have been productive.

Myself with two beautiful women that I am grateful to call my friends – one was a tough sell, but she’ll tell you about that in a couple weeks haha – have been organizing and planning meaningful events, creating dialogue, and opportunities for people to become vessels of change for practically one year. Our “first quarter” was a beautiful struggle: 3 Panel Discussions, 2 Prom Dress Drives, and 1 Workshop, all in four months!

Mic Check 1-Two’s primary goals are to engage people and encourage citizenship, and although we have not done our own programming since the Spring, we have each been living out Mic Check’s mission through networking, volunteerism and event coverage.  Honestly, we simply took the summer off and there is nothing wrong with that; plus if you know me, my mantra was: “I’m just tryna graduate” and I needed to check myself and get focused, I did:

Now, 2012 and our first operational year is coming to a close, so Mic Check 1-Two! is taking this time to reflect and share our personal experiences with you. For the next few weeks look forward to notes from each of our members –Latiaynna Tabb, Lana Adams, and Portia Fullard.

Lana and I tend to get questioned a lot regarding what made us start Mic Check 1-Two! The question should really be: what prompted our first panel because that is how our response tends to shape. But I will not get into that, I will address the formalization of the group.

In the beginning Mic Check 1-Two! was not our intent. We planned our first event The Portrayal of the African American Woman in the Entertainment Industry

because we wanted to be the change we wished to see in the world – that was our contribution to society and silly us thought it would be a one-time thing. We rebelled against the fact that she and I were a “we”.

see, we weren’t even Mic Check yet.

We thought, why can’t two intelligent women organize an event without being associated with a formalized group? We saw ourselves as just “two girls sitting at the dining room table.” We clocked long hours in our “office”; since then, we have become more time efficient. As you see, a greater plan was in the works that would exceed our expectations, but not our capacity. Not long after our first event had we become Mic Check 1-Two!

By our last event of the Spring, our second Prom Dress Drive which was held at the Dreaming Building in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, we were officially Mic Check

What’s Next: The 2^nd Annual Inter-Communal Giveback Feast & Concert (12/21/2012), Prom Dress & Suit Drive (Spring 2013) and…a partnership that I am very excited about, but cannot share as yet.

Thank You!: Saint Joseph’s University – Valerie Dudley, Office of Multi-Cultural Life, Mo’Shay Laren, Dr. James Peterson, Jade Alston, Joyce Shabazz, Conrad Moore, Chad Fain, Shaheed Rucker, Elijah DonMartin, Elliot Jones-Poulson, Jessica Gray, Anthony Fullard, Lisa Greenidge, Tia Raymond, Legend Lady Salon, Drunken Sushi Catering, Tabb Heating & Air Conditioning, Guaranteed Comfort, Lucky Brand Productions, Philly Girl Talk, Nikki V Photography, American Dreaming Magazine, and all of our volunteers and guests.

Latiaynna Tabb, Checkin’ Out!
@Mic_Check_
www.MicCheck1Two.com
CreatingDialogue@gmail.com