Spoken Word Cafe 2005
(1807)

Divad Sanders

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at 6:30 pm

This year's Spoken Word Cafe is on location at City Without Walls , an art gallery that serves as one of New Jersey 's hottest spots for established and emerging artists.  In this half-hour documentary, four members of the New Jersey SLAM (Support Lead Advocate Mentor) Team are featured. Spoken Word Café journeys into their world of performances, preparation and mentoring. The performers open up about why they believe poetry is an important tool for social change and what keeps their poetry alive.

Chris Cook (a.k.a 'Flowmentalz' ) takes everyday life situations into intellectual journeys. He has self-released two spoken word CDs: Drama Uncut in 1999,and Poetic Enemy #1 . Divad Sanders (a.k.a. D the Schizophrenic, pictured above) has been ranked as one of the top performance poets in the country and has won slam bouts throughout the nation. A veteran of the world famous Nuyorican Poets Café stage in New York City ; Christopher Kuretich (a.k.a. Gemineye) is a  published author and established lecturer and has appeared on Russell Simmon's "Def Poetry Jam. " And Rasheed Adero is another Nuyorican Poets Café veteran who has written songs and concepts for MCA recording artists.

All have taken the world of poetry by storm, ranking as some of the top performance poets in the country, winning slam bouts and being showcased throughout the nation.

The members of the NJ SLAM Team are also community activists who are dedicated to empowering youth and revitalizing the community.  This year's Spoken Word Café goes beyond the stage as the featured artists conduct workshops on topics central to the young audiences they want to empower.

This half-hour documentary is co-sponsored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts

City Without Walls was established in 1975. The not-for-profit gallery displays the artwork of young and emerging New Jersey artists.