I Need Poets for Events - hndsupport@gmail.com

Who I'd like to meet:

Duron Chavis was born in 1980 in Richmond Virginia. Also known as Brother Manifest; he has participated in the growth and enrichment of the African community for the past 7 years. Born in 1980 in during the rise of crack cocaine into urban communities throughout the US, he attended primary school overseas in Germany and came back to the United States at the age of 12 in 1992.

During his senior year at George Wythe High School, he was shot three times in an attempt to perform poetry at a local block party on Richmond's Southside. Graduating at the top ten of the George Wythe's Class of 1998, he received the Courage, Strength and Tenacity award for his diligence and unfaltering commitment to education in lieu of being a victim of gun violence.

Attending Virginia State University 1998-2000 as a Provost Scholar, Duron became highly involved in student activism while promoting black awareness and consciousness. Becoming ever cognizant of the importance of using art and mass media to promote african heritage; Duron produced and hosted The Black History Chronicles; 2002-2003 a live television show dedicated to promoting black consciousness and awareness which featured scholar warriors such as the late Benjamin Kareem; for two seasons on Comcast Community Television.

Duron has also worked with the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of VA as a museum coordinator developing programs and conducting guided tours for groups of all ages and backgrounds. In 2003 he founded the highly acclaimed Happily Natural Day festival as a grassroots effort to supplement the summer jazz concert that was held annually at the institution. A resounding success; the festival has inspired Africans from all over the country to reexamine their relationship with the inferiority complex instilled into African American minds as a result of over 400 years in the United States. In 2004 he launched Nubian Soul a spoken word and lecture series which featured Eric Ture Muhammad journalist for the Final Call and confidante of the late Kwame Ture.

Presently Duron is engaged in presenting innovative and dynamic events that cultivate black consciousness to young adults where ever he can reach them. He volunteers as a guest speaker on black consciousness for prison outreach to African American inmates in Virginia State Prisons. While his work in pro-African event management & promotion is paramount, he is also a freelance graphic designer specializing in web & print media.

Chavis is also the organizer of The Open Your Third Eye Project, Soul Power Fridays at Tropical Soul, and continues the work of organizing and promoting now entering it's sixth year; Happily Natural Day. Duron currently serves on the board of executives for the Richmond Peace Education Center; an institution whose mission is to work for just and peaceful community by promoting nonviolence locally and globally. He serves as Vice President for the Universal Negro Improvement Association's Prosser Truth Division #456 His goal is to utilize innovative and dynamic events and programs to engage young adults into becoming active in the struggle for African Liberation.

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