About this Event
Indiana-based poet Kétu Oladuwa, who read to a full house at Framingham’s atac in 2024 and at the Community Church of Boston, is returning to read at the Community Church of Boston on April 4 at 7:00 pm. He will be joined by Maine poet Mark Burrows, and accompanied by the saxophone and bass duo, The Tinnitus Brothers. The Community Church of Boston is located at 565 Boylston Street, 2nd fl., Boston, MA 02116. This performance is free and open to all. A free-will donation will be accepted.
Kétu Oladuwa began the discovery of his Afrikan identity on Massachusetts death row when he was 21 years old. Convicted of a M**der he did not commit, in Pr*son the poetry and music of the Black Arts Movement liberated his sense of self. Released from captivity in 1971, he has worked as a journalist, educator, community arts activist, and poet. Now at 80 years old, his work as a poet, youth worker, and community Elder continues through his publishing at RootFolkz Poetz Press, public readings, mentoring young poets, teaching Afrikan drumming, counseling young activists in community engagement, and as the secretary of Fort Wayne’s People of Afrikan Decent Elders Council. In 1999 he co-founded a traditional Afrikan drum and dance ensemble for young people that studied Mandé culture and music during a two-month emersion in West Afrika. Since 2007 through a series of poetry, and jazz projects his work in Fort Wayne thrived before the onset of the Covid pandemic. With his daughter, RasAmen, he co-founded Death Row Shadows, to spotlight mass incarceration. You can hear Ketu's story in his own words, including the reading of one of his first poems, in this very moving YouTube video:
Tomorrow's Ken: Kétu Oladuwa (youtube.com)
Mark Burrows is a writer, editor, and facilitator of poetry retreats and workshops offered across the US and in Europe and Great Britain. In addition to his own poetry, he has published volumes of his translations of Rilke, Meister Eckhart, SAID and Hilde Domin.
For more information, contact Community Church of Boston at [email protected] or 617-266-6710; or Willie Sordillo at [email protected]
Join us In Person or on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/c/TheCommunityChurchofBostonOfficial
Programs are held on the 2nd floor in the Lothrop Auditorium.
Small elevator, wheelchair accessible.
CCB is located near the Orange line-Back Bay or the Green line-Copley T Stops.
Limited on Street Parking and at Back Bay Parking Garage, 199 Clarendon Street.
Discount Vouchers available for parking in the garage.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, Boston, United States
USD 0.00
