02/01/2024
There are people who give great speeches, and there are those who perform them. Hallie Quinn Brown was one of the few who performed speeches. In her era, she was recognized as one of the greatest elocutionists (one who studies formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelling) across two continents, Europe and America. Though she rarely appears in history books, Brown’s legacy can be found in today’s speech-language pathologists and spoken word artists. She lectured widely on the cause of temperance, women’s suffrage, and civil rights. We honor Hallie Quinn Brown as an ancestor for demonstrating the power of language and Black women’s voices.
Hallie Quinn Brown’s skills as an elocutionist taught thousands of Black people the power of spoken language during a period in which they were not expected and welcomed to be a political force. We are still in that period. By telling her story, we can inspire a new generation of activists to find their voice and use it to enact change.
Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/people/hallie-quinn-brown-ca-1850-1949.htm
https://www.nbaslh.org/assets/docs/resound/resound-summer-13.pdf
