Nafeesa Monroe
Washington, Iowa, United States | Established. Jan 01, 1999 | SELF
Music
Press
"The Best"
author: Edson DaCosta
This was one of the best spoken word works I've heard in a long time...simply breathtaking. I'm from New York and attend poetry reading all the time at the NUYO cafe, this is one of the finest poets to walk through those doors. PS cant wait to see her again
"The words gave me thrills and chills."
author: Jose
This CD captures the timeless points in a girls life. The words and rhythms created a great emotional direction. I love this CD.
"An electrifying thunder storm of Spoken Word from a woman who can only tell it like it is"
author: Tamara D. Turner
From the first to the last moment, this woman will blow you away and cover you with chills in this electrifying Spoken Word Poetry CD of glue-you-to-your-seat power. With fearless self-reflection, unflinching honesty, dynamite delivery and a uncompromising passion to understand and See, this woman bridges the gap between black and white consciousness and has more insight than most social psychologists. Drama and theater seize this passionate monologue done with such artistic conviction that is as much Performance Art as Spoken Word and belongs on stage just as much as it belongs in our CD players.
"Thank God for you my sister. It is time to be heard."
author: Zgweet Records
Black people need more positive influences such as this cd Superwomen. Message music, lyrics, genre. It is time on the planet for us to unite. No more drama.
"This CD is woven like a tapestry."
author: Susan
This CD is woven like a tapestry. From beginning to end you go through a process and eventually enabled me to see myself within the musicians story. My favorite tracks were White, Again, Mother, and Fractions.
"The whole CD is great."
author: Jeff
The whole CD is great. The voice of Nafeesa is a great voice, expressive, you can feel all the emotions she wants to give out. You can feel the energy. - CDBaby.com
"The Best"
author: Edson DaCosta
This was one of the best spoken word works I've heard in a long time...simply breathtaking. I'm from New York and attend poetry reading all the time at the NUYO cafe, this is one of the finest poets to walk through those doors. PS cant wait to see her again
"The words gave me thrills and chills."
author: Jose
This CD captures the timeless points in a girls life. The words and rhythms created a great emotional direction. I love this CD.
"An electrifying thunder storm of Spoken Word from a woman who can only tell it like it is"
author: Tamara D. Turner
From the first to the last moment, this woman will blow you away and cover you with chills in this electrifying Spoken Word Poetry CD of glue-you-to-your-seat power. With fearless self-reflection, unflinching honesty, dynamite delivery and a uncompromising passion to understand and See, this woman bridges the gap between black and white consciousness and has more insight than most social psychologists. Drama and theater seize this passionate monologue done with such artistic conviction that is as much Performance Art as Spoken Word and belongs on stage just as much as it belongs in our CD players.
"Thank God for you my sister. It is time to be heard."
author: Zgweet Records
Black people need more positive influences such as this cd Superwomen. Message music, lyrics, genre. It is time on the planet for us to unite. No more drama.
"This CD is woven like a tapestry."
author: Susan
This CD is woven like a tapestry. From beginning to end you go through a process and eventually enabled me to see myself within the musicians story. My favorite tracks were White, Again, Mother, and Fractions.
"The whole CD is great."
author: Jeff
The whole CD is great. The voice of Nafeesa is a great voice, expressive, you can feel all the emotions she wants to give out. You can feel the energy. - CDBaby.com
Nafeesa Monroe is a very talented performance poet. Her raps and rhymes slip out with a verbal dexterity that engages with her audience, while the poetry itself is fantastically inventive. - The Stage ( www.TheStage.co.uk)
Nafeesa Monroe is a very talented performance poet. Her raps and rhymes slip out with a verbal dexterity that engages with her audience, while the poetry itself is fantastically inventive. - The Stage ( www.TheStage.co.uk)
This is the world premier of Nafeesa Monroes one woman show, Journey to Becoming a Super Woman. As spoken word artist her previous credits include opening for singer Jewel and appearing on HBOs Def Poetry. Monroe wrote the show, combining spoken word and theatrical elements, and it is directed by Anne Thomas Evans.
