The Voice of Justice - “My voice is not too much—it is exactly what the moment requires.”
Alisha A. Pina is a curator of words—spoken, written, and sung. The Rhode Island native is a national award-winning writer, soul-stirring singer, thought-provoking spoken-word artist, and equity-focused motivational speaker. This Cape Verdean and Indigenous child of God, community leader, and entrepreneur has been featured consistently throughout New England and is unapologetic about allowing her vulnerability the space and place to live freely. Her debut EP and first poetry book are in the works for release in 2025. Follow her on Instagram at @YourWingsRReady.
Mental Health Lens
Advocacy burnout, moral injury, and the emotional weight of always having to speak up.
Strength & Struggle
Her compassion creates connection; her struggle is carrying the weight of injustice long after the moment has passed.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: Truth Amplification—she brings clarity and courage to conversations others avoid. Villain Shift: From silence imposed to truth reclaimed.
Thunder Voice - "My power is not just to be heard - but to be understood"
A Boston poet who believes that there is extraordinary power in words and considers his poetry to be socially conscious as well as entertaining. He hopes that his ornate poetry will motivate action, provoke thought, and stimulate the listener's mind.
Art was inducted into the Lizard Lounge Poetry Slam Hall of Fame and was a valued member of multiple Lizard Lounge National Poetry Slam Teams. He is the Lead Restorative Practices Coach for Boston Public Schools and continues to perform his unique poetry with the aspirations of making positive change in the lives of others. https://www.instagram.com/griot59/
Mental Health Lense
Depression, grief, emotional numbness, and identity disruption.
Strength & Struggle
Courage and power. Your presence fills the room. People feel you before they understand you. Struggle: Loss of identity. When volume replaces clarity, the message gets lost. Our experienced team brings skill and passion to every project, no matter the size.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: God of Thunder energy—the ability to make the message felt, not just heard. Villain Shift: Performance over substance.Proven outcomes that speak for themselves and make a meaningful difference for your business.
The Shapeshifter — “I am not changing who I am—I am revealing who I’ve always been.”
Carol Johnson is a poet of remembrance, resistance, and reclamation. Born into the lineage of Jamestown, an African American town founded by her fourth great-grandfather, Ervin James, in South Carolina, Carol carries the oral traditions of her ancestors with reverence and fire. Her poetry is both witness and offering, rooted in the rich soil of Black Southern life and the enduring legacy of the African diaspora.
Her debut poetry collection, O’Africa, threads together generations of oral wisdom, ancestral resilience, and sharecropper soil, birthing a tapestry of Pan-African memory. Part poetry and part prose, the collection follows generations of the James family across time, memory, and place. Her poems are not linear; instead, they circle and spiral like gospel songs and griot tales—an embodied archive of survival, faith, and love. They remember. They reclaim. Spoken with the Sankofa bird perched on her shoulder, Carol’s work loops backward to move forward, retrieving lost histories and weaving memory, legacy, and lyricism into every line.
Whether performing on stage or writing at her kitchen table, Carol invokes the sacred responsibility of the storyteller. Her work is especially resonant for those exploring identity, healing, and intergenerational legacy. It is a way of speaking truth and conjuring new futures from the bones of the past, creating space for what has been silenced, buried, or forgotten.We believe in creating meaningful experiences that inspire and connect. Let us help you bring your vision to life.
You’re right. Carol’s website and Instagram belong inside her bio—not listed as separate sections afterward. Learn more about Carol and her work at oafricapoetry.com and follow her on Instagram @oafricapoetry.https://www.oafricapoetry.com/https://www.oafricapoetry.com/
Mental Health Lense
Identity exploration, emotional masking, self-acceptance, and code-switching.
Strength & Struggle
Adaptability and range. You can move between identities, emotions, and perspectives with ease. Struggle: Losing yourself in the shifting. Becoming what others need instead of honoring who you are. Our experienced team brings skill and passion to every project, no matter the size.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: Emotional shape-shifting—the ability to embody multiple truths.
Villain Shift: From adaptive to fragmented.
The Truth Speaker — “I do not speak to fill silence—I speak to awaken truth.”
