Massachusetts Poet Laureate To Speak On Nantucket For Black History Month

Massachusetts poet laureate Regie Gibson is coming to Nantucket’s African Meeting House Saturday, where he will deliver a keynote address and anchor a panel discussion at an event celebrating the intergenerational power of Black art. The event will also feature performances from local Nantucket artists.

Staged as part of Nantucket’s Black history month programming, the event will include both spoken-word poetry and music. Other than Gibson, performers include Nantucket resident Neville Richen, local jazz trio Ecliff, and Nantucket High School senior Danielle Lewis.

“We're really excited to see the program grow,” event organizer and Nantucket Chamber of Commerce events manager Bianca Brown said. “Nantucket has a rich Black, African-American, Cape Verdean history.”

Lewis starred in the new Nantucket Performing Arts Center’s first production last summer and won this year’s Poetry Out Loud contest for poetry recitation at the Nantucket High School.

“We wanted to make sure that we touched on multiple generations,” Brown said. “Danielle [Lewis] is such a super talent in the community.”

Gibson is the first poet laureate of Massachusetts, sworn in by Governor Maura Healey last spring. He has been featured on NPR, appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and had his work published in a variety of anthologies, magazines and journals. He and his work appear in the film Love Jones, directed by Theodore Witcher.

“I'm super excited,” Brown said. “It's amazing to have him out here.”

The event will be held this Saturday, February 7th, at the African Meeting House at 27 York Street from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and is “designed to be interactive, educational, and entertaining.” It is co-hosted by the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, the Nantucket Historical Association, the Museum of African American History Boston and Nantucket, and the town’s culture and tourism department. The Museum of African American History owns and operates the African Meeting House.

“We just want to remind everyone that we are still a community,” Brown said. “We really encourage everyone to come. The doors are open.”