This event was part of Chicago Public Radio Presents: The 2nd Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago’s Hip-Hop Arts. Each poet performed their work as part of an Open Mic Showcase, followed by a post-performance conversation.

“The Block Party is a tribute to the working artist of the hip-hop generation in Chicago and an opportunity for the city, traditionally segregated, to see each other across neighborhood and viaduct.”
- Winter Block Party Artistic Director Kevin Coval.

Carolyn Rodgers emerged from the Black Arts movement in Chicago in the 1960s as a “revolutionary poet,” creating a distinct and profound black aesthetic.

John Murillo is an Afro-Chicano poet and playwright, a graduate of New York University’s MFA program, and a recent fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Aja Monet is a Cuban-Jamaican poet originally from Brooklyn, now residing in Chicago. At 22 years old, she is currently the youngest Grand Slam Champion of the Lower East side’s legendary Nuyorican Poet’s Café.

Recorded Sunday, January 17, 2010 at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater