Chicago: Students become first team of African-American women to win policy debate

Nevaeh Rita Sencion and Saidah Ervin of Baltimore City College High School won the National Catholic Forensics League’s Grand National Tournament in Chicago, making history. The two national winners are on the school’s policy debate team and they have achieved a first for African-American women’s teams by winning the policy debate tournament in this competition.

Ervin told WMAR2, “They announced second place first and we heard the other team, and we were both just like in shock. Like we knew we had it in us, but like being able to hear in front of a room that big and hearing all the cheers for us is a really, really big feeling.”

Sencion and Ervin engaged in five two-hour debates for two days, competing against some of the top speech and debate teams in the nation with the topic “United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution by providing a federal jobs guarantee, increasing social security, and/or providing a basic income.”

Sencion expressed her appreciation for their achievement, saying, “We have the very unique responsibility—and almost indebtedness—to other Black debaters, other Black programs, the legacy of Black debate that’s come before us that has opened the doors for us to be able to continue to advocate for ourselves, for our communities.”

“We talk not just about the policies but about being students in inner-city Baltimore and being Black women in this activity,” she said, adding that this is one of the reasons they got into debating.

Since middle school, the two have participated in debate teams and have expressed how much they enjoy the activity. Sencion shared, “I grew up a really opinionated kid with a lot to say all the time. so I needed an outlet to really channel that to where would be productive for me and that became debate for me.”

Ervin stated, “I like arguing. I wanna be a lawyer. And I really like research. Research is one of my favorite things to do. Daniels [Patrick Daniels] always says that debate is a competitive research activity.”

Daniels, Baltimore City College’s director of speech and debate, has headed the school’s Speech and Debate Society for almost 20 years and has received numerous awards.

He told the outlet, “It’s an amazing accomplishment. Not only for the city of Baltimore but for the debate community to offer change and have a vision for the future beyond the traditional vision of debate being an all-white, all-male activity.”

According to him, Sencion and Ervin strived to reach the top. He said COVID-19 drove them to rehearse on Zoom until his wife allowed them to use their home as a quarantine summer debate camp.

The girls hope to pursue their college debate careers after graduation. Ervin will attend the University of Kentucky as a leadership scholar while Sencion will go to Wake Forest University on a debate scholarship.

They will also soon serve as judges and coaches for the Speech and Debate Society at Baltimore City College.