So you've been to one of the poetry spots listed in the ARIZONA POETRY - THIS IS NOW blog. But what was up back in the day? Poetry slams, open mics, hosts and venues have come and gone - some voluntarily, others involuntarily... (R.I.P. The Paper Heart, Willow House, Essenza, Phoenix Slam @ Zoe's Kitchen hosted by Corbet Dean).

The history of poetry in AZ – in terms of the "urban" poetry scene – has been abuzz. Many times poetry spots are created by individuals who come from another state and asking the question "Where the hell is the culture in Arizona?" decide to bring culture to which they are accustomed to Arizona, particularly the Valley of the Sun. Usually, the thinking being "Let's do something that hasn't been done." But as the saying goes: There is nothing new under the sun. It may not be going on when they get here, but it has been done. And many times it has been done 10 times better than the present.

When poets who have been here since back in the day reminisce, they miss the good 'ol days. A Valley poet commented that back then we had more of a poetry community but now we have poetry sects. The question remains: How do we capture some of those good 'ol days? Or does the poetry past just remain in the past?

Documentary and archive projects are in the works for the near future. But, for now, here is a glimpse into Urban Poetry Past. Not all the venues will probably be listed and dates probably won't be accurate (or listed) but this is a work in progress. Feel free to add your thoughts to the history of "urban" poetry in Arizona.


1996. Central and Camelback. Where it is now Johnny's Uptown, Orbit Cafe was the place to be. Sarge Linthicum – AZ's own "Slam Papi" if you will (a la Chicago's Mark Smith, founder of the poetry slam) – was the master of the mic. It became home to teen poets Harold "HB" Branch III and Truth (now better known as Divine). But there really wasn't a poetry home for Black poets in the Valley. So creative juices started flowing to capture this magic for a new audience.

1997. After HB – a student now at Arizona State University – participated in a campus poetry group's function (A Luta Poets), he began researching a way for an organization to sponsor an ongoing poetry event on campus. Through Promise of Progress, a monthly open mic was held in the Student Union. HB was the host. And it was standing room only. You couldn't wait until the next open mic night. The admission was nominal, and the money raised was for student scholarships. HB graduated, eventually went back to Chicago and became part of Enigma Poets. Lucky for AZ, HB returned to the heat a year or so ago.

A regular assistant during these poetry events was a poet by the name of Queen (aka Marchlarina Muhammad). It wouldn't be long before she, through her Queen of Queens Productions, would serve as the host for many poetry nights to follow.

Also during this time, an urban music magazine by the name of P.U.B. (The People's Underground Beat) – founded by R. K. Jackson and Danielle serving as editor – burst onto the scene. Writers Leah Marché and FlipSide, along with poet King Savior made their first connection while working with the publication.

1999. Two men, Kevin and Marvin came to Phoenix with the dream of opening up a nightclub. They bought a run-down bar on McDowell Road and 16th Street (in the Historic Coronado District), fixed it up and renamed it House of Grooves.

It didn't take long for it to become the hot spot for poetry and spoken word. It became one of the few places in the Valley where Black and Chicano youth could meet, dance, party. Poets like HB, Divine, Wisdom, King Savior, Shogun and so many others found a home. Through Queen's poetic energy, she governed a crowd and atmosphere where healthy competition flowed – poets were eager to drop their hottest and newest pieces and to rock the mic harder than the previous poet before them.

Well, the 'grooves' weren't felt by all. Neighbors soon got upset, didn't like the noise/the DTP (disturbing the peace), the litter – and well, probably the people. Visions of property value going down (uh, have you been in this area lately?). So the neighborhood association wrote the mayor, met with the city council, faxed the state legislature, set up a website - looking for a way to shut down the club. Eventually, a zoning violation (they moved an inside wall without asking the city) forced them out. And, well, the shooting that happened didn't help the situation.

Next spot... Cafe Boba, a quaint coffee shop, in Tempe on Mill Avenue hosted by Queen.

Next spot... Livingston's, a Black-owned soul food restaurant in Scottsdale. This was the place to be for poetry. Now, what Livingston's lacked in quality soul food (it just really wasn't that good) and customer service (it really was that bad), it made up for with the poetry. Once again poetry saves the day. It was packed. It was inspiring. Point blank, it was the best (maybe not better than House of Grooves, but it was really the only spot). And it again was hosted by Queen until Divine took over as host while Queen devoted time to her education and spiritual training. This was around 2002.

