Aafroqween (Fisiwe Zwana Freeman) is a poet, spoken word artist, vocalist, and published author of a collection of poems entitled “lovewords: poetry from a place called love”. She is the Founder and first Host of “The Sugar Shack Café Open Mic Showcase” in Harlem NY. Later she became a host for “Hottest Poets Open Mic” at Mocha Lounge, also in Harlem. As a member of the woman- centered, Spoken Word, Song and Dance Trio Precious Gift Aafroqween has performed from New York City to Canada. In 2000 Precious Gift (Tantra Zawadi, Iyapiphany and Fisiwe) released their spoken word cd "Selling My Diamonds" at Danny Simmons’ Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn NY. In 2005, Tantra Zawadi and Fisiwe released their joint project “Natural-Bring That Poem Home”.

Aafroqween hosted her own internet radio show “LoveArtLife” on Onthamove Radio from 2007-2011.   She was a featured voice on Talaam Acey’s “Morally Bankrupt Volume One: The Wickedest Man In Babylon” and “Mood Demystify”, Queen Sheba’s “Domino Effect”, and Les Nubians “Echoes: Nubian Voyager”. She has been a poetry workshop facilitator, authored and implemented writing curriculum for adult learners and served as an educator for at risk youth and adults with special needs for agencies such as Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Employee Wellness Workshops for the US Department of Veteran Affairs, New York Regional Office and Carpenters Union-Minority Workers Training Program NYC/Brownfields NJ. She is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of LoveArtLifeTV, centering voices of the African diaspora through culture and arts; and the CEO of AafroqweenAuthentic, an African influenced lifestyle brand rooted in celebrating the authenticity of the Black woman’s lived experience.

Warda is a Colombian-Palestinian artist born in Bogotá, Colombia. Warda finds their joy in the ways in which they utilize different mediums to create pictures that can communicate feelings both introspective and sociocultural.

Having begun their journey in the arts through poetry, they find passion in storytelling of emotions. As their works continued, they found joy in communicating these joys in digital collage art, tatreez, multilingual poetry with the influence of magical realism and surrealism.

This journey intertwined with their love for their cultural heritage and passion for activism both inside and outside of the art realm. Their hope is to create works that reflect some of the emotions and experiences they have lived in an impactful way.

Charleston, South Carolina native Kimberly Brown (26) is nothing short of a philanthropist in training. She is truly known for being a lover of plants, people, poetry, and purpose! Her focus is on family, women, food security, education, and land rights. From youth sustainability outreach to advocacy with the GA Youth Fellowship, Brown is a woman of service. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 2018 to study Psychology (Georgia State University), she vowed to serve her new community faithfully. She soon joined The Black Student Movement Association, where she learned what it meant to cater to the underserved during their giveaway inspirational days located in Hurt Park (Downtown Atlanta.) This inspired Kimberly to start her organization, B.A.P. (better is always possible) where she and a few of her dorm mates would travel to the different grocery stores and collect food items to bless other college students in need. In 2020, Brown started a program for youth in East Atlanta, educating them on permaculture practices and teaching community economics via the neighborhood market supported by the community garden and local vendors. After two healthy years, Brown decided her outreach wouldn’t end there, and she began to establish herself in the community, partnering with local gardens united with the Food Well Alliance. She currently teaches writers' workshops covering all genres and also educates families about ways to become more self-sufficient in the most Eco-friendly ways via her Organization, EKOU SISTAHS. (EARTH KEEPERS OPERATING IN UNITY) Kimberly’s goal is to bring awareness to fundamental areas of growth that will advance the betterment of communities and each individual being that make up the families of today.

Lexi Markham (they/them) is a Sophomore at Paideia School in Atlanta, Georgia. In their free time, they love to write poetry, read, and be outside. In 2024 they joined VOX ATL Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador Program. Lexi helped cofound a Trans Club at their high school, as well as an Environmental Club in their elementary school. They first engaged YOU(th) Belong in March 2023 when they shared poetry at YOU(th) Belong … On The Stage at OUT Front Theater and has volunteered at Compassion-Con and other LGBTQ+ Institute events. They hope to inspire others to fight for LGBTQ+ rights, embrace love, and exist authentically.

Martha Caldwell, veteran educator and DEI consultant, draws on the power of story to make the psychological dimensions of identity visible. She has facilitated hundreds of conversations about race, sexuality, and gender experience with thousands of people. Her interactive teaching style enhances empathy, inspires innovative thinking, and catalyzes leadership development.  

Martha's articles have appeared in Independent Schools Magazine, Greater Good Magazine, Youth Today, Middle School Journal, and EdWeek. She is the co-author Gender and Sexuality: An Educator's Guide, Let’s Get Real: Exploring Race, Class, and Gender Identities, and Facilitating Conversations about Race. Yet as the parent one trans and one nonbinary child, she is still on a steep learning curve

Martha has a bachelor’s degree in religion and a master’s degree in education from Florida State University.

Shawn Johnson aka Mr Fearless is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a singer, songwriter and spoken word poet who believes in creating safe spaces for independent artists. He is the Creative Director and Operations Manager of Fearless Indie Entertainment Inc based in Atlanta, Georgia established in 2015. Shawn uses his platform to INSPIRE, ENTERTAIN & INFORM.

L. Lamar Wilson (he/We) is the author of Sacrilegion—the 2012 Carolina Wren Press Poetry Series selection, a 2013 Independent Publishers Group bronze medalist, and a 2013 Thom Gunn Award finalist—and co-author of Prime: Poetry and Conversation (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2014). The Gospel Truth, a musical adaptation of Sacrilegion, thrilled capacity audiences in Miami and Tallahassee, Fla., the latter time with a troupe that celebrates the unique embodiment of Wilson and other disabled artists. The Changing Same, a Rada Film Group collaboration that airs on PBS, won the 2019 Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Best Documentary Award and a special jury prize at the 2018 New Orleans Film Festival. The poem featured in the film, “Resurrection Sunday,” earned a Pushcart Prize nod; another came in 2020 for “Quare.” Other works have appeared in The Nation, This Is the Honey (Hatchette, 2024), Bigger than Bravery (Lookout Books, 2022), the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, African American Review, Black Gay Genius (2014), Bodies Built for Game: The Prairie Schooner Anthology of Contemporary Sports Writing (U of Nebraska P, 2019), Callaloo, Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry (Northwestern UP, 2019), Interim, A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia (U of Georgia P, 2019), The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, NPR, The 100 Best African American Poems (2010), Obsidian, Oxford American, Poetry, Race and Utopian Desire in American Literature and Society (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), The Root/The Washington Post, south, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. Wilson has received fellowships from, among others, the Cave Canem, Civitella Ranieri, Ragdale, and Hurston-Wright foundations. He’s a Florida A&M alumnus and holds an MFA from Virginia Tech and a doctorate in African American and multiethnic American poetics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wilson, an Affrilachian Poet and the 2024-2025 Mohr Visiting Poet at Stanford University,

teaches creative writing, film and gender studies, and African American poetics at Florida State University and in the Mississippi University for Women’s low-residency MFA program.