Ladi Glori

About the Artist

Ladi Glori's is an innovative Baltimore-based spoken word artist, actress, author and host. Performing on stage as a poet since 2009, Ladi Glori combines dynamic performance and message-filled activism. Clinging to her love for musical expression, she released the hip-hop/spoken word CD, ‘Mute the Background’ and performed with the band “Funk Out the Trunk” in 2011. She was published in the anthology ‘Below the Belt’, received an Editor's Choice Award For Outstanding Achievement in Poetry (presented by the International Library of Poetry), was named a top ten poet of Central PA by Jump Street (an art organization based in Central PA) and recipient of the Never Stop Dreaming Award (Presented by the Minority Business Network). She released her first book/anthology, Ms. Read The Plight of A Poet in 2014. She has been interviewed and mentioned in the Baltimore Sun and York Dispatch. Ladi has been featured on cultural arts radio and television shows such as Culture and Main (WRCTV),The Evolution of Perspective (Blog Talk Radio) hosted by Ellen Gee, Muse Mondays hosted by Shamise "Ladies Jacobs, Spitfire Poetry Hosted by John Hansboro and Baltimore Flava Radio (Radioonfire) hosted by Antwon Grant. Ladi Glori was a member of the touring production 'Becoming Human; Voices to End Rape Culture’. She is also known for her heart-wrenching performances in plays like Smalltimore, Only In America, Speak to My Soul: A Montage of Voices and I Am Woke. Ladi Glori has served as Master of Ceremonies at concerts that speak to the power and vibrance of culture, such as The Imani Concert, Equality Fest and Central Penn College Poetry Slam and SLAM at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia  to name a few. Ladi Glori has also showcased her talent through wood working. YShe has toured as a featured spoken word artist at small and large venues across PA, Maryland, DC,Virginia and the Carolinas (universities, festivals, concerts, rallies, open mics, etc). Curious enough, you can also find Ladi Glori on any given Saturday, transferring and burning her mission statement "Maximize Truth, minimize shame" onto wood pieces and offering each piece as a keep sake to any one who patronizes her work. Ladi Glori's passion on stage is only superseded by her urgency to address fairness (in a world of seesaw imbalances) through empathy, self-love and unapologetic truth. 

Artist's Statement

The mission in front of my work is simple because of its pursuit to accomplish basic human ideals. It is  complex because of the nuances that are required to fulfill those human ideals. It is my belief that living under the guise of western world/ colonial social norm, creates a hostile environment for persons trifling with the ideas of their inner most selves. It is also my belief that when one walks in their own truth, one would experience the conflict associated with gender norms, stereotypes, respectability politics, classism, sexism, xenophobia and any other "ism" that has acted as a gate keep between us and the best of ourselves. The mission is to "Maximize Truth. minimize shame". What does that mean? It means to insight, inspire and create an environment that both enlarges and zooms in to true human experience, making it so large that it becomes either comforting or confrontational. It is my belief that when we delve into our minds, bodies, hearts and expose as much of it to the world demanding its presence, it becomes a form of protest. Hence, the "minimizing shame".  My work is written, performed, spoken and published to insight the parts of us that are mourning the healthy idea that was too taboo to explore. My work is a social and psychological critique of the grooming this society has imposed on its people. My work is also a self love exercise through poetry, prose, song, wood work, writing plays, editorial work, etc.