Alexa Patrick (she/her) is a vocalist and poet from Connecticut. She is the author of Remedies for Disappearing (Haymarket Books 2023) and holds fellowships from Cave Canem, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and more. In spring 2023, Alexa made her stage production debut as Un/Sung in the opera We Shall Not Be Moved (dir. Bill T. Jones). You may find her work in publications including Adroit, CRWN Magazine, and The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic. Visit alexapatrick.com for more.

Jasmine Mans is a Black American poet and artist from Newark, New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison, with a BA in African American Studies. Her debut collection of poetry, Chalk Outlines of Snow Angels, was published in 2012. Her collection Black Girl, Call Home was published in 2021. Mans is the resident poet at the Newark Public Library. She was a member of The Strivers Row Collective.

DJ Franky J is a native Washingtonian. She has been a DJ for almost six years now. She’s had the opportunity to spin at places such as the Kennedy Center, Dirty Goose, Eaton Hotel, Fillmore Silver Spring, and March for Moms, to name a few.

Drew Anderson is founder and co-host of Spit Dat (the longest-running open mic in the nation’s capital) and co-creator of the critically-acclaimed stage productions Push The Button and From Gumbo to Mumbo. A nationally credentialed teaching artist and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellow, Drew has merged his passions for entertainment and education into such arts integration initiatives as Spoof School and C.R.U.N.K. Academy, bringing his unique spin on hip hop, comedy, parody, drama, and poetry to stages virtual and physical, local and international.

Takier George is a spoken word artist from the DMV area. George is a full-time student at Howard University majoring in English (with a concentration in creative writing) and a minor in TV and film production. From 2018 to 2020, George was a member of the D.C. Youth Slam Team. In 2019, George and her team members performed at Brave New Voices, the largest international teen poetry slam competition in Las Vegas. George has also performed at venues like the Arlington Country Blues Festival, the Library of Congress, and the Kennedy Center. In 2020 and 2021, George was published in the Sterling Notes Literary Journal. She is currently working on her first chapbook.

Gaelyn D. Smith is a digital content creator, actor, writer, poet, and creative producer. She received her BFA in Acting from Syracuse University, earning the Marcia Mohr Award for Excellence in Dramatic Acting. Her theatre credits include Fat Ham and Clyde’s at Studio Theatre, Drunk Shakespeare at the Sage Theatre, and more. She is an accomplished spoken word artist, winning Grand Slam Champion of the DC Youth Slam Team (2016), Louder than a Bomb (2015 and 2016), and other awards. She also received her MA in Television, Radio, and Film from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She won the Gordon J. Alderman Award for Excellence in Television, Radio, and Film for her half-hour dramedy Chasing Viral. Outside of this, you can find her watching sports podcasts, reading self-help books, bothering her dad, and eating french fries.

Kenny Carroll is a writer from DC. He was the 2017 DC Youth Poet Laureate, and in 2019 received the Thomas Lux Scholarship from Sarah Lawrence. His work has been featured in Split This Rock’s The Quarry, EcoTheo Review, Lamplack, and Poetry London, among others. He is a Watering Hole, Brooklyn Poets, and Obsidian fellow. And was selected by Roger Reeves as a 2023 Cave Canem Starshine and Clay fellow. You can find him online @Kennyc113.

Anthony (Tony) Keith Jr., PhD. is a Black American gay poet, spoken word artist, and hip hop educational leader from Washington, D.C. Or, you can just call him an “Ed Emcee.” He is author of the young adult memoir in verse, How the Boogeyman Became a Poet, and the young adult poetry collection Knucklehead (Forthcoming) from Katherine Tegen Books at HarpersCollins. Tony’s writings appear in the Journal of Negro Education, Equity & Excellence in Education, the Journal of Black Masculinity, and many others. Some of his featured performances include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington National Cathedral, the Historic Lincoln Theatre, and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa. A multi-year fellow of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and Humanities DC, Tony is CEO of Ed Emcee Academy and lives with his husband, Harry Christian III in his D.C. hometown.

Born in Puerto Rico,Tatiana Figueroa Ramírez has received fellowships from VONA Voices and Anaphora Arts, having worked with Willie Perdomo and Danez Smith. Tatiana currently performs, facilitates workshops, and hosts events in the DC area, having previously done so across the United States and the Dominican Republic at venues including The Kennedy Center and New York University. Her work has been featured in MSNBC’s “ Does America” and The Acentos Review, among other publications. Tatiana is the author of Coconut Curls y Café con Leche (2019) and Despojo (2020).