Sunday
14Jun

Prelude to an Indelible Summer

As always, we are uber busy. This summer will bring a lot of Indelible projects to the forefront. The first you can see pictured right above this update. Howard Treadwell's literary debut, Dreams of Loisaida, is going to print this month! Currently, Howard is on tour with Megan Rickman of Slam Richmond, with show dates in Atlanta, Savannah, Florida, and Virginia (including Richmond, of course). Megan Rickman also happens to be our newest AMP|Indelible artist! More info on her later.

Alexis MarieThiahera NurseCrystal Clarity

Megan Rickman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of new Indelible artists, we are pleased to introduce the newest additions to the Indelible freshman class: Alexis Marie & Thiahera Nurse. Both of these Urban Word prodigies are only 17 years old, and possess amazing skills on page and stage. Alexis Marie was a 2008 Urban Word team member, has toured extensively, featured on the HBO series Brave New Voices, and performed at the Sundance Film Festival.  Thiahera was a 2009 NY Knicks Slam finalist, and a 2009 Urban Word NYC finalist (where Howard Treadwell & Timothy Prolific Jones first encountered her work). Also added to our roster is visual artist/poet/graphic designer/muralist/overalldopehumanbeing Crystal Clarity (cover designer of the AMP published One Mic).

As you can see from the flyer to the left, Ella Turenne, Charan P, Aliyah Ansari, Thiahera Nurse (even tho' she's not on the flyer), SoSoon, and Timothy Prolific Jones will be performing at the fundraiser for the independent film, Zemira, on Wednesday June 17 at the Bronx Museum from 7-10pm. Also featured are an A-list of NYC poets, musicians, and singers. Tickets are available at www.zemirathefilm.com. The screen play was co-written by Mecca Woods and Curtis John. Info below courtesy of the film's website:

ZEMIRA is a coming-of-age story loosely based on real life events. It centers around the title character, Zemira Black, a book smart but awkward African-American girl struggling to find her place and her voice in the world. As if dealing with the stress of being a teenager isn’t hard enough, Zemira struggles with the adversity of her drug addicted parents and an upbringing in a violent South Bronx neighborhood, both of which are starting to destroy her unless she can figure out how best to fight for her life.

While this film’s primary theme is redemption, its depiction of drug use, violence, and teen promiscuity in a contemporary, black urban setting, remains unapologetic. The goal of the film, however, is not to rehash longstanding stigmas of the black experience in modern America, but rather to challenge them. ZEMIRA provides a story told from a young black girl’s point-of-view with themes of hope, love and family unity—a rare perspective explored, unfortunately, in American cinema.

AMP|Indelible artist, Blackout Arts Collective co-founder, visionary, non-profit consultant guru, and warrior woman Taij Kumarie Moteelall invites you to the book launch for Bolo Bahen! Speak Sister! at the Queens Museum on June 19, 2009. Admission is free. The Jahajee Sisters and Sakhi for South Asian Women have co-published a community-created collection of poetry and prose by an inter-generational group of women  from New York, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Suriname and South Asia. One of the focal points of this women's empowerment summit is combating domestic violence. Taij and the Jahajee Sisters, including longtime AMP|Indelible ally and Blackout Arts Collective member Simone Devi will be performing their works at the launch event. Expect to see many faces from the AMP|Indelible and Blackout families in attendance.

You can also catch AMP|Indelible artist Knickie D at Superheros & Rockstars on July 19th, at Public Assemply in Brooklyn NY. She will be performing alongside artists including Wordsmith Jones, Faro-Z, GIA, RIP MC of Writer's Block, and Queen Godis. Hit her up on Twitter if you need tickets; she has em, and she's sellin' em.

That's all for now folks. We look forward to seeing you in the crowd, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Monday
25May

May Events & Announcements (2 of 2) 

So, May has been a busy month for us. Our last update gave you a list of shows to check out (thanks to those of you who made it out!). For the 2nd half of May, we have fewer shows, however we do have some announcements (two of which are overdue). The first is to congratulate AMP|Indelible co-Editor-in-Chief, Howard Treadwell, on his graduation from SUNY Stony Brook, where he earned his B.A. in Linguistics.

