An Abundant Life - A Voice For The People

Rashad Wright is a combination of so many wonderful things that it's hard to give him a title because he has so many talents and he can't be easily described. He is the Poet Laureate of Jersey City which says a great deal about the level of his skill and talent and his far-reaching voice and presence in the art and writing world, but though that title is an awesome one, he is even more than that. Rashad is a tour de force walking, someone whose writing and performing are on such a consistently high level that every time I hear one of his pieces I'm almost in a state of shock. I have to just stop and listen, and on one memorable occasion when he was performing at an art opening for the Artist Anthony E. Boone at Hamilton Square in Jersey City, when he got up to speak I was in the back of the room and I realized very late that I had to get up front and start videotaping him. I dodged through the crowd and found a place and caught all except the first few words. I usually only tape about a minute's worth of time because I'm always thinking Instagrammable moments these days, but in this case I just kept on taping. The piece was so incredibly beautiful and there was not one moment that I felt like I could just go ok, this is good enough I can stop taping here. The whole thing was a soaring and rushing breath of breathtaking beauty, each line and cadence built onto the next until he finished and the room gave an audible gasp before breaking out into applause.

And that is what Rashad does. I've heard him perform several times and each time I've been awestruck. I met him on November 13, 2018 at an art event I curated at the Antique Loft in Hoboken with the Artists Anthony E. Boone, Andre Kaulesar and Joel Lisco. He arrived to perform with a band who I was also just meeting that night for the first time, though I'd seen them perform before and spoken with one of the members over the phone when we had been planning the evening. The event was inspired after an introduction I made between Anthony Boone and Andre Kaulesar and Chef Paul Gerard, the Executive Chef of Antique Bar & Bakery and one of the Partners there and at the Loft. Andre and Anthony both helped to plan the evening and hang the show. Andre who is also a Chef had prepared some very special hors d'oeuvres and Chef Paul Gerard had contributed his own masterpieces, and Anthony had recommended a band that was part of an Artist Collective named Sound in Color who he had worked with before at another event. Because of travel for work, we'd had a conference call with the Director, Emilio Guarino, when he was still in California. Rashad was one of the performers and invited guests of Sound in Color, and the night when I met him was memorable because the event itself had already been so incredible. And then Rashad took the stage and it was as if something even more magical happened.

Rashad is a graduate of New Jersey City University, and he has also done duty with the National Guard. He teaches and coaches and produces, and among other projects he has just recently published a book, Romeo's Whiskey, which I have not had the chance to read in its entirety yet because it is on a longer than usual term order due to the current state of the world. I have seen Rashad perform some of the pieces in it on livestream through Instagram, and even in that smaller than life venue he filled up the screen and my home with his presence and the power of his words.

Over time as I have seen him perform at different venues he has always been somehow like something entirely new. Each time is different as if he himself changes like a chameleon for the feeling in the house that evening. He hosts an evening at Mana Contemporary where he brings in other Artists and Performers and Artisans on a regular basis, and even there he is always different, bringing in new work and a new sound and a new feeling. I would say he's always reinventing himself but it is something deeper than that. He is always digging within and bringing out the best, sharing all that is precious and shining it even brighter so that all the world can hear his stories and he can tell the stories of all the world.

Rashad Wright

At The Antique Loft

Hoboken, New Jersey
https://www.instagram.com/write_raw

Photographs Courtesy Of Anthony E. Boone

Photo Credit Jermaine D. Clark

Blessings,

Jannie Susan