Lyrically confident with punchlines that leave audiences on edge, Jessica Care Moore is a wizard who delivers sermons more than leisure entertainment. With stylized name, jessica Care moore, the Detroit native is a poet, playwright, performance artist, and literary activist who has graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the London Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Coming to prominence in the mid-1990’s after a record breaking five-win streak on It’s Showtime at the Apollo, moore turned her fame into opportunity by launching her own publishing company Moore Black Press. She is also the founder of the literacy-driven Jess Care Moore Foundation and executive producer of Black WOMEN Rock!.
In 2013, moore was the Alain Locke Award Recipient from the Detroit Community of the Arts and in 2014 her work was exhibited at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City and the Charles H. Wright Museum. Her poetry has been featured on albums by Nas, Young Jeezy and Talib Kweli and is a returning member of Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam.
POEM
I stand still above an island, fist straight in the air / Scar on my face, thick braids in my hair
