Presented in partnership with Arttitude
Arttitude presents a showcase of African American LGBTQ women poets, visual artists, and dancers. The works given will speak to issues on identity, culture, and social climate while highlighting their work and honoring Juneteenth. Featuring B. Randall (Poet/Host), Lyrik Hunter (Poet), Haley Colbert (Choreographer/Dancer), Lyrique Jaye (Poet), Danielle Ellis (Visual Artist), Shukee (Visual Artist), and MissDyeWreckedIt (Poet).
A current resident of Dallas, and CEO/Owner and House Poet at “The Brown Sugah Lounge," LyriK Hunter, birth name, Krystal, was raised in West Texas (Midland), where she began writing and singing at an early age. Growing up in a home where expressing your thoughts was welcomed, BUT only when permission was granted, soon poetry and music became more than just a pastime or hobby. These passions, in her adulthood, eventually graduated into a creative space of therapy and life. By writing down the pain and turning those words into pages full of Life and Therapy, LyriK, wrote her way out of darkness and into light.
Today she is still learning and finding new reasons to walk in her greatness by sharing her art with the world, in hopes of touching those who need it most in their life journeys, reminding all that no matter how hard life gets, there is still peace, and that peace brings light and new life every single day. The journey never ends and so she continues to create through music and poetry or what she likes to call "LifeTherapy."
B. Randall is the host of Poetry Smash and Poets N Jazz at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, and Verse & Rhythm at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. B. Randall is host/producer of “In The Words Of A Sistah,” the longest-running all-female cast poetry show of its kind. In 2012 Randall launched her first touring show, “Poetry Is My Praise," an inspirational, motivational, and spiritual poetry show. Randall was commissioned by the Multicultural Alumni Association of Texas A&M –Commerce to pen a poem commemorating the 50th anniversary of desegregation. Randall's recorded work has been featured at 500X Gallery. B Randall has served on the board of directors for WordSpace.
Randall is the co-writer, producer, and director of A Poets Tribute to Nina. In May 2017 B. Randall was invited to present at the National Day of Prayer Luncheon celebrating the 40th anniversary of Thanks-Giving Square, located in the heart of Dallas. In November of 2018 Randall was invited to the Texas State Capitol to perform original work for the Second Chance Summit. Randall has served the City of Dallas as part of the Community Artists Program, and in 2022 B. Randall was invited by a Fortune 500 company to present her work in their Town Hall, which consisted of all their branches in Noth America and South America and was met with great response. It is B. Randall’s desire not only to create works that Touches, Moves, and Inspires but to encourage other artists to produce works that will also Touch Move and Inspire.
Haley Colbert, was born and raised in Dallas. She first began dancing at the age of 5, though as she got older, she transitioned to other art forms, including visual arts and violin. Her passion for dance never failed, only paused. It was rekindled by the time she got to high school. She attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She attended there for the majority of her high school career, and also attended Hailsham Community College in the United Kingdom, where she studied dance, amid high school. Immediately after high school, she began teaching with a Christian-based dance company, where she taught ages from early childhood to middle school. Currently, Colbert works for a nonprofit organization named Big Thought, which brings arts enrichment to schools in the Dallas ISD, Garland ISD, Duncanville ISD, and other areas, as a multicultural dance instructor, and she is a dance instructor at Rowlett Dance Academy.
Colbert occasionally freelances with other nonprofit arts organizations in the Dallas area. Dance and choreography are her passion, and teaching youth allows her to show children that they can have a voice in anything that they choose to do.
Shukee is an independent visual artist who has been fascinated by art since an early age. Her passion for drawing was influenced by her fathe,r who taught her how to draw her first dog in 1st grade. She continued practicing through grade school and began to be recognized for her artwork after winning awards for storybook drawing and safety awareness drawing contests during grade school and middle school.
In high school, Shukee was introduced to other mediums and other art forms by her art teacher Sheryl Byrd. This was her first true exposure to abstract surrealism and mixed media art. Huge influences were artists like Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and M. C. Escher. Her passion for painting grew and she began to adapt to acrylic painting on canvas. At that moment, she began drawing and painting every day, and eventually the hobby became a way of life. After graduating high school and taking some college art courses, Shukee’s work improved so much that she wanted to see what people thought about what she put on canvas. So she put her work into the I and I gallery in St. Louis. Every painting sold within a week. As time progressed, Shukee took on more endeavors and became a licensed barber stylist. She was hired by Natural Uhuru Salon in St. Louis. When the salon owner, Erica Bennett, found out that she was an artist, she asked her to paint a mural in the salon and to bring her artwork to sell. Every piece that came into the salon sold and, thus, Shukee the brand was born. In 2010 Shukee relocated to Dallas to build her brand and pursue her passion. She began selling her artwork and networking to build and strengthen communities through her love and passion for art.
Kisha Williams, aka MissDyeWrecked, is a spokenword poet from Garland. She's been performing at open mics around the DFW Metroplex for the last three years, performing as featured artist and as part of a slam team with The Relief Session. In 2021 MissDye self-published and released her first book, titled Power in Poetry. This artist hopes to encourage others to be unapologetically themselves.
Danielle Ellis is an Oak Cliff native who is always ready to share her love of the arts with everyone at a moment’s notice, be it painting live, hosting public art tables or holding workshops through her creative incubator Brassfly Studio. Her art education came from her parents, summer workshops at the South Dallas Cultural Center, attending Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). She’s a member/producer of ArtLoveMagic, and a member of We Here Collective and the Radical Love Collective. She is a founding member of Mermaids Bring Water, a mutual aid initiative that provides emergency clean water to communities in need.
Lyrique Jaye began performing in 2003 at local open mics around the Dallas area as a poet, landing first at Dallas's MLK Center Open Mic. Perfecting her writing style and performance skills, she began attending the Dallas Poetry Slam's open mics in 2017.
Starting to compete in Slam competitions, she tied for 2nd place in 2018 at the Women of the World Slam. She then won the competition to represent Dallas in the Women of the World Slam. Lyrique is presently performing on local and national stages, giving and receiving words of testimony and words of encouragement.
This performance is part of Late Night at the Dallas Museum of Art.