Collective Voices Poetry Extravaganza

Ms. Afrika Abney provided services for Collective Voices Poetry Extravaganza.

"In 1995, Sistah Joy founded Collective Voices, a socially-conscious poetry ensemble performing locally and nationally, including in London, England. Sistah Joy, also known as J. Joy Matthews Alford, is a poet from Washington, DC, and the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George’s County. She has authored 3 poetry collections and leads the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church Poetry Ministry. Sylvia Dianne Beverly, also known as Ladi Di, founded the youth group Girls and Boys with Hearts in the mid-1990s, guiding young poets for over 20 years. She volunteers as a poetry club facilitator for Harmony Halls’ Seniors and hosts tele-conference workshops during the pandemic. Billy Okera, a folk-performance poet, was born in DC and began writing at 17, influenced by Edna St. Vincent Millay. She has performed at various local and national venues, including the Brixton Theater in London. Okera is a founding member of Collective Voices and was named a Nation's Capitol Poet-In-Progress in 2001. Her book "The Mourner’s Bench, and Other Stations of Weeping and Joy" was published in 2004."