Kwani? Open Mic September 2015 Edition
Featured Poet: Bassey Ikpi

MC: Cindy Ogana

Date: September 1^st, 2015
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: The Phoenix Players, Parliament Rd, Inside Professional Centre
Entry: ​Kes ​500. Limited advance tickets only via Mpesa.

Simply select "Buy Goods" on your MPesa menu, enter the "Till Number" (56714) and follow instructions to complete transaction. 

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Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian born and Washington D.C. bred poet/writer who was a featured cast member of the National Touring Company of the Tony Award winning Broadway show, Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam hosted by actor/rapper Mos Def. Not a stranger to the​ stage, her poetry has also opened shows by Grammy Award winning artists such as India Arie, Luther Vandross, Alicia Keys, has earned her standing ovations at the NAACP Image Awards where her poetry was part of a tribute to Venus and Serena Williams.  With social commentary being a focus of her work, Bassey has recorded original poems for the Kaiser Foundation’s, HIV/AIDS campaign, Knowing Is Beautiful and There is No Comfort In Silence for Global Grind in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb and World AIDS Day.

In Lagos, she organized Do The Write Thing an event to show support through the spoken word for the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. She also recorded a song with popular Nigerian artist 2Face Idibia in support  of  the movement called Break The Silence.  Her passion for poetry, arts and social issues has also led her to work as a freelance writer for several media outlets on the topic of mental health and pop culture commentary including Ebony, The Huffington Post, Essence.com, XOJane.com and TheRoot.com and was the resident pop culture critic for Philly’s WURD FM radio station.

Following the suicide of a young friend, Bassey founded a non-profit organization, The Siwe Project to help spread mental health awareness in the global African community. On July 2nd, The Siwe Project launched the No Shame Day Initiative. Bassey tours the United States speaking about mental health awareness.