Say Something Beautiful

Traciana Graves is not a typical lecturer.  She uses a multimedia method of her creation, including song, video, photos and sound bites to advance her ideas.  She is all about interactivity, and by using this approach, Graves keeps audiences interested and engaged in what she has to say.

“I want what I do to be an experience for my audience, not an event,” she says.  “I have found that when I ask people to ‘say something beautiful,’ they take it as an open-ended invitation and have been willing to speak more deeply and freely.”

“Say Something Beautiful,” an event sponsored by UWM Sociocultural Programming, the Women’s Resource Center and the Inclusive Excellence Center, was held on Tuesday, Oct. 28 in the UW-Milwaukee Union Fireside Lounge.

The event featured nationally recognized speaker  Graves, founder of the “Say Something Beautiful” project.  Graves has given her message of tolerance and community building at over 100 universities and Fortune 500 companies.  Her background features teaching in New York Public Schools for nine years and touring as a background vocalist for Celine Dion and Steel Pulse.

Graves started SSB in 2008 after she realized she did not feel like she was living up to her full potential.

“I started ‘Say Something Beautiful’ because I felt I was missing something deeper in my life.  Growing up I was constantly told ‘of course you can’t do this,’ and ‘of course you can’t do that.’  My own experiences being bullied as a young person drove me to help others.”

Claudia Guzmán, the organizer of the SSB event, is part of the academic staff at UWM Sociocultural Programming.  Her goals were to spark conversation and give attendees a lasting, meaningful experience.

“Many of our events feature lectures with an audience of 200.  This event was different for us because it gave a small group of students a much more meaningful experience.  It gave the audience the opportunity to interact and respond in real-time.”

UWM senior KG Kujjo was one of the 20 students in attendance.

“I always try to go to events that seem like they’ll promote personal growth and mass empowerment.  After tonight I feel like I’ll be constantly checking myself to make sure I am being more aware and thoughtful.”

By the end of the two -hour event students were openly interacting with Graves, discussing sensitive topics such as suicide, rape and bullying.  She says her goal is to initiate conversation and awareness.

“These are real life problems that occur all the time on college campuses across the country.  It is important that we bring light to these problems so that they will hopefully disappear.”