In a new episode of Badass Black Girl, MJ talks with Lady Brion, a spoken-word artist, Cultural Curator of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, and Executive Director of the Black Arts District in West Baltimore. They discuss her background as a spoken-word poet, and what it takes to find success as a spoken-word artist. They also talk about the relationship between activism and art, her work in prisons and group homes, and performances at protests and rallies. They discuss ways that young people can become engaged in activism and the importance of attaching oneself to current movements that are in place, fighting for social justice. Lady Brion tells a little about her upbringing in East Baltimore and how that upbringing and her hometown informed her career. Other topics include Lady Brion’s commitment and passion for the Black community, how she practices self-care and the difficulty of finding balance between a personal life and a busy work schedule. In the end Lady Brion leaves us to ponder the question: How can art revitalize communities without resorting to gentrification?
Lady Brion is an international spoken word artist, poetry coach, activist, organizer, and educator. Brion is a recipient of the Open Society Institute Fellowship centered around her project facilitating poetry workshops in prisons and group homes throughout Maryland. She also received the 2017 Salzburg Fellowship for Social Innovators. She received her B.A. in Communications from Howard University and her MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. Brion is a board member and manager of 10 teaching artists, dispatching them to teach poetry workshops in middle and high schools in the Greater Baltimore Area for Dew More Baltimore, an art centered non-profit using spoken word as a tool to foster community and civic engagement. She also holds the position of Cultural Curator for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS), a grassroots think-tank which advances the public policy interest of Black people, in Baltimore, through: youth leadership development, political advocacy, and autonomous intellectual innovation. As an independent artist and entrepreneur, she offers artistic consulting, residencies and workshop, keynotes and other speaking engagements and spoken word performances around the world.