The journey in question is that of Nafeesas life. She was born to a German-Irish mother and a father of African-American and Haitian descent. The show follows Nafeesas struggle to find herself and her identity. In the opening piece, she tells us I havent always been a Black woman... when I was a kid I was a Black girl with a White mom in a White neighbourhood and all I wanted to be was White. We follow her ups and downs through some harrowing experiences and out the other side, to the realisation that she has within her the ability to become a Super Woman.
This is powerful stuff from a passionate performer, with the spoken word elements particularly strong. While it will specifically appeal to young women (as the High School students in the audience who gave a standing ovation will attest), this is a universal theme, one which you do not have to be a woman or of mixed ethnicity to empathise with. Dont be surprised if you find yourself wiping away tears at some points, and expect to leave the show chanting I am a super woman.
[KM] - www.broadwaybaby.com
This is the world premier of Nafeesa Monroes one woman show, Journey to Becoming a Super Woman. As spoken word artist her previous credits include opening for singer Jewel and appearing on HBOs Def Poetry. Monroe wrote the show, combining spoken word and theatrical elements, and it is directed by Anne Thomas Evans.
The journey in question is that of Nafeesas life. She was born to a German-Irish mother and a father of African-American and Haitian descent. The show follows Nafeesas struggle to find herself and her identity. In the opening piece, she tells us I havent always been a Black woman... when I was a kid I was a Black girl with a White mom in a White neighbourhood and all I wanted to be was White. We follow her ups and downs through some harrowing experiences and out the other side, to the realisation that she has within her the ability to become a Super Woman.
This is powerful stuff from a passionate performer, with the spoken word elements particularly strong. While it will specifically appeal to young women (as the High School students in the audience who gave a standing ovation will attest), this is a universal theme, one which you do not have to be a woman or of mixed ethnicity to empathise with. Dont be surprised if you find yourself wiping away tears at some points, and expect to leave the show chanting I am a super woman.
[KM] - www.broadwaybaby.com
Nafeesa Monroe, the night’s featured poetess, shared between-band poems of female pride and strength that would have had even the most stubborn feminist detractor applauding with appreciation. - CSUN Paper
Nafeesa Monroe, the night’s featured poetess, shared between-band poems of female pride and strength that would have had even the most stubborn feminist detractor applauding with appreciation. - CSUN Paper
then yesterday i was in culver city at agape church to see and hear neale donald walsch talk about what god wants. it was a great 2 and 1/2 hours with a genuine person who knows who he is. he brought a special guest with him that was both unexpected and totally awesome--nafeesa monroe. nafeesa is a superwoman, a wonderful performer, a poet, and an overall great human being. it was a pleasure to meet both nafeesa and neale in the same space. what a great afternoon.
if you ever have an opportunity to meet either of these two, don't let it pass you by. you won't regret the opportunity for your mind, body and soul to be illumined. - http://www.veronicalynne.com/
then yesterday i was in culver city at agape church to see and hear neale donald walsch talk about what god wants. it was a great 2 and 1/2 hours with a genuine person who knows who he is. he brought a special guest with him that was both unexpected and totally awesome--nafeesa monroe. nafeesa is a superwoman, a wonderful performer, a poet, and an overall great human being. it was a pleasure to meet both nafeesa and neale in the same space. what a great afternoon.
if you ever have an opportunity to meet either of these two, don't let it pass you by. you won't regret the opportunity for your mind, body and soul to be illumined. - http://www.veronicalynne.com/
Nafeesa Monroe is an award-winning slam poet with both an academic and professional acting past. She has a commanding presence in any room and her work is the pure product of a high-gear mind and a healing heart. - www.GeorgiaInformer.com
Nafeesa Monroe is an award-winning slam poet with both an academic and professional acting past. She has a commanding presence in any room and her work is the pure product of a high-gear mind and a healing heart. - www.GeorgiaInformer.com
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that ignoring Gandhi was our own risk. There is nothing wrong with taking a trip to the “Candy Shop” with 50 Cent, but ignoring young, educated and inspirational artists such as Nafeesa Monroe might be our biggest mistake.
