(JERSEY CITY, NJ) — In Full Color All-Stars will showcase music, poetry, stories, and more by 11 BIPOC artists on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at New Jersey City University School of Business Skyline Room. The event takes place from 6:30pm to 9:00pm, opening with light bites and vendors. Showtime is 7:00pm. There will be an intermission. Admission is free.
The event features Ameerah Shabazz-Bilal (with P.O.M.E), Emdash, Jackie Santos, Kai Xing Mun, Megha Sood, Nancy Méndez-Booth, RescuePoetix (with Tony Aldarondo), Venida C. Rodman Jenkins, and Vero Verano.
There is a limited $5 discounted parking available at the Whole Foods building at 135 Greene St., which you can validate at the In Full Color table at the event. For more information and accessibility needs, email NJCUWomensCenter@njcu.edu or call (201) 200-3189.
Entry is FREE. No registration is required. New Jersey City University School of Business Skyline Room is located at 200 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey.
This show is presented in partnership with NJCU & the Speicher-Rubin Women's Center's 50th Anniversary and is supported by funds from the Jersey City Arts Trust Fund.
MEET THE CAST
Ameerah Shabazz-Bilal | Ameerah (she/her) is an award winning poet from Newark, NJ. She is the 2020 recipient of the Maria Mazziotti Gillan Literary Service Award and has a unique talent for telling stories through poetry and Visual Arts. Ameerah Shabazz-Bilal is a Poet, Visual Artist, Teacher, Photographer and the founder/facilitator of - “When Women Speak” and “When People Speak.” The Author/Illustrator of “Breathing Through Concrete” with works featured in publications: “Every Kinda Lady and Her Sister Pages,” “Philadelphia Says: Black Lives Matter,” “Womb of the Violet II,” “American Muslim Journal,” “Soup Can” Magazine Issue 2, “Life in Qurantine - Global Pandemic.” Her mantra is: “Poetry isn’t poetry unless it’s Spoken...Word.”Ameerah was previously featured at our Calling Our Ancestors open mic and is part of our writing group Revising Out Loud. She will be accompanied by co-writer P.O.M.E. performing "Ma I might not make it home 2nite."
Emdash | Emily Lu Gao is a poet, writer, host, organizer, educator and daughter of Chinese immigrants. She writes to heal, grow, & decolonize. For publication history, click the desired genre above. She has performed at Unnameable Books, Malcolm X Library Branch in San Diego, ACLU San Diego, The San Diego Art Institute, Historic Filipinotown LA and more. Born in St. Louis, MO then raised in San Diego, she now lives in Jersey City, NJ. All pronouns welcome when used respectfully. When not writing, she can be found telling one too many jokes. This powerful writer also curates WORD Open Mic in Jersey City and will make their IFC debut with "Am I Happier Now?"
Jackie Santos | Jackie (she/her) is an Afro-Latina writer, poet, educator, and soon to be educational leader. Her writing explores her many layers; while speaking to joy, gratitude, grief and the flowers that live inside of her. She hopes her words make you feel at home and wrap you in the love we all deserve. Welcome home!The in her words alum has been part of IFC's touring troupe with corporate and educational showcases, and has been featured at Newark Porchfest and Bloom 2023. Jackie will perform "A Letter to Dad." Don't miss the debut of this exciting new piece!
Kai Xing Mun | Kai (she/they) is a nonbinary ace Malaysian-Chinese American actor who writes their own stories. They dream of becoming an actor with their own production company one day to bring communities together and spread love. At night, they're a burlesque artist and drag king.The IFC19 alum will perform "In Love with Love," our first piece about asexuality.
