As I strolled down a thriving and sundrenched Wickenden Street this past weekend and made my way toward Coffee Exchange to meet Vladimir Jean, the curator of PVD’s Afroverse and a nominee for the 2025 RI Spoken Awards, I stumbled upon our subject standing outside the coffee shop snapping impromptu photos of the blissful spring day on his phone.
The words “playful, childlike, and curious” come to mind when reminiscing on this moment and the conversations that followed. For the next hour, Vlad and I got acquainted while discussing the evolution of Afroverse and how it has grown with him over the past two years. Afroverse is a spoken word poetry brand dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices while “promoting a deeper understanding and appreciation of their work.” A one-man show run by Vlad himself, the brand has grown a notable and organic following in the PVD area. “Creatively I’m Don Draper in there, I call all the shots,” Vlad says. Aside from his girlfriend, Annabell, who occasionally suggests ideas and supports his vision, he runs the poetry night completely on his own. Vlad takes great pride when reflecting on the time he spent learning Canva and web design so that he could boost Afroverse’s online presence. The learning curve was no deterrent from his goals, as he explains, “Making the flyers and website has been one of my favorite parts. I have a good ability to learn new things and utilize them the way that I want to.” Vladimir is a walking testimony of what it means to “do what you can with what you have” and learn along the way. Take his story as a source of inspiration that all the tools you need are already within you.
The Birth of a Universe
Afroverse began as a casual idea between friends. A buddy who was working at Union Burrito in Riverside suggested that Vlad start a poetry night after seeing him perform at several open mics in the area. As a former student of architecture who creates cities in his free time, Vlad is a natural worldbuilder, and took the challenge head-on. He reflected on his community’s need for a space dedicated to connection and free expression after the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to bring the idea to life in February of 2023. Vlad landed on the name Afroverse as a symbol of the organization’s mission to “synchronize with Black and Brown expression.” As a HaitianAmerican who has spent his life immersed in Providence’s assorted diaspora of African cultures, Vladimir felt called to provide a space dedicated to uniting Black and Brown spoken word artists and enthusiasts from all identities. The curator says that the term Afro felt uniting across all Black and Brown people, and the idea of uniting these identities through spoken word was a way of “expanding our universe.” Thus, the Afroverse was born. After a few months of hosting at Union Burrito, Vlad ran into some issues with a change in management and had to take a temporary break to relocate. Not long after, he reconnected with a former Union bartender who was now working at Hide Speakeasy within The George on Washington Street.
The bartender shared that The George was looking for ways to increase traffic to their speakeasy, so Vladimir used this opportunity to relaunch the Afroverse open mic series with an event titled Hide-N-Speak, playfully drawing on the show’s secret location. Their most recent open mic, Hide-N-Speak Vol. XVIII, occurred on Thursday, March 20, and featured 3x Boston Music Awards Poet of the Year Amanda Shea (@amandasheaallday on Insta), along with award-winning literary and performance artist Jason “Jaybird” Walker (@jaybirdewalker on Insta). Although Vlad says that selecting the featured poets often comes naturally, he does “try to spice it up and bring different poets together and present them in a thoughtful order.” This is one major distinction between Afroverse and other open mics or poetry slams in the region. The event is intentionally curated, as Vlad carefully considers which poets are performing back-to-back and how this impacts the overall spirit of the show. Afroverse also prioritizes intimacy as a key ingredient for creative vulnerability. As the host states, “Part of my intention is not to put too many cameras on everyone.” This consideration for privacy results in a warm, low-key environment that coaxes artists into sharing their most powerful and unapologetic pieces with an attentive audience.
The Future of Afroverse– Coming Soon Enough
Vladimir sees a lot of opportunity to expand the Afroverse brand and its mission over the coming months. Beyond poetry, he hopes to eventually host art galleries, film nights, and galas, aiming to open up more discussion forums among Black and Brown communities in RI. He would like to express Afroverse’s appreciation and gratitude for everyone who comes, shares, and performs at his events. “Without a strong community, people are hurting and closed off,” he says, “This started really informal and is growing into something that I would have never imagined two years ago.” •
To keep up with Afroverse’s upcoming Hide-N-Speak events and donate to their mission, visit afroversepvd. com or follow @afroversepvd.