Without taking any credibility from other, more pop-oriented artists out there, this young lady delivers more of a message than many conscious Hip-Hop artists can fit in an entire album. Unfortunately, strong messages in art are often lost in today’s commercial world. Even Kanye West, who was definitely on the right path with his hit “Jesus Walks”, cheapened his message with lines like: “The way Kathy Lee needed Regis / That’s the way I need Jesus”.
An actress and poet, Nafeesa has worked in the mainstream on The Jamie Foxx show and The Parkers but it is her independent work and her poetry that she is most passionate about. The word ‘poet’ does seem to have a stigma attached to it, and people who think poetry is not for them can miss out if they forget that two of the greatest poets in the world were Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
AllHipHop.com Alternatives spoke with Nafeesa Monroe about a variety of issues that concern us, from women’s roles in Hip-Hop to the war in Iraq. It is only when we speak, that we are free.
AHHA: How did you get into poetry? Who inspires you?
Nafeesa: As far as artistry and poetry, the first poet to inspire me was Lucille Clifton. When you read her work it appears plain and simple, she doesn’t use a lot of big words. But she has meaning and a lot of depth in her poetry. I used to think that I couldn’t be a poet because I didn’t know a lot of big words. I was like, ‘I’m not a poet; I don’t have the vocabulary for it.’ But she was the first person that showed me that it’s not about using big words but how you use your words, what you’re saying and why you’re saying it.
AHHA: You talk about your childhood quite a bit and the difficulties that come with growing up half white and half Black. Is that an inspiration too?
Nafeesa: My childhood is definitely an inspiration. Growing up of mixed ethnicity in an all white neighborhood with my white mother…for a lot of my life I thought I was white and I wanted to be white. Then there was a point where I realized that I wasn’t and that everybody else saw me differently than how I saw myself. And so there was a big struggle where I wasn’t accepted from the white people or the Black people. I was too much of the other for everybody. So I was always struggling to find that place to fit in. I didn’t find it for a really long time, then I went to college in Connecticut and I learned a lot more about being African American, and that’s also when I started to write poetry.
Poetry is a place where I can be myself rather than someone else, which is what acting is. I think the first poem that people really related to was ‘Half Devil’. It was about a Black person calling a white person ‘devil’ and then they turned to me and said, ‘You’re only half devil’. I had a lot of people say thank you to me for saying what they were unable to say.
AHHA: What’s your definition of Spoken Word? And how would explain it to people out there who are only now being exposed to it?
Nafeesa: Although you can speak poetry, my definition of poetry is that it lives on the page. Spoken word is an art that must be spoken. I think it’s more tied to the tradition of African storytellers and I also believe that Hip-Hop came from spoken word. Hip-Hop was originally poetry. We get a lot of Hip-Hop heads that are listening to words that many not stand out have they been put over a really strong beat. Spoken word is more raw and anyone can be a great spoken word artist, in the sense that there is no one judging you. For example there is an Asian kid called Beausia. If you look at him he looks like your average Asian kid but he gets on stage and he says the most outrageous things that if he was rapping, no one would take him seriously. They would be like, ‘Oh he’s an Asian kid trying to be somebody…blah blah.’ But spoken word allows him to be who he is and as crazy and wild as he wants to be. People take it as an expression of him rather than him trying to be something else.
AHHA: How did you get into acting? Do you find it hard to get roles that align with your beliefs?
Nafeesa: I’ve been acting since I was 11 years old so I grew up on the stage. There’s a weird part of me that feels home in a theatre than on the street or even in my house. When I came to L.A to do it professionally a few years back, I realized that there’s got to be a different passion behind it because if you’re here just to be a star it could be extremely difficult. I think what really keeps me going is telling the story in a different way. A girlfriend of mine, an actress named Kimberly Elise, said she wants to make sure that the stories of her ancestors are told properly and that’s one of the reasons that she acts. - www.AllHipHop.com
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that ignoring Gandhi was our own risk. There is nothing wrong with taking a trip to the “Candy Shop” with 50 Cent, but ignoring young, educated and inspirational artists such as Nafeesa Monroe might be our biggest mistake.
