CULTURAL HEALING AT UMASS

On Sat Dec 6th 2025 from 5pm-10pm Poetic Recovery brings Cultural Healing to the Theatre in New Africa house. Cultural Healing is an annual family friendly, alcohol and drug free annual event that features a Keynote speaker, world famous Dj Johnny Juice Rosado of Public Enemy, member of Poetic Recovery, Wu Tang affiliate, and award winning M.C/Farmer “The God Life Giving Emcee”, community artists from the area we are in, speakers, workshops, lifetime achievement awards, and performances.

CULTURAL HEALING celebrates the year long cultural work in communities that encourage healing, recovery. and interpersonal communication to build cultural communities.  This event is a family friendly, alcohol and drug free annual event that will feature a Keynote speaker, UMass's distinguished professor Dr Amilcar Shabazz, Dj Johnny Juice Rosado of Public Enemy, member of Poetic Recovery, Wu Tang affiliate, and award winning M.C/Farmer “The God Life Giving Emcee”, community activist Darlene Elias, Maurice "Soulfighter" Taylor and many great artist bios from across New England. There will be speakers, workshops, lifetime achievement awards, and performances. 

This event and other Poetic Recovery programs and tools are a great fit for your students, community members, employees, Undergraduate and graduate students. Participants will leave with a full understanding of the power of culture, access to Poetic Recovery tools that will allow them to use and develop skills relating to humanities such as interpersonal and cross-cultural communication, critical thinking, addressing social justice issues and more. Our tools will allow your students to develop cultural networks to be heard and seen, promote other positive artists, and take on the many challenges facing their communities, the country and the world today due to cultural exploitation and appropriation which has manifested higher violence rates, lack of constructive self reflection, and isolation due to destruction of healthy communities.

There will be 3 workshops offered as part of the Cultural Healing event. 1: poetry/rhyming, 2: music productions, and 3: DeeJaying which are developed to tap into super powers of the attendees such as  listening, vulnerability, and building community. These workshops will allow attendees to learn the power, obtain a  basic understanding, and knowledge of Hip Hop culture. They will also access free tools to begin their cultural journey to take control of the narrative of their culture that will lead to a keen sense of self, self validation, building networks and communities to take on social issues. This feeds the mind and spirit and leads to a spiritual and cultural freedom.  

The following tools were developed by Maurice Taylor, founder  of Poetic Recovery Inc. The tool will allow the attendees to take back the narrative of their culture,  encourage healing, recovery, and building communities via cultural expression. Maurice "Soulfighter" Taylor, who is a former abused foster child,  connected to the positive messages and community of rap music led to the creation the nonprofit Poetic Recovery Inc which aided in his long-term recovery from trauma and addiction for 30 plus years. Over the last 20 years many lives have been touched by Poetic Recovery open mic, Poetic Recovery tools, and last year's 1st annual Cultural Healing event.

These are tools that Poetic Recovery offers:

1: Newsat11.org A collaborative project with Dj Johnny Juice, the Life Given Emcee, and Maurice “Soulfighter” Taylor to make Hip Hop the news of the streets again. Artists that submit A capella tracks about what’s really going on in their Hood can get their track laced by a customized beat by Johnny Juice of Public Enemy.

2: Poeticrecoveryradio.com. Online radio station where independent artists are invited to submit their music to share with people in society looking for messages of healing.

3: Poeticrecovery.us Is a Black owned and growing cultural/social media network where artists, business people join to connect, collaborate, promote their work with 30 sec videos and their tracks, sell products in the market place, business pages that are created here are given free advertisement on poetic recovery radio collectively all encourage buying local to create and promote local economies.

4: Clinics: Workshops on spoken word, Hip Hop and its elements, crafted as aids to recovery and healing so people can navigate their pain, create connections, and see the impact of cultural expression. 

Sincerely,

Maurice “Soulfighter” Taylor