On Wednesday 9 October, a Spoken Word contest on the theme of 'Radical Social Justice' took place around the Martin Luther King Lecture. Thabang Mnculwane was chosen as the winner. It was an evening of passion and creativity, in the context of Martin Luther King's ideas.
Each year, with the Martin Luther King Spoken Word contest, we bring together a community of poets, word artists and lovers of these art forms. Together, we celebrate the power of the word, both within the VU community and beyond.
Once again this year, we received many inspiring entries that testify to the power of the spoken word. From these, the jury - consisting of Dave Ensberg-Kleijkers (chairman), Uchaindani Watson and Yasin Nurmohamed - chose Lorraine Siwabessy, Caitlin Shawn and Thabang Mnculwane as finalists. They were invited to perform for the audience at VU Amsterdam during the Martin Luther King Lecture on 9 October.
South African student Thabang Mnculwane was awarded the first prize because of his passionate performance, straight from his soul. The jury judged his performance as "very powerful and substantively spot-on, articulating radical social justice and the legacy of Martin Luther King in a convincing and raw way". As such, his contribution perfectly matched this year's theme.
Besides recognition and appreciation, Thabang also received the €500 cash prize associated with the first prize. The other two finalists each received €250 for their achievements.
The Martin Luther King Spoken Word Contest 2025 was supported by the Anton de Kom Chair.
