Write Up: Originally Appeared in TN Tribune News Article
Under the heading “Tell-Lie-Vision,” Mishé scribbled three columns of words on a wall-sized mirror that reflected the title of her writing workshop and encouraged the children of various ages and grade levels to cobble together an original poem using words like killing, nasty, work, drugs, program, power, dysfunction.
“Don’t be afraid – freestyle. You can repeat lines too,” said Mishé, encouraging the young novices to be creative and reflective. Heeding her instructions, they picked up their writing utensils and moved like ants in their pants to construct a few stanzas from the batch of words to kindled their imagination.
When they finished cobbling together the words associated with “Tell-Lie-Vision,” Samaiya Riley, a 10th-grader attending Douglass High School this fall, stood up to recite her poem. The 15-year-old then let it rip.
“When I turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision, I see Black girls working/ I see nasty/ I see killing when I turn off the Tell-Lie-Vision/ It’s still going.
“It’s like I never turned it off/ It’s like no stop button/ No going back.
“I turn the Tell-Lie-Vision back on/ Then I stop and think what is the point/ I see it everyday in life.”
Rose Washington, 8, will be passing to the 3rd grade in the fall at Memphis Scholars Academy Caldwell Guthrie. She sings and debuted once on TV. Without prodding from Mishé, she faced the group and, unabashedly, took a crack at it.
“Turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision/ And when I turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision I see work/
I see a Black girl turn-up and have drugs/ When I turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision,
I seem so happy/ I feel program in my heart.”
“Don’t be afraid – freestyle. You can repeat lines too,” said Mishé, encouraging the young novices to be creative and reflective. Heeding her instructions, they picked up their writing utensils and moved like ants in their pants to construct a few stanzas from the batch of words to kindled their imagination.
When they finished cobbling together the words associated with “Tell-Lie-Vision,” Samaiya Riley, a 10th-grader attending Douglass High School this fall, stood up to recite her poem. The 15-year-old then let it rip.
“When I turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision, I see Black girls working/ I see nasty/ I see killing when I turn off the Tell-Lie-Vision/ It’s still going.
“It’s like I never turned it off/ It’s like no stop button/ No going back.
“I turn the Tell-Lie-Vision back on/ Then I stop and think what is the point/ I see it everyday in life.”
Rose Washington, 8, will be passing to the 3rd grade in the fall at Memphis Scholars Academy Caldwell Guthrie. She sings and debuted once on TV. Without prodding from Mishé, she faced the group and, unabashedly, took a crack at it.
“Turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision/ And when I turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision I see work/
I see a Black girl turn-up and have drugs/ When I turn on the Tell-Lie-Vision,
I seem so happy/ I feel program in my heart.”