LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.
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Black Poets Society: A Poetry Pop-Up Series (Vulnerability, Tenderness & The Black Male Poet–Part 3 of 3)
February 26, 2019 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
FreeBlackness, whiteness and otherness: words, when strung together, that may cause discomfort and awkwardness. Join us in that discomfort on the last three Tuesdays of February, as we celebrate Black History Month. African-American poetry and the spoken word will guide us in dialogue to hear from our community differently, to know one another differently, to see reconciliation differently.
Format: Black Poets Society is a three session series with readers sharing a broad range of historic and modern poetry and spoken word by Black poets. Attendees will have a chance to respond in writing, discuss and unpack in table conversations and participate in a larger group conversation. Each night is a standalone event, but will weave together thematically. There will also be a barista on a secret mission with coffee for purchase and a complimentary delectable dessert. Due to the intimate nature of this event, attendance is capped at 50 people–sign-up quickly!
You should come to this event if you are:
- Passionate about poetry and the spoken word
- Hungry to listen, learn and engage in dialogue around racial reconciliation
- Curious about Black History Month and how it affects your life and our community
- Wanting to hear a broader set of human stories
Details:
- Black Poets Society: Men Part 3 of 3
- Tuesday, February 26
- Doors open at 6:30pm (come early for coffee in the cafe; enjoy complimentary dessert)
- Program 7:00-9:00pm
- 1302 SE Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97214 (Imago Dei Community Loft–look for signs)
Black Poets Society is part of Living Room, a pop-up series hosted by Imago Dei Community looking to uncover the uncomfortable parts of modern and historic American culture. Open to all, together we build empathy, explore otherness and create a safe space to uncover hard or even previously unknown conversations around cultural points of conflict in America with the foundational belief that love changes everything. We welcome people of all races, countries of origin, sexual orientations, genders and abilities. #blackpoetssociety
[see the event site for a poem by Langston Hughes]
About the Organizers:
Michelle and Mindy are two ladies, one Black, one white, doing life in friendship and social change. They believe poetry and art and truth really can change the world. Curiosity and passion drive both to confront age-old myths and social mores around race, otherness and isolation and push through towards establishing a more beloved community.
Michelle Jones is Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Imago Dei Community and a believer in the peculiar nature of authentic community building. She cut her teeth in the Hollywood television world and came to Portland to develop a deeper, more soulful community at Imago Dei.
Mindy Haidle is a freelance strategic planner and community activist, obsessed with the power of poetry and art to heal hearts and bring new insight to old wounds. Her personal experiences with both can only be described as euphoric and ineffable.