Blah Blah Blah Poetry Series TOMORROW NIGHT 3/26 featuring Ishle Yi Park and Ainsley Burrows @ the Bowery Poetry Club 8pm! 308 bowery st take the f train to 2nd ave take the b,d train to bway Lafayette take 6 train to bleeker st
OPEN MIC 5 dollars with student ID 7 dollars without
( left to right: Soulful Jones, Kesed, RIP, me, Falu, and Jason Reynolds)
I particularly enjoy this show because it connects and even reconciles having a good time and being socially or politically conscious where as often we see them in opposition to each other. Most people think poetry is the voice of an oppressive, depressed, or highly romanticized individual and that simply because you talk about such matters linguistically or subject wise that in fact you are the entirety of that. I would care to argue that it is because I write about such things or in such ways that I can be typically a happy and very hopeful person. The subjects or moods of my poems do not define the person I am off stage or behind the page, it simply creates a mode of creativity where I can express certain feelings and thoughts and given experiences. I think it is a very stupid thing to judge a person entirely based upon their work but I do believe it holds a given amount of weight into the perspective of an individual. As for Writers Block, a friend, poet, and emcee RIP brought this collective together and it has proven to always be an incredible evening. The smooth and often anticipated transition from poetry to party is almost miraculous. One moment all you hear the crowd saying is "ooooohhhh" "ahhhh" "spit that shit" damn!" "woowww" in amazement of the poems to jerking and jiving, gyrating and jiggling. How we can manuver easily from the sensory importance of listening, being moved through words and thoughts to then being moved physically from the bumping rhythm of your all time favorite hip hop, pop, and reggae music. It feels like a complete house party at the bowery poetry club. I commend RIP for bringing together some dynamic artists and an incredible audience. I kid you not, there had to be around 250 people stuffed into the Bowery this past thursday and it was something to witness for sure.
Any way, I didn't even mean to speak about this I actually wanted to share photos that were taken that night from a friend of mine, Nelson Caban. He's an artist in all respects of the word and was kind enough to come through and take some photos for me.Check em out HEREand keep up with him on his BLOGas well. For those of you that came out to this amazing show, I hope you all made it home safe and that we were able to plant some seeds as well as water them. Much love and mad blessings.good times.
This show has never failed to impress, with the best music, the best poetry, and the best people ever!!! Come through and come ready to dance, laugh, and be moved! Shout out to RIP.
alright, folks. so i have been a lil MIA the past few weeks. but i am back and so is the Blah Blah Blah Poetry series. This show we are featuring the distinct metaphors of Jeffrey Mcdaniel and the incredible Amber Tamblyn. Some of you may know of Amber from her starring roles in films like Grudge 2 or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but she also writes poetry and I am looking forward to her performance. Jeffrey McDaniel has published many books including the Splinter Factory and the Endarkenment. He's pretty much amazing. I had the honor of taking a poetry workshop with him at my school, Sarah Lawrence College and I am totally looking forward to hearing him read. Please tell all of your friends and come through! Feel free to google or youtube their work because they are both absolutely dope. ALso, don't forget our one and only open mic. PLease get there ON TIME!! it is imperative!! see you guys there!
This past September I was contacted by some producers of a television talk show in Australia for a special that they were doing on the "American Dream." if you want to see my poem im under the web extra tab on the site click here ENJOY!!
Alright, so the blah blah blah poetry series is back yall!! As for those of you that are not aware of this amazing show. Beau Sia, an amazing poet and friend, came to me a little around two years ago about producing a show at the Bowery Poetry club. the whole project created a means for us to collaborate and to also invite a great friend of mine to co-produce a series, Tahani Salah. It was a monthly series for three months last year and much to even our surprise it had an incredible turnout. Blah blah blah is very different from most poetry shows because it is a means to create a bridge between the younger performers and some of the ol school kats. We also have a highly competitive open mic sign up because every show we allow for 10 or so open micers to be showcased along with the features. We are starting the show back up this January and it is definitely going to be bananas. I encourage you all to tell your friends and try to make it there as early as possible because it is bound to be a crowded show!! thanks to all those that continue to support our endeavors. Shout out to Beau Sia for being an incredible mentor and friend in this process. As for Tahani, thanks for being there to ground me and always make me laugh in the midst of it all...
CHECK IT OUT:
BLAH BLAH BLAH IS BACK FOR ANOTHER YEAR!! A new performance poetry series organized by Tahani Salah and Aja-Monet in collaboration with Beau Sia for the Bowery Poetry Club where we vocalize unity, good laughs, and even better poetry. Attracting a new audience to the club that adores the art of experiencing art and appreciating a moment that can never be replicated!!
CELENA GLENN:
"Pure lyricist, lovely” – Saul Williams
Celena Glenn is a ballet-toed bulldozer shoveling blankets off the ice-covered lakes of the heart’s malfunctions. Former host at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café and two-time National Poetry Slam champion. She is currently ranked second in the World Poetry Slam. Celena is featured in Spoken Word Revolution a new anthology narrated by the creator of the poetry slam Marc Smith, and bullets and butterflies a queer poetry anthology to be released Janurary 2005. Also soon to be released is Slam Channel a documentary about the lives of contemporary poets in NYC and Austin, TX in which Celena has a main role. Celena urges that every ghetto, every suburb, every mansion recognize the relativity of circumstance and allow those elements that discriminate, to unify the world as a humanity of oppressed souls.
JAVON JOHNSON:
Merging race and gender theory with comedy, lyricism, and rhyme schemes, Javon has become a very awarded spoken word/slam poet. Javon began writing in 2001, winning slam nationals in 2003 (team Los Angeles), in 2004 (team Hollywood), and in 2005 he placed 3rd (the only poet to make finals three years in a row). Javon has appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, BET’s Lyric Café, and co-wrote a documentary titled Crossover, which aired on Showtime, in collaboration with the NBA and Nike. The Los Angeles Times said, “From subject matter, to wordplay to delivery, he is working it out! It's hard not to have good times while watching him have a good time on stage.” Currently Javon is a Ph.D. Candidate in Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where he deals with the performance of race, gender, sexuality class and pop culture. His dissertation is a multisided project between Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, which looks at identity politics and community negotiation in slam and spoken word poetry communities
