Teaming up for the first time ever, these spoken word artists have graced many stages throughout the U.S., leaving their audiences in a snap-and-clap frenzy!

Tavis is a native of Columbia, SC. He has been performing poetry professionally since 2003, bringing through his words inspiration flavored with a generous dose of comedy.

He was a three-time member of the nationally ranked Columbia Poetry Slam Team, 2006 Southern Fried Champions; a member of the 2-time National Poetry Slam Champions and two-time Southern Fried Poetry Slam Champions, SlamCharlotte (www.SlamCharlotte.com), and a 2-time Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS) finalist, ranking 12th in the world in 2005 and 5th in the world in 2006.

Tavis’ gift of spoken word and comedy has been featured in churches, family and community events, open mics, slams and talent shows all over the nation. Not one to limit his God-given gifts to a stage and a mic, he also teaches workshops in countless schools and universities. He is a favorite in the poetry circuit and loves to host.

Shanita is a spoken word poet and a member of Asheville’s HomeWord youth poetry community. She began writing in seventh grade and continued under the mentorship of Glenis Redmond. For three consecutive years, Shanita and a team of youth poets from the HomeWord program traveled and competed in Brave New Voices, an international youth poetry festival. She is a senior at Henderson County Early College High School and will earn her diploma and Associate’s Degree in the spring of 2015. Her mother is and always will be her inspiration.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx