In honor of National Poetry Month, Charis presents another "porch sit conversation" in celebration of doris diosa davenport's testimony: poems, proclamations, potions. testimony. The evening includes Dr. Ra Malika Imhotep, host and author of Gossypiin, Cynthia Manick, author of No Sweet Without Brine and JP Howard, author of SAY/MIRROR.

testimony is a culturally textured practice of delivering the word, with call & response, worryin’ the line; witnessed, echoed, accepted, understood, adapted, praised and passed on. This book features all that, amazingly, in poetry, prose & photography. This event is co-hosted by the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History.

Part one, “winter skin,” includes obligatory socio-political-activist, abolition and survival issues. Part two, “affirmations” shares re-directed energies of being, gratefully, “still here” (to reference a poem by Daddy Langston. Hughes.) Part Three, “testimony,” features practical spirituality, with and in poems, and many photos. Additionally, the book contains an introduction, an afterword, a reprinted classic essay, and a special photo album, all by the author. (184 pages. 40+ b/w photos)

doris diosa davenport (pronouns: person / per): Performance poet, writer, educator & independent scholar; BA Paine College; MA SUNY/Buffalo, NY; PhD Univ. of So. Calif.  Visionary 73-year-old born (Jan. 29, 1949) and raised in traditional Cherokee Homelands (euro-colonized as Northeast Georgia). Sapiosexual  lesbian-feminist; CLA (www.clascholars.org) LGBTQ+  Nation & Alternate ROOTS (www.alternateroots.org) member. i constantly, continually, adamantly work to end all forms of oppression, towards  truth & honesty – based egalitarian, inclusive and *magical* realities. testimony: proclamations, poems, potions is my 13th published book. Contact: zorahpoet7@gmail.com.

Cynthia Manick is the author of No Sweet Without Brine (Amistad-HarperCollins, 2023), editor of The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry, winner of the Lascaux Prize in Collected Poetry, and author of Blue Hallelujahs. She has received fellowships from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, MacDowell Colony, and Château de la Napoule among other foundations. Manick is the creator of the Soul Sister Revue reading series and her poem “Things I Carry into the World” was made into a film by Motionpoems and debuted on Tidal for National Poetry Month. A storyteller and performer at literary festivals, libraries, universities, and museums, Manick and her work has been featured in the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day Series, Callaloo, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. She currently serves on the board of the International Women’s Writing Guild and the editorial board of Alice James Books. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

JP Howard is a poet, educator, literary activist, curator, and community builder. JP is the Spring 2023 Brooklyn College Tow Mentor-in-Residence. Her debut poetry collection, SAY/MIRROR (The Operating System), was a Lambda Literary finalist. She is also the author of bury your love poems here (Belladonna*), Praise This Complicated Herstory: Legacy, Healing & Revolutionary Poems (Harlequin Creature) and co-editor of Sinister Wisdom Journal Black Lesbians--We Are the Revolution! JP has received fellowships and grants from Cave Canem, VONA, Lambda Literary Foundation, and Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). She curates Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon and her poetry is widely anthologized. JP is a general Poetry Editor for Women's Studies Quarterly and Editor-At-Large of Mom Egg Review VOX online.http://www.jp-howard.com

Ra Malika Imhotep, ph.d (Ra/They) is a Black feminist writer and performance artist and cultural worker from Atlanta, GA. They are co-convenor of a spiritual-political education project called The Church of Black Feminist Thought and a member of The Black Aesthetic curatorial collective. Their work has been published in Scalawag Mag, Burnaway, Arrow Journal, The Guggenheim Museum, Poets.org, Southern Cultures, and elsewhere. Their debut poetry collection, gossypiin, was published by Red Hen Press in 2022.

This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. 

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A NATIONAL POETRY MONTH CELEBRATION OF: TESTIMONY, POEMS, PROCLAMATIONS, POTIONS WITH DORIS DAVENPORT, CYNTHIA MANICK, JP HOWARD, AND DR. RA MALIKA IMHOTEP