University of Northern Colorado students explore what it means to be Black. They think it’s SO metal.

Nikaya Lawson, left, and Ann Adele put on a “Black is Punk” art exhibit at the University of Northern Colorado. They wanted to help other Black people feel accepted regardless of their tastes or individual style, but they both also hope other outsiders, maybe other metalheads, feel proud of who they are as well. Photo by Dan England.

By Dan England

For most of her life, Nikaya Lawson felt like an outsider, and she attributes it to her love for metal and punk rock. 

Lovers of both those genres (author’s note: like me) would probably nod their heads as rapidly as if they were listening to Metallica’s “Whiplash” if they were asked about ever feeling that way. That music  doesn’t get mainstream attention except for rare occasions (the pop punk movement of the 90s or Metallica’s success, especially when “Stranger Things” featured the song “Master of Puppets”). Shows are generally held in small dive theaters instead of Ball Arena. Outsiders who catch a glimpse of it cringe as if they were hearing a goat being sacrificed. 

And yet, Lawson, a Black woman, loves the music. Her mother, who is white, turned her onto it.

The music was there for her when Black people in her life called her “Oreo,” signaling she was too white to be one of them, while white people in her life assumed because she was Black, she must love hip-hop. One guy she dated, a white metalhead, told her he didn’t understand “her people’s music.” She didn’t get it either, because it wasn’t her music. 

“I didn’t feel seen at all,” Lawson said. 

Not, that is, until she met Ann Adele. Adele liked metal and punk, too, and the two bonded over the progressive rock group Yes. Yes, that’s right: Yes, the super-weird, even nerdy prog-rock band famous for songs such as “Roundabout” in the early 70s before enjoying a resurgence in the 80s with the hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

The two met in a 3D class as freshmen in the visual arts program at the University of Northern Colorado. Neither could believe they found someone so like them. Now both seniors, they are still best friends. 

“This is like my twin from another universe,” Adele said of Lawson. 

The two talked about how Adele had much darker skin than Lawson but otherwise they were the  same person.They began to wonder: What does it mean to be Black? Did it mean automatically liking hip-hop? Were there others like them who felt out of place? 

Last November they tried to find an answer by presenting the first “Black is Punk” art exhibit. Lawson founded the movement and Adele helped with the exhibit. 

The movement, and the exhibit, challenges preconceived notions on what it means to be Black. The exhibit showed off all kinds of artwork by Black creatives, including drawings, paintings, welding, tattoos, braiding and others. More than 150 came to the opening, and UNC’s Michener Library kept the display open for the entire fall semester. 

The movement is much more outward and outgoing than Lawson and Adele, who are kind and smile a lot, even though they are a bit shy – the kind of personalities wielded by nice people who haven’t felt welcomed for years. But Lawson remains thrilled at the chance to express her thoughts about her individualism.  

“I exist, and that makes no sense to you, and I challenge that,” Lawson said. “I like being myself and I like bothering people. Maybe being bothered will help you learn something." 

The exhibit was intended to help other Black people feel accepted regardless of their tastes or individual style, but they both also hope other outsiders, maybe other metalheads, feel proud of who they are as well. Black is Punk may be a movement inspired by the complexity of Black culture, but the two say it’s for everyone. 

“This could not have been successful,” Adele said, “without everyone coming together.” 

They were heartened by the comments at the exhibit, as other so-called “alt” girls told them they felt seen for the first time in their lives. As a result, they are hoping to take the movement to other galleries and places, either around Colorado or the country. And for now, both feel just a little bit better about their place in the world. Adele said she felt as if she was connecting with a community for the first time. Lawson felt something she’d never felt before. 

“I felt like the cool kid for once,” she said.