
Poetry to the People
A unique experience featuring an authentic blend of culture, conflict, social and sexual responsibility, awareness and the ever so common poetic theme of love, Poetry to the People is an award winning group whose message is clear: Poetry is Power!
Founded in 2004, Poetry to the People has brought "poetry in stereo" to thousands across the country. As a production, Poetry to the People creates a tag team spoken word experience that exposes viewers to the art form, while simultaneously addressing topics such as HIV/AIDS, relationships, civil/human rights, education, politics and many other issues that today's young people contend with.
The group is comprised of authors Milton "Rahnik" Jackson and Kendall "Chosen" Exume. Both are graduates of Eastern Connecticut State University with degrees in History and Social Sciences and Business Information Systems, respectively. Rahnik, author of three anthologies, including Life, Liberty and Love, Fire Light: Some Kind of Wonderful, and Freedom: Next Exit has sold over 10,000 copies of his acclaimed works. Chosen, author of Stimulation through Words has been performing for over half of a decade. A true wordsmith, his performances have left many spellbound and reflective. Both Rahnik and Chosen have been recognized with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award (2003, 2005) by Eastern Connecticut State University for their work in the area of social justice and advocacy. Rahnik was also a nominee for the Hartford Courant's Tapestry Award and is the recipient of the Freshwater Magazine literary award.
More recently, Poetry to the People published their first combined anthology entitled Defying Gravity: I Was Chosen, a book written to address issues of domestic violence, relationships, sexual awareness, extreme poverty and more.
The duo has shared the stage with artists such as HBO Def Poets Black Ice, Georgia Me, Dana Gilmore, Red Storm, Malik Yusef, J. Ivy and more. They have performed and featured at Columbia University, Trinity College (Hartford), University of Connecticut, University of Florida, Fredonia College, Eastern Connecticut State University, Wilkes University, East Stroudsburg University, Hesser College, Salem State College, Capitol Community College, SUNY ESF, the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts, the Artists Collective, the Underground Poets Cafe (Syracuse NY), Poets Realm and many, many more!


