The EQ.

Issue 3 focuses on the Words Beats & Life Academy, the organization’s foundational arts education program, and its impact on youth, teaching artists, and communities in Washington, D.C. Featuring a cover story conversation with past and present WBL Academy Directors reflecting on more than two decades of education through hip-hop, the issue also includes profiles of creative leaders Holly Bass, Mas Paz, and Ugandan rapper and organizer Babaluku, a powerful youth poetry feature addressing gun violence, culinary profiles from Eats+Beats, and photo essays capturing the 2023 Words Beats & Life Festival and international breaking culture in Brazil.

Contributors: Dominic Painter, Mazi Mutafa, Adrienne Bedsole, Erica Keith, Elizabeth Posada, Mikal Amin Lee, Sabrina Wigfall, Abigail Kussow, Richard Soben.

Issue 2 centers poetry as a tool for cultural leadership, creative expression, and social change within the Words Beats & Life community. The issue features a cover story Q&A with Patrick Washington, Director of Poetry at Words Beats & Life, alongside spoken-word features from Towards 2040 fellows, profiles of poets and teaching artists, global DJ culture highlights, dance photography, cultural diplomacy projects in Pakistan, and stories exploring how hip-hop poetry advances civic engagement, youth voice, and artistic freedom.

Contributors: Adrienne Bedsole, Erica Keith, Madison Hunt, Mazi Mutafa, Vivian Trinh, Richard Soben, Dominic Painter, Brandon Rex, Yahsmin Mayaan Binti BoBo.