Malcolm Pennington ’18 aims to make a difference both on the stage and in the classroom.
The Woodson native, who earned his degree in middle level education in May, is not only an educator but also a spoken-word artist and rapper, an artistic path that he uses to challenge perceptions and give a voice to the marginalized.
“Poetry is a unique method of expression because there is no limit,” said Pennington, who is an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Pinnacle View Middle School in Little Rock. “It’s the power of words. You start with an idea and then manifest from there.”
At age 5, Pennington’s uncle encouraged him to experiment with freestyling and rhyming. When he was 12, he learned how to put his words to music. Pennington first took to the stage to compete with a spoken-word piece during his senior year at Wilbur D. Mills University Studies High School in Little Rock, where he was also inspired to become an educator.
“Though teaching is not a lucrative career money-wise, you can get rich in spirit,” Pennington said. “You have the opportunity to help people who will be a part of a world that you won’t be in. But your lessons [and] how you reached people will.”
Pennington has reached members of the University of Central Arkansas campus community through performing pieces on bullying, gang violence and self-esteem. His skills have even caught the attention of UCA’s College of Education, which invited him to recite his poem “School Politics” that explores how teachers must inspire students in order to bring out the best in them.
Studying at UCA influenced many of the themes he covers in his work, too.
“When it comes to the experiences they’ve provided me, when it comes to working with people, when it comes to life lessons that you learn as you grow up, I feel like I’ve learned most of those lessons at UCA,” Pennington said.
While continuing his career path as an educator, Pennington said, he’ll still incorporate poetry into his journey.
“If I never do anything else in my life, I’m happy being a teacher,” he said. “But at the same time, I feel like God wouldn’t have gave me this ability to do what I do if I wasn’t supposed to at least attempt it.”