Award-winning poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor pays tribute to her departed son Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor in her book “Mama Phife Represents”.
The Poet and the Black Jazz Aesthetics
Dissonance reminds me of the freedom jazz embodies.
Dissonance reminds me of the freedom jazz embodies.
Lest We Forget
Black unity and the fight for freedom.
Black unity and the fight for freedom.
Soul Sister Revue: A Poetry Compilation
Creating a performance space where the self is all that it is and more.
Creating a performance space where the self is all that it is and more.
A Librarian’s Lesson
Before reading a letter, take time to review the envelope that comes with it.
Before reading a letter, take time to review the envelope that comes with it.
Exile Is Home
My exile was a search for a rite of passage beyond the page.
— “Take her back! Take her back!” I yelled at my mother. She was holding my sister in her arms and had just brought her home from the hospital after giving birth. We were in the kitchen of a wood-framed house. I was standing next to a white fridge and was having a tantrum. I…
Ota Benga: Therapy
Ota Benga was kidnapped from the Congo, Africa, and put on display in a cage at the Bronx Zoo, New York City, in 1906. This poem pays homage to him in the hope of keeping his memory alive and that others would not experience the same fate.
Ota Benga was kidnapped from the Congo, Africa, and put on display in a cage at the Bronx Zoo, New York City, in 1906. This poem pays homage to him in the hope of keeping his memory alive and that others would not experience the same fate.
Men Drinking, Boys Tormenting, Dogs Barking
Elvis Alves reflects on darker aspects of human nature in this ekphrastic (based on a piece of visual art) poem.
Race and Class in Harlem: A 21st Century Perspective
It’s time to talk the right talk when it comes to combating poverty in America.
The Search for Gentrification in a Brooklyn Bookstore
Gentrification is a concern in cities around the world. Elvis Alves wants to see what it looks like in one section of Brooklyn, NY.
Determination: A Video Poem by Elvis Alves
The poem “Determination” is from Elvis Alves book Bitter Melon. The video is directed by Georgina Bobb.
Boom Bye Bye: Sex in the Dancehall Space
Elvis Alves talks about conflict in Jamaican dancehall space, which both reflects and dismisses cultural ideas of gender norms.
Brothers and Keepers: How I Learned to Love My Brother
Elvis Alves is learning to love his brother despite his troubled past.
Music Paradise or When the Blues Man Overstays his Visit
Riffing on classic Biblical stories, Elvis Alves gives us music, rivalry, sex, and the devil…everything you need for a good blues song.