The second is to acquaint you with some new names and faces on our roster. Let's start with the ones that are overdue. We would like to announce that Macario James is now our in-house graphic designer. Mac is a Hofstra University alumnus, a distinguished member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (shout out to his frat, our Chief Financial Officer, Steven Mark Haywood II), and the genius behind SoSoon's My Enviornment // Blowing Money artwork. He actually just finished the interior design work for Howard Treadwell's debut book, Dreams of Loisaida. Former Buffalo National Poetry Slam team member and NYC poetry scene whirlwind Knickie D also joined our ranks last month. Welcome abord to both of them, and we apologize for being a little late with bringing that news to the front page (although their artist pages were up pretty fast).

Jorge BritoStraight, No Chaser Films producer Charneice Fox joined Indelible in early May, and we are proud to announce her as one of our latest additions. Charneice brings a wealth of experience as both a poet and film producer to the team, and we look forward to her upcoming book projects. Also joining Indelible is 2009 Urban Word team member Jorge Brito. Jorge qualified for the UDUB team that will travel to Chicago in July for Brave New Voices, the Youth Speaks sponsored national youth poetry slam that earned an HBO series of the same name.  Jorge is the third artist from Urban Word to join Indelible, with Ernest Estime and Aliyah preceding him.

Charneice FoxToday, Howard & Timothy have a feature set (and Aliyah will be there as well... do we smell a collaboration?) at The Inspired Word Reading Series, held at Tierra Sana Restaurant, $7pm. They will be performing alongside poetry heavyweights Caitlin Meissner, John Survivor Blake, Bonafide Rojas, and Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai. SoSoon has a 20 minute feature set at the Bowery Poetry Club on Tuesday, May 26th at 11:30pm. He will be performing material from his upcoming EP! June will be a very busy month, between Howard touring Virginia and Florida, SoSoon's ever expanding show schedule, several artists being booked at a film fundraiser, and Nigel Greaves making his way into the DC slam finals. And of course, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Be Indelible.

Sunday
24May

Oxygen: Howard Treadwell feat. Timothy Prolific Jones

Video by Ella Turenne

Tuesday
05May

May Events (1 of 2)

We are pleased to announce that May will be quite a busy month for Indelible artists. Please take the time to look at our schedule to find out where you can see us perform in your area! Tomorrow, Charan P is performing at the Urban Bushwomen Fundraiser at Solomon's Porch Cafe in Brooklyn, NY.

On Thursday, May 14, you have the options to see Charan, SoSoon, and Knickie D! I know it will be a tough choice, but we can guarantee that all three of them will have phenomenal shows. Charan is featured at "For the Love of Poetry" at the Times Square Art Center at 7:30pm. Knickie D and SoSoon will be featured alongside an A list of poets at Charlotte Mishell's album release party at Nightingale Lounge at 8pm.  Also that night, SoSoon will be performing a solo set, and along with his new group, The Wright Brothers, at  Hello Summer, an event sponsored by Violet Mic & The Grugecake Crisis. It will be held at the Bowery Poetry Club at 10pm.

On Friday, May 15, Howard Treadwell, Timothy Prolific Jones, SoSoon, and Ernest Estime, will be featured at Praise 718. Praise 718 is an alternative youth ministry at Merrick Park Baptist Church, and is currently focusing on providing a forum for creative expression. In light of the housing crisis' devastating effects on southeastern Queens, Pastor Curtis & Mrs. Norton are working to establish a safe space for young people to attend on a regular basis, and have reached out to local politicians, educators, artists, poets, singers, and filmmakers to get involved. Longtime AMP|Indelible ally, Manauvaskar Kublall of Media Sutra (designer of the Khmer Girl book cover) will also be showing his film, Primetime: Fighting Back Against Forceclosures.

Knickie, Charan, Timothy, and SoSoon also have several other shows this month. The information for those shows will be posted in this feed in after the 15th. Until then, keep an eye on our calendar!

Prepare for the Indelible Summer!