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For poets <a href=”http://www.basseyworld.com/”>Bassey Ikpi</a> and <a href=”http://www.gilesli.com/”>Giles Li</a>, spoken utterance has the undeniable power to create bonds between people across physical and social divides. These two artists came up during the re-emergence of the contemporary spoken word scene, when groups like the <b>
<a href=”http://www.nuyorican.org/”>Nuyoricans</a>
</b> and programs like <b>
<a href=”http://www.hbo.com/defpoetry/”>HBO’s Def Poetry Jam</a>
</b> brought the art form to a wide audience. Like many performance artists, Boston-based Li and D.C.-based Ikpi developed their craft as a means for expression, a way to share in a commonality of viewpoint and emotion with a live audience. And now, even as Ikpi has graced Def Poetry Jam five times and Li has established the <a href=”http://bostonprogress.org/”>Boston Progress Arts Collective</a> and toured the country, their success hasn’t deterred them from that original impulse. They still write from that place of wanting to be heard.<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://mediaplayer.yahoo.com/js”>
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<b>Read the entire piece:</b>
<a title=”Spoken-Word Artists Bassey Ikpi and Giles Li Tell It Like It Is ” href=”https://www.utne.com/arts/spoken-word-artists-bassey-ikpi-and-giles-li.aspx”>Spoken-Word Artists Bassey Ikpi and Giles Li Tell It Like It Is</a>
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<i>Photo of Giles Li by <a href=”http://www.fireboxphotography.com/”>FireBox Photography</a>
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<p>Listen Now:<br />
<a href=”https://www.utne.com/arts/spoken-word-artists-bassey-ikpi-and-giles-li.aspx”>Giles Li performs his spoken-word poetry</a>
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<p>Poet Bassey Ikpi on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam:</p>
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