360° of Poetry, Music, and Artistic Expression

Nikki Giovanni is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Over the past thirty years, her outspokenness, in her writing and in lectures, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely-read American poets, she prides herself on being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English." Giovanni remains as determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality. Always insisting on presenting the truth as she sees it, she has maintained a prominent place as a strong voice of the Black community. Her focus is on the individual, specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others. Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Lincoln Heights, an all-black suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. She and her sister spent their summers with their grandparents in Knoxville, and she graduated with honors from Fisk University, her grandfather's alma mater, in 1968; after graduating from Fisk, she attended the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. She published her first book of poetry, Black Feeling Black Talk, in 1968, and within the next year published a second book, thus launching her career as a writer. Early in her career she was dubbed the "Princess of Black Poetry," and over the course of more than three decades of publishing and lecturing she has come to be called both a "National Treasure" and, most recently, one of Oprah Winfrey's twenty-five "Living Legends." Come join The Duchess as she interviews her idol Nikki Giovanni!

Vernon J. Davis Jr. has been writing poetry since the early seventies. He was first inspired by Langston Hughes's poem "Impasse", which started his journey and adventure into the world of poetry and the spoken word. Vernon's very first published poem, "Beautiful Black Woman" (the basis for his poetry book) came out in 1978 in a magazine called Black Forum. More poetry followed in other magazines like SoulWord and Dawn, a magazine supplement to the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African-American newspaper. Mr. Davis has also taught Creative Writing and recited his poetry in talent shows, church gatherings and open-mike forums. He is still inspired by and in awe of Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou. His creative collection of Love poems, "Love, is, the Beautiful Black Woman" is his first book. Vernon's 2nd book of poetry--"The Emosewa Woman"--is due out late 2009.

Isaac Valenzuela hails from a musical family where as a youngster he was exposed to the saxophone, guitar, piano and an assortment of brass instruments. His first professional music influence was by the great Boots Randolph, saxophonist and key member of the “Nashville Sound”. As his love for the saxophone grew, he discovered the music of who would become his all time favorite saxophone artist, David Sanborn. With these musical influences as a foundation, he studied music through his college years. Isaac’s first solo recording was produced in 2008 featuring the original composition “Come Rain or Shine.” Additional songs featured on this EP include “In Season” written by Joel McCray and “Un Angel Llora” written by Annette Moreno. Isaac’s aspirations today are to participate on the Smooth Jazz platforms throughout the world with saxophone greats such as David Sanborn, Gerald Albright, Dave Koz and countless others. Isaac’s full debut album is expected to be rel

Baltimore vocalist, producer and uber smart chick Carolyn Malachi is back with her second CD "Revenge of the Smart Chicks II: Ambitious Gods." Malachi describes her brand of music as "haute eclectic soular blues." Malachi, who is the great-granddaughter of jazz pianist John Malachi, has created her own modern infectious gumbo of jazz hip hop and spoken word. ROTSC II is the stirring and genre bending follow-up to her 2008 debut "Revenge of the Smart Chicks." The first project spawned a movement, blog and the non-profit Smart Chicks Inc. The organization is dedicated to developing visibility and leadership opportunities for women in the arts.Join The DuchessPoet and La Toya "Queen" Cunningham of "Queens Only" as they delve into the mind of this genre bending artist.

An employment sabbatical in 2007 gave Angela Edgar the freedom, time and inspiration to tackle a previously unfulfilled dream – that of writing a book when a 6 year writing hiatus ended in 2006. Motivated by wanting to share her previously unheard words on paper and in person, Angee realised that her poetry was resonating deeply and inspiring people. Her publisher Rols Sperling describes one of her poems – ‘Intimacy of a Kiss’ as “Very beautiful and surprisingly understated. You have an ability to throw in a line of sheer exquisiteness without even so much as a trumpet fanfare.” Not defined by writing in one genre or style, Angee tackles any and everything that comes to her mind or her heart by sharing thoughts, experiences and observations of life and fantasy in her own unique style which has resulted in INSPIRED, her first collection of poetry. Book #2("Cinnamon & Sin") is due out soon. Please enjoy our guest from the United Kingdom--Angela(Angee) Edgar!

Pearl Jr. is an American author, activist, journalist and producer. She is the founder and owner of Elbow Grease Productions and Pearl Jr. Publications and is best known for her work in the African-American community. Pearl Jr. graduated from Cal State Northridge and majored in Radio, TV, Film with a minor in African-American Studies. She finished in just 3 years. In 2001, Pearl Jr. wrote and published her first book The Climate: A Perspective Unvisited, which chronicles the development of race and the creation of racism. In 2004, she produced a series of half-hour T.V. shows called, "TRUtalk: Straight Outta LA." Also displaying her determination to control her own messages as an independent producer, she worked diligently to have her voice available to over 1,000,000 people in the Southern Cal. area and that lead her in Feb. 2005, to cover the Michael Jackson Trial. She and her company, Elbow Grease Productions also produced the documentary Behind The Scenes At The Michael Jackson Trial. The DVD has been sold to individuals in over 30 countries. She has also been a repeated guest on KCET's [[Life and Times]] Television program for PBS in Los Angeles discussing the status of Black relationships. In 2006, she wrote her 3rd book "Black Women Need Love, Too!", previously known as "How To Tame A Dawg." She has been interviewed over 100 times on local and national news programs and has been a recurring guest on CBS radio as well. Most recently, she produced the DVD "Barack Obama: The Power of Change" as well as the DVD Michael Jackson-"The Trial and Triumph of the King of Pop" available on Amazon.com as well as Retail Outlets Worldwide!

Clayton (Big Trigger) Corley, Sr. is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He developed his love of writing at the age of 14 and his love of jazz from as far back as he can remember. While in high school, he wrote for the school newspaper and won a Junior Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for his articles on the West Philadelphia High Speedboys basketball team. In May 2005, he became a published author with the release of Universal Moods (a short story collection). Clayton credits his literary influences from the likes of poets Langston Hughes and George Moses Horton. His love of jazz stems from childhood and was greatly influenced by Miles Davis, Errol Garner, Cannonball Adderley, and Nancy Wilson who created the foundation for his broad knowledge of Jazz. Clayton feels that jazz and poetry were made for each other. Both have elements of improvisation and are major ways of negotiating agendas and communicating with one another. His dedication has become his motivation as he strives to keep both the history and culture of Jazz & Poetry alive! “Spotlight on Jazz & Poetry” provides the venue that accomplishes his goals. Join us as for an enthralling evening as we explore the many variations of both art forms through the eyes of “Big Trigger”! His tantalizingly seductive voice & persona alone will grab & keep you!!! See ya Sunday!

Cherene Snow is a multi-faceted actress, singer, songwriter and poet whose talent exploded on the scene in the early 1970’s. Her extensive resume includes the feature films "Cooley High" and "The Long Walk Home" as well as television’s "The Drew Carey Show" , "Chappelle's Show" and "Law & Order" to name a few. She recently completed the highly acclaimed production "Black Pearl Sings" where she plays the title role. She will be reprising her role at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, MA beginning Jan 2010. Music has also become a much bigger and even more exciting part of her life. She honed her talent as a singer and has been writing music in preparation for recording her own CD. She is also a teaching artist in NJ, DC and MA and loves what she does and couldn’t imagine doing anything else but adding on to it. Spend a fascinating hour with us as Cherene