TED X UCLA and UCLA African American Studies present Bryonn Bain an IG LIVE Q&A

Wrongfully imprisoned during his second year at Harvard Law School, Bryonn successfully sued the NYPD, interviewed with Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes,” and wrote the Village Voice cover story – “Walking While Black” – drawing the largest response in the history of the nation’s most widely-read progressive newspaper.  Bain’s grassroots arts organization, Blackout Arts Collective, developed the Lyrics on Lockdown Tour reaching prisons in 25 states and spawning university courses using poetry to build critical literacy in prisons nationwide.  His first book, The Prophet Returns, honors the legacy of Kahlil Gibran and the countless voices Bain has worked with behind bars nationwide for nearly three decades.  His second book, The Ugly Side of Beautiful: Rethinking Race and Prison in America, is published by Third World Press with a foreword by Mumia Abu-Jamal and introduction by Lani Guinier.  His latest book, Fish & Bread/Pescado y Pan, is a bilingual, hip hop education children’s book published by Brown Girl’s Books.  Winning coveted titles as the 1999 Boston Grand Slam Champion and 2000 Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion, Bain ranked #1 in the nation and placed second in the world during the 2000 International Poetry Slam.  As Artist-in-Residence for the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, Bryonn founded the Lyrical Minded project — which has employed over 50 artists nationwide and brought hip hop, theater, spoken word poetry and film to public schools and detention centers in New York, San Francisco and Boston.   Bain has taught courses and professional development for teachers and artists at Brooklyn College, NYU, The New School, Long Island University, and Columbia University ranging from hip hop and spoken word poetry to critical perspectives on the prisons and policing.  Bryonn has lectured and performed at over 100 colleges and correctional facilities in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

His one-man multimedia production, Lyrics From Lockdown – executive produced by Harry Belafonte – tells the story of Bain’s wrongful imprisonment through hip hop theater, spoken word poetry, calypso and classical music, as well as lyrics and letters exchanged with fellow poet and friend, Nanon Williams.  Sentenced to Death Row at 17, and after more than 25 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, a federal judge finally ordered Nanon’s release in November 2010 — one year after the NYC premiere of Bain’s production at The Public Theater.  Developed in prisons, public schools and universities nationwide, the show has received extraordinary reviews, sold out on three continents with standing ovations in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Check out the webpage: www.LyricsfromLockdown.com.