Khirsten Echols
"Composing with Black Noise"

TEXT-ONLY VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

[title screen]

[music]

[image of Khirsten sitting on bed working on laptop]

Composing in academic spaces is an intersecting process for me, in which I bring the noise that inspires me and keeps me connected to my home communities into a place where I am still emerging.

[screencast of music player interface]

[music]

song lyrics appear in text on screen: "This is my canvas... Imma paint it paint it paint it how I want it... there is no right or wrong... only a song I like to write along... by in my zone..."

[music]

[screencast of music player interface]

I create black noise playlists while composing to keep my energy and motivation going. These playlists, filled with music from some of my favorite artists, such as Erykah Badu, J Cole, and Jay-Z, blend sacred and secular messages with rhythmic jazz, sultry blues, and thumping hip hop sounds to extend and sustain representations of black life.

[video with screencast of word-processing application on left; video of Khirsten typing on laptop on right]

Grooving to the music as I find the groove of my thoughts resembles this extension and the composing, cutting, mixing, remixing, and blending happening in the noise that fuels my writing.

They connect multiple spaces, places, and stories, with particular audiences in mind. Many of which I can identify with.

[video of Khirsten's hands typing on a laptop keyboard]

The black noise that materializes as I type allows me to feel in tune with the black noise of my life. I feel my fingers tapping as the black letters fill the white page.

I see myself. I hear my own black noise as I compose.

[video with screencast of word-processing application on left; video of Khirsten typing on laptop on right]

My composing practices allow me to create conversations between my ideas and feelings, and the lyrics and rhythms of black noise. A practice that some might see as distracting is actually energizing for me.

This dialogue is essential to my attempts to present my interests in academic places. Black noise is a resource and font of knowledge to my work.

Black noise helps me hear my thoughts, see myself, and emerge as a black woman scholar in academia.

[music]

[credits for music, video captures, and voiceover editor]