Join MoAD for our first in-person Open Mic since 2020 to kick off Black History Month. Hosted by poet Nia Pearl, participate in an evening of spoken word, featuring Ramona Laughing Brook Webb and other amazing poets. All are welcome to either perform or just watch. Wine and light refreshments will be served!

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All interested performers, sign up to read using this form.

Audience members, register here.

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Featured Poet

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Ramona Laughing Brook Webb is an Afro-Creek Muskogee queer poet and performing artist whose groundbreaking work bridges art, healthcare, and social justice. She is the first Poet-in-Residence at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, in The Black Womxn’s Health and Livelihood Initiative, as well as at The Black Wellness Center, where she collaborates to address racial health disparities, fosters cultural change, and integrates art into healthcare practices.

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In her dual roles as the Director of Wellness and Art Gallery Curator for the UCSF Black Wellness Center, Ramona brings creativity, healing, and community engagement to the forefront of health and wellness. Additionally, through the University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI), she is a member of the Black Feminist Healing Arts Lab. 

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Beyond UCSF, Ramona (Mona) serves as the first Janice Mirikitani Poet Theologian in Residence at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, where she was the recipient of the 2024 Janice Mirikitani Legacy Award. Her artistry also extends to the Queer Arts Center of Oakland, where she serves as a co-curator and artist. Mona’s pronouns are them, they, she and her.

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Mona Webb is a conservatory-trained theater artist, who specializes in “docu-ritual-drama,” a compelling fusion of documentary storytelling, poetry, and ritual in performance. Mona’s work is rooted in her identities and her mission to promote healing, equity, and cultural transformation.

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Open Mic Host

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Nia Pearl is an award-winning poet, writer, and environmental justice advocate working at the intersection of art, activism, and public engagement. She is an established host and event curator passionate about creating participatory spaces for creative expression and literary dialogue. Nia’s writing has been published in Radicle magazine, Meridians journal, The Town: An Anthology of Oakland Poets, and Painting the Streets: Oakland Uprising in the Time of Rebellion. She is one of the recipients of the 2023 Nomadic Press/San Francisco Foundation Literary Awards.

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