I Will Read for You: The Voice and Writings of Jaiya John Jaiya John

My conversation with Palestinian filmmaker, director, writer, and teacher Rolla Selbak was an exchange of sweet and saltwater tides. I cried. Then she cried. Then I cried. And she cried. It was oceanic in its soulfulness, honesty, clarity, and Love offering for humanity. I had been yearning for this conversation since we met at the Los Angeles reading of the Gaza Monologues in January of this year (2024). I can't wait for you to listen to, feel, and be sown by this kinship river. Bless you.Ro...

I genuinely enjoyed my Sacred Conversation with Dr. Jennifer Mullan, PsyD., creator of Decolonizing Therapy: a psychological evolution that weaves together political, ancestral, therapeutic, and global well-being (@decolonizingtherapy on IG). Dr. Jenn is a major disruptor in the mental health industrial complex. Her work is an urgent call to dive to the root of global and generational trauma to unlock the wisdom of our sacred rage. She is also the author of the recently released book Decoloni...

*LIVE RECORDING. I wrote and delivered this poem, The Beautiful Ones Have Changed to Light, in honor of the martyred poets and writers of Gaza and Falesteen as part of the first ever Los Angeles reading of The Gaza Monologues, on January 19, 2024. Our gathering was organized by the precious Sonali Fiske @sonalifiske (IG) with the blessing of Ashtar Theatre @ashtartheatre (IG) in Ramallah and in response to their global artistic solidarity call. We gathered to pay our respects, bear witness, s...

*LIVE RECORDING. Reciting a poem on Indigenous healing ways for the Presidential Opening Session of the American Psychological Association National Convention, Washington, D.C., August 3, 2023. 10,000 souls rolled deep at this gathering in the spirit of 2023 APA President Dr. Thema Bryant's @dr.thema chosen convention theme: You Belong Here.*My poetry reading world tour, The Gathering, kicks off tomorrow, Friday evening, February 2, 2024 in Echo Park, Los Angeles. Tickets are at jaiyajohn.com...

Reading (and playing piano accompaniment) Harvest, a ceremony piece that will be newly included in the upcoming revised edition of my book, Father to Son: Ode to Our Black Young. All of my books are available at jaiyajohn.com (thank you for purchasing directly from the author) and at booksellers worldwide. Audiobooks, eBooks, book specials, sleep stories, audio talks, apparel, piano music, and Birthing Words creative writing support are exclusively at my website. Thank you for posting your co...

My heart was deeply moved by this quiet, heartful conversation with Cole Arthur Riley, creator and curator of Black Liturgies (a project of The Center for Dignity and Contemplation), and author of the books This Here Flesh and the upcoming Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. Cole shares her soulful work daily on Instagram. In our conversation we share about our kindred childhood experiences with silence, solitude, and finding our written and spoken voices...