Big Poppa E

Who is Big Poppa E?

Big Poppa E is a performer of slam poetry. His live performances combine poetry, stand-up comedy, and dramatic monologue in high-energy rants about relationships, pop culture, and hot button issues of the day. He has appeared on: three seasons of HBO's Def Poetry series; BET's comedy-variety show The Way We Do It; and CBS's news program 60 Minutes. He was also a National Poetry Slam Champion. Big Poppa E has developed a solid reputation as a strong poetry slam host and organizer for events at the National Poetry Slam, Individual World Poetry Slam, and other similar events at universities across the United States.

He is best known for the performance poem The Wussy Boy Manifesto, a humorous rant championing sensitive men that elevates such cultural icons as Duckie from Pretty in Pink and Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything... to role models. Debuting in 1999, The Wussy Boy Manifesto garnered widespread attention, prompting Ms. Magazine to name Big Poppa E "an icon for effeminate males" and the Los Angeles Times to proclaim him the "leader of a new men's movement."

He has often worked with the human rights organization Amnesty International and the campus organization Men Against Violence Against Women, and hosted numerous politically themed poetry slam events and workshops at regional and national Amnesty International conferences across the U.S. He has also been featured at events championing women's issues and sexual assault awareness, such as The University of Nevada, The University of Southern California, and Denver University. He performed with: folk singer/activist Michelle Shocked; writer Michelle Tea; poet Sini Anderson; poet/writer Beth Lisick; acclaimed poet and musician Saul Williams; performance poet Buddy Wakefield; Cannes Film Festival winner Trine Dyrholm in the Danish film P.O.V.; lesbian-feminist spoken word and performance art collective Sister Spit; Queer San Francisco-based performance poet Daphne Gottlieb; and Inga Muscio, author of Cunt: A Declaration of Independence.