https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81841890688?pwd=TU4yZ3g2Y2hBZCtzdk1hNVBFTHRzZz09

Meeting ID: 818 4189 0688  Passcode: 380783

PHILLY JAWNS: FOR WOMEN REVISITED

 A poetry anthology in tribute to Nina Simone

“Editors Debra Powell-Wright and Pat McLean-Smith have lovingly gathered a chorus of voices from the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection to honor Nina Simone, the queen of Black Woman Magic, Rage and Reckoning. These Philly jawns revisit and revive Nina’s infinite gospel. This anthology is both playlist and prayer for Ms. Simone, our mold-breaker and future fashioner.” —Yolanda Wisher, Philadelphia Poet Laureate 2016-2017

With: Annette Deigh, Wanda Flowers, Brenda Hodges, Jaz, Aziza Kebe, Kia Knight, Oni Lasana, Pat McLean-Smith, Alida Padilla, Debra Powell-Wright, Rahnda Rize, Sandra Turner-Barnes, Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon

Annette Deigh is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, child of God, and survivor of child abuse and sexual assault, which led her to become an “artivist,” channeling her love of the arts and humanity into helping to heal others.

 

 

 

Wanda Flowers Peacock has spent her life advocating for human rights, as a teacher and as an attorney fighting discrimination in the workplace. She is focused on creating peace through interfaith activities, exploring justice through poetic expression, and by elevating the state of girls and women, as a mentor.

 

 

 

Brenda Hodges is a poet and author whose work centers on telling the stories of Black, Brown, and Indigenous Women. She is the author of Contradictions in Shades of Blue, a poetry collection, and Naima The Junkman’s Daughter, a novel.

 

 

 

Jaz is a Performance Poet, Singer, Actress, Author, Award-Winning Poet & ASCAP songwriter, who has performed at venues including Freedom Theater, Temple University, and Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. Jaz is interested being of service to those considered to be castaways and forgotten people of the world.

 

 

 

Aziza Kebe is an Art Activist, Poet, Griot, Public Servant, and Citizen of the World who utilizes her art form to uplift her culture, promote Black Womanhood in a positive light, and cultivate a consciousness  receptive to social and political change.

 

 

 

Kia Knight is a poet, singer, songwriter, dancer and percussionist. She has been performing in the Philadelphia area and surround area as a guest artist with In The Company of Poets and as a member of For Women Collective.

 

 

 

Nish Pugh is a founding member of In The Company of Poets and The Free-Though Collective performance ensembles, she is also founder and facilitator of spoken word venues Word4Word, Moods in Mocha, and TOPS–Taste of Philly S.O.U.L.

 

 

 

Oni Lasana (Desirable Poet of The People), a descendant of African San peoples with roots in Barbados, is a life-long spirit-driven poet, storyteller, musician, performance and teaching artist.  As “Auntie Oni” she can be heard telling stories on ABF Creative podcast.

 

 

 

Pat McLean-Smith is a poet and teaching artist, author of Poetry Pulls Pain and Healing Her Hurts, author and illustrator of her children’s book Reggie Rascal. In addition, Pat is the Founder and Director of the Tomorrow’s Girls Mentoring Program.

 

 

 

 Alida L. Padilla aka Poetic Ali, is a Puerto Rican woman who has loved poetry, music and art since a young age. Poetic Ali contributes an inspired work influenced by Nina Simone’s music and voice for this collection.

 

 

 

Debra Powell-Wright serves as lead strategist of social justice artist advocacy collective, SistahWrites!, founder of the multi-genre performance ensemble, For Women Collective,  and a founding member of Philly’s first female spoken word ensemble, In The Company of Poets. Her work can be found in Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets & Emcees, Imaging the Black Female Body: Reconciling Image in Print and Visual Culture, Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin & Marissa Alexander, The Pierian: Albany State University Literary Journal.

 

Rahnda Rize is a singer/songwriter, actor dancer and poet as well as an arts facilitator, event organizer/host, and an art for social change agent who advocates for the self esteem, well-being and representation of Black women and girls.

 

 

 

Sandra Turner-Barnes is a Poet, Author, Historian, and Workshop Presenter, author of Beyond the Back of the Bus, But, Mostly Love, and a CD, September Will Never Be the Same. She is a Trustee of the Camden County Historical Society; founding member of the New Jersey Black Cultural & Heritage Initiative Foundation; and the first African American woman appointed Executive Director of the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission.

 

 

Kimmika Williams Witherspoon is an Associate Professor of Urban Theater and Community Engagement at Temple University. She is the author of Through Smiles and Tears: The History of African American Theater (From Kemet to the Americas); The Secret Messages in African American Theater: Hidden Meaning Embedded in Public Discourse. Her scholarly work centers around pedagogy, women’s issues, the African diaspora, performance rituals and community engagement.

 

 

Host: Ewuare X. Osayande is an award-winning poet, essayist, publisher, international social justice activist and anti-oppression educator.