Hot and Black

 Cafe Nuba started out nine years ago as a little Five Points teahouse poetry night for artsy folks in the neighborhood. Today it's blossomed into a nationally recognized force in the poetry world. Consistently attracting poets from around the country and boasting a slam poetry team that ranks fourth in the nation, Cafe Nuba has transformed over the years into an entity that's put Denver's poetry scene on the map. It's also expanded its mostly black audience to include a more diverse following.

Tonight at the Roxy Theatre, 2549 Welton Street, Cafe Nuba celebrates nine years of a progressive urban poetry scene in a city that generally turns a blind eye to issues of race. Co-founder and curator Ashara Ekundayo saw the turning point — and the positive future of Cafe Nuba: "We started having non-black features, and we started having a dialogue about culture change, about why we had to create this space in the first place. Maybe that dialogue is happening through a poem or a song, but it's happening."

Doors open at 8 p.m., and admission is $10. Get more information at www.myspace.com/cafenuba.
Last Friday of every month, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., 2006