Cole Rodriguez is an internationally recognized spoken-word artist, educator, and activist from Boston whose work bridges poetry, community building, and social change. A multi-year National Poetry Slam competitor and facilitator in universities and therapeutic spaces across the United States and abroad, Cole uses language to inspire reflection and collective action. As a mother, teacher, and artist, she continues to create spaces where truth, rhythm, and resilience meet. Follow her on Instagram at @colerodriguez347.
Mental Health Lense
Collective trauma, justice, emotional resilience, and intergenerational healing.
Strength & Struggle
Strength: You speak with conviction, clarity, and purpose. Your presence challenges people to listen deeper—not just to words, but to truth. Struggle: Carrying the weight of truth-telling can be exhausting. Holding space for justice, education, and healing can leave little room for your own rest.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: You turn language into movement. Your words inspire reflection, accountability, and action—transforming silence into awareness. Villain Shift: When the burden becomes too heavy, responsibility can turn into overfunctioning, exhaustion, or carrying more than is yours.
The Protector — “I smash silence so the truth can be heard.”
Ramon D. is a poet and lyricist who has been honing his craft for the past 35 years. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Ramon began his path with poetry as a freshman in high school. After losing a friend to gun violence at age 14, Ramon wrote a poem for his English class that spoke of brotherhood, community activism, and the Stop the Violence Movement.
He eventually used his love for his craft to become an elite figure in hip-hop lyricism, continuing to shed light on the state of the community, national and international issues, and the uplift of people of color. Ramon became a member of the New Haven-based hip-hop collective Penalty Box and later moved on amicably as a solo artist.
Ramon has performed at open mics and slams across the Eastern United States and Puerto Rico. He can often be seen on Sundays at the Lizard Lounge with his partner, Carol Johnson. Together, Carol and Ramon formed the collaborative “El Lenguaje,” translated as “The Language.” In addition to working on their debut self-titled album, they are current members of the Lizard Lounge Slam Team. Follow Ramon on Instagram at @monlushpbx.
Mental Health Lense
Rage, emotional dysregulation, and suppressed intensity.
Strength & Struggle
Strength: You have courage and raw emotional power, often felt before it’s fully understood. Struggle: When the intensity rises, it’s hard to regulate, and you risk losing control.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: Your voice breaks through emotional barriers, making people feel deeply.
Villain Shift: When unchanneled, the message gets lost in the emotional storm. Proven outcomes that speak for themselves and make a meaningful difference for your business.
The Weight Weaver — “I was never too much. I was carrying more than they could see.”
Meghan is an emerging writer from New Hampshire with a deep passion for helping others. Since 2012, she has worked in the education field, committed to creating supportive spaces for learning and growth. Her love for poetry began in high school. After stepping away from it for a while, a close friend reintroduced her to the power and energy of slam poetry, rekindling her creative fire.
Meghan is proud to represent the 2025–2026 Mill City Speaks Slam Team. Through her writing, she explores themes of healing, identity, and resilience, often informed by her work as a passionate mental health advocate. Outside of poetry, she finds joy in dancing, caring for her plants, and spending time with the people she loves. Her life and art are rooted in creativity, self-expression, and a commitment to community well-being. The best way to keep up with Meghan’s work and journey is through Instagram at @fleur_ishmeghan.
Mental Health Lens
Body image, self-worth, anxiety, shame, resilience, and healing.
Strength & Struggle
Strength: You know what it means to carry heavy things—expectations, judgment, pain, identity—and still move forward. Struggle: The weight can become internalized. Sometimes the loudest enemy isn’t outside—it’s the voice that says you are too much, not enough.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: Turning burden into movement. You transform pain into poetry and vulnerability into connection. Villain Shift: Overidentifying with shame. When the weight becomes your identity instead of something you carry, it can trap you in self-doubt and isolation.
The Catalyst — “Transformation begins when people feel seen.”
Will C. (aka Will Chalmus) is a dedicated facilitator of personal, communal, and professional development. He is a highly respected educator, poet, playwright, hip-hop artist, and M.C. who performs solo and with numerous groups nationally.
Will C. is widely known for his international work with the Centre for Playback Theatre, including serving on its board of directors, various committees, and faculty. He has been instrumental in organizing three conferences for the International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN), founded several local Playback Theatre companies, and led programs, performances, and consultations for numerous nonprofit organizations in the United States, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Belarus, Australia, Malaysia, Switzerland, South Africa, and Israel/Palestine.
