ABOUT TAALAM ACEY
African American Art
“You have so, so much inspired me with your Spoken Word” said the legendary Stevie Wonder, while interviewing Taalam Acey, during Wonders own birthday celebration in May 2008. Taalam, a child of the Newark Rebellion, was raised by a single mother who was a member of the famed writer and activist Amiri Barakas community organization. Acey is an independent artist whose work has been featured frequently on TV One and was selected as the original “number one thing you need to know about” on BET’s countdown show, “The 5ive.” Over the years, BET has featured and aired roughly a half dozen segments featuring Taalam Acey. He ranks among the vanguard of artists who use the internet to connect with listeners. Likewise, his YouTube videos have been seen by more than a half million viewers and he has tens of thousands of social network contacts. The Newark, NJ natives poetry has appeared in Essence Magazine and Susan Taylor, the magazines Editor Emeritus, personally invited Acey to perform for an audience of six thousand at The Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Taalam was honored to be a guest of Congresswoman Maxine Waters for the Congressional Black Caucus’ 2007 & 2008 “Young Gifted and Black” panels. He has shared his work in several countries and approximately one hundred schools of higher education; including the prestigious Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley, where he delivered a lecture on contemporary Spoken Word. Taalam Acey has recorded more than a dozen CDs and authored four books. Additionally, films that include his work have garnered an Audience Award (2002) and a Special Jury Prize (2006) at the Sundance Film Festival. He was featured in an acclaimed Radio-One London slam poetry documentary and Marc Smith, the founder of slam poetry, used Acey’s work in his definitive book. Taalam currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.
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