Without taking any credibility from other, more pop-oriented artists out there, this young lady delivers more of a message than many conscious Hip-Hop artists can fit in an entire album. Unfortunately, strong messages in art are often lost in today’s commercial world. Even Kanye West, who was definitely on the right path with his hit “Jesus Walks”, cheapened his message with lines like: “The way Kathy Lee needed Regis / That’s the way I need Jesus”.
An actress and poet, Nafeesa has worked in the mainstream on The Jamie Foxx show and The Parkers but it is her independent work and her poetry that she is most passionate about. The word ‘poet’ does seem to have a stigma attached to it, and people who think poetry is not for them can miss out if they forget that two of the greatest poets in the world were Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
AllHipHop.com Alternatives spoke with Nafeesa Monroe about a variety of issues that concern us, from women’s roles in Hip-Hop to the war in Iraq. It is only when we speak, that we are free.
AHHA: How did you get into poetry? Who inspires you?
Nafeesa: As far as artistry and poetry, the first poet to inspire me was Lucille Clifton. When you read her work it appears plain and simple, she doesn’t use a lot of big words. But she has meaning and a lot of depth in her poetry. I used to think that I couldn’t be a poet because I didn’t know a lot of big words. I was like, ‘I’m not a poet; I don’t have the vocabulary for it.’ But she was the first person that showed me that it’s not about using big words but how you use your words, what you’re saying and why you’re saying it.
AHHA: You talk about your childhood quite a bit and the difficulties that come with growing up half white and half Black. Is that an inspiration too?
Nafeesa: My childhood is definitely an inspiration. Growing up of mixed ethnicity in an all white neighborhood with my white mother…for a lot of my life I thought I was white and I wanted to be white. Then there was a point where I realized that I wasn’t and that everybody else saw me differently than how I saw myself. And so there was a big struggle where I wasn’t accepted from the white people or the Black people. I was too much of the other for everybody. So I was always struggling to find that place to fit in. I didn’t find it for a really long time, then I went to college in Connecticut and I learned a lot more about being African American, and that’s also when I started to write poetry.
Poetry is a place where I can be myself rather than someone else, which is what acting is. I think the first poem that people really related to was ‘Half Devil’. It was about a Black person calling a white person ‘devil’ and then they turned to me and said, ‘You’re only half devil’. I had a lot of people say thank you to me for saying what they were unable to say.
AHHA: What’s your definition of Spoken Word? And how would explain it to people out there who are only now being exposed to it?
Nafeesa: Although you can speak poetry, my definition of poetry is that it lives on the page. Spoken word is an art that must be spoken. I think it’s more tied to the tradition of African storytellers and I also believe that Hip-Hop came from spoken word. Hip-Hop was originally poetry. We get a lot of Hip-Hop heads that are listening to words that many not stand out have they been put over a really strong beat. Spoken word is more raw and anyone can be a great spoken word artist, in the sense that there is no one judging you. For example there is an Asian kid called Beausia. If you look at him he looks like your average Asian kid but he gets on stage and he says the most outrageous things that if he was rapping, no one would take him seriously. They would be like, ‘Oh he’s an Asian kid trying to be somebody…blah blah.’ But spoken word allows him to be who he is and as crazy and wild as he wants to be. People take it as an expression of him rather than him trying to be something else.
AHHA: How did you get into acting? Do you find it hard to get roles that align with your beliefs?
Nafeesa: I’ve been acting since I was 11 years old so I grew up on the stage. There’s a weird part of me that feels home in a theatre than on the street or even in my house. When I came to L.A to do it professionally a few years back, I realized that there’s got to be a different passion behind it because if you’re here just to be a star it could be extremely difficult. I think what really keeps me going is telling the story in a different way. A girlfriend of mine, an actress named Kimberly Elise, said she wants to make sure that the stories of her ancestors are told properly and that’s one of the reasons that she acts. - www.AllHipHop.com
Discography
Super Woman
Photos
Bio
“I haven’t always been a Black woman…When I was a kid, I was a Black girl with a White mom…in a White neighborhood” – White by Nafeesa Monroe.
