Puffin to Host Social Justice Poetry Slam in Teaneck

The following announcement was submitted by the Puffin Cultural Forum:

Poet and singer/song-writer, Ngoma Hill brings three accomplished guests to this Exhibition Poetry Slam including fine arts photographer and poet Osunyoyin Alak; theater artist, DJ and poet Justin Woo; and actress, poet and Slam winner Sabrina Gilbert.  All compete regularly in local, regional and national Poetry Slams and have been chosen for this event because of their expertise. Using a point system, judges selected from the audience will determine who gives the best performance of the evening based on three rounds of poems. In addition, the Puffin invites community poets to speak/read their poems in an Open Mic format following the Slam. The first five people to sign up at 6:30 p.m. with an original poem of under three minutes may perform their poems.  To add to the challenge, this Poetry Slam and Open Mic have a theme:  “Social Justice.” All poems performed by both the guests and community poets must reflect this theme. Ngoma's "Not Your Average String Thing," a one-man band of spoken word and song, electric violin, yidaki (didgeridoo), bamboo flute and pre-recorded tracks, will warm up the audience in a 15-minute “Spotlight” performance before the Slam begins. $5.00 suggested donation. Reservations recommended: tix@puffinfoundation.org. Saturday, May 4, 8:00 p.m. 20 Puffin Way (off Teaneck Rd.) in Teaneck. Call 201-836-3499 or visit www.PuffinCulturalForum.org.

Ngoma Hill, a performance poet, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter has used culture and language as tools for critical thought for over 40 years. A former member of  “Spirit House Movers and Players” and the contemporary freedom song duo, “Serious Biznesshe is the  winner of the 1997 National Poetry Slam Competition in Middletown, Connecticut. Ngoma has been published in “African Voices” magazine, “Long Shot Anthology,” “The Underwood Review” and “Poems on the Road to Peace – Volumes 1, 2 and 3.” On screen, Ngoma has been featured in the PBS documentary “The Apro-Poets” with Allen Ginsberg. He has hosted the Slam at the Dr. Martin Luther King Festival of Social and Environmental Justice Festival (Yale University-New Haven, CT) for the past 17 years, was selected as a participant at the Badilisha Poetry Xchange in Capetown, South Africa in fall of 2009 and, in 2011, was initiated as a Priest of Obatala in Ibadan, Nigeria. 

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