User:TheblackpoetShiraz/sandbox

'''TheBlackPoet aka Murray Shiraz Batanda is a poet, activist, and spoken word coach. He is the author of 2020 poetry collection ,The Perks of Smoking Too Much (published as The Black Poet),He's produced Open Mic Uganda's monthly poetry sessions and is a creative director ,Teen Poetry Slam Uganda and Open Mic Uganda.''

Early life
Shiraz was born in Kampala, Uganda He lived in Trenton ,Ohio before dropping out of high school at 16 and returning to Uganda where he joined friends to found Open Mic Uganda, a poetry platform in Uganda.

Poetry
Shiraz works predominantly in the medium of spoken word poetry. He completed a leadershift Training from LeadersCausingLeaders in LA, Santa Monica Blvd.http://leadershiftacademy.africa/ He is a co-director of Open Mic Uganda ,a spoken word performance coach and hosts a monthly OpenMic session.https://www.facebook.com/openmicuganda/. Since 2015, he's been organizing Annual Poetry competitions for High Schools under the Teen Poetry Slam Uganda.https://www.facebook.com/TeenPoetrySlamUg/. Being no stranger to the stage, he’s performed at several platforms/concerts including Alliance Francoise’s Poetry Slam,https://www.goethezentrumkampala.org/the-spoken-word-project-at-the-gzkugcs/, International Arts Festival, Milege Cultural Music Festival, Laba Festival of the Arts, Open Mic Monthly shows, The UN International Women’s Day Celebrations, Babishai Poetry Festivals, to mention but a few. He has also guest spoken on various platforms and Award Shows including the Writivism Festival, Babishai Niwe Foundation, The Aga Khan Poetry Café, and others.

Projects
The Black Poet is also currently the Lead Officer for The OpenMicProject, a 16 months spoken word mentorship program under the CultureAtWorkAfrica grant https://www.cultureatworkafrica.net/2019/04/18/openmic-ugand/, implemented in Nakivale Refugee Settlement for refugee youth artists.https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1522928/nakivaale-refugee-youth-leadership-training

Works

 * The Perks of Smoking Too Much (as The Black Poet; Open Mic Uganda, 2020)
 * Blackness, an ode to Carl Solomon (as The Black Poet; KUT, 2017)
 * ''Party Now ,a rap song.https://soundcloud.com/shiraz-eaik-murray/party-now