“Lift every voice and speak,” read the crimson and yellow banner spanning 10 feet of wall inside Palette Café at the Krannert Art Museum Thursday night. In contrasting graffiti print, a who’s-who of local performance artists and legendary activists, provided a striking background for the makeshift stage.

Spectators lounged in the knot of tables and chairs clustered between the magenta walls. Some crowded in back near the coffee bar, savoring the free sweet potato pie or sipping hot tea. All ears in the long, narrow bistro were eager for the song, poetry, expression, art and knowledge that would flow through the lone microphone inside S.P.E.A.K. Café.

“Who are the poets in the room tonight?” Master of Ceremonies Aaron Ammons asked, before pointing to the performers and musicians he recognized from past performances.

The collaborative project sponsored by African American Studies & Research Program and Krannert Art Museum began opening up the mic three years ago. It has continued on a monthly basis during the University calendar year, providing a forum for socially conscious expression about race, roots and resistance.

Ammons continued his introduction, laying down ground rules: “Expletives are acceptable, but try to keep it tasteful.” He also started circulating the set list – a clipboard with loose-leaf paper that anyone interested in stage time was encouraged to sign.

“It’s terrifying to get up and share your inmost thoughts in front of people, but it’s also liberating,” Ammons said, just before opening up with his own piece on the night’s theme, Black History Month.

Emotional acts followed, including a Centennial High School teacher’s tribute to a lost student, and a Valentine’s message between husband and wife which brought claps and whistles.

Treva Ellison encouraged the audience to add some rhythm and snaps during her passionate piece, inspired by a class on the politics and poetics of black girlhood.

Between performances DJ Boatski’s beats paid homage to the UC Hip-Hop Congress’s collaboration in founding the event.

Aziz Ander, a graduate student in Communications who goes by +Aziz, vocalized struggles of Islam culture and harmonized with sophomore Chris Prossnitz’s acoustic guitar. +Aziz’s name is immortalized on the banner and his songs have become a staple of S.P.E.A.K. Café.

“You come to expect some amateurs who will shed their skin on this stage, artsy students, occasionally a professor and there is always some confrontational piece,” he said.

A politician, Champaign’s deputy mayor, Michael LaDue read his work in a booming baritone.

Local radio personality Ray Morales, a biology graduate student, told a gritty story about poverty and encouraged the crowd to tune in for his Friday morning show.

Tucked into the crowd was a public figure who never found his way to the mic he had lobbied to open. Dr. William Patterson observed quietly from the back of the room the tradition that he helped found as head of the African American Studies and Research Program three years ago.

“One of the main objectives was to develop an archive of all the artists in the area and open that up to public access,” Patterson said.

A few feet from him was a cameraman. Video recordings of all S.P.E.A.K. Café performances will soon be accessible to members of the community who can’t make it to Krannert’s Palette Cafe.

“By May, all of these should be up and running on UPTV,” Ammons said.

S.P.E.A.K. Café may not be the same on a TV screen. You won’t experience the community of laughter and support that helps energize the stage performances.

First-hand observance is available again soon. S.P.E.A.K. Café’s next open mic opportunity is at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 13 inside the Krannert Art Museum’s Palette Café.