Mic Drop! Pride Month Writers of Color Spotlight

Name: Mic Drop! Pride Month Writers of Color Spotlight
Start: 2026-06-28T17:30:00-07:00
End: 2026-06-28T21:00:00-07:00
Location: The 418 Project (Small Theater)

Featuring Ekua Omosupe & Elbina Batala Rafizadeh

Session Date & Time

Jun 28 2026 (Sunday)

5:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Location

The 418 Project

In the: Small Theater

Ticket sales concluded. This session has already taken place.

About This Event

Mic Drop! presents a Pride Month Writers of Color Spotlight featuring two stellar poets: Ekua Omosupe and Elbina Batala Rafizadeh — honoring legacy, culture, liberation, LGBTQ+ voices, and the living fire of poetry in community.Free Writing Workshop with Peggy Simmons from 4:15 – 5:00 PM. Open Mic & Features: 5:30 – 8:30 PM. Hosted by Emcee Gregory Speed Sr. with DJ Jessie Marie holding it down.

Event Producer

Resident Artist

Jessie Marie

Jessie Marie has worked extensively as a community organizer stemming from her experiences in life as a poet, visual artist (photography and painting) and as a musician focused on creating access and experiences with the arts & music communities and marginalized communities throughout the greater Bay Area. Through her love of expressive art and music and its healing potential, she started doing live performance art in the San Francisco and the Berkeley music scene around 2005 and has collaborated and fostered creativity publicly ever since. She founded Mic Drop! in 2021 and has curated this event into what it is today bringing in a fierce team of extraordinary Artists to run it alongside her over the years. She is a local avid photographer for many events and performers, as well as a an artist showing in galleries around the Bay Area over many years. Be it through creating brave spaces that encourage creativity and healing through all forms of expressions, or through her own creative endeavors in partnership with others, Jessie Marie has continuously poured into community as an essential part of her life balance.

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Visiting The 418 Project: What to Expect

House guidelines to ensure a welcoming, inclusive space for everyone

We are committed to a safe, welcoming environment where everyone is treated with cultural and personal respect across all backgrounds and identities. We hold the highest standards for consent—in movement, touch, and conversation. Always check in first, honor boundaries, and ensure that consent is clear, voluntary, and ongoing.

As a community-run non-profit collective with a small staff, we cannot clean everything after every event. Please help us care for the space by picking up after yourself, placing recycling and compost in the bins provided, and treating every room with kindness so it remains welcoming for the next gathering.

We have a filtered water bottle refill station on-site, so feel free to bring a refillable bottle. All restrooms are all-gender, ADA-accessible, and located conveniently on the ground floor.

To ensure everyone can breathe and move comfortably—especially community members with chemical sensitivities and asthma—The 418 Project is a low-fragrance space. Please refrain from applying perfumes, scented colognes, or strongly scented lotions before attending.

As an artist-driven non-profit collective, we believe movement and art should be accessible to all regardless of financial circumstances. Many events feature sliding scale tickets, and we offer work-trade opportunities for community members who wish to volunteer in exchange for admission.

Explore volunteer & work-trade opportunities

Plan Your Visit

Venue & Accessibility

The 418 Project is located in downtown Santa Cruz. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming space for all dancers, artists, and community members.

Address: 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Accessibility: Ground floor entrances & all-gender accessible restrooms

Parking: On-street parking & nearby River Street public garage

Get Directions on Google Maps