THIS DIVA'S GOT ATTITUDE WITH A JAZZY FLOW THAT'LL MAKE U GROOVE & GROW
Enough attitude to fire up your soul, stir up your mind and always leave wanting more. Val Jones is a broadcast veteran of over 2 decades. A member of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild as well as the North Carolina Association of Black Storytellers, Val is also a phenomenal poet, storyteller and edutainer. Her style? "Humorously Hippie Chic & Highly Edutaining."

A Fayetteville State University graduate and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., she studied Radio/TV Broadcasting at Central Carolina Technical College in Sanford, NC. She has lit up the airwaves in such markets as Fayetteville and Wilmington, NC; Richmond, VA; Atlanta, GA; Columbia and Greenville, SC and Ft. Pierce, FL. Val has been honored by North and South Carolina schools and colleges, as well as the Atlanta University Center and various organizations, for participating in numerous panels, forums, and alternative programs.

FROM HARLEM RENAISSANCE TO HIP HOP...
Inspired by the legendary Dick Gregory and influenced by the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, Sekou Sundiata, The Last Poets, Oscar Brown Jr. and Langston Hughes, Val's style is one of classic meets contemporary with a touch of hip hop flair. She loves to drive her positive messages of empowerment, cultural pride and universality through her dynamic and unique poetry performances as her alter-ego Imani and through thought-provoking and "edutaining" lectures and presentations.

REACHING ONE AND TEACHING ONE...
Through various poetry shows on cable TV in Atlanta, GA, Val passionately brought the spoken word to a wide audience as well as opened doors for many new artists. While in Atlanta, she performed at the Olympics' Freezone for the Arts, the Annual Domestic Center for Violence Prevention Candlelight Vigil and opened for jazz artists Alfonzo Blackwell and Alex Bugnon. In 2004, she edutained industry professionals and upcoming young hip hop artists at the Annual Hip Hop Awards Ceremony with a reminder of the roots and responsibility of hip hop music. She continues to be a regular participant in Atlanta's Annual Sweet Auburn Festival.

EDUCATING THE MIND; ENTERTAINING THE SOUL THRU POETRY & STORYTELLING...
Val has hosted and performed at numerous events and colleges in the Southeast. She has been instrumental in creating a popular forum for spoken word poetry in the Midlands and the Upstate South Carolina as well as North Carolina. In her hometown of Fayetteville, NC, she has been a featured storyteller in the Annual International Folk Festival and a key artist participant in the Umoja Group's Kwanzaa, Malcolm X and Umoja Festival celebrations. As well, she has been a featured performer/lecturer in Fayetteville State University's Women's History Month Project and The Annual Celebration of Grandparents.

She poetically motivates and awakens the senses with unique and insightful presentations and dramatic interpretations. In the media for over twenty years, Val knows how misperceptions and stereotypes can affect our minds and actions. The aim of Val Jones Edutainment is to break down those myths and mindsets that hold people back.

ATTITUDE CHECK...
It all starts with "attitude" because what person can believes determines how she or he behaves. Through rap, poetry, humor, history, song and lots AND LOTS of "attitude," Val challenges all to think beyond the mundane and motivates even the ones thought lost into developing positive self-esteem and creative yet non-destructive power. Allow her one hour with your youth and witness the transformation.

Val's goals are to empower young women of color to embrace the beauty and uniqueness in themselves, to promote the brilliance of African American literature and culture, and to offer various workshops around the country, specifically in the urban communities, to show youth how to express their feelings in powerful, yet creative and non-violent ways.

Witness Val in person and find out why many are blown away by her performances of I Am 24K Black Gold, Sistas...We Got Skills, I Am Beautiful, Free Lunch and a Smile, I'm an Old Hip Hop Junkie, Apology Not Accepted, Shoot The Black Target, God Bless The Child and more.

17 powerful tracks of poetic pride
and perserverance

including "24K Black Gold," "Free Lunch & A Smile," "A Vicious Cycle," "Black Is Back," "A 7 Story," "Hip Hop Hindsight," "Gil Scott-Heron Perpetrators," "Weapons," "Muse Unsheathed," "Cosmic Orgasm" and more!

ON SALE NOW FOR ONLY $12.99!

For speaking engagements and poetry performances, contact Val directly via email at iamvaljones@aol.com. Or call 1-800-947-9392.

Topics/Poems include:
God Bless Tha Child*
I Am 24K Black Gold*
Spirit of the Harlem Renaissance*
Young, Gifted & Black*
Blues in My Black
Grandma's Hands (tribute to the elders)
Sistas...We Got Skills
A Diva's Dime for Success
What If Kwanzaa Was Every Day
...and more!

*Great for Black History Month and Black Music Month presentations!!!

Staging Requirements for Val Jones Performance
Minimum stage size: 15 x 20
Access to performance space for set-up at least 30 minutes before the house is open.

PA System:
One cordless microphone with stand, powerful enough to hear clearly throughout the audience
One CD player or boom box that sound can be clearly heard throughout the audience
At least one stage monitor or floor wedge speaker

Furniture:
On stage--one stool or chair, no podium

Lighting:
General stage lighting

Personal:
One 12 ounce bottle of water and one 12 ounce bottle of Apple Juice

Recording:
No photography, filming, or taping during performance without the previous written permission of the artist. If permission is granted, the original or a copy of the recording must be given to Val Jones by specified means and time preferably hand delivered. Originals will be returned after review within 7 business days.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!
Check out these great books to get you started:

1. Black Voices by Abraham Chapman
2. Spirit Speaks To Sisters by Reverent June Gatlin
3. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
4. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
5. The Isis Papers: Keys to Colors by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
6. The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz
7. And Don't Call Me a Racist by Ella Mazel
8. How to Eat to Live, pts. 1 & 2 by Elijah Muhammad
9. Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss
10. Sacred Woman: A Guide to Healing the Feminine Body, Mind & Spirit by Queen Afua
11. Stolen Legacy by George G. M. James
12. Lessons From History (A Celebration in Blackness) by Jawanza Kunjufu
13. Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization by Anthony T. Browder
14. Racism, the Inevitable in America by Edward Faison, Jr.
15. Collected Stories of Charles W. Chestnutt by William L. Andrews
16. The Wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn by Florence Scovil Shinn
17. ??? coming soon by Val Jones