FreeQuency

A storyteller, speaker, host, workshop leader & performance artist, FreeQuency is a gender renegade Kenyan emmigrant|immigrant who self identifies as masculine off center, femme adjacent, an AunTea and|or a prettyboi. FreeQuency is the 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion and has been featured in The New York Times, OkayAfrica, Afropunk & many other outlets. Their performances have amassed millions of views online including a TED talk that almost didn’t get released and they have two books being published in 2023.

Black to the Future: Black Liberation Beyond #BlackLives Matter

Take Back The Night

Expanding Queer Histories & Futures

Diasporic Diction (for Black folks only) – Originally launched as an open mic by Slam New Orleans and later Noirlinians, Diasporic Diction has now expanded to include a workshop that centers global Black creativity and explores Black identity formation, (dis)place(ment), Africaness and our collective future. Part reflection-based dialogue, part historical exploration, part writing workshop, Diasporic Diction engages all members of Africa’s diasporas in a necessary and at times difficult conversation on connectivity, collective trauma & survival.

Ain’t I A Person? Ungendering The Construction of Humanity*: This workshop is a historical and contemporary exploration of how concepts of gender have interacted with people’s lived experiences and self-definitions. The workshop aims to look inside the construction of gender today and give language, context and history for how it came to be and why it needs to be continuously challenged and expanded. The workshop also aims to engage participants’ understanding of gender beyond biology and takes them through a journey of the social construction of gender & identity through writing and historical exploration.

*This workshop can be tailored specifically for Trans* & Gender Expansive/Fluid/Renegade gatherings at no additional charge

Demystifying Writing & Storytelling: This beginner level writing workshop aims to demystify the writing and creating process for those interested, yet apprehensive about starting to write and share their stories. It offers basic prompts, a guided self-reflection session designed to (re)discover your creative voice & writing process as well as other tools for curious, emerging writers.

Write to Live, Live to _______: Maya Angelou says, “even if your work doesn’t resonate with others, it is still worth writing. And that, is what’s important.” Writing, of all styles and skill levels saves lives regardless of whether those writing identify as writers. In contrast to ‘poetry as protest’, this workshop explores ‘poetry as (a) process’ for (re)engaging the selves (past, present & future selves) and a pathway for healing the individual & community regardless of whether one identifies as or becomes “a writer”.

Writing Wrongs – Poetry As Protest: This workshop challenges participants to move beyond notions of ‘art for art’s sake’ and explore how writing can be, has been and is being used as a tool for social change and unearthing (hi)stories buried under injustice, complacency and time. Participants in this workshop will explore the following questions and create their own pieces writing/speaking resistance: How has writing or art been viewed by oppressive regimes as a distinct form of protest (What is the connection between art and social justice)? How has writing been historically shaped as a tool of resistance and by whom? During this workshop, participants will look at the role art is playing in our current global political moment and how artists & creatives have challenged patriarchal expressions of resistance now and throughout history. The gathering challenges mainstream notions of art’s utility and production & analyzes the need for contextualizing creativity within a trauma-informed Black liberation framework.

Taking My Story Back – Reclamation Rituals For Survivors* – This trauma-informed workshop asks participants to engage writing as a grief ritual. Utilizing guided prompts designed to help excavate & reclaim the self, participants will be asked as well as taking the time to create self-discovery and care kits for the future in alignment with their own process of reclamation, this workshop is for people who are ready to give themselves permission to feel & to be seen

*Often used for Take Back the Night or other such events surrounding survivors of sexual assault

Sema! A Performance, Communication and Public Speaking Workshop –

Storytelling has recently become a corporate buzzword, but it is part of an ancient and revered tradition of communication, cultural preservation, and information exchange in indigenous communities. This workshop teaches participants the foundations of public speaking, performance, and storytelling in order to become a more effective communicator in their everyday lives or in a specific performance or event.