MOJA Arts Festival Opening Reception

Dock Street Theatre, Thursday, 9/29/16 starts at 6:00 pm

Meet and Greet! Here is where you can learn all about what’s to come in the next 11 days of the Charleston Moja Arts Festival.

Opening Day Street Parade

Starts on the corner of Calhoun and King, Thursday, 9/29/2016 begins at 6:00 pm

This is a Caribbean/African Street parade.  Will include bands, local youth groups, and costumes. Parade will end at the Custom House.

MOJA Arts Festival Juried Art Exhibition

Avery Research Center, 9/29 – 10/9, starting at 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

If you have a kid that loves art, this exhibit will be perfect for him or her! This exhibit features a number of regional artists specializing in oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, printmaking, drawing, photography, graphics, fiber, sculpture, metals, ceramics, basketry and mixed media.

Reggae Block Party

Friday, 9/30/16 starting at 6:30pm – 11:00 pm

Come out with the family and enjoy the vibrant sounds of Reggae into the night.  Featuring, Da Gullah Rootz featuring General Top Rank’n and Ras Bonghi featuring Deighton Charlemagne and Identity.

Children’s Programs at the Library: Julian Gooding Presents The Adventures of Malachiae Moon

Charleston Public Library (Calhoun Street) Saturday, October 1 from 11:00am-11:45am; Tuesday, October 4 from 9:15am-10:00am

Storyteller Julian Gooding shares tales from a journal given to him on the day he was born. The journal once belonged to Malachiae Moon who was born the day the American Civil War ended in 1865. Malachiae Moon, a wise and skilled sailor of African descent, lived to be 100 years old. The stories from his journal will take you to Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. This 45-minute performance is designed for ages 6 to 60.

One Day Junior Tennis Tournament

Charleston Tennis Center, Saturday, October 1 from 10:00am-2:30pm

A one-day tournament showcasing youth from the Inner-city Youth Tennis Program and other area programs.

Heritage Day at Marion Square

Marion Square, Saturday, 10/1/16, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Experience African-American and Caribbean culture while enjoying ethnic flavors, international artisans and regional performers in the heart of Downtown.

St. Paul’s Music Festival

Ravenel Family Park, Saturday, 10/1/16 starting at 12:00 noon

$5.00 Adults, $1.00 Children Under 12 through the Town of Ravenel

This year’s event will feature Leather and Lace, led by Drummer Shannon Sausser, Curtis Inabinett, Jr., and a nine-piece funk jazz band, and a low country favorite, the East Coast Party Band.

Future Casting

Fabulon, (Wappoo Road), Saturday, 10/1/16, 5:00pm – 8:00 pm

Future Casting, an interactive hip-hop event, will feature local, national, and international artists, of the genre tagged Hip-Hop and highlight the generational and contemporary links within the arts to Hip-Hop. Come celebrate what is true to the art form’s creative beginnings as we project into the future with messages of hope, unity, progress, and harmony.

Choraliers Music Club of Charleston

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Sunday, October 2, 2016, 7:30pm – 8:30 pm

One of Charleston oldest choral groups, the Choraliers Music Club of Charleston will present a Gullah-Geechee Explosion, consisting of Gullah Folklore, Unarranged & Arranged Spirituals, Gospel, Blues, and excerpts from Porgy and Bess.

Poetry & Storytelling: Marcus Amaker

City Gallery, Monday, 10/3/16 starting at 6:00 pm

Marcus Amaker, Charleston, South Carolina’s First Poet Laureate, is an award-winning web designer, graphic designer, videographer, musician and author. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. As an author, Amaker has released sevenpoetry books and has performed on national TV. Amaker’s poems have been featured on PBS Newshour, The Huffington Post, several journals and poetry collections. Additionally, he was one of the poets featured in Seeking the Spirit: An Evening of Poetry and Jazz which was inspired by Jonathan Green’s painting, Seeking. A well-known graphic/web designer and videographer, Amaker produces award-winning work for many local nonprofits and organizations. He is also the lead graphic designer for the national music magazine, No Depression. As a musician, Marcus has been releasing and recording music since he was 10 years old. His 2014 spoken word/jazz album, The New Foundation, was recorded with Grammy-nominated drummer and producer Quentin E. Baxter.

Poetry & Storytelling: Tammaka Staley

The Southern (2 Carlson Court) Tuesday 10/4/16 starting at 6:00 pm

Tammaka Staley is a performance poet, activist, and teaching artist. A resident of Columbia, South Carolina, she has been writing and performing poetry for 10 years. Tammaka actively works in the community with poetry and youth organizations like OneWord Columbia, the University of South Carolina Upward Bound Program, and Girls Rock Columbia. She was also a sponsor for the SC Community Uplift Foundation Science Rocks benefit concert in 2015. She won the title “Queen of the South” at the 2015 Queen of the South Poetry Slam in April 2015.  She has also performed as a featured artist at the Kennedy Center in the 2016 American College Dance Festival in Washington, DC.  Tammaka strives to empower black communities and use poetry as a tool to give people everywhere something to believe in.

