Say Something

The unofficial official motto of the Baldwin Scholars at Duke University is "Say Something". The story of this motto goes back to the very first Baldwin Scholars retreat. At this point and time, there was only one class of Baldwin Scholars and they had just been selected (Fall, 2004). Incidentally, this same class of amazing women just graduated this past spring (2008). To those who don't know much about this relatively new group, the Baldwins are basically a community of women on campus who are agents of change for the Duke women's experience. We are all leaders in different ways and work together as a group to address issues on campus. 18 of us per grade. Any female freshman at Duke can apply to be one.

In any case, it was during the first Baldwin retreat that our motto was coined. The Baldwins were roasting marshmallows over a fireplace. The fireplace was quite small so the 18 members of the inaugural class had to squeeze a bit in order to make room for everyone. Two particular Baldwins seemed to be fighting for the same piece of hot charcoal, marshmallows and skewers entangling as they competed for the same spot. Finally one of the two Baldwins turns to the other one and says something like (not a direct quote), "You gotta problem? Then Say Something about it. If you gotta problem, just Say Something." The story is now legendary and mythical in the minds of all the subsequent classes of Baldwin Scholars.

And thus the tradition of speaking up when you have something important to say was born. Simple yet profound.

While I was traveling this summer I came across a significant amount of messages, both in graffiti and non-graffiti form, and decided to document them with my camera. Public art is fascinating because you have absolutely no control over who sees it and how it is used. Your work is out there. Your message can be bold (like the one above) or subtle (like the one to the right).