Join us for Arts for Action: Amplifying Community Voices for Healing, Justice & Health Equity, an action-oriented open mic and community discussion presented in collaboration with the Museum of the African Diaspora, UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Diversity, Inclusion, Community & Equity (DICE) group. We invite all members of the Berkeley community and beyond to join us for an evening of poetry and dialogue around public health and equity.

With the challenging past year we have had, we are creating a space to use art as a communication tool for healing, justice, and health equity. Everyone is welcome to come listen and engage in meaningful discussion. All creative students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to sign up to perform poetry or another form of expression at the Open Mic. ‍

Want to perform? Please sign up here and we will contact you to confirm your spot in the lineup.

Get ready to dance with Bay Area joy! In addition to poetry, we will have DJ Roza, a UC Berkeley alum, spin some tunes for us throughout the event. We will close out with community agreements of how art can be a communication tool to bring forth change.

Our featured poet, Gabriel Ramirez, is a nationally-renowned Queer Afro-Latinx poet, activist, and teaching artist. His work has been featured in various spaces from the United Nations to the Apollo theatre. Learn more about Gabriel’s work here.‍

The event will be Saturday, April 17th 4-6 pm. Register in advance for the event:

‍https://tinyurl.com/artsforaction

‍After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you have need any accommodations, please contact: am.jacobo@berkeley.edu

Gabriel Ramirez is a Queer Afro-Latinx poet, activist, and teaching artist. Gabriel has received fellowships from The Conversation Literary Arts Festival, Palm Beach Poetry Festival, The Watering Hole, CantoMundo and Callaloo. Gabriel has performed on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre, United Nations, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theatre and other venues & universities around the nation. Gabriel was featured in Huffington Post, VIBE Magazine, Blavity, Upworthy, The Flama, and Remezcla. You can find his work in various spaces, including Youtube, and in publications like The Volta, Winter Tangerine, WUSGOOD, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, VINYL, and in ¡MANTECA!: an Anthology of Afro-Latino Poetry (Arte Público Press 2017) Bettering American Poetry Anthology (Bettering Books 2017) What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump (Northwestern University Press 2019) The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT (Haymarket Press 2020).

Gabriel’s electrifying writing and performance are catalysts towards healing and brings awareness to mental health, Afro-Latinidad, the African Diaspora, self love, self care, masculinity, and social change. Understanding how poetry changed his life as a teenager, Gabriel is dedicated to working with young people and poets ranging from middle schoolers to adults inspiring them to cultivate their voices as writers and performers via coaching, workshops and performances. Gabriel has also received admiration from institutions of higher education and the underserved communities he works in.