Come and experience an evening of poetry and spoken word from an intergenerational sisterhood of poets who some of the most important writers of the Black Arts movement! Sonia Sanchez (top right), Brooklyn’s own prolific poetry and poet/activist/slam curator Mahogany L. Browne (top left), and an opening performance by queer poet, visual artist, and film director, Jess X Chen (bottom left) will read, with large-scale projections provided by the artist jetsonorama (bottom right). This event will also be the first unveiling of a new mural in the cafe area of BRIC House by jetsonorama and Jess X Chen, We Be Darker Than Blue, a double portrait series featuring Sonia Sanchez and Mahogany Browne that celebrates an inter-generational sisterhood of Black woman poetics.
After the performance there will be a Q&A where all four artists and poets to discuss their art and activism and an open mic for those who want to share their own expressions of sisterhood.
SONIA SANCHEZ is a poet, activist, scholar—and the author of over 16 books including Homecoming, We a BaddDDD People, Love Poems, I've Been a Woman and A Sound Investment well as short stories, critical essays, plays, and children's books. She was the Laura Carnell Professor of English and Women’s Studies at Temple University. She is the recipient of both the Robert Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award. One of the most important writers of the Black Arts Movement.
MAHOGANY L. BROWNE is the author of several books including Redbone: A Biomythography which was nominated for a 2016 NAACP Award in Poetry. A Cave Canem and Poets House Alumnae, she has released five LPs of her poetry and toured Germany, Amsterdam, England, Canada and recently Australia as 1/3 of the cultural arts exchange project Global Poetics. She has released several poetry collections in 2015: Smudge (Button Poetry), Redbone (Willow Books) and the anthology The Break Beat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (Haymarket). An Urban Word NYC mentor, Brown is the publisher of Penmanship Books as well as Poetry Program Director and Friday Night Slam curator for the Nuyorican Poets Café.
CHIP THOMAS a.k.a “jetsonorama”, is a photographer, public artist, activist and physician who has been working between Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon in the Navajo nation since 1987. He coordinates the The Painted Desert Project – a community building effort which manifests as a constellation of murals across western Navajo Nation painted by artists from all over the reservation and the world. Thomas’ own public artwork consists of enlarged black and white photographs pasted on structures along the roadside on the Navajo nation. You can find his large scale photographs pasted in the desert, on the graphics of the Peoples Climate March, the National Geographic Blog, Lens Culture and on 350.org
JESS X CHEN is a film director, artist and nationally touring poet. After the Cultural Revolution, her parents emigrated from Nanchang, China to Canada in the late 1980s. Her work exposes narratives of colonial trauma, diaspora and collective protest by connecting the violence between the queer and colored body and the body of the Earth. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, her art and films have been featured in Asian American International Film Festival, The Huffington Post, Nepantla: A Journal for Queer Poets of Color, and at the Asian Cinevision Diversity Screening at the New York Times. She is currently developing a feature film on the Navajo Nation, where she is teaching mural and poetry workshops to the Diné youth community.
Illuminating the arts and life around us in Brooklyn, BRIC’s Stoop Series features artistic performances, presentations, participatory activities and dynamic conversations. Drop in and explore music, visual art, film, media, storytelling, comedy, and other creative fields.
PLEASE NOTE WHEN RSVPING:
* Admittance is first come, first serve.
* The Stoop has a limited capacity and seating is NOT guaranteed.
Venue Information:
The Stoop at BRIC House is a public cultural gathering space featuring free, drop-in programming, and offering a place to sit, observe, and participate in multi-disciplinary work.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org