Strength Courage & Wisdom: Here’s the Full Lineup For Our Women’s History Month Event
Celebrate Women's History Month With Us!
Jamaica Center for, our highly anticipated presentation of spoken word, storytelling, and dance is this month! Strength Courage & Wisdom 2026 will celebrate Women's History Month with a fantastic lineup of artists and great vibes.
Learn more about the performers below, and use the code WHM for 25% off.
Meet the Special Guest Poet!
Poet, recording artist, songwriter, activist and revolutionary Ma’at Mama, Ursula Rucker is a certified veteran of the global music and poetry scene. A skilled writer and dynamic performer, Rucker’s rich and textured voice is one of the world’s great, living instruments.
For nearly 3 decades, Rucker has used her fiery prose and invigorating imagery to excite and inspire listeners around the world. In addition to her performance on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, Rucker has established herself as a top-tier recording artist.
Whether she’s on the stage, in print, or on record, Ursula Rucker is an artistic force of nature.
Full Lineup:
Jasmine Rosario, known as JRose, is a powerhouse spoken word artist, educator, and community builder from Queens, NY. She founded The Rose Garden Events in 2018, creating a safe platform for poets and creatives. A 2023 BRIC Brooklyn Grand Slam Champion, she now hosts the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam and has performed at Lincoln Center, WAN, Busboys and Poets, and more. JRose teaches widely, including at Rikers Island and through an international residency in Costa Rica. In 2024, she became the first poet signed to First Generation Rich, releasing her Grammy-submitted book and album, Pieces of My Crumbled Thoughts.
Janine “Sugah Lyrics” Lyons is a Brooklyn-born spoken word poet, recording artist, author, and performer known for blending powerful poetry with House Music, Jazz, and Neo Soul. Performing as Brown Sugah and Sugah Lyrics, she began recording in 2011 and gained recognition with her 2017 release "I Need to Dance” Her work includes collaborations with iconic artists such as Josh Milan, Louie Vega, Mikki Afflick, Antonio Ocasio, and David Morales, earning #1 Traxsource rankings and Billboard recognition. Janine delivers her signature brand of “Poetic Soul for your Soul.”
Devynity is a poet, writer and visual artist from Jamaica, Queens, NY. She holds a BA in Africana, Puerto-Rican and Latino Studies from CUNY’s Hunter College and an MFA in Visual Arts from Lesley University. She was a Grand Slam Finalist and team member on the Nuyorican Poet’s Café slam team in 2002. Her poem “Black Girl Manifesto” was published in Hill Harper’s bestseller Letters to a Young Sister. She was a participant in JCAL’s first ARTWorks Fellowship program in 2018. Wray has a forthcoming collection of poetry to be published by Inverted Syntax Press in Spring 2027.
Paula Ralph Birkett is a Spoken word artist, vocalist, and storyteller. Paula began her career in musical theater touring with choral ensembles throughout Europe. She’s played many events and venues including The Apollo Theater, The United Nations, and TEDx Deer Park. She’s currently the featured vocalist in the progressive jazz group Tyrone Birkett |Sanctuary. Paula won the 2023 Howard Gilman Foundation | Bronx Cultural Visions Fund for her stage play Black American Working Woman and was workshopped summer 2024.Her work centers around her concept Perception to Decisions.
Tracey Irvin is a long-time resident of Queens who works for one of the biggest healthcare systems in NY and serves as a Board member for Social Services in the large Co-op that she lives in. Tracey has been writing since she was a teenager. She has found that poetry has been the best way to get people to understand the depths of her feelings while she heals herself. Tracey has a collection of poetry titled “Feelings Not Facts, Limericks of Life and Expressions of the Heart” which is her journey in life expressed by her feelings. This is Tracey’s third year participating in the Women’s History Month Spoken Word event at JCAL.
