This February, AFROPUNK and Lincoln Center come together for their largest collaboration to date, a 2-day festival takeover at the new David Geffen Hall and Alice Tully Hall. Audiences can expect an immersive multidisciplinary experience that represents the razor’s edge in music, art, poetry, dance, performance art, and much more—all celebrating Black women throughout history, and proudly featuring Black women artists from around the world. As AFROPUNK continues to redefine the multicultural experience, this world-renowned, Brooklyn-based festival has expanded its reach and its mission to include a wide variety of events, partnerships, documentaries and programs that aim to uplift, educate and create space for marginalized communities, particularly a safe space for Black alternative culture. This can’t-miss, taste-making experience promises to represent the epitome of the AFROPUNK ethos.

Performers include Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter India.Arie, Tony Award-winning actress and playwright Sarah Jones, NAACP Image Award-nominated poet and activist aja monet, critically acclaimed artist Mereba, former The Voice contestant and recording artist Kimberly Nichole, renowned choreographer Ebony Williams (Beyoncé, Rihanna, Ciara), and rising singer-songwriters UMI, Danielle Ponder, and Celisse.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Guest Experience at 212-875-5456 or guestexperience@lincolncenter.org.

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About the Performers:

India.Arie is an acclaimed singer and songwriter. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album. Her album Acoustic Soul debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months Acoustic Soul was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The lead single, “Video” attained commercial success peaking at 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her highest-charting song in the region to date.

Sarah Jones is a Tony® Award-winning solo performer, writer, comedian and activist that has been  called “a master of the genre” by The New York Times.  She recently made her debut as a director with Sell/Buy/Date, in which she also stars. The film, executive produced by Oscar winner Meryl Streep, world premiered at the SXSW film festival as an opening night selection.Jones is mainly known for her multi-character one-person shows, including Broadway hit Bridge & Tunnel, originally produced by Streep, and the critically-acclaimed play Sell/Buy/Date, which inspired the film. She has also appeared in various film and TV projects, including co-starring (along with Elisabeth Shue, Giovanni Ribisi, and Julie Delpy) in the Netflix series, On the Verge. Renowned as “a one-woman global village,” Jones has given multiple main-stage TED Talks garnering millions of views, performed for President and First Lady Obama at the White House, and gave a performance at The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as the first artist on its stage normally reserved for heads of state.

aja monet is a surrealist blues poet, storyteller, and organizer born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She’s a recipient of the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam poetry award. Her first full collection of poems is titled, My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter on Haymarket Books. Her poems explore gender, race, migration, and spirituality. In 2018, she was nominated for a NAACP Literary Award for Poetry and in 2019 was awarded the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award for Poetry for her cultural organizing work in South Florida. Monet also co-founded a political home for artists and organizers called Smoke Signals Studio. She facilitates “Voices: Poetry for the People,” a workshop and collective in collaboration with Community Justice Project and Dream Defenders.

Mereba is a multifaceted artist with the life story of a rolling stone. Her unique blend of r&b, folk, and hip hop makes space for a new voice found in this wise young storyteller.

Nona Hendryx is a revolutionary art-rock, new-wave goddess, vocalist, songwriter, musician and multimedia artist. Tackling social issues, love and politics, Hendryx’s career spans decades of sound and style evolution. Longtime fans know her as one of the members of the groundbreaking group Labelle and their chart-topping, worldwide hit “Lady Marmalade.” Following her time with Labelle, Hendryx came into her own as a solo artist and songwriter with rock-infused records. Hendryx is also an Ambassador for Artistry in Music for Berklee College in Boston Conservatory and Berklee NYC.  She curated and performed in her own production for The Metropolitan Museum, Nona Hendryx and Disciples of Sun Ra in the Temple of Dendur. Hendryx composed music for the revival of the play, Blue, and wrote two compositions for the Broadway debut of Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress. Hendryx’s work was further recognized with a grant from Jazz South Arts to compose music for the play, Young Nerds of Color by Melinda Lopez. Hendryx remains passionate about music, visual art and technology while continuing to be a prolific artist.

Mahogany L. Browne, selected as Kennedy Center’s Next 50 and Weseleyan’s 2022-23 Distinguished Writer-in-Residence,  the Executive Director of JustMedia, Artistic Director of Urban Word, a writer, playwright, organizer, & educator. Browne has received fellowships from Arts for Justice, Air Serenbe, Cave Canem, Poets House, Mellon Research & Rauschenberg. She is the author of recent works: Vinyl Moon, Chlorine Sky, Woke: A Young Poets Call to Justice, Woke Baby, & Black Girl Magic. Founder of the diverse lit initiative Woke Baby Book Fair, Browne’s latest poetry collection Chrome Valley is a promissory note to survival and available from Norton/Liveright Spring 2023. As she readies for her stage debut of Chlorine Sky at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Illinois, she drinks coffee while living in Brooklyn, NY. She is the first ever poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center.

Umi leads with peace. With this intention, the 23-year-old singer builds a space for healing in her music. Umi’s voice is a soft landing as her vocals gently call listeners to be reflective or embrace the range of their emotions. She’s been releasing music since 2017, including an earlier EP Introspection. Now she arrives with her debut album Forest in the City, after releasing the single, “Sorry.” Over 14 tracks, Umi offers an ode to returning to the abundant safe havens we all have within us.

Danielle Ponder is both empowering and a powerhouse. In 2020, NPR described her music as anthemic while compassionate; soulful, while bold and strong. For 5 years, Danielle worked as a public defender where she provided criminal defense to the indigent community. While working as a public defender, Danielle also toured Europe and scored an opening spot with George Clinton. After five years as a public defender, she made the gutsy decision to pursue her No.1 passion — music. This year, she’s had appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS This Morning, tours with Marcus Mumford, Amos Lee, St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Leon Bridges.

Celisse is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and spoken word artist. Her deep and varied career has seen her in concert with many notable musicians such as Mariah Carey, Graham Nash, Melissa Etheridge and is a founding member of Trey Anastasio’s Ghosts of the Forest. In addition to her time on tour, she has performed alongside Kesha at the 60th annual Grammy Awards, Jon Batiste on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, and played lead guitar for Lizzo on Saturday Night Live.

Ebony Williams is a renowned dancer and choreographer, known for her incredible work with artists like Beyonce, Rihanna, Doja Cat, Ciara, Alicia Keys and countless others. She was also featured in the Misty Copeland book, “Black Ballerinas, My Journey to our Legacy” book and in the Boston Globe as one of “Boston’s Black Female Success Stories.”