We Are Becoming: A Poetry Workshop & Performance with FreeQuency

We became. Again. And we are becoming.

What does it mean to write yourself into existence? To name your own becoming?

Join BYP100 Detroit for the kickoff of Black Youth Weekend — a three-day celebration of Black youth, art, and liberation — as we welcome FreeQuency, BYP100 alum, Kenyan immigrant, Shoga/Queer storyteller, and 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion.

This is not just a performance. It is a space to gather, to write, to share, and to witness. We will hold a poetry workshop, open the floor for participant sharing, and close with a featured performance by FreeQuency.

This event honors the radical tradition of Black storytelling — the tradition of Toni Morrison, who said: "We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives."

FreeQuency is a Kenyan, Immigrant, Shoga|Queer storyteller, speaker & feeler. The 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, a 2017 TEDWomen speaker, and ranked 3rd at the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam, FreeQuency is a highly sought-after performer, host, social justice teaching artist, and workshop leader.

Rooted in various global communities and having spent their life at the intersection of arts, education, and activism, they and/or their work in Reproductive Justice, #BlackLivesMatter organizing & activism, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and writing have been featured in The Independent, The New York Times, OkayAfrica, Upworthy, TEDx, For Harriet, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, and other outlets.

FreeQuency is the author of (On | Un)Becoming, Winner of the 2026 Poetry Prize from the Midwest Independent Publishers Association.

This event is the first of three powerful gatherings celebrating Black youth and our collective becoming:

• Thursday, Nov 12: Poetry Workshop & Performance with FreeQuency (this event)
• Friday, Nov 13: Toni Cade Bambara Cultural Organizing Screening & Performance
• Saturday, Nov 14: People's Potluck — open mic, free store, and community fellowship

Come for one. Come for all three. Let's become together.

• Black youth and young adults (18–35) ready to write, speak, and be heard
• Poets, artists, and storytellers at any level — from first-timers to seasoned performers
• Community members committed to healing, justice, and Black liberation
• BYP100 members, prospective members, and movement elders

No experience required. This is a space for the shy writer, the first-time performer, and the quiet observer alike. Come as you are.

We are living through a moment that demands our voices. Poetry is not a luxury — it is a lifeline. It is how we testify. It is how we remember we are not hallucinating. It is how we become.

As Barbara Christian wrote: "What I write and how I write is done in order to save my own life. And I mean that literally."

This evening is about saving our own lives — together.

Food will be provided. FreeQuency's book (On | Un)Becoming will be available for purchase, and BYP100 swag will be on hand.

• Wheelchair accessible
• Quiet space available for anyone who needs a break
• Dietary restrictions collected at registration
• Child care available upon request

• Follow BYP100 Detroit: @byp100_detroit
• Follow FreeQuency: @freequencyspeaks
• Subscribe to
• Fill out our interest form: bit.ly/bypDetroit

We are becoming the past. The present. The future. Come become with us.

In solidarity,
BYP100 Detroit