Dear API RISE Family,

We are excited to continue our collaboration with Tuesday Night Project (TNP), a longstanding Asian American grassroots organization committed to building community through artistic expression and creative partnerships. TNP’s flagship program, Tuesday Night Cafe, remains one of the longest-running free arts and performance series in Downtown Los Angeles and the oldest Asian American open mic space in the country.

This upcoming season, we invite you to help uplift and share the artistic expressions of our incarcerated community members at Tuesday Night Cafe. In recent months, we’ve witnessed powerful performances by formerly incarcerated API RISE members, staff, and volunteers. Now, we are expanding this opportunity to include voices from those currently incarcerated—bringing their words to life through poetry, spoken word, songs, short stories, and other creative writing.

As a member or volunteer, you are welcome to:

• Perform your own original pieces, or

• Read submissions from incarcerated community members, helping carry their voices and experiences into the space

If a contributor has requested a specific reader, please let us know so we can do our best to honor that.

All submissions will be reviewed to ensure they align with our community guidelines:

• No hate messaging

• No heavy curse words

• No degradation of any person, religion, gender, or sexuality

Tuesday Night Cafe will take place weekly on Tuesdays from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, beginning May 19th.

RSVP HERE