Literary Corner- Tayari Jones

Avery Research Center, Tuesday, 10/4/16 starting at 7:00 pm

Author Tayari Jones will read excerpts from her novel, Silver Sparrow, followed by a discussion with the audience.

Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s families– the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich and flawed characters, she also reveals the joy, and the destruction, they brought to each other’s lives.

At the heart of it all are the two girls whose lives are at stake, and like the best writers, Jones portrays the fragility of her characters with raw authenticity as they seek love, demand attention, and try to imagine themselves as women.

October 5th

Swahili Student Workshop

Springfield Elementary School, Wednesday, 10/5/2016 starting at 9:00 am

An immersive workshop where students learn the importance of Swahili to the Lowcountry, the United States and the World. Students will participate in activities to learn Swahili greetings, common expressions, food words and numbers.

Children’s Programs at the Library: Columbia Marionette Theatre Presents The World of Anansi the Spider

Charleston  County Library (Calhoun) Wednesday, October 5 from 9:15am-9:45am

This entertaining performance is designed to teach children about world culture. The 30-minute show features marionettes, hand puppets, and rod puppets to tell several folk tales narrated by the storyteller, Anansi, a classic character featured in African tales who later descended to tales in other cultures including Jamaican and Gullah

The Housing Authority Block Party with New Galaxy Band

Charleston Housing Authority, Wednesday, 10/5/16 starting 5:00 pm

This gathering is for the young and old. On site health screenings and free food, with local artists performing, including the New Galaxy Band headlining.  Come out and celebrate this festive event!

Poetry & Storytelling: Carlos Johnson and the Speak Freely Foundation

Dock Street Theatre – 10/5/15 starting at 6:00 pm

Carlos Johnson, a native of Summerville, South Carolina, currently resides in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Johnson has founded organizations such as The Poetry Show and the Speak Freely Foundation (SFF). SFF, a non-profit organization, supports local youth in the arts. Its mission is to support, educate, and enlighten youth through the arts to better their lives as well as society. The SFF, in collaboration with the City of North Charleston, offers The S.L.@.M. (Speaking Life @mong Many) Poetry Program and the North Charleston Boxing Club at the Armory Park Center. Youth from the Speak Freely Foundation program will present with Johnson.

Children’s Programs at the Library: AeroVision with Roots: A Hip-Hop Dance Performance

Charleston County Library, 10/6/16 starting at 9:15 am

Lamar Hunter, a member of the Peace, Love, and Hip-Hop Dance Company and a graduate from the School of the Arts, will demonstrate his own unique blend of freestyle hip-hop dancing. Local photographer, Ron Rocz, will also have photographs of Lamar on display in the Main Library lobby throughout the month of October.

Poetry & Storytelling: Tabu Hazel

Dock Street Theatre, 10/6/16 starting at 6:00 pm

Originally from White Plains, New York, Peggy Logan (aka Tabu Hazel) is an actress and poet who grew up in Summerton, South Carolina, and currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in theater/education from Claflin University and a Master of Education in counseling. For Tabu Hazel, there is power in poetry. As a spoken word artist, she is an advocate who promotes awareness of cancer, domestic violence, homelessness and sexual assault. Her number one goal is to change lives with words. Her poetry and deliverance can be described as being “smooth, fluid, melodic and empowering.” She has performed throughout the country in many venues.

Poetry & Storytelling: Jeffrey Guillaume

City Gallery – Friday, October 7 at 6:00pm

Jeffrey Guillaume (aka Mr. Emotional The Poet) is a native of Newark, New Jersey, and currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina. Guillaume discovered his love for the performing arts at Benedict College, where he received a Bachelor of Science in public health. Since his graduation, Guillaume has quickly become one of South Carolina’s most celebrated poets, winning poetry slams and performing all over the nation. With the love he has for young people, poetry is his unique way of giving back and connecting with youth by showing them alternative methods of self-expression. In 2013, Guillaume discovered a literacy program entitled,Write Yourself Free.

Youth Forum/Poetry Slam

College of Charleston Science Center Auditorium – 10/7/16, starting at 5:30 pm

College of Charleston students and local youths are invited to enter the 2016 MOJA Arts Festival’s Youth Forum- Poetry Slam. Join us to raise your voice of awareness. Come affirm a positive youth engagement message that inspires both youth and adults to raise consciousness about youth as valuable and respected assets to each other, family and community.

Poetry & Storytelling: Open Mic

Avery Research Center, 10/8/16 starting at 2:30 pm

Regional and local poets and writers are invited to perform. Please join us in listening to some wonderful poets and feel free to make your way up to the mic to let us hear your talent.

MOJA Finale

Hampton Park – Sunday, 10/9/16 4:00 pm until dark

The culminating event of the MOJA Festival, this lively and colorful celebration includes high energy musical performances, a pop-up art exhibition, international artisans and mouthwatering ethnic foods. A variety of community organizations will be on hand to provide information in addition to a health and wellness fair for men, women and youth.