Alyesha Wise

Alyesha Wise
Alyesha Wise sitting on a coach, wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt rolled up at the belly, grey sweatpants and a black headwrap
Wise in 2018
BornCamden, NJ
OccupationPoet, Speaker, Teaching Artist
GenrePoetry
Notable worksCarnival

Alyesha Wise, aka "Ms. Wise" is a poet, teaching artist[1] and co-founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement (S.L.A.M).[2][3] From Camden, N.J., Alyesha currently resides in Los Angeles where she also serves as a teaching artist for Street Poets, Inc. She previously served as the head coach of Da Poetry Lounge's slam team and a co-coach for the Get Lit Youth slam team.[4][5][6] Wise co-founded and was a co-host of The Pigeon Presents: The Philadelphia Poetry Slam. She has been featured in a speaking engagement on the TEDx Talk series in which she dedicated the talk to her younger sister and Camden. While in Philadelphia, Wise was a co-host of Jus Words,[7] the longest running weekly open mic in the city at the time. She also founded the organization Love, Us, a Philadelphia-based organization and annual production which worked to spread unity and self-love through the arts. The production was a large attraction in the Philadelphia poetry scene and a Twitter trending topic in 2010. She is currently the founder and organizer of Black Women Necessary, a safe space for black women. Wise also served as a former teaching artist and volunteer coordinator at New Earth, and continues to teach and mentor in Los Angeles youth detention centers.[8] In 2017, she authored the book, Carnival.[9][10] Ron Howard once said about Alyesha's performance style, "Very Powerful."[11]

  1. ^ "The Continuous Clapback: The Legacy of Language". calendar.ucsd.edu. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  2. ^ "Alyesha Wise's Black Women Necessary is an intimate, chillaxing activism – Generocity Philly". Generocity Philly. April 27, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  3. ^ "Interstellar Time Capsule Spotlight: Art", YouTube, December 19, 2014, retrieved June 9, 2024
  4. ^ "Alyesha Wise – "The Interview" spoken word (WOWPS 2016) | AFROPUNK". AFROPUNK. March 29, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Picture Perfect – Alysia Wise, by Apiary Magazine". Apiary Magazine. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  6. ^ "Alyesha Wise on How to Love Your Black Woman Body-SRMagOnline". Soul Reflectionz. December 20, 2016. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "L.A. Poet Spotlight: Alyesha Wise and Digesting Honest Pain Through Poetry ~ L.A. TACO". L.A. TACO. May 22, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  8. ^ "5 Important Poets You Should Know About". Affinity Magazine. February 5, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  9. ^ Johnson, Javon (July 17, 2017). Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813580036.
  10. ^ Wilson, Kristian. "This Slam-Poetry VR Experience Takes You Around The World". Bustle. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  11. ^ Howard, Ron (August 31, 2012). "Poet Ms. Wise. Very powerfulpic.twitter.com/OzGr2zEL". @RealRonHoward. Retrieved January 23, 2020.