Ebony Payne-English is an author, performer, playwright, and educator from Duval County. She is the first woman to establish her own chapter of the international poetry organization, Black on Black Rhyme. Ebony is the 2017 Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s Emerging Artist and recipient of the Spoken Word Gala’s 2017 William Bell Humanitarian Award. Ebony currently serves as Executive Director of The Performers Academy, a 501c3 arts education organization in Jacksonville, FL and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of Southern Fried Poetry, Inc. which produces the largest adult regional poetry slam in the nation. As author of graphic novel, The Random Happenings, as well as award winning poetry collection, Secrets of Ma’at, currently available on Amazon, Ebony has been featured in esteemed publications as well as digital outlets such as The Florida Times Union, PBS's Hometown, Derniere Vie Magazine, WJCT's First Coast Connect, and My Black Matters. In her 17 years of professional experience, Ebony’s performance accolades include The New Orleans House of Blues; Essence Festival; Nuyorican Café; Crossroads Theatre, TEDx, Jax by Jax as well as countless other colleges, universities, and prestigious entertainment venues nationwide. Her discography includes 6 albums: Old Soul (2006), Struggle’s Embrace (2010), EbEnFlo (2012), School Beats (2013), Know Love (2015), Kuongoza (2021). Ebony’s educational background features Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, New World Conservatory, Florida A & M University and Florida State University. She has taught invitational workshops at venues such as the University of North Florida, the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, Morgan State University, HBO Brave New Voices, the National Afterschool Programming Conference and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Ebony's critically acclaimed play, On Purpose, produced by poet/philanthropist Heather Moore and directed by Julliard alumni and Artistic Director to Phase Eight Theatre Company JaMario Stills, was her debut as an American playwright and opened with record breaking success. March of 2021, Ebony boasts another triumph with the release of her first short film titled after her 6th studio album, Kuongoza.
