Central Arizona College’s Communication Studies, Equity Council and Student Engagement recently held the 23rd annual Black History Poetry contest and cultural expression speaking competition. This year the theme was “The Unity of Community.”

The Cultural Expression Competition is a poetry and public speaking event in which CAC students can share their experiences, stories, and knowledge related to the theme utilizing the “Pecha Kucha” format, which calls for slides of images with no words to appear as a person makes a presentation.

The winners of this year’s poetry contest are:

First place - “Together We Stand” by Rachel Thomas

Second place -  “Maya" by Barry Carter

Third place -  “We Right Here” by David Collado

Public Speaking “Pecha Kucha” winners are:

First place - “If I Can Do it, So Can You” presented by Anna Maria Dennis

Second place – “How Social Media Has Proven Itself to Be of the World” presented by Niko Martinez

Third place - "Gaming Stores and Third Places” presented by Rudy Riley

“The contest was born out of the desire to commemorate the achievements of African Americans via an organized event. Since the start of this contest, it has grown to embrace these achievements along with fostering the ideas of universal responsibility, togetherness, freedom and equality, while bridging the cultural divide of valuing people,” according to a CAC press release.

The top three winners in each category received cash prizes and trophies.