In this weekly summer series, eight Bay Area poets share new poems created in response to the current exhibitions.  They will also describe the processes they employ in writing ekphrastic work.  Come and see, come and listen, come and experience the art that moves your spirit to consider power and liberation.

‍June 6 - August 1 feature individual performances.

‍These readings and discussions culminate in the MoAD Salon with an evening of wine and performance by all the poets in this series on August 8.

Community Voices: Poets Speak is curated by Raina J. León.

The exhibition on view is Coffee, Rhum, Sugar & Gold: A Postcolonial Paradox.

Coffee, Rhum, Sugar & Gold: A Postcolonial Paradox looks at the legacy of European colonialism in the Caribbean through the work of 10 contemporary artists. Whether connected to the Caribbean by birth or focused on the region by choice, the exhibiting artists use their work as a means of examining the relationship between the power structure, those who are controlled by it, those who benefit from it, and those who actively seek to liberate themselves from it. A key driver of the exhibition is the theory that colonialism has continued to exist in other forms, and is in fact spreading through the export of soft power, the use of military force, the control of international financial and banking mechanisms, as well as the increase in globalization.

Featured Poet

Jeneé Darden

Jeneé Darden is an award-winning journalist, public speaker, mental health advocate and proud Oakland native. She hosts KALW’s arts segment Sights & Sounds and is their East Oakland reporter. Jenee has reported for NPR, Time,  Ebony, The LA Times and other outlets. She blogs at CocoaFly.com and is pitching a book about Black sexuality.

Visit Cocoa Fly to read her research series Under the Covers: The Popularity and Debate Over Black Erotic Literature.  Her first book, When a Purple Rose Blooms, is a collection of essays and poetry about Black womanhood. The daughter of former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Chris Darden, Jeneé holds a BA in ethnic studies from UC San Diego and a master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California.

SPD is the only non-profit literary distributor in the US. Founded in 1969, everything we do is aimed at helping essential but underrepresented literary communities participate fully in the marketplace and in the culture at large. We do this by offering book distribution, information services, and public advocacy programs to hundreds of small publishers. Ultimately, we work to connect readers with writers through independently publishers literature, getting books into the hands of those who want to read them.

Public programs at MoAD are supported in part by Target.