A retrospective on voices that shaped the culture Illustration by Jason Gorham This story was originally published in BlackBoard's Winter '25/Spring '26 issue. Learn more about our print issues here. As I sit in Northwestern Prison Education Program’s “dayroom,” watching the 2026 Grammy awards, Lauryn Hill comes to the stage. At the sight of the singer with her signature locks, my memory floats back in time. The year is 1997, and I’m in my bedroom. Getting ready for school, I

“All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change. God is change. Reparations are change,” town hall facilitator Dr. Marcus Hunter said, opening the event with a tribute to Octavia Butler’s 1993 novel Parable of the Sower.