Kuumba: Poetry and Jazz in the Spirit of Liberation

Welcome to Kuumba: Poetry and Jazz in the Spirit of Liberation! Join us for an evening of powerful spoken word poetry and soulful jazz music that celebrates the spirit of liberation. Let the words and melodies transport you to a place of inspiration and empowerment.

Date: Thu Feb 27 2025

Time: 5:00 PM

Location: Westerbeck Recital Hall

This is a free event open to the Pasadena/Altadena and surrounding community!

Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is Professor of Music at the USC Thornton School of Music where he served as chair of the Jazz Studies department for six years (2002-2008). Prior to his appointment at USC he served as Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC (1999-2001). He has served as Professor of Music and chair of the Afro-African American Studies Department and served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota (1990-1999).

Librecht Baker authored vetiver (published by Finishing Line Press), is an English professor and 4th year Ph.D. candidate at a University of California school. Baker's full-length play, "Taciturn Beings," was a semi-finalist for the 43rd annual Bay Area Playwright's Festival and part of The Vagrancy's "Blossoming: A New Play Reading Series" 2019. Baker is a co-writer of Black Girl Magic Creative Series' film Expected/Unexpected, which was accepted in to the 2024 "Atlanta Black Theater Festivals's Short Film Series" and Los Angeles' Micheaux Film Festival. Baker's one-act play, "Afterlife or Bust" can be experienced, on SoundCloud, via Q Youth Foundation's "Eastside Queer Stories: Radio Plays" and the poem "You are Who I Love: Number Two or You are Who Makes My Heart Rebel (Part 1)* can be read, online, at Cultural Daily.

Host or Publisher Institutional Equity, Diversity and Justice