Christopher D. Sims.
Credit Connie Kuntz
Sims is from the West Side of Rockford and first shared his poetic gifts onstage at Haskell Elementary School thanks to Dorothy Paige-Turner.
Rooted in Black joy and celebration, his poems wind through the landscapes of this country's past and present. He hopes they will inform, engage and entertain. Sims, who originally wrote rap and hip-hop lyrics, said his poetry has a bebop cadence. His poem "Thinking About King: A Thesis-Poem On Leadership" reflects on the years since Martin Luther King Jr.'s passing.
Listen