RichOak Events is a spoken word and literary arts organization based in the SF Bay Area dedicated to providing equitable platforms for self expression to underserved and intentionally silenced communities both through virtual media and in person interactive engagements. Our top priority at RichOak Events is to facilitate a space to empower people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, abilities and ages to tell their own stories in ways that will produce positive change on a local, national, and global level. Learn more about us at richoakevents.org.
RichOak Events Presents the Oakland Slam Showcase
The Oakland Poetry Slam is one of the longest running poetry shows in the Bay Area. Founded in 1993, the Oakland Poetry Slam is now a part RichOak Events. Join us for an evening of poetic excellence, featuring the most prominent voices to have touched Oakland Poetry Slam, including Reggie and Collin Edmonds, Caleilia, Bambi, D'mani Thomas, Prophet, and Tino V.H. Jr.
The Wonder Twins
D'mani Thomas is a queer, Black visual theorist, horror enthusiast, and writer from Oakland, California (Ohlone territory). D’mani has received fellowships from The Watering hole, Foglifter literary journal, and Bakanal de Afrique via Afro Urban Society. His work has been published by The Auburn Avenue, The Ana, Youth Speaks, MARY: A Journal of New Writing, and shortlisted for the 2020 Penrose Poetry Prize. His current work obsesses over what it means to create intimacy under total surveillance. Look out for his new collection of poetry with Nomadic Press in 2023.
Caleilia is a 25 year old trans femme who attempts to pretend to be a poet. She has been writing down words to formulate thoughts since she had the ability to do so and she has pursued her art ever since. Caleilia was an organizer of The Berkeley Poetry Slam from 2015-2020 and was a member of the Oakland Slam team in 2017. Much of her writing has dark themes and intense emotions, so she hasn’t always put her well-being before her desire to create art. When the pandemic struck, she took a step back from her writing in order to focus on healing herself. Now she has returned! She tries her best to convince the scramble of a mind that possesses her to find the will to live and help others who struggle like she does. Each poem is a performance for the audience, but they are the schematics of Caleilia’s road to a healthy, happy, and helpful life.
Bambi is a black, queer writer from Atlanta, Georgia. They identify as a person who “sometimes can put words together well enough to win slams, write books and just generally talk their shit”. They double as the menace dancing by themselves at the club yelling “Get into iiiit” and the author of “Accidentally Ordered an Espresso”.
Prophet
Tino V. H. Jr. is a Mexican-American spoken word poet born and raised in Oakland, CA. He attended UC Santa Cruz, pursuing a degree in Literature. At UCSC he participated as a part of the school’s CUPSI team between the years of 2014-2015, and coached the 2017 team. He was also a part of the Legendary Collective in Santa Cruz in 2018, where they traveled to Southwest Shootout in Albuquerque, NM and won. His work explores im/migration, indigeneity, the hood, queerness, feminism, and decolonial frameworks. He currently organizers with RichOak Events in the East Bay (co-curating 4 shows: Alchemy Open Mic, Poetry Garden, the Oakland Poetry Slam and the Berkeley Poetry Slam) and is one of four members of FDK (Fuck Dem Kids!) with D’mani Thomas, Collin and Reggie Edmonds. In his spare time he constantly updates his “Best Tacos in East Oakland” list, plays too many video games and writes pre-colonial high fantasy. Check out his self published chapbook: The Deep East: And Other Places I’d Never Catch You In.
The Oakland Poetry Slam is part of RichOak Events. Join us at other affiliating shows, including Berkeley Slam, the Alchemy Open Mic, and the Poetry Garden. For more information, find us at richoakevents.org
Venue: Oakland Street Food Leg: Two 5:30PM
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