Joshua Merchant is a writer, activist, and native of East Oakland. Combining a masterful eye for detail, startling vulnerability, and unflinching courage, Joshua explores queer issues, black identity, and the complexities of their intersection.

In 2011, he won the title of Youth Speaks champion and represented the Bay Area at Brave New Voices. Later that year, he became the Berkeley Slam’s youngest Individual World Poetry Slam (IWPS) representative.

Josh is also a contributor for The Bigger Picture. Watch all three of his videos here:

A Product of His Environment
Hear No
Health Justice Manifesto

email ::: [email protected]

He represented for the Golden State Slam's (GSS) first venues in the 2012 National Poetry Slam. He continues to work with Youth Speaks, as well as “I Go!,” a non-profit youth poetry organization, and has performed at the Davis Symphony Hall, the Warfield, and venues across the country.

Joshua is one of the great young voices of spoken word artists of his generation and is currently preparing his debut book to be published by Youth Speaks First Word Press this year.