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Jamara Mychelle Wakefield
Born (1982-01-25) January 25, 1982 (age 42)
Boston, MA
OccupationPoet/Theatre Artist
NationalityAmerican
SubjectJazz, Blues, African-American and Black Diaspora History, Gender and Sexuality, Theatrical Jazz Aesthetic
Notable worksLove Words Soft Spoken, SHE

Jamara Mychelle Wakefield (born January 25, 1982, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American spoken word poet, community organizer and writer, previously known by her stage name London Bridgez.[1][2][3][4][5] She founded Neo.logic Beatnik Assembly,[6] an idea shop and creative arts production company, and organized the TEDxRoxburyWomen event featured on Basic Black, a TEDTalks event in Boston.[7]

Wakefield was born at home on 19 Mt. Ida Road in the Uphams Corner Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

She has released two EPs, Love Words Soft Spoken and SHE.[8] In 2014 she released her third studio album Children of the Night [9] In 2018, she released the EP titled Unplugged [10] In 2020, she released the album MARY

Although she started as a solo poet, she sometimes has an entire band or performs with a live scratch DJ.

Performances

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She has appeared throughout New England and across the US. Performances include Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast sponsored by the Aids Action Committee,[11] a YWCA fundraiser to support the production of VDAY Lawrence, Queer Women of Color Week[12] Provincetown Women of Color Weekend,[13] the Hispanic & Black Gay Coalition Panel Series, the Milwaukee Pridefest, Fresh Fruit Festival, National Day of Silence, NYC Pridefest Stage, Sister's Talk Radio and the Aids Walk Boston Opening Ceremonies. She performed as "Lady in Green" in Pariah Theatre's June 2014 rendition of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf originally written by Ntozake Shange.

Other performance credits include the Nuyorican, Tutuma Social Club, Williamsburg Jazz Center Brooklyn, The Indigo Lounge Los Angeles, Manhattan Neighborhood Network TV One Different Community Voices Show, Nashville based BB KING's Restaurant & Lounge, Boston Greenfest, The Strand Theater- Boston, Acoustic Soul Lounge- Manhattan, MIT, Northeastern University, Emerson College, Anna Deveare Smith's Mattering Forum,[14] and BAM Fischer.[15] In 2016, she was a short list finalist for the 2016 Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Playwrights.[16] Her piece Why I Love Being Black: Reaching Deep Into the Earth was published in The Indypendent a New York City-based free newspaper and online news site.[17] On March 8, 2017, she performed at the Washington Square Rally A Day Without Women Strike performing two long form protest poems.[18][19][20][21][22] In 2017, her play The Great Dismal Swamp was short listed for the Leslie Scalapino Prize for Innovative Women Writers.[23] That work was then Directed by Imani in the 2017 LadyFest at The Tank.[24] In 2018, her one-woman show play Jubilee! (Women's Debt, Women's Revolution) premiered at THE TANK NYC[25]

In addition to writing for the performance stage, she is an arts and culture author for Shondaland[26] (Shonda Rhime's media platform), Playboy,[27] Broadway World,[28] Broadway Black,[29] Very Smart Brothers, CUNY Center for Humanities and B-Word Magazine.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Spoken Word Poet & Solo Theater Performer". London Bridgez. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  2. ^ "Jamara Wakefield". TEDxWomen. 2013-12-05. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  3. ^ "» "Know Who You Are": Interview with Spoken Word Artist London Bridgez / Live Unchained". Liveunchained.com. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  4. ^ "Basic Black - BBlack Perspectives Now". Wgbh.org. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  5. ^ "Tufts Daily". Tufts Daily. 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  6. ^ http://www.neologicbeatnik.com Archived 2013-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "TEDxRoxburyWomen - Big Ideas by Local Women: "Invented Here" | TEDx". TED.com. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  8. ^ "iTunes - Music - Love Words Soft Spoken by London Bridgez". Itunes.apple.com. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  9. ^ "iTunes - Music - Children of the Night by London Bridgez". Itunes.apple.com. 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2014-10-03.
  10. ^ "Jamara Wakefield". Spotify.
  11. ^ "AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts: Home". Aac.org. 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  12. ^ "Queer Women of Color and Friends (QWOC+ Boston) » QWOC WEEK". Qwocboston.org. Archived from the original on 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  13. ^ "Provincetown, MA". Women Of Color Weekend. 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  14. ^ annadeaveresmithprojects.net/mattering1/
  15. ^ "WITH: t'ai freedom ford, Keelay Gipson, & Theodore Kerr at BAM". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Brigid McLeer's The Triumph of Crowds Wins 2016 Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Playwrights by Harriet Staff". Poetry Foundation. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Jamara Wakefield - The Indypendent". The Indypendent. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Daily Show for March 09, 2017". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Jamara Mychelle Wakefield, of the Black Lives Matter movement, speaks..." Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Jamara Mychelle Wakefield, of the Black Lives Matter movement, speaks..." Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Watch the New York City Women's Day March in 360°". Time. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  22. ^ School, The New (20 March 2017). "Jamara Wakefield '14 Delivers Electrifying Poetry at the Women's Day Rally". Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Leslie Scalapino Finalists Reading: Ish Klein and Jamara Wakefield | Theaterlab, New York, NY". www.theaterlabnyc.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  24. ^ "The Tank". thetanknyc.org. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  25. ^ "The Tank". www.thetanknyc.org. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  26. ^ "Ntozake Shange on Writing Her Own Words in Her Own Way". 4 December 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  27. ^ "P*ssy Not War: Meet the "Artivist" Behind Cardi B's Fave Looks". www.playboy.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Articles by Jamara Wakefield - Page Wakefield". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Jamara Wakefield, Author at Broadway Black". Broadway Black. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  30. ^ ""Extra Ordinary" is a Continuation of Black Radical Tradition". Retrieved 20 April 2018.
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