Poet Malachi Smith: Live and on Film at African-American Library

An Evening with Poet Malachi Smith, including a reading/performance by Smith and a showing of a documentary of his life, will begin at 6 p.m. on February 22 at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.

In honor of Black History Month, the performance by Smith and the world première of Dub Poetry: The Life and Work of Malachi Smith are being presented in association with Reggae Concepts and 4-M International Productions.

Dub Poetry: The Life and Work of Malachi Smith looks at the poetry genre that started on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica through the story of Smith, a poet, playwright, actor and Miami-Dade County police officer. His biography is a captivating look at a life emerging from a broken home, poverty, and personal and societal prejudices to discover and transform himself. A series of interviews punctuated with Smith's poetry carries the "dub-u-mentary" which was produced and directed by L. Michael Bryan.

During the library program, Smith will present a reading/performance, followed by a question and answer session. Short readings will also be offered by Dr. Donna Weir-Soley, of Florida International University, and Prof. Geoffrey Philp, of Miami-Dade College.

For more information about the free program, call 954-357-7348.

Founded in 1974, the award-winning Broward County Libraries Division, www.broward.org/library, provides essential quality of life community service as well as outstanding customer service throughout Broward County. The library consists of 37 branches, more than three million items for public use, 970 permanent staff, 114 part-time staff and $4.6 million in grants with 41 grant-supported positions. Broward County Library is the ninth largest library system in the United States serving 10 million customers annually.

Contact: Karen Williams, 954-357-7395, kwilliam@browardlibrary.org

Tags: Caribbean Jamaican writers Caribbean writers poetry poet dub poetry