Megha Sood | Megha (she/her) is an award-winning Asian-American author, poet, editor, and literary activist from New Jersey. She is also a Literary Partner with “Life in Quarantine”, at Stanford University. Her four poetry collections include My Body Lives Like a Threat (FlowerSong Press, 2022) and My Body is not an Apology (Finishing Lines Press, 2021). A 2020 National Level Winner for the Poetry Matters Project, and a Four-Time State Level Winner for the NAMI NJ Dara Axelrod Poetry Award. Her 850+ works have been widely featured in print, online journals, public exhibits, and anthologies including the Poetry Society of New York, MS Magazine, NYPL, Pen Magazine by American Pen Women, PBS American Portrait, NPR, WNYC Studio, etc and numerous universities including Stanford University, Howard University, George Mason, Columbia University, etc. Her co-edited anthology “The Medusa Project” has been selected to be sent to the moon in 2024 as part of the historical LunarCodex Project in collaboration with NASA/SpaceX. Find her at https://linktr.ee/meghasood. The in her words alumna has performed for numerous IFC showcases for corporate and educational clients, and makes her IFC mainstage debut with her classic, "My Body is Not an Apology."
Nancy Méndez-Booth | Nancy (she/her) is a Jersey City-based writer/artist/performer and educator of Puerto Rican descent. Winner of the JCAC 2020 Literary Arts award, her work has appeared in print and online, including Poets & Writers and Salon, and she has performed at venues including Cornelia Street Cafe and The Moth. (Select performances can be viewed on YouTube.) Nancy is an alum of Rutgers-Newark (MFA, MA), Amherst College (BA), as well as the recipient of residencies to Vermont Studio Center, Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Blue Mountain Center, and NJ Women Playwrights Program. She is currently completing a fiction manuscript, The Mother Land, and serves as a technical writer and editor for clients including Stevens Institute of Technology. Follow her on social media for events, performances, publications (@nmenbooth Instagram, LinkedIn; Nancy Mendez-Booth Facebook author page), and subscribe to her Substack, "Underachiever" (nancymndezbooth.substack.com) for weekly musings on her Boricua life. The three-time IFC alum will perform a powerful new work, "Bittersweet Pill." You may have seen Nancy grace our stage in 2016, 2017 or 2019 -- or at other IFC programs including That One Comedy Night.
RescuePoetix | RescuePoetix (she/her) is the former Poet Laureate of Jersey City. She is a New Jersey native with deep family roots in Puerto Rico. Writing since she could remember, she found her performance voice and fell in love with Jersey City’s underground Arts diversity. She has over fifty original works recorded and developed collaborations from all corners of the world. Releases are available at a variety of online portals. RescuePoetix™ poetry is motivational, uplifting and empowering; designed to connect on a level far deeper than what the eye can perceive. Spinning verses in Spanish and English, her words weave stories of strength, growth, experience and love in its many evolving forms. @rescuepoetix https://linktr.ee/rescuepoetix. She will perform a piece co-authored with Tony Aldarondo, "I jut put on my revolutionary jacket."
Rev. Venida C. Rodman Jenkins | Venida (she/her) hails from Teaneck and is a founding board member of In Full Color and IFC17 alumna. She is passionate about providing love, visibility, encouragement and spaces of belonging to underrepresented groups, a current that ripples through all areas of her life.
She is the Director of the Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center for Equity and Diversity at New Jersey City University, and an Adjunct Professor at Newhouse NYC, Syracuse University. She is also one of the co-pastors at Forefront Church whose focus is Teaching & Community. Venida earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Syracuse University, and the Master of Divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary. Venida loves singing, sushi, and the arts. She resides in Jersey City, NJ with her partner-in-squashing-oppression, Todd L. Jenkins.
The IFC17 alumna and founding board member will perform her powerful piece, "I Am Not Your Negro." She is also one of the key producers of this event as the director of NJCU's Speicher Rubin Women's Center!
Vero Verano | Vero (she/ella) is an alt R&B and pop singer-songwriter whose playful, sensual songs are filled with vulnerability, passion and the occasional reggaeton beat. She’s Asian/Hispanic, proudly bi and lives in Jersey City, NJ. Inspirations include Kehlani, BANKS, Charli XCX, and SZA. She's also a big fan of Bad Bunny and Jesse Baez. She's also Summer Dawn, the founder/director of In Full Color.She'll be debuting a new song, "Revolutionary Girl."
