Over the last five years, a group of spoken word artists have been gathering downtown at Stella’s Lounge for a night of performances organized under the header “The Drunken Retort.” (2018 is their fifth anniversary.)
And while the team made up of AutoPilot, Rachel Gleason, and Fable the Poet have often used their Monday night platform to elevate this art form, locally inviting other poets to join them on the stage as guest performers, for
The Drunken Retort’s Black History night on February 19, the star is you and your voice.
This group of artists invite folks to come down and share pieces reflecting Black excellence, freedom, greatness, hip-hop, and all things related to Black History.
This centering on the experience and lives of black people has the power to transform an audience, too, because when one shares their personal history, something begins to shift under the weight of this community perspective.
And while they enjoy hosting guest poets, these theme nights, according to Fable the Poet, are wonderful and unique because they focus on keeping it “strictly local.”
Folks who want to see how the event works with black nationally known poets—and 80 percent of those featured at The Drunken Retort are Black/Brown poets from all across the country— you can return on March 5th when they welcome Natasha T. Miller to Grand Rapids.
The Drunken Retort is part of a series of programming in the city that through their performances in our area help transform all of us who witness this powerful art form. Don’t miss this unique Black History Month event in the Heartside neighborhood of downtown.