For her spoken word piece after participating in DukeEngage Chicago, Tashiel Reid T’27 won the Culture and Humility category in the 2025 DukeEngage Reflection Challenge.
Judges were struck by the honesty in the way Tashiel acknowledged her own preconceptions, and admired the way she let the realities of her community sink in, inspiring both inward and outward growth.
“No one gets to choose where they’re born,
Decide who their parents will be,
Control the zip code from which they were weened.
But more often than not
This determines the life that you get to live,
The privileges you get to receive…
So my hope is: we embrace art in these communities,
Heal their traumas internally.
Because the arts really should be for everybody.”
For her spoken word piece after participating in DukeEngage Chicago, Tashiel Reid T’27 won the Culture and Humility category in the 2025 DukeEngage Reflection Challenge.