Three Hawai’i-based poets join to honor Dr. Teresia Teaiwa on her birthday.

Dr. Teresia Teaiwa (1968-2017) was born in Honolulu to an i-Kiribati father and an African-American mother and was raised in Fiji. Teresia, a poet, academic and author, was widely known and respected in the Pacific as an educator whose research, teaching, and activism opened up space for Pacific Islanders to represent themselves on their own terms in the academy and in society at large. Committed to studying militarism and gender in the Pacific, Teresia was a steadfast critic of the human and environmental impacts of global militarism as an anti-nuclear activist and supporter of West Papuan independence. In 2004 her poem “Black in the Blue Pacific” highlighted the conflicting ways people experience and understand political and cultural Blackness in our region, giving voice again to those multiply marginalized by histories of colonization, imperialism, and anti-Blackness.

Z

Z is a spoken word artist and slam poet from Baltimore Maryland, who uses his words to passionately speak truth to power as well as educate. He is currently the 2019 Hawaii Grand Slam Champion and the 2019 Aloha Grand Slam champion who also hosts a virtual open mic every week on Instagram. He hopes to use his voice to create meaningful change in the black community and beyond.

Temple Divine

From a big city to a small island, Temple Divine has continued to exude hard work and excellence in life and on stage. By collaborating with other poets to start up a open mic in Honolulu Hawaii Temple’s network and partnerships continuously grew. Requiring more than snaps and claps, Temple's  poetic  works encourage listeners to truly delve inward and express their true emotions no matter what that may be. The joy she brings to strangers by use of her poetry make her apart of the family within minutes.

Mpho

is a creative artist born and raised in South Africa. She is the founder and host of the Journey With Mpho Podcast show - a platform that gifts her the opportunity to focus on heart’s passions: Poetry, Africa and Mental Health