NOTE: This contribution is for the in-person event only and does NOT include the livestream (CLICK HERE for the livestream page).

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY CELEBRATION!

ATIBA KWABENA WILSON & KIYOKO YAMAOKA-LAYNE

Atiba Kwabena Wilson is a musician, published poet, storyteller, and the founder/artistic director of both the Songhai Djeli Folkloric Ensemble and the Befo' Quotet Rhythm 'n' Dues Band. He has been a featured artist for several National Association of Black Storytellers festivals, the International African Arts Festival and at FESTAM International Music Festival, Inc. in Dakar, Senegal. Atiba also served as the artistic director of the Music Meets Poetry series at Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza from 1999 to 2009, and wrote a poetic narrative for, and performed in, Harlem School of the Arts' presentation of the Kwanzaa Nutcracker from 1996 to 2002. He has also recorded with Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber. 
Atiba can be contacted at befoquotet@hotmail.com 

Kiyoko Yamaoka-Layne is a classically trained pianist from Kyoto, Japan. She was a member of the well-known Japanese Gospel Choir the Naniwa Black Peppers and later moved to the US to study Jazz and Gospel at the Berklee College of Music, where she earned a degree in Jazz Composition. Since moving to Harlem in 2008, Kiyoko has performed in numerous jazz clubs, in the house band at the Jazz Foundation of America's Monday Night Jam, and at United Nations Plaza, while also working as music librarian for the Duke Ellington Orchestra and teaching. Her first CD, “Kiyoko in Harlem,” came out in 2009. 
facebook.com/kiyoko.yamaoka.7

Listen to Atiba and Kiyoko performing "If I Smile"
 
THELMA RUFFIN THOMAS

Thelma Ruffin Thomas is the artistic director of Pearls of Wisdom, a touring ensemble of elder storytellers. She has brought her lively, spirited, authentic presentations to Tanzania, Brazil, Ghana, Costa Rica, The Gambia, South Africa, Russia, Australia, Kenya, and Cameroon, continuing the tradition of elder folk art stories.
 facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004383556400

READINGS BY:

ELIJAH DIXON OWENS

Elijah is a 2019 graduate of Earlham College. He spent three years teaching various grades in Japan and then taught history and English Language Arts to 5th-grade students at a Bronx middle school. Elijah loves music and was a member and leader of an a cappella group in college, amongst other activities.  He also loves debate, politics, and public speaking -- he won the Declamation contest at his high school, the Brooklyn Latin School. 
For several years, Elijah served as a volunteer for the Central Brooklyn Martin Luther King Commission -- a non-profit organization founded by his grandfather, the late Congressman Major R. Owens (D-NY). Elijah is interested in urban planning and public transportation.  

BRACHA LIEBERMAN

Bracha Lieberman, a social worker and career counselor, is President of the Peoples’ Voice Cafe Board of Directors and has also served on the Steering Committee of the People's Music Network. She sings with the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, does some songwriting, studied acting at Circle in the Square and HB Studios, and played a variety of roles in community theater productions, and she believes that community counts. She is dedicated to taking action to make the world a better place, and her personal motto is  "Start your day off with an act of kindness!"

PLUS A FREEDOM SONG SING-ALONG!

(Looking for livestream? STOP! This page is for in-person event! See above for the livestream link.)

Check out other PVC events happening soon

COVID-19 POLICY
Effective March 23, 2024, the Peoples' Voice Cafe will no longer require that anyone who attends wear a mask. We will continue to keep a supply of masks on hand for anyone who wants one.
Also effective March 23, 2024, Peoples' Voice Cafe will resume the sale of snacks and beverages.
Other covid safety protocols remain unchanged. We will continue to limit in-person attendance to 85, we will continue to use three HEPA filters in the Assembly Hall, we will continue to offer live streaming, and we will continue to recommend (but not require) vaccination and/or testing.

After on-line sales for in-person tickets have ended, tickets will still be available at the door.