Rebecca Dupas is an award-winning poet who now enjoys writing, performance, production, and commissioned composition. Rebecca has appeared on Centric, Fox 5, and most recently on C- Span, PBS News, and The Washington Post alongside President Bill Clinton. Rebecca has published four CDs and two books of original works. Her latest book, "Not Without Black Women," is available for purchase here.

Rebecca is also an educator and recent doctoral graduate. Her educational work is rooted in instruction, workshop facilitation, training design, and educational and professional development for youth and adult learners.

Using his pen to get him through life experiences, Orville uses his passion for the arts to raise awareness, speak vivid truths, and uplift his community.

Before there was poetry, there was his passion for playing basketball, with hopes of playing in the NBA. However, he soon found out that his path was poetry and his way of giving back to his community was through the spoken word. With the support of his family and community, Orville has performed in venues including the White House during the Obama Administration, Macy’s in DC, Apache, all of the Busboys and Poets locations, several art galleries, weddings, and more. He has also been on several tours such as the ART IS life Tour and the Just Mike Love and Poetry Tour.

Lady Brion teaches creative writing at the middle and elementary school level, coaches poetry teams in over 10 institutions for the Louder Than A Bomb poetry program, and holds residencies in over 15 K-12 institutions.

Brion was the 2016 National Poetry Slam Champion and the 2017 Southern Fried Regional Slam Champion. Since 2015, she has represented Baltimore in several other national competitions, including the Individual World Poetry Slam and the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Brion received the Open Society Institute Fellowship for her project facilitating poetry workshops in prisons and group homes throughout Maryland.

Dwayne B! is a DC native poet, activist, breakdancer, and CEO of Crochet Kingpin, LLC. He is one of the hosts of DC’s longest-running open mic series, Spit Dat, as well as host captain for the Busboys and Poets 450K location. In addition to featured readings at every Busboys and Poets location, SAGAfest Iceland 2015, Spirits and Lyrics NYC and Manassas, Woolly Mammoth Theater, and the C2EA “We Can End AIDS” march, Dwayne won the Best Haiku Award at the 2011 National Underground Spoken-Word Poetry Awards. His work to increase HIV awareness through spoken word garnered recognition from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, BBCAmerica, the Discovery Channel, and The Washington Post.

Born in Washington, DC, Emory Diggs, Jr.appeared on his first recording, the BC Stars, in 1981 and later with the Earlston Ford Gospel Choir. Playing with The Universal Messengers of Music (TUMOM), he recorded “Jazz is a National Treasure.” The D.C. Commission selected TUMOM to represent Washington at the San Remo Jazz Festival in Italy. Emory played the bass guitar with Blues Piano Man Nate Dove at the Smithsonian Institute Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. Diggs has also recorded with The Godfather Of GO GO, Chuck Brown, and opened for McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Smith, Ahmad Jamal, Dizzy Gillespie, Jean Carn, Rachelle Ferrell, and George Duke. He is currently touring and performing with David Cole and The Main Street Blues Band.

The Peace & Body Roll Duo BOOMscat consists of keyboardist/drummer/producer, Asha Santee (BOOM), and vocalist/songwriter Jennifer Patience Rowe (scat). Since the duo's conception in the fall of 2012, BOOMscat has released three projects, including No Life Jacket EP, which reached #18 on the iTunes Top RnB Albums, and performed at several venues in Chicago on their "Peace & Body Roll Tour," including at the University of Chicago. They have support from Richard Smallwood, Ayanna Gregory, The Gateway Arts District, Kimpton Hotels, several event promoters throughout the Metropolitan Area, and many more avid music lovers. The mind requires emotional meditation. BOOMscat is the method.