Ocean Jade’s Layers of Identity
By OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media | Posted: Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Ōtepoti Dunedin’s creative rangatahi explore their whakapapa through powerful stories of their identity, culture, and belonging through poetry and essays on ‘Layers of Identity’.
PODCAST bit.ly/LayersOfIdentityOcean
"I felt deeply emotional because of the poem’s connection to my mother. When I showed her the finished piece, she said that it made her emotional as well because no one had ever written anything for her like that and it was deeply moving to see herself reflected in a piece of art like this. It was important for me to give her that voice that has been snuffed out from under her for so long now”
Ocean, a biracial African-American from the United States , has lived in Aotearoa for eight years. She reflects on her poem 'Blackbird Sings Kum Ba Yah', dedicated to her mother’s experiences as an African-American woman. She studies at the University of Otago.
Join the next cohort of Layers of Identity bit.ly/EOILayersOfIdentity
Layers of Identity airs Saturdays 12.30pm and Fridays 3.30pm
105.4 FM, 1575 AM and oar.org.nz
Apple Podcasts | http://podcasts.apple.com/.../layers-of.../id1801102667
Proudly supported by Dunedin City Council Arts Grant, Dunedin Public Libraries, Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature and NZ On Air