Amiri Baraka to kick off spoken word education institute

Amiri Baraka, the award-winning incendiary poet, playwright and founder of the Black Arts Movement, will give a special reading at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Monday, July 7, to open the third annual Spoken Word & Hip-Hop Educator’s Institute.

Author of more than 40 books, including essays, poetry, drama and music history, Baraka will give a reading from his works. The reading will be followed by a discussion and a question-and-answer session on the power, influence and potential of spoken word and hip-hop culture as catalysts for educational reform and social change.

Presented by UW–Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives and Urban Word NYC, the event takes place in the Wisconsin Union Theater, 800 Langdon St., at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Baraka’s reading is the first of three public events presented as part of the annual Spoken Word Institute. Winner of the 2007 North American Association of Summer Sessions “Creative and Innovative Program Award,” the weeklong institute brings together leading educators, professors, artists and activists to learn and share best practices in utilizing spoken word and hip hop to engage and empower their students.

More than 30 educators from 10 different states have already registered for the seminar, with CEU credit options available through the UW–Madison School of Education.

As part of the events, NYC-based artists Queen GodIs and MC Kazi of the Hip Hop Project will perform at the Rhymes & Reason Summer Jam with Madison’s own Dumate at 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, on the Memorial Union Terrace.

Closing the institute on Friday, July 11, will be the Spit That! Open Mic for institute participants and facilitators to share their new skills and verses. Featuring UW–Madison’s own First Wave artists, the open mic takes place at 7 p.m. in the On Wisconsin Room in the Red Gym, 716 Langdon St.

For more information, contact Katrina Flores at kbflores@wisc.edu or (608) 770-4774.