e nina jay LIVE Performance &
“Bricks, Blood & Water” Book Release Party
Special Guests: Nikki Patin & Krü Maekdo
Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark Street, Chicago
June 20th, 7:00 - 9:00pm (doors open at 6:15pm)
$15 - $25 Sliding Scale--no one turned away
$30 - $40 Sliding Scale INCLUDES Book
Tickets: https://bricksbloodwater.bpt.me
(Mary's Attic has an elevator and ADA bathroom )
Join us for a very special evening of song, poetry and breathtaking artistry, featuring Chicago’s own black lesbian activist poet e nina jay performing live in celebration of the release of her second book “Bricks, Blood & Water.” Special guest songstress Nikki Patin and emcee Krü Maekdo offer up their gifts in a melodic flow of Pride month brilliance.
Don’t miss this night of magic! GET YOUR TICKETS SOON.
If you haven’t yet been blessed to see e nina jay live, imagine the love child of Staceyann Chin and Nina Simone, and you'll get your first inkling of our hometown gem. e nina jay will crack you open, fill you with light, and allow you to see yourself in new ways, free and whole.
e nina jay’s unique performance style fuses her poetry with music, singing, humor, and commentary that often breaks the fourth wall, speaking with vulnerability and power to both the colonized and those with lineage to the colonizer. Calling for healing, accountability, and intentional action, e nina’s words are a much-needed medicine, and offer a path to liberation of body, mind and spirit for all.
The release of e nina jay’s “Bricks, Blood & Water” has special poignancy on this 50th anniversary of the LGBT rebellion at the Stonewall Inn bar, which took place June 1969 in New York City. e nina jay takes her place as the next generation of liberators, fighting injustice with her words, throwing truths that land like bricks, and inciting an uprising against misogyny, racism, homophobia and violence against women. The site of resistance is her own black lesbian body, as she illuminates harsh and beautiful experiences, releases the power of her voice, and encourages others to end silence and rise up in their own power and joy.
e nina jay is blowing up and going national. She’s performing, teaching and sharing her wisdom and rhymes at festivals, universities and conferences across the country. Catch her while you can!
Tickets are available on a sliding scale to make this performance accessible to a wide audience. Purchasers choose the highest price they can pay. Tickets for admission only are priced from sliding scale $15 - $25. Tickets for admission and a copy of the book, “Bricks, Blood & Water,” are priced sliding scale $30 - $40.
Visit https://bricksbloodwater.bpt.me to purchase tickets or for more information.
SPECIAL GUESTS:
NIKKI PATIN
"The songs are my bridge to healing, from powerhouse anthems to melodic meditations to confessional hymns, all meant as inspiration to keep going and balm for the scars left behind."
Featured in The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, HBO's Def Poetry Jam and on international television and radio, multidisciplinary artist Nikki Patin has been writing, performing and educating for almost 15 years. She has performed at EXPO Chicago as part of an installation curated by Amanda Williams, the National Black Theater in Harlem, Brooklyn Museum, Black Artists Retreat, Arie Crown Theater, UIC Pavilion and many other spaces throughout the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. In 2014, she made history when she addressed the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on behalf of Black women survivors of sexual violence in the U.S. The organization founded by Patin, Surviving the Mic (www.survivingthemic.org), creates brave space for survivors of trauma of all kinds. Upcoming projects include a full-length album, Surviving Something, and a year-long multimedia, durational performance piece entitled The Vitruvian Woman. Her writing, performance and design work can be found at www.nikkipatin.com.
KRÛ MAEKDO, Emcee
"I create experiences from a place of interconnectedness. Experiences that create memories, deepening the universal connection and expand your horizons. Holla @ me!"
Krü has been gracing stages in Chicago sharing, their charm, wit, and comedy and contributing to the exciting queer performance renaissance in many of our communities. Krü is a Creative Director specializing in, Multi-Media, Event Planning, Kosmic Rootwork and Astrology. https://krumaekdo.wixsite.com/info/home