Nafeesa Monroe was born in Northern California to a father of African-American and Haitian descent and a mother of German and Irish decent. Raised primarily by her mother in the largely White neighborhood of Palo Alto, California, Nafeesa’s ethnicity and self-identity were constantly challenged. She was even called “nigger” by strangers on the street.
“did she call me a nigger? So, wet tears streamed down / my Black face / leaving white streaks / on my streaked soul / in the darkness of misunderstanding” - White
Although Nafeesa’s introduction to poetry and Spoken Word would come much later, her childhood continues to influence her writing.
At 10 years old Nafeesa made her acting debut with the Palo Alto Children’s Theatre (PACT) as a Snowflake in "The Snow Queen of Ice." It was here that she caught “the bug” of performance. “The Snow Queen” was the first of more than 30 productions in which she would appear. She continued to perform with PACT even through high school.
In high school Nafeesa focused much of her energy on math and science in addition to the arts. She had a knack and curiosity for both.
“I could mathematically manipulate numbers” – Fractions
Upon acceptance into Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Nafeesa was awarded a Junior Federal Fellowship with NASA / Ames Research Center. Her summers were spent working with astronauts…
“This is me, Nafeesa you talkin’ to / math wiz, chemist / worked for NASA in ‘92” – New Jack Hustler
but the arts never left her.
Through study and discovery, Wesleyan became the first place where Nafeesa found her true self. She found the means to embrace all parts of her heritage. This discovery inspires much of her poetry. In a piece about being “half devil…and half God” Nafeesa explores her multi-ethnicity…
“I truly am all things in all / what was, is, and / will be / breathes in my chest…”
as well as her vision of the future of race relations…
“I am the peace treaty / by which the war is done” – Half Devil
Wesleyan was also Nafeesa’s first exposure to Spoken Word and planted the seed from which her poetry has grown. Her unique ability to bring story to life through verse is amplified during her live performance. Nafeesa’s poetry explores issues of love and hate, man and woman, but also the duality of Black and White. Her words echo her multi-ethnicity and the pursuit of a common denominator amongst all and a means of understanding one another.
Soon after her first time on an open mic’, Nafeesa began to slam (compete with Spoken Word). After only her third poetry slam, Nafeesa’s remarkable talent as a powerful performer and vivid writer was unfurled. She won a spot on the 2001 Hollywood Slam Team. In early 2002, she won the second spot on the Long Beach National Poetry Slam Team ranked 6th that year in the nation by Poetry Slam Incorporated.
As slams are often scouted for poetic talent, Nafeesa’s undeniable passion and distinct talent were recognized. Multi-platinum recording artist Jewel handpicked Nafeesa to open for several of her "This Way" Summer 2002 Tour dates. In 2004 Nafeesa was chosen to perform as a part of Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry on HBO.
Coinciding with Jewel’s Tour, Nafeesa and producer extraordinaire Glen Williams Jr. (“Gee Dawg ‘n Joe Boy,” Soundtrack for Showtime’s “Leaving the Life” special) collaborated on Nafeesa’s debut album, SUPER WOMAN. The CD is a collection of her most intimate spoken word pieces. A preliminary pressing sold out while on tour with Jewel and has been intriguing and engaging people from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds. SUPER WOMAN pushes the envelope of racial understanding and tolerance, and is said to “bridge the gap between Black and White consciousness.”
Nafeesa’s also passionate about her performances alongside best selling author of the Conversations With God series, Neale Donald Walsch, as well as her participation with two performance groups, “Be the Change” and the “SuperSHEroes,” whose intention is to uplift, encourage and inspire, a message towards which Nafeesa’s artistry tends.
Through her own life experiences, trials and successes, shared openly through her poetry, Nafeesa connects with her audience. She breathes life into her own written word creating a candid, valiant and poetic performance.
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