Southland Prep Vies For IHSA Speech Title - Group Interpretation

The Group Interpretation production from Southland College Prep Charter High School’s Forensics and Theatre Department will compete for the IHSA Championship this weekend at Oak Lawn High School, following its qualifying second place finish at the IHSA Sectional on Saturday at Thornton High School.

Southland College Prep chose to interpret the piercing "The Bluest Eye” novel.

The 10 members of the Group Interpretation team are: Deja Mattison, Myka Moore, Nina Washington, Christian Boyd, Makierah Stuckey, Anthony House, Jr., Asiah Lee, Kaiden Rice, Dajia Alford and Kylee Grant.

Their performance is a dramatic piece drawn from the novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison. "The Bluest Eye” was the author’s auspicious debut published in 1970.

According to Cheryl Frazier, Southland's award-winning Director of Forensics and Theatre, Morrison's novel introduces a number of autobiographical elements.

The setting is in Lorain, Ohio, where Morrison was born and lived as a child.

"The performance by our Group Interpretation team presents the perspective of a nine-year-old girl, who as Morrison explains in her afterword in the book, is a statement about the damage internalized racism can do to the most vulnerable member of a community - a young girl."

“These young students have continued the Southland College Prep speech team’s tradition of performing extraordinarily well in IHSA events with interpretations both demanding and exhausting,” said Frazier, who is assisted by Malik Bibbie, a member of the 2014 state runner-up team that brought early glory to the Southland program.

The Southland team student directors are: Jayla Martin, Naomi Dagba, Ashley Cooper, Diamond Hutton, Jacob Smith and Nehemiah James.

"The Southland Speech and Forensic team has since 2014 brought recognition to our school that helped develop our overall reputation in as an institution striving for excellence,” said Dr. Blondean Davis, CEO. "The passion and dedication of this team for the performing arts is evident and is a fine tribute to their teachers and coaches, Cheryl Frazier and Malik Bibbie.”