 Black,
queer, feminist, poz, and working class, Tim'm T.
West has embraced all of who he is and, with
laser-beam precision, harnessed the power of his
truth to illuminate, celebrate, inspire, provoke,
and bear witness. As a teacher, performance artist,
author, and culture producer, Tim'm has become an
exemplar among contemporary Renaissance
personalities of the early 21st Century as he brings
others to voice through education for critical
consciousness. Indeed, that Tim'm has been
interviewed by such dizzying array of media outlets
from Newsweek to the New York Times is a testament
to his importance to the spirit and history of the
times as a foundational maverick among black,
multi-disciplinary artists. Even a restricted Google'
search of just his name yields over 700 Internet
occurrences.
It was in 1999, while still juggling arts and
graduate studies at Stanford, that Tim'm co-founded
Deep Dickollective (DDC). In Spring 2007, DDC will
release its third, full-length project, 'On Some
Other,' on Sugartruck Recordings. Widely published
and anthologized in both academia and the mainstream
press, Tim'm occupies a unique position among the
provocative voices and critics of the contemporary
Hip-Hop landscape. He is featured prominently as one
of the critical voices in the acclaimed 2005 Hip Hop
documentary, Pick Up the Mic. Tim'm also appears in
Byron Hurt's critically acclaimed Hip Hop
documentary 'Beyond Beats and Rhymes.'
The foundation for his subsequent efforts can be
found in the red dirt of Taylor, Arkansas where
Tim'm grew up before leaving for Duke University
where he completed his BA. From there, he went on to
earn an MA in Liberal Studies/Philosophy from the
Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social
Research in 1998 and another MA in Modern Thought
& Literature from Stanford in 2002. Known for
his engaging teaching methods, Tim'm has taught on
the post-secondary level as an instructor of Writing
Pedagogy classes at Eugene Lang College of The New
School (NYC) and as an instructor in Stanford
University's first-year Writing and Critical
Thinking Program. On the secondary level, he served
as the Department Chair of English and Creative
Writing at the Oakland School of the Arts before
relocating to Washington, DC where he taught in the
English Department of the Cesar Chavez Public
Charter High School for Public Policy. Most recently
he worked for College Summit, Inc. as a High School
Coordinator helping to the build capacity of high
schools to get more of their students into college.
A
long-term part of the College Summit family since
its formal inception in 1995, Tim'm left the
organization in the summer of 2007 to pursue his
writing, performance, and creative consulting
full-time in Atlanta, GA. Flirting, Tim'm West's
newly-published (2007) third book follows his
chapbook, BARE: notes from a porchdweller which
chronicles his move from California to DC, his new
hopes, and his new loves. In 2004, Tim'm released
Songs from Red Dirt on Cellular Records, a musical
complement to his first book, 2002's Red Dirt
Revival: a poetic memoir in 6 Breaths.
In June 2007, while working to publish
"flirting", Tim'm completed his second
solo release "Blakkboy Blue(s)" which has
already been received with high expectations and
great critical acclaim.
Most recently, Tim'm has been hosting the 'Front
Porch' series, a Spoken Word/Hip-Hop/Soul Monthly in
DC. The Front Porch in DC will continue, while Tim'm
develops a similar gathering of progressive artists
and intellectuals in Atlanta, GA.
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