"Putting Disability in the Mix" Hip-Hop, Poetry & Comedy

Press Release

Issued: April 6th, Los Angeles, CA
Krip your mind and limp your style at "Putting Disability in the Mix," an event at Los Angeles City College's Tully's Cafe on Friday, May 6th at 7pm and Saturday, May 7th at 2pm. The shows and parking are free. The campus is located on Vermont Blvd. between Santa Monica and Melrose. There is a Metro Red Line stop nearby.

The show is sponsored by Krip-Hop Nation and Truth & Pain and will feature hip hop artists, poets, and comedians. It is brought to LACC by English professor Evan "Bones" Kendall who, with DC Curtis, co-authored “Truth & Pain starring the Gangsters & Retards in... The Mystique-cal Person-a of MC Cripple Crip,” a novel featuring teenagers with disabilities. The novel was discovered by Leroy Moore, the central figure in Krip-Hop Nation, an international group of performing artists with disabilities. Moore invited Curtis and Kendall to a San Francisco event in February, and now a similar show will take place in Los Angeles.

Coming from all over the state, performers will include poets Leroy Moore, Lateef McCleod, Nathan Say, Keith Jones, hip hop artists, Roxx Da Foxx, DJ Quad, comedian Nina G, as well as authors DC Curtis and Bones Kendall.

Celebrating the diversity of the disability community, "Putting Disability in the Mix" will make you sing, shake, and laugh with these performers, authors, and comedians of various abilities, attitudes, and attributes as they open minds and win hearts. The show is appropriate for adults and teenagers, though some explicit language may be used.

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Performer bios:

Leroy Moore - is a black, disabled writer, poet, hip-hop music lover, community activist, and feminist. For well over a decade he has worked tirelessly promoting his perspective on identity, race, and disability. A performer and lecturer, Moore is known as "The Black Cripple." He has been a guest presenter in high schools and universities across the country and in Canada, the UK, and Holland. Moore has a poetry CD entitled "Black Disabled Man with a Big Mouth & a High I.Q." He is also the creator of Krip-Hop Nation. Moore was co-host of the radio show "Pushing Limits" on KPFA. He is a consultant on race and disability, a producer, a columnist at Poor Magazine and IDEAL magazine, and is co-founder and community relations director of Sins Invalid. His upcoming book of poetry is entitled "The Black Kripple Delivers."

DC Curtis and Bones Kendall - met studying literature at UCLA. Both worked in the entertainment business for many years before becoming English teachers, DC at a high school and Bones at Los Angeles City College. They co-wrote "Truth & Pain starring the Gangsters & Retards in... The Mystique-cal Person-a of MC Cripple Crip," a novel about a group of teenagers, four from the streets and four from a home for the so-called disabled. Though not disabled themselves, they are friends and advocates for people with disabilities. Their novel challenges stereotypes and argues for a kind of inclusiveness that is not based on pity.

DJ Quad LA - At the age of sixteen, he became paralyzed after breaking his neck while diving in the ocean at Venice Beach. A few years after that he became a deejay and after initial success found himself working as a music producer. DJ Quad is the CEO of his own record label, 5h Battalion Entertainment. In addition to being a disabled hip hop artist, he is a music producer, studio engineer, graphic designer, and founder of Fifth Gear Clothing.

Keith Jones - President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences, an organization aimed at bringing a perspective to the issues of access inclusion and empowerment, which affect him as well as others with disabilities. He is also a hip-hop artist and advocate for social justice. Recently Jones created his own documentary, "Un-Rapping Disabilities."

Lateef McCleod - A phenomenal black poet with cerebral palsy who just published his first poetry book entitled "A Declaration Of A Body Of Love" this year. He is also in process of writing a novel tentatively called "The Third Eye Is Crying." He was also a cast member of the 2007 Sins Invalid performance and this year was in another Sins Invalid performance entitled Resident Alien. He works at United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate as a grant writer and blogger and for the World Institute of Disability as an intern. He has earned a BA in English from UC Berkeley and a MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. You can gain more information about Lateef from his blogs at teefdabiggafigga.blogspot.com and ucpgg.org/lateefs-view-of-the-bay.

Nathan Say - Poet & Community Organizer found poetry by accident during a literature class he was taking. Prior to moving to San Diego, California to start a new life and dedicate large chunks of time to poetry, he worked at the University of Hawaii's Center on Disability Studies, where he was Project Coordinator of the My Voice, My Choice Project, a youth program for youth and young adults with developmental disabilities. He was also on the organizing committee for Abled Hawaii Artists/Art Enabled, Honolulu's yearly celebration of the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nathan's first full length show is set to debut November 2011 in San Diego, California. He maintains a blog at http://www.nathansaypoetry.wordpress.com

Nina G - Bills herself as the world’s only female comedian who stutters (or at least until she finds another one). She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and performs at comedy clubs and events. She blends a combination of humor, activism, and education about the experience of people with disabilities.

Roxx Da Foxx - An all-American singer, rapper, songwriter, model, and advocate for women against domestic violence as well for people living with disabilities. Roxane was born and raised in Los Angel