INSPIRATION: Solange Knowles

SOLANGE KNOWLES’ No.1 album, A Seat at the Table, is serving as the inspiration for a forthcoming university course to help inspire young women of colour.

According to a post on Solange’s Saint Heron website, the seatssyllabus project, helmed by a team that includes writer Melissa Harris-Perry, Wake Forest University students and scholars, is calling for young women of colour to contribute submissions to help build the syllabus inspired by the critically-acclaimed album.

“Solange Knowles’ A Seat at the Tablehas been one of the most reflective and popular albums produced by a young black woman that speaks to issues of race, womanhood and equality,” a statement on the SeatsSyllabus website reads.

“At the beginning [of] this new year, and as we witness the inauguration of a new president, we invite young women of colour, ages 16-30, to have a seat at the table by helping us collect the texts, music and visual art that speak to our experiences. If we are to have a democracy in which all of us have a seat at the table, we know that these experiences should be central to the development of America’s practices and policies.”

The A Seat at the Table-inspired syllabus is based on the album’s themes and will address five topics, including Resisting Racism, Understanding Gender and Sexuality, the Role of Relationships and Nurturing Ourselves.

The fifth theme, A Seat at the Lunch Table, is geared towards elementary and middle school aged girls.

The deadline for submissions is January 31.