Will C. is currently an adjunct professor at a prestigious university, a director of creative inclusion for a nonprofit organization, an educational consultant for a year-long training program, and a three-time member of the Lizard Lounge Slam Poetry Team. Follow him on Instagram at @willc4me.
Mental Health Lens
Empathy fatigue, leadership burden, emotional labor, and collective healing.We deliver exceptional results in everything we do, ensuring your satisfaction at every step.
Strength & Struggle
Strength: You create spaces where people feel safe enough to be seen. You recognize potential, build trust, and help communities grow. Struggle: Holding space for transformation can become heavy. Supporting growth in others often comes with invisible emotional labor.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: You unlock voices and transform stories into connection. You help people see themselves—and help each other—more clearly. Villain Shift: Overfunctioning, caretaker fatigue, and emotional depletion.Proven outcomes that speak for themselves and make a meaningful difference for your business.
The Connector — “I bring the pieces together so every voice has space to be heard.”
Liz Doster provides program coordination and administrative support for The Blue Rose & Healing Through Art Therapies. Her role includes supporting behind-the-scenes planning, coordinating logistics for events and workshops, and assisting with overall program organization.
She also supports outreach and relationship building by engaging with vendors, community partners, and participants during events. Liz assists in representing The Blue Rose by sharing information about programming, collecting contact information, and helping to build connections for future collaboration.
Her role helps ensure that events, vendor coordination, and community engagement efforts are structured, organized, and aligned with the mission of creating meaningful, accessible spaces for expression and mental health support.
Mental Health Lens
Invisible labor, emotional responsibility, overwhelm, and the pressure of holding everything together behind the scenes.
Strength & Struggles
Strength: You bring people, information, and moving pieces together. Your organization and steady support help create spaces where others can participate and be heard. Struggle: Being the person others rely on can lead to carrying too much, overlooking your own needs, and feeling responsible when every piece does not fall into place.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: You transform separate people and ideas into meaningful connection, helping the vision become an organized and welcoming experience. Villain Shift: When support becomes overfunctioning, connection can turn into exhaustion, pressure, and taking responsibility for more than is yours to carry.
The Frequency Master — “I do not just play the room—I shift the energy.”
DJ Christoplex is a Boston-based mobile, club, and radio DJ whose work brings music, energy, and community together. He is an on-air personality with 98.1FM The Urban Heat, Boston’s independently Black-owned radio station, where music is used to inform, entertain, and make an impact. Known as The Frequency Master, DJ Christoplex reads the energy of the room and uses sound to create connection and shape the experience. Follow him on Instagram at @djchristophlex and learn more at linqapp.com/christopher_obryant_muhammad and heat981fm.com.
Mental Health Lens
Emotional regulation, sensory processing, mood, energy, and connection.
Strength & Struggle
Strength: You read the energy of the room and understand how sound, rhythm, and timing can bring people together. Struggle: Constantly managing the room’s energy can make it difficult to separate what belongs to you from what you absorb from everyone else.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: You transform sound into connection. Through music and frequency, you shift moods, create movement, and help people feel part of something larger. Villain Shift: When connection becomes performance, carrying everyone else’s energy can lead to overstimulation, emotional exhaustion, and disconnection from your own needs.
The Amplifier — “Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.”
Akin to the symbolism of the blue rose flower, Toni Blue Rose embraces the excitement, mystery, and possibilities of new beginnings. The Boston-bred artist, survivor, author, and mental health clinician brings healing through art—primarily poetry—using vulnerable truth and thoughtful creativity to empower, educate, and inspire.
As the founder of Healing Through Art Therapies and The Blue Rose movement, Toni creates trauma-informed spaces that transform personal stories into collective reflection and growth. Follow her on Instagram at @ToniBlueRose and learn more at the-blue-rose.org.
Mental Health Lens
We deliver exceptional results in everything we do, ensuring your satisfaction at every step.
Strength & Struggle
Strength: Emotional depth and regulation. You feel what others cannot say and hold space until they find language. Struggle: Carrying everyone’s energy until your own emotions become hard to separate.
Superpower & Villain Shift
Superpower: Channeling and containment—the ability to absorb, translate, and transform emotional intensity into voice. Villain Shift: Emotional overload and burnout.