Come celebrate National Poetry Month at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library (101 N. Stone Ave.) on Sunday, April 24 for the free workshop entitled "How I Survived the Gay Rights Movement as a Trans Person of Color" and a poetry performance by the black, transgender Huffington Post blogger J Mase III.

The workshop, which runs from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the library's lower level meeting room, will encourage attendees to explore their identity and address the dynamics of power and privilege in their lives. The workshop is for LGBTQIA individuals and people in solidarity.

The poetry performance and Q&A will begin at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Here's a little about J Mase III from the event's press release.

J Mase III is a Black/trans/queer poet based in Seattle by way of NYC. A blogger for the Huffington Post, he is author of If I Should Die Under the Knife, Tell My Kidney I was the Fiercest Poet Around and And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer's Reflections on Grief, Unemployment and Inappropriate Jokes About Death.

As an educator, J Mase has worked with thousands of community members in the US, the UK and Canada on the needs of LGBTQIA youth and adults. He is the founder of the international performance tour Cupid Ain’t @#$%!: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Poetry Movement and founder of awQward, the first ever trans & queer people of color specific talent agency. 

Take a peak at some of J Mase III's poetry: