We are Not a Monolith

Summary

Shanté Nixon explores the creation of an AI-generated avatar from a personal image and shares her multimedia poetic work "We Are Not A Monolith," emphasizing the importance of embracing diversity and individuality.

Abstract

The author, Shanté Nixon, describes a personal experiment where she used an old internet-available image of herself to create an AI avatar through Midjourney, breaking family protocol in the process. This act of curiosity led to the development of an avatar that resembles her past self. The piece "We Are Not A Monolith" is highlighted as a favorite of Nixon's, which she has adapted into a spoken word performance via AI video, expressing the message of accepting and loving each other's differences. Although not yet on YouTube, the audio and video rendition of the poem is available on her Substack, as Medium does not support direct video uploads. Nixon concludes with an invitation for feedback and an assertion of her thoughts and rights to her work.

Opinions

The author acknowledges a transgression of family rules, driven by curiosity, suggesting a personal risk in the pursuit of creativity.
Nixon values the transformation of her written poem into a multimedia experience, aiming to give it a life beyond the written page.
There is a hint of apprehension about the potential consequences of her actions, as she humorously refers to the possibility of parental disapproval and a "whooping."
The author expresses a preference for direct feedback on her work, indicating a desire for engagement and dialogue with her audience.
Nixon's work reflects a pride in ownership and creativity, as evidenced by her assertion of copyright and the invitation to experience her thoughts through various platforms.

We are Not a Monolith

The poem as spoken word via AI Video

Alright, I did something I know better than to do, but I let curiosity get the best of me. I broke a family protocol (my dad is going to be mad when he finds out what I did) and provided Mid-journey one of my images (one you would find on the internet already) to assist in creating an AI Avatar that looks similar but not identical to me. Its an old picture and I do not quite look like that girl anymore unless I put on war paint. Hopefully I will be able to explain my way out of this one, when that time come. If I mention that 40’s is not to old for a good old fashion whooping, you know what's up.

Created By Author via Midjourney and Canva

We Are Not A Monolith is one of my favorite pieces that I have written. I do not have the typical voice of a poetry slame artist, but I wanted to breathe life into the poem and take it from words on a page to an entity of it own. I have not added this piece to Youtube yet, however I did load the video to my Substack.

I would have loaded this directly to medium, but Medium does not let users load a video directly on the platform. I love feedback on the video whether here or on substack!

These Are My Thoughts,

We are Not a Monolith

We Are Not A Monolith

Loving Each Other as We Are, Accepting Each Other As We Are.

We Are Not a Monolith The Poem

Listen now (3 min) | The Audio and Video to go along with the poem