In conjunction with the Yale Peabody Museum’s MLK festivities, the museum will be hosting the “Z Experience Poetry Slam,” a place for regional spoken word poets to present work related to social and environmental justice.
The event will take place on Monday, January 20, 2025, in the O.C. Marsh Lecture Hall, Yale Science Building, 260 Whitney Ave., New Haven. Admission is free, but the event is recommended for adults. Citizens is the presenting corporate sponsor for workforce development.
Join influential poet-performers Croilot (Kwalo) and Sharmont "Influence" Little as they emcee an electrifying spoken word experience in honor of Zannette Lewis, founder of the annual MLK Poetry Slam. This signature event attracts a large and supportive crowd every year.
“Spoken word poetry honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s remarkable skill as an orator, who himself used the form to fuel the civil rights movement,” said Andrea Motto, Assistant Director of Public Education & Outreach, Education.
The slam will kick off with a community poetry open mic event from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Little, the inaugural New Haven Poet Laureate, will emcee the open mic portion of the event.
At 1 pm, four teams of poets will compete for a cash prize in an Invitational Team Slam, an exciting new format for the long-running event. The teams Dream Free out of New York City, Pick Up the Pen from Rhode Island, Team News from Massachusetts, and Connecticut’s Verbal Slap will come together to present entertaining and enlightening verse. Poet Croilot (Kwalo) Adames Semexant will host the slam.
Ngoma Hill, the NYC-based poet, musician, and activist who has coordinated and emceed the slam since its inception, has passed the baton to Croilot, but will be back this year for a cameo performance.
In addition to the poetry slam, there will be performances, kid-friendly activities, crafts, and food trucks over the course of the day at both the Yale Peabody Museum and the New Haven Museum. A group of New Haven elders will share their experience fighting for voting rights in a short documentary film, receiving its premiere at the event. The Sons of Allen Men’s Choir from AME Church and musician Michael Mills will also perform.