Dwayne Morgan is a Canadian

spoken word artist Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

, motivational speaker and event organizer based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Morgan began his career as a spoken word artist in 1993. He is the founder of Up From The Roots Entertainment, which was established in 1994 to promote the positive artistic contributions of

African Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though ...

and urban influenced artists. He received both the African Canadian Achievement Award for Youth Achievement, and the Harry Jerome Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1998. Morgan has self-published two chapbooks and three full volumes of his poetry. As a producer, Morgan has now produced over 100 events, the largest of which are the annual spoken word concerts ''When Brothers Speak'', ''When Sisters Speak'', and the ''Toronto International Poetry Slam''. ''When Brothers Speak'' was established in 1999, and has retained its status as North America’s largest and longest-running showcase for black male spoken word artists. The event serves as a platform to celebrate the voices, stories, talents, and experiences of Black male spoken word artists. ''When Sisters Speak,'' founded in 2000 is North America’s largest and longest-running showcase of Black, female, spoken word artists. Morgan collaborated with Driftwood Studios to film
Three Knocks
', a ten-minute film based on his domestic violence poem of the same name, which premiered at the 2006 Reel World Film Festival in Toronto. He was a member of the 2007 Toronto Slam Team formed by Up From The Roots. The team finished second at the 2007

Canadian Festival of Spoken Word The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is an annual festival produced by Spoken Word Canada and planned by a local Festival Organizing Committee in each host city. The inaugural festival took place in Ottawa, Ontario in 2004 and was then known as t ...

Halifax Halifax commonly refers to: *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada * Halifax, West Yorkshire, England *Halifax (bank), a British bank Halifax may also refer to: Places Australia *Halifax, Queensland, a coastal town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook *Halifax ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. Morgan was the host of ''Diasporic Music'', a monthly spoken word show on

CKLN-FM CKLN-FM was a community radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1983 to 2011, CKLN Radio Inc. was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a campus-community FM radio station affiliated with R ...

, and is an advice columnist in the free daily paper, '' 24 Hours'', in Toronto. He is also a Toronto regional representative on the board of directors for

Spoken Word Canada Spoken Word Canada, also referred to as SpoCan, is an organization of spoken word performers and organizers. Formed from a committee of city representatives at the 2004 Canadian Spoken Wordlympics in Ottawa, Ontario, SpoCan's mission is to "nurtu ...

, and is an active member of the Spoken Word Arts Network (SWAN). Morgan was inducted into the Scarborough Hall of Fame in 2013. Morgan was nominated as the candidate of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

in Scarborough North for the

2018 Ontario general election The 2018 Ontario general election was held on June 7, 2018, to elect the 124 members of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario. The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, led by Doug Ford, won 76 of the 124 seats in the legislature and formed a maj ...

. He placed second, to the incumbent Progressive Conservative candidate, Raymond Cho. In 2024, he was appointed to the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

Electoral history

Bibliography

Poetry books

*''Long Overdue'' - one of the most popular that includes must read poems. *''The Man Behind the Mic'' *''The Making of A Man''

Chapbooks

*''Straight From The Roots'' *''The Revolution Starts Within''

Awards

*African Canadian Achievement Award for Youth Achievement, 1998 *Harry Jerome Award for Excellence in the Arts, 1998 *''The Evolution'', Canadian Urban Music Award for Best Spoken Word Recording, 2001 *''Soul Searching'', Canadian Urban Music Award for Best Spoken Word Recording, 2003 *''"Mother I Understand"'' from ''A Decade in the Making'', Canadian Urban Music Award for Best Spoken Word Recording, 2005 *Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for Career Achievement in the Spoken Word, 2018 *Scarborough Walk of Fame Inductee, 2013

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Dwayne Black Canadian musicians 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian spoken word poets Living people Musicians from Toronto Writers from Toronto Slam poets 21st-century Canadian poets Black Canadian writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 1974 births 21st-century Canadian male writers Ontario New Democratic Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Harry Jerome Award winners Members of the Order of Ontario