BRANDON LEAKE
BRANDON LEAKE – Spoken Word Poet
WINNER Season 15 Americas Got Talent
From Legend to Legacy
Brandon Leake is an Award-Winning Spoken Word Poet, Artistic Educator, and Motivational Speaker from Stockton, Ca. His creative mixture of art, charisma, and passion, along with his unique personal narrative, has taken him across the world performing and speaking in U.S. locations as well as New Zealand, Mexico and Canada. His “Dark Side Tour” promotes his first ever published poetry chapbook and his crown jewel, “Deficiencies: A Tale From My Dark Side”, an album rooted in transparency and healing.
Brandon is also the founder and CEO of Called To Move, an organization that aides youth in self-actualization and personal development through the art of poetry. This pursuit has led to Brandon leading workshops around the world with several curriculums he developed himself plus teaching youth in his hometown of Stockton, Ca.Brandon Leake Workshops and Keynote Presentations:
DEI – Mosaic
Mosaic is a keynote address that can range from 30 min to 60 min that features 2 spoken word pieces from Brandon Leake, and addresses the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion from the perspective of the stained glass window versus the melting pot. Brandon utilizes your company’s personal mission, his story and storytelling ability, alongside relevant cultural prompts to illustrate that we are better not only together, but when we are utilizing our unique cultural pieces to our advantage instead of trying to assimilate to being singularly minded. There is beauty in our uniqueness, our cultures hold value in their uniqueness, allowing for them to hold space.
DEI – Black Art
Black Art is a DEI-focused keynote that can range from 30 min to 60 min that features 2 spoken word pieces from Brandon Leake, and addresses the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion from the perspective of the historical utilization of art in black communities as vehicles to advocate for freedom, equality, and equity. This particular keynote addresses the need for our creativity to remain at the forefront of industries, even if they aren’t artistry based, because creativity is what will allow for us to find space for blackness and black culture, and it has a historical precedent.
Motivational/Inspirational – Dreamers
Dreamers is a motivational speaking keynote that can range from 20 min to 30 min, and utilizes spoken word and Brandon’s unique story to encourage his audience to look within themselves to reflect not only on what they would like to do but to also examine who they would like to become. The end result of this keynote should be people walking away with a clear road map to accomplishing their dreams and goals.
Motivational/Inspirational – Discipline Over Motivation
Discipline Over Motivation is a keynote address that can range from 30 min to 60 min and it examines the immense benefits of discipline over motivation. It utilizes stories from both Brandon’s life, and stories from other disciplined people (Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., Denzel Washington) and provides a story arch for listeners to attach themselves to, to learn not only the skill and benefit of discipline but then prompts them to examine where their discipline if faltering and how they can revive it.
Brandon Leake WORKSHOPS:
Journey – Self Actualization
Journey is a workshop that ranges in time frame of 30 min to 60 min, and it utilizes spoken word poetry, and literary devices to aid its participants in being able to determine not only where they would like to go in the future, but also to determine who they would like to be in that future, they are designing for themselves. This workshop keys in on explicit decisions we make regarding how what we choose to bring along with us, will impact the ease of our journey, the length of our journey, and if we will inevitably arrive to our destination, where we would like to be, and who we would like to be.
Mosaic – DEI
Mosaic is a workshop address that can range from 30 min to 60 min, and it utilizes spoken word poetry, and literary devices to prompt participants to examine their own cultural history (ethnically, racially, religiously, within their own home context) and to determine which aspects of it are the best to bring to the Mosaic of our world. It refutes the perspective of the melting pot, in leu of a stain glass window. This workshop then shifts from being an inward facing position to an outward facing position of humility, its one in which we start asking the questions to those around us about their varied cultural context and how what other provide can inform us. There is beauty in our uniqueness, our cultures hold value in their uniqueness, allow for them to hold space.
Heroes – Educational (Young Kids)
Heroes is a child centered workshop that ranges between 25 to 40 minutes in life and utilize the spoken word poetry and literary devices to aid young students and being able to understand that they have great power but in the words of Uncle Ben from Spider-Man they also have a great responsibility. This workshop particularly focuses on what are the differences between a hero and a villain, and illustrates that the only difference between the two is how you utilize your power and encourages students to utilize their own power very well. Students will draw their own superheroes as well as participate in games to stimulate their own mind.
Dreamers – Motivational/Inspirational
Dreamers is a motivational workshop that can range from 20 min to 30 min, and utilizes spoken word and Brandon’s unique story to encourage his audience to look within themselves to reflect not only on what they would like to do, but to also examine who they would like to become. This workshop will prompt participants of any age range, fifth grade, and above to answer these questions: What is your dream? What are three steps to accomplish your dream? What are three roadblocks that are stopping you from accomplishing your dream? And what is the motivation behind your dream? Through answering these questions, and participating in some activities that will utilize different figurative language pieces, participants will create a roadmap to success alongside their own spoken word poetry piece.
Discipline Over Motivation – Motivational/Inspirational
Discipline Over Motivation is a workshop address that can range from 30 min to 60 min and it examines the immense benefits of discipline over motivation. It utilizes stories from both Brandon’s life, stories from other disciplined people (Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., Denzel Washington) and provides a story arch for listeners to attach themselves to. This workshop will prompt participants to be in, examining their own habits, that they both consciously and unconsciously participate in, and will require them to do some real examination on if they are operating at their optimal efficiency, and if not, why not.