Red Emma’s

Between the increased global warming from the climate crisis and the increasing level of hot air from candidates, this summer is way, way hot! What we need is some hot poetry taken from pages of wisdom to help get us through! Join us for an open mic of justice, conscious thought, spirituality, fam, real life—whatever advances the village! In the tradition of Emma Goldman’s “Mother Earth” magazine, come drop some rad “fiyah” on us, or contribute just with your presence and energy. Our theme is “Peace, Justice, Poetry!” By the way: it’s a non-erotic venue, so rather than a love & erotica evening, we focus this night on justice and other matters of life. And, almost needless to say, leave the misogyny, homophobia and other unnecessary ish outside! Bringing the poetic excellence to our feature segment for the evening is international touring artist Pages Matam, the Director of Poetry Programming and Events for Busboys and Poets, a Callaloo Fellow, and the Write Bloody published author of “The Heart of a Comet” (2014), which won “Best New Book 2014” from Beltway Poetry Quarterly and was a Teaching for Change bestseller. He is also the author of “Draikus,” a collection of haiku.  The DC-based poet, originally from Cameroon, is a two-time DC poetry slam champion, two-time regional champion and a national champion who is passionate about education, violence and abuse trauma work, immigration reform and youth advocacy. He has been a featured artist and performer for Upworthy, Huffington, Okay Africa, The Pentagon, the Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, BET Lyric Cafe, TV One’s Verses & Flow (Season 4 & 5), The Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Smithsonian African Art Festival. Pages—who is a proud gummy bear elitist, bowtie enthusiast, professional hugger and anime fanatic—has featured at numerous colleges and universities around the country as a keynote speaker, diversity and inclusion leader, and a fellow, and has opened for or shared the stage with various artists including Chrisette Michelle, Raheem DeVaughn, Afrika Bambaata, Andrea Gibson, Common, Mos Def, Rosario Dawson, Amiri Baraka, Sonya Renee, Sunni Patterson, Rudy Francisco, Rachel McKibbens, Saul Williams, Black Ice, Gayle Danley, Ainsley Burrows, Holly Bass, Joshua Bennett, Talaam Acey, and many more. https://www.pagesmatam.com/ Holdin’ it down for the evening is Analysis—poet/spoken word artist, bookseller, educator, minister, justice & human rights theoretician… Y’all know what’s up! www.artistEcard.com/analysisthepoet www.facebook.com/analysisthepoet Twitter and Instagram: @analysisthepoet The MIC LIST will open at 5:00PM. FREE ADMISSION! [We will take a collection to support the feature.] (Mature language and themes may be involved; not suggested for younger children.) The evening is brought to you by Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, a worker-owned and collectively-operated restaurant, bookstore, and community events space located in Baltimore's Mt. Vernon neighborhood that is dedicated to putting principles of solidarity and sustainability into practice in a democratic workplace! Here you’ll find delicious, transparently traded, organic coffee, espresso and tea, as well as a selection of vegan and vegetarian food. Get here early so you can check out the books and periodicals on a wide range of topics, with a focus on radical politics and culture. Plus, there’s free internet access! http://redemmas.org/ https://www.facebook.com/redemmas Twitter & Instagram: @redemmas Remember: PEACE, JUSTICE, POETRY!! Will we see you there? :)