In The Event That...

You Prefer Slams to Slammers

by Rachel Frankford

Poems Not Prisons

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

When Christmas is over but it's not yet New Year's Eve — and all you've got in the fridge is a carton of leftover eggnog — try a little politically conscious art appreciation to get you through the between-holiday doldrums. West Philly anarchist playground the A-Space holds Poems Not Prisons open mic the last Friday of every month. Hosted by DuiJi Mshinda and Martin Wiley, the event is open to anyone with a poem, a song or a rant about the prison system and social injustice.

This month's featured performer is CAConrad (pictured), who survived a hardscrabble childhood to become a poet. His first collection, Deviant Propulsion, was published by Soft Skull last year, and a second book, The Frank Poems (YPOLITA, $5), is coming out in 2008 — in a German bilingual edition, no less (Conrad was recently interviewed about the new work in these pages by A.D. Amorosi).

Admission is free, but donations are welcome; proceeds will benefit Mutulu Shakur, an acupuncturist and activist who has been in prison on charges of conspiracy against the U.S. government, since 1986. Shakur is probably best-known as the father of — yes — murdered rapper Tupac Shakur. As always, discussion will be encouraged and complimentary snacks will be served (just don't expect anything with meat).