After Livingston's, which shut down, poetry was up for grabs. And several poets/promoters would try their hand at hosting nights. Over the years, poetry would take center stage at The Loft on Mill in Tempe or at HGM's in the Papago Plaza in Scottsdale to name a few, the latter of which would be hosted by Karolina Breeze or Baba Ne'gah. Issim Dark and Baba also briefly hosted The Lyrical Lighthouse. On the scene were others such as Kafiah Winston, Marcel Williams, Miouo Spear, Pharoah and Kevin Daily. Some of the poets formed groups, one being Politik N Poetry, and Issim Dark and King Savior were at one time Elevated Minds.

Wisdom (aka Planet Wisdom) hosted a night at club SOHO in Scottsdale. Queen was working on PoeticStreetBaL. During 2004, So Jazzy hosted Jazzy's Total Experience at Jacksons On Third on Sundays (open mic poetry following by an HYB Entertainment club night). Also in 2004 (April to be exact), Jerry Saunders out of Chicago started Live @ The Studio at Majerle's 9 Lounge in downtown Phoenix. Except for one or two hiatus, this night continues to this day.

Poet Xclusive began as The Studio's host, then Wisdom took on the gig. A year or so later, Wisdom got her own venue at Lucky Break (now Stoudemire's), then she moved to Coach & Willie's also in downtown Phoenix. She took a hiatus and soon returned. Now she hosts VYBe at The Door in Scottsdale.

Queen also returned to the Valley; she began a poetry event at the Boys & Girls Club in south Phoenix but soon took another position in Washington D.C. with the organization.

But back to 2004. Much dissension began taking place within the urban poetry community at this time. It was falling apart. There was little cohesion, many cliques. Everybody just wanted to shine. But people had issues with other people's light. Anonymous emails surfaced putting poets and the poetry scene on blast.

The following year, Issim Dark, Ms Marché, King Savior and FlipSide sought the support of Dr. Camilla Westenberg and Capucine Jackson to serve as mediators for healing the urban poetry community. What came out of this was BlackPoet Ventures formed July 2005 with the idea to bring artists together to share the stage in poetry productions – a shift from the norm of open mics and slams.

Queen moved out of state. Divine began hosting poetry at Omega Psi Phi Fraternity's Business Center in downtown Phoenix before moving to Entertainment Alley in Scottsdale (this venue shutting down in 2007). Divine – who also hosted ongoing events at ASU Downtown Campus, recently starred in the Iris Huey film "Second Chance" as well as featured in a local rendition of The Vagina Monologues – doesn't currently host a regular venue, but she conducts workshops and features at various events as well as concentrates on her acting career.

In 2007, after BlackPoet Ventures teamed with University of Arizona students Rowena Campbell and Ada Dieke for Soul Renaissance, Tucson began a regular open mic night, which Karolina help to coordinate and host.

Cherie Lewis aka Mon Cherie, also out of Chicago, came onto the scene with Poet Bar – which celebrates its 1-year anniversary as being the most recent poetry organization on the scene – at The Loft on Mill in Tempe every Friday. Since The Loft converted to a strip club, Poet Bar doesn't have a regular venue at this time.

This year, Karolina – who has hosted an open mic at Lil Mama's Soul Food Restaurant in the last few years – now hosts Verbal-Gasm at Mabel Murphys in Scottsdale every Thursday.

So, there you have it. Now you know, and you can't get it twisted (as Patti LaBelle would say when she's in concert and sing a song that she originally sung and that someone else has covered and made perhaps even more popular).

Over the years, there have been many poetry events in Arizona. But there were few choices for poetry back in the day. Fortunately, now there is an influx of choices to share this art form we love. And, there will be more poetry spots to spring up in the future. But as the poet mentioned at the outset brought up: We don't need any more poetry sects, it's time for some poetry community (unity).

As new poets on the scene emerge, the ones who were here in the beginning are still here. And there is still much work for them to do – first off, becoming better poets in order to create better poets... committing to being more about 'we' than 'me'.... and, ultimately, putting Arizona on the poetry map and keeping it there.

We are in charge of an oral tradition. We must see it, speak it, hear it and embrace it. As poet Kafiah Winston said: "With no disruption, there's no change." So, let's keep changing!



MAD PROPS GO TO...

Akua Doku who now lives in New York
NORAZ Poets in Flagstaff founded by Christopher Lane
Anthology, an organization around for more than a decade, and headed up by Bob Nelson. Check out his latest venture, AZPoetryPedia.com.