HIP-HOP FOR HISTORY: NUYORICAN SLAM TEAM AT THE GREAT HALL

For afficionados of spoken-word poetry, Bryn Mawr's Thomas Great Hall is the place to be this Saturday night from 7 to 9:30 p.m., when the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's award-winning slam team and jazz band join Bryn Mawr's Black History Month Celebration. The event is sponsored by Sisterhood, an organization for African-American students, and Bryn Mawr's Self Government Association. Tickets are $3 for students, faculty and staff of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore, and $5 for the general public.

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe is one of the nation's premier venues for slam poetry. It has fielded a team at the National Poetry Slam competition since the early 90s, finishing in the top three seven times since 1991 and winning the national title in 1998. Touring the country with its jazz band, the team has secured a place in the hip-hop, poetry and jazz communities nationwide. Says Black History Month co-head Tiffany Shumate: "The team visiting Bryn Mawr will not only include a jazz band that has traveled nationwide, but also talented artists like Flaco Navaja, who is currently touring with the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam; Devynity, who has won Best Young Poet at 'The Hottest Poets Cafe'; and other well-known artists."

Members of the audience will also have a shot at the microphone, Shumate says. "We really want to hear from the community, so we're encouraging people to share their poetry and other performing talents."

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