ELEVATED! Kickin' off Women's Herstory Month with Megan Rickman!

Collective Purpose presents…

ELEVATED!

1st & 3rd THURSDAYS

The premiere open-mic in San Diego is giving you the best poets, singers, and musicians.

Come out and get your fix!

Thursday, 3/05/09 @ 9 PM

Celebrating Women's Herstory Month!

The Feature for the night will be Megan Rickman!

Coming into The Spoken Word scene smoking, literally, Megan Rickman first touched down at Slam Richmond in January of 2007, She came, She Slammed, She Won...Since then she's became a staple on the richmond poetry scene, Working with Lyric Ave, Tuesday Verse's, Redemption Production, Soul fire music and many more. Now, she has started her own production company with her friend and partner Roscoe Burnems. They founded Think Deep with the plan of bringing the VCU and Poetry communities together. She is also coaching the Teen Slam team that will be attending Brave New Voices in the coming year.

Come experience the resurrection of spoken word! Elevated! is a creative arts experience that is guaranteed to uplift, inspire and move you through spoken word, music, and visual art. Elevated! features nationally, internationally, and locally renowned poets. The open mic encourages up-and- coming artists to showcase their skills and talent. Come to listen, express, and get ELEVATED!

Eveoke Dance Theatre
2811 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

$5 at the door

collectivepurpose.org

Collective Purpose presents…

ELEVATED!

1st & 3rd THURSDAYS

The premiere open-mic in San Diego is giving you the best poets, singers, and musicians.

Come out and get your fix!

 Thursday, 1/15/08 

@ 9 PM

 San Diego Poetry Slam Night! 

Come and watch some of San Diego's most dynamic poets compete for bragging rights an opportunity to advance to the next round of the San Diego Poetry Slam!!!



The night will also be featuring

Judah 1

At the age of twenty-three Judah1 has become an accomplished performing poet, by accident at first, now everything he does and says is filled with purpose. A 2005 and 2006 Los Angeles Slam Team member, Judah 1 is a regular at "A Mic and Dim Lights Pomona", "Da Poetry Lounge in Hollywood" and has performed at UCLA, UC Riverside, Cal Poly Pomona, UNLV, University of La Verne, Chaffey Community College, Cal State Fullerton, countless churches, youth rallies and events, Black culture festivals and interfaith forums all experiencing the multiple levels of Judah 1. Judah 1 has opened up for Tony Toni Tone, and one of Hip-Hop's purest voices, One Be Lo (formerly, One Man Army of Binary Star). He is a Podslam.org All-Star and Slam Champion. Additionally, Judah 1 can be seen in the critically acclaimed feature length spoken word documentary "Sp!t". Judah speaks to the hearts of individuals and jumpstarts the human spirit to walk in the light of truth.

Our feature for the night will be Sonya Renee! 

Sonya Renee is easily the most distinguished, accomplished and recognizable female in the world of Slam Poetry, and rightly so. After a meteoric rise to poetry superstardom in 2004, Sonya has redefined the role and impact of women in slam since her whirlwind arrival on the scene, consistently ranking at the top of every major national and international poetry slam every year since then. Sonya’s success can be attributed to her commitment to writing poetry that stays true to her roots as a social activist and women’s rights advocate. The socially conscious wordsmith became the National Poetry Slam Champion only 4 months into her slam career in ’04, and followed this amazing achievement with back to back top 8 finishes at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship, a 2nd place finish at the International Poetry Slam Championship in 2005, and a 1st place finish at the Four Continents European International Slam Championship in 2006. Sonya put her socially conscious words into action by performing in front of over 1 million spectators in Washington D.C. alongside presidential candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at a historic 2004 March for Women’s Lives Rally. Her work has appeared in several publications, translated into Dutch and German and has most recently appeared in the book Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces and Spoken Word Revolution: Redux.

Her poetry has been used as curriculum at the University of Santa Barbara, as an HIV education resource with HIV Campus Education and as Artist for Choice with Choice USA, the reproductive rights organization started by Gloria Steinem and numerous undergraduate papers, forensic and debate teams. The First Lady of Slam has also seen commercial success with appearances on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and the hit reality series “Monique’s F.A.T Chance” on the Oxygen Network. With all her success, Sonya has still found time to devote herself to the causes she has fought for since her teenage years, even earning her Master’s in Non-profit Management. She has held every position from peer educator to trainer, to director for numerous organizations around the country confronting issues including; at-risk youth, HIV/AIDS, prostitution, incarceration, and inequality. She currently serves as the Capacity Building and Training Director for the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, CA and serves on the National Board of Directors for the arts and activism organization, Blackout Arts Collective. All the while, Sonya has toured the globe, performed at numerous colleges, universities, public venues, and clubs as a champion of Human Rights and an International Award Winning Poet.

Sonya’s poetry is blunt, raw, and poignant. She speaks the truth with no mixed words and challenges society to face its deepest and most long-lived ills with strength, courage and sometimes a lot of laughter. In the same light, her work also reflects a checkered childhood overcoming a family riddled with drug addiction and mental illness, and dealing with the reality of living completely on her own from the age of 17. Her past has made her the beacon of strength and beauty that shines so brightly today every time she blesses a mic. Sonya Renee is not only the voice of every woman, but of humanity. From the neglected to the powerful, from the downtrodden to the triumphed, they all speak through her... and her voice will not soon fade. Sometimes all that is left is to get Real!