Event Description
U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo
U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo is a Zimbabwean-American Boston based poet, performance artist,
storyteller, and educator with an international reach and a transnational lens. In January of 2023,
She received a Certificate of Recognition by Mayor Wu for her creative work in the city and
commitment to making Boston more inclusivity and equitable. She is presently working on a
project “ Threads of Assumption” an interactive art exhibition with Maria Finkelmeier, Martha
Rettig and Sofie Hodara. It surfaces interwoven experiences shaped by gender bias. Through
interpretation and interrogation of both human stories and artificial intelligence (AI) This will be
making its third installation on April 1, 2023 in East Hartford , Ct. Mhlaba-Adebo is a 2021
Creative Entrepreneur Fellowship recipient from the Arts and Business Council of Boston and A
recipient of the BIPOC Arts Leaders Ripple Grant by the Cultural Equity Leadership ( ACI) ”.
She has been featured on GBH’s “Suitcase Stories,” and Boston Globe Black History Film
Festival as Costume Stylist for Award-winning “ Memoirs of A Black Girl”. By Thato Mwosa.
Her debut poetry collection, Soul Psalms (She Writes Press) published in 2016, was hailed by
the President of the American Psychology Association Dr. Thema Bryant- Davis as “… a
therapeutic collection…beautifully transparent..” U-Meleni is also an occassional adjunct
professor teaches creative writing and performance poetry. She has a Master’s in Education from
Lesley University, focusing on multicultural education and theatre arts.Combining Art,
Education, Healing & Social Impact has always been her mission. To that end she founded
Maoko Project, an arts+social impact practice guided by Ndau ( Shona) principles stemming
from the breadth of her experience. Kicking off in February 2022 is her partnership with
Friendship Bench Zimbabwe. This NGO trains Gogo’s ( Grandmothers) to provide talk therapy
for free on a bench to those in crisis. Her fundraising efforts supported 2 Clinics in Zimbabwe.
Collectively impacted over 5,000 people. Her work can also be found in the groundbreaking
Book by Linda Villarosa “ Under the skin” a compelling examination of racial disparitiesi health
care as well as in the book by Stephanie Raffelock ith foreward by Brooke Warner both released
June 2022.U-Meleni is a board member for Write On the Dot and Mass Poetry as well as a
member of the New England Poetry Club & the National Writers Union. She is deliciously loved
by her adorable husband and son..For more: www.u-meleni.com