Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Unique Robinson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Unique thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
Yes, I am truly happy having chose to honor my creative path in this lifetime. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have a regular job, as I’ve been pursuing this creative path since I was 14 years old. In High School, I remember the guidance counselor visiting our classrooms, and we had to fill out a sheet of paper asking what we wanted our career path to be. From Freshman-Senior year, I always wrote “Poet”. Sure, there were naysayers who would ask me, “are you sure? How will you make a living from this?” I didn’t even know at the time; I just knew I’d found what I loved to do, and had an inner compass that assured me that this would open up great paths that previously never existed. And, it did.
Each time I tried to venture off of this path throughout my journey, there was always a moment of return. Each time I lost faith, the faith was restored, either through a “chance” conversation which led to other opportunities, such as a return to grad school, or even, performing at a college, which led to my journey into Professorship, and teaching others to follow their creative paths as well. I realize my journey is bigger than me, even – it’s about awakening the truth in others that has nothing to do with earthly or systemic confines.
Unique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a poet, performer, and professor from Baltimore, MD. I have been performing for 20 years as a poet/MC, as my creative spark was awakened early. I have often not had a road map for my journey – more of an inner compass keeping me on track. I am a First Generation College Student, born into poverty and systemic racism, with no intentions of being trapped, or beholden to someone else’s perception of me.
Though I was born in Baltimore, I have had the privilege of living in various cities throughout the US. I lived in Brooklyn, New York as a Community Organizer, when I first graduated from Hampshire College, with a BA in Creative Writing & African-American Studies. While I stayed in this position for 1.5 years, (because burnout from working 60+ hours a week at 22), this position taught me an enormous amount of bravery – lessons I carried with me at every single position I had moving forward. I quit and pursued my creative ventures once more, surviving on Unemployment Insurance, proudly, while performing at various NYC venues such as Nuyorican Poets Cafe, WOW Cafe, and being a part of a Black queer theater collective called Roots & River Productions.
I then made the decision to go back to school, and attended Mills College in Oakland, CA to pursue my MFA in English/Creative Writing. I lived in Oakland for 3 years, where I regularly performed poetry at open mics, and with an all-Black woman poetry collective, Pr3ssPlayPoets. There, we produced sold-out theater productions, creating a pivotal show entitled The State of Black Bodies to commemorate the Black lives lost to police brutality. It became our activism. It was then that I realized I cannot, and will not, stray away from my creative path, as it feeds my soul. I wanted to find a way to blend my activist background with my professional and creative work. This way wouldn’t be revealed until I moved back home to Baltimore City.
In 2015, I returned home, and became a Teaching Artist for a local non-profit called DewMore Baltimore, which provided poetry workshops for middle and high school students throughout Baltimore City. Because of my success in beginning a poetry club from scratch at Patterson High School, I later became the Program Director/Operations Manager of DewMore. In 2016, I also began teaching poetry & creative writing on the Higher Education level with Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). I have remained at MICA since 2016, and am now the Director of MICA’s MFA Community Arts Program, where I continue to teach graduate-level courses. Walking into this leadership position represents the culminating of my activist, creative, and professional work.
I continue to regularly perform poetry throughout Baltimore (and DC), and have expanded in to musical pursuits as well, releasing projects, which evolve as I do (each of these projects can be found on all streaming platforms under the moniker kLefta*maniak). It is important to hold space for my creative outlets, as this is how I maintain balance in my professional life. In addition, I also facilitate a free monthly writing workshop for local creatives, as I believe it is important to have a judgment-free space to build fellowship amongst writers in the city.
Recently, I graced the cover of Baltimore Magazine’s GameChangers Issue, which details my life as a “voice for the LGBTQ+ community”. I was grateful to be the Chairperson of Baltimore Pride 2022, which was a return to the in-person celebration of our lives and histories (and the largest attended festival in years, with 60,000 participants). Still, I give gratitude knowing my life will continue to expand and move forward, even from here, as I know there is so much more in my life path to explore.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn doubt. I had to unlearn the habit of questioning my worth, and downplaying just how powerful I am. As a Black queer non-binary person (who’s been out since 16), there are many narratives we internalize while young, just trying to find a sense of belonging. We internalize these messages from our family members, media, and environmental influences, who were also convinced they were less than, who find their potentiality swallowed by systemic racism, classism, sexism, and homo/transphobia. I had dueling messages – on the one hand, I had a mother who told me to “Dream Big”, but also, found it hard to trust anyone, because of her own struggles with seeing her power. This led to years of me living through the shadow side of my personality, which found comfort in smallness, and led me to a path of alcoholism, hiding from the insecurities, rather than facing them, and seeing I am bigger than any fear I inhaled. Fortunately, I was able to face those fears, but it took me until my 30s to do so. Still, I have no regrets whatsoever, as I did the best I could with the tools I was given. I am grateful to have found new, updated tools, which enabled me to learn the hard lessons, as this is the foundation that I now stand upon.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Artists need MORE FUNDING. Period! We need to be seen for the gifts that we truly are to the world, and compensated regularly as such. I feel there are other countries that have caught onto this, but the capitalist wheel of the US still forces artists to compete with each other (and ourselves) for resources that create the illusion of scarcity. In truth, I know there is MUCH funding that would assist us with our creative pursuits and projects, but it can be hard to know where to find them, unless you are in a network of people who know. Often times, there are gatekeepers to this knowledge, as people like to withhold information for their own benefit. We are not here to be in competition with each other. We all have room to shine and be our best selves! Moreover, there has to be an emphasis on truly equitable compensation – for BIPOC creatives, QTPOC creatives, especially those of us who do not come from well-off backgrounds – it can be difficult to access information, let alone funding, to know how to best “play the game”. Skillsharing, information sharing, and of course, grant funding (free from the stipulations of predominantly white non-profit/foundation funding models) would widely benefit us all.
Image Credits
Christopher Myers Shan Wallace Raymond Spence Justin Timothy Temple