Reflecting on the first Open Mic Night by Accessibility Services

“The truth is, after years of writing and publishing in newspapers and magazines, I never had the opportunity to perform it. That is why I am grateful that Accessibility Services wanted to host an open mic.”

Posted January 29, 2025
By Catherine Dumé

On November 20th, 2024, Accessibility Services organized an Open Mic to celebrate the renewal of their student magazine. Under the warm glow of candlelight, students came to showcase their talents, whether playing the piano, singing, poetry or spoken word. They all shared their life story through creativity.

This was also a night of firsts. In addition to being Accessibility Services’s first open mic in recent history, it was the first time many students had performed their talents in front of others. Despite any initial nervousness, they all were fantastic performers.

As one of the performers, I read two poems I have published in Accessibility Services magazine and the Varsity magazine Raw. These two poems, “The Death of the Author” and “Broken Record,” tell my life story as a disabled black woman. They examine themes such as intersectionality, exclusion, identity, and acknowledgement, as well as how racist, ableist remarks can be imprinted into one’s perception of self and revealed through one’s creations.

Like other performers, this was my first time sharing my work on stage. Which may be a surprise to those who know my work. The truth is, after years of writing and publishing in newspapers and magazines, I never had the opportunity to perform it. That is why I am grateful that Accessibility Services wanted to host an open mic.

So many students deserve to share their creative talents but are either not given the opportunity or are too shy to do so. Even though the open mic performances touched on themes other than disability, initiatives like this are important because they provide safe spaces for “disability joy” or “disability art” to be expressed. So much of what students with disabilities deal with when it comes to discussing disability is restricted to academic or workplace accommodations, dealing with societal exclusion or the bureaucracy of the university. Essentially, having to endure a lot of heavy and stressful conversations that are not fun to deal with in the slightest.

So, it is refreshing to finally have a space where we can creatively share our experiences (positive or negative). I’m super excited that fellow creatives will have the chance to be in the spotlight. I am also looking forward to the next Open Mic event later this semester.

Photo gallery: Students and staff attending and performing at the Open Mic Night.