i was born with two tongues is a Chicago-based panAsian spoken word group, an exercise in communication, and the sound of four brains knocking together. Emily Chang, Anida Esguerra, Marlon Esguerra and Dennis Kim explore the intersections between art and activism, the personal and political, to unearth the rich histories of Asian people in America and participate in the construction of the Asian-American identity. The tongues have performed across the country and have recently released their first CD, "Broken Speak" (Fist of Sound Records). For additional information visit their web site at www.atomickitchen.com/2tongues or send an e-mail to tongues2@hotmail.com. Tonight, i was born with two tongues begins our ninth annual Musicality of Poetry Series. Performing with the tongues will be bassist Darius Savage, and percussionist Jay Monteverde. The Musicality of Poetry Series IX is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Emily Chang is proud to take part in the power of the Tongues through her word and song. She is a second generation Chinese-American born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and raised in the suburbs of New Jersey. Currently, she is a fourth year English major at the University of Chicago, working on her B.A. project, a multimedia spoken word production involving original poetry, music, and movement
Anida Esguerra is a Cambodian Malaysian Muslim American woman who prefers a non hyphenated identity. Anida and her family are refugees from Cambodia who migrated to the western suburbs of Chicago in 1979. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and is a creative partner at an up-and-coming Chicago design firm. Marlon Esguerra is a second generation Filipino-American, born and raised in the Old Wicker Park area of Chicago. As a teacher in the Young Chicago Authors program and the Wicker Park Association House, he brings the power of creative writing to many high school students in the West Town area. Marlon intends to continue building on the Dalaga Project, an Outerloop creative writing program.
Dennis Kim is a student in Columbia Collegeâs poetry program. A second generation Korean-American, Dennis began reading poetry three years ago on the Chicago spoken word scene and recently qualified for the National Poetry Slam as a member of Chicagos MadBar Team.