Looking for Democracy in 2009…

Celebrate Chicago’s hip hop arts! Join us at Open Mic Academy: The State of Our Union, featuring special performances by visiting poets Roger Bonair-Agard and Idris Goodwin, curated by Kevin Coval.

Tell us what you think about the state of our union, our culture, our future with a poem, song, or performance piece. Sign up for open-mic begins at 2:30pm for a limited number of 3 minute spots!

More about Roger Bonair-Agard and Idris Goodwin

Roger Bonair-Agard is a native of Trinidad and Tobago, a Cave Canem fellow and co-author of Burning Down the House. He is a two-time National Slam Champion and is co-founder of The louderARTS Project. Roger’s work has been widely anthologized and commissioned and he has appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour.

Idris Goodwin is an award-winning hip hop playwright, break beat poet, recording artist, and teacher committed to making work that incites, inspires, and engages. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded Idris a Playwright-in-Residence grant to explore hip-hop aesthetics in theater. Idris’ break beat poetry was featured on season six of Russell Simmons’ HBO Def Poetry Jam, as well as in the Spoken Word Revolution Redux Anthology. Idris frequently teaches and lectures at institutions across the country on themes of art and activism.

This event is hosted by The Public Square, Young Chicago Authors, and Chicago Public Radio. It is part of Chicago Public Radio’s day-long Winter Block Party featuring a live mural painting by Revise CMW, a debut gallery exhibition of works-for-sale by some of Chicago’s most notable artists, and an evening event with William "Upski" Wimsatt. For more information, visit Chicago Public Radio online. 

The State of Our Union is part of The Public Square’s Looking for Democracy series, made possible in part by the Woods Fund of Chicago.  

 

For more information, call 312.948.4600.