Description:
Freedom to Express: Juneteenth Poetry Slam | Anacostia | Host: Mal Prac Busboys and Poets - Anacostia
Freedom to Express: Juneteenth Poetry Slam
Busboys and Poets Events presents Freedom to Express, a Juneteenth poetry slam honoring the power of voice, truth, culture, and creative liberation.
Join us at Busboys and Poets Anacostia for a night of spoken word, community, and celebration as poets take the mic to move the room, tell their stories, and compete for a $100 cash prize.
Hosted by Malachi Byrd, also known as Mal Prac, Freedom to Express is more than a slam — it is a space to honor Juneteenth through poetry, performance, resistance, joy, and the freedom to say what needs to be said.
Whether you’re stepping to the mic or pulling up to witness the magic, come be part of a night rooted in Black expression, bold storytelling, and the voices that keep the culture alive.
Event Details
📍 Location: Busboys and Poets Anacostia
🕗 Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM EST
🎟️ Tickets: $5.00
🏆 Prize: $100 cash prize
🎤 Host: Malachi Byrd / Mal Prac
About the Host
Proud Washington, D.C. native Malachi Byrd is a poet, rapper, scholar, activist, and graduate of Princeton University. A captain and co-founder of ContraVerse, his high school slam team, Malachi helped lead the team to the 2014 Louder Than a Bomb – DMV title. He is also a two-time member of the DC Youth Poetry Slam Team, including the 2014 team that won the Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival.
Malachi has performed on television, including Lexus Verses and Flow and CW’s All-American, as well as on radio, at protests on the National Mall, the Kennedy Center, the White House, and venues around the world. His work lives at the intersection of introspection, self-discovery, self-critique, and activism, with a deep commitment to Blackness, justice, and creative truth-telling.
He is the author of Which Picture Would They Use? and the book and mixtape project Crowning Too Early (C.T.E.). Currently based in Los Angeles, Malachi continues to create work across poetry, music, performance, and multimedia storytelling.
Come celebrate Juneteenth with us through poetry, community, and the freedom to express.
