Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh are founding members of the spoken word group Yellow Rage, a dynamic duo of Philly-based Asian American female spoken word poets. They first appeared as "Black Hair, Brown Eyes, Yellow Rage" in December 2000 at the Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Slam in Philadelphia, where the group made the semi-finals. Yellow Rage also performed on the first season of the critically-acclaimed HBO television series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, Season One, Episode Two, which first aired in December 2001; the show can currently be seen in reruns on HBO as well as on the newly released Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, Season One DVD. The group’s other national performance credits include the 2001 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado; the 2001 APIA Spoken Word Summit in Seattle, WA; the 2001 NY International Fringe Festival in the show Asians Misbehavin'; and the 2002 and 2005 ECAASU (East Coast Asian American Student Union) Conferences at Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania. In August 2002, the Leeway Foundation awarded Yellow Rage a Windows of Opportunity Grant which enabled them to travel to Hawai’i (Oahu) where they performed for the local poetry organization/collective Wordstew and attended the Globalization Research Center’s Trafficking of Asian Women and Children Conference. Recently, Michelle and Catzie have released their new CD, Handle With Care, Volume 2. The CD’s release was made possible by an APIA Residency Grant from the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia, PA. Their first CDs is also available: Black Hair, Brown Eyes, Yellow Rage, Volume 1. Both are available for sale through the website and individual tracks can be bought on Itunes.
Together, Michelle and Catzie are a dynamic duo of Philly-based Asian American female spoken word poets. Through their voices, Catzie and Michelle hope to provide an awareness that is not often heard. Exploring topics from fetishes to cultural appropriation to ethnic pride, Yellow Rage challenges mainstream misconceptions of Asianness.
If you are still obsessed, you can find more info at yellowrage.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, July 8 Yellow rage performance at Campus Progress National Conference, Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St. NW, Washington DC, 20008. We will be performing during the lunch plenary. Check out the schedule at http://campusprogress.org/common/2851/2008-campus-progress-national-conference-home
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