Poetry luminary Langston Hughes wrote a poem about Back resistance and resilience in Deep South Jim Crow Miami— “The Ballad of Sam Solomon” is an ode to Sam Solomon, a Miami resident and civil rights activist who defied the klan by encouraging Black voters in segregated Overtown to cast their ballots in the 1930s.

In this important year, join us at an Overtown speakeasy, the same neighborhood where this poem is set. The same neighborhood that was the site of Black resistance that inspired Langston Hughes to write a poem spotlighting fearlessness, defiance and Black personhood.

In this subversive poetry cypher, we invite Miamians to write and share their disruptive poems that resist, that challenge the status quo, that document past or current fights and wins, that tear down all the —isms. This is an invitation to speak up and resist.

Thursday, April 11

7P – 7:75P | Mingling, Poetry Writing, and Live Music

8P | Welcome Grounding

8:10P | “Ballad of Sam Solomon” Poetry Reading, Open Mic

9:15P | End