For Rhyms, Reason and Respect Moore Black Press.

Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing.

--Countee Cullen

Poet and spoken word artist Jessica Care Moore won over tough audiences in 1996 on "It's Showtime at the Apollo," surpassing all comers to win the competition an unprecedented five consecutive times. With winning came a modest prize, exposure on the nationally syndicated television show, media interviews, name recognition, and invitations to perform. What didn't come as a result of her victory was a publishing contract.

Moore would not be denied and decided to self publish. Moore Black Press, was established in 1997 and undertook its first project, The Words Don't Fit In My Mouth. Moore Black Press' foray into publishing began with a conservative first release of 1,000 copies which sold at $15 each. The print run increased with demand and, to date, more than 20,000 copies have been sold.

Moore Black Press is not a vanity press, "I want for my work and for that of other spoken word artists and poets to be taken seriously. I want to add some balance to the one-dimensional media images that put us in one place," she says. A student of black cultural history, Moore looks at the creative work of poets Sonia Sanchez, Kalamu Ya Salaam and Haki Madhubuti along with that of her contemporaries. She points to Madhubuti's Third World Press and to W. Paul Coates' Black Classic Press as models for her activist press which specializes in poetry "because that's what I know."

The press also published The Seventh Octave by poet Saul Williams, star of Slam, which won the dramatic grand jury prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and Fast Cities and Objects That Bum by Moore's husband, author-musician Sharrif Simmons. Moore's new Book, The Alphabet Verses the Ghetto will be released this year.

Last year Moore Black Press left New York for Atlanta. A search for office space led to a spin-off venture. Moore and poet Aqiyl Thomas have joined to form MoorEpics: The Poetry Planet, a bookstore, club and Cafe in Underground Atlanta which showcases poetry. "Unlike other bookstores that are limited to two or three books by a poet, we want to be able to carry all 16 of Sonia Sanchez' books without having to special order them. We also carry magazines and independently produced CDs' by spoken word artists," says Moore,

It's about taking poetry to the masses, to where the people are, she explains. There are plans for writing and reading workshops and a hip-hop literacy program Moore hopes "will get kids interested in reading books by broadening the idea of what a book is." She has enlisted the help of such hip-hop luminaries as Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli and others to contribute to a forthcoming anthology called The Poets of Emcees. The volume will maintain word flavor to attract young readers. Another project is a book collaboration with Lawrence Kris Parker (aka KRS-One)--which Moore likens to the agreement between mystery writer Walter Mosley and Black Classic Press--to take the publisher to the next level. It will be a compilation of daily meditaions--365 positive rhymes, chants and freestyle rhythms--all with a distinctive flavor.

"There are young people out there who don't know who Toni Morrison is, but who do know about Lauryn Hill; those who know me, but not Sonia Sanchez. We have a legacy to build on but it begins with appealing to the reader within."

Checkin' Out at MoorEpics: The Poetry Planet

In Atlanta, Jessica Care Moore says customers are buying:
1975--The Undergroound Epic Poetry of Aqiyl Thomas
Abstractvision--Poetry and Visual Art by Smokie
Backbone by Glenis Redmond
Detroid Read Live in NY by Poetry Hardcore Rock Collective CD
Fast Cities and Objects That Burn by Sharif Simmons
Mix Tape: The Music and Songs of Young Bluesologist Anthony David
No Comment, youth spoken word magazine
The Seventh Octave by Saul Williams
The Words Don't Fit In My Mouth by Jessica Care Moore
UnSpoken Word Vol. 1--Poetry and music CD

MoorEpics: The Poetry Planet
227 Mitchell St. in Underground Altanta, Atlanta, GA
Phone: [phone]