Poetry Jam-VCR Vernon C Robinson

$10

VCR (Vernon C. Robinson) is a Dorchester native born and raised in Boston. He has been writing, reciting and performing poetry/spoken word for nearly 20 years and has performed at several local spots as a feature and participant. He has poetically graced the same stage and opened up for such acts as Dead Prez, S.O.S. Band, Amiri Baraka, Pharoahe Monch, Suheir Hammad, Lakeside, New Birth, Last Poets, Les Nubians, Saul Williams, Jessica Care Moore, Georgia ME, Michel’le and other well-known artists. In addition to Massachusetts, he has taken his poetry to cities and states such as New York (including the famous Nuyorican Poets Café), Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Cleveland, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and, surprisingly, Cuba, where he met the legendary Assata Shakur. VCR is also the founder and cultural event organizer of BloodSkinLand Productions. From that umbrella, he has created many annual gatherings which include Devotion, Megacipher, InFRESHstructure, Afro-Cinema, Maylennium, Young Gifted & Black, BomBARDed, and the popular ongoing gathering called VerBaLizAtiOn, which is currently the longest-running open mic spot in the Boston area of over 25 years. VCR’s debut CD entitled “Poetic Insanity”, released in 2003. VCR has been nominated for Best Male Spoken Word Artist at the 2006 New England Urban Music Awards, twice for Best Spoken Word Artist at the 2006 & 2007 M.I.C. Hip-Hop Awards and for Spoken Word Artist of the Year at the 2023 Boston Music Awards. In 2011, he became one of many awardees of the NAACP Image Awards of the Boston chapter. In 2014, VCR was awarded the Ralph F. Browne Jr. Juneteenth Incentive Award by the Boston Juneteenth Committee and the National Center of Afro-American Artists for creating and sustaining VerBaLizAtiOn. In 2024, he was awarded the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Senate Official Citation (presented by Senator Liz Miranda) for the recognition of VerBaLizAtiOn’s 25 years of dedication. VCR’s “Kangaroo Joy” became the official poem for then Boston City Councilor At-Large and current Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s annually “Jump Into Peace” event. In addition to that, he has also performed at the Congresswoman’s cultural arts swearing-in fundraiser with a poem entitled “Change Can’t Wait,” – named after the slogan used by Pressley during her campaign. In 2022, he has released his long-awaited poetry book entitled “Obsoletes & Upgrades”. In 2025, VCR was inducted into the Lizard Lounge Hall of Fame during the event’s 28-year anniversary.

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