In honor of Black History Month, and in collaboration with the Club Passim Folk Collective and Belmont Against Racism, Opening Doors presented a free evening of poetry, music, and conversation with singer-songwriter Reggie Harris and Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson at the Belmont High School Black Box Theater.

Regie Gibson is the first and current Poet Laureate of Massachusetts, an honor bestowed on him by Governor Maura Healey in May, 2025. He is also a National Poetry Slam champion and Chicago Tribune Artist of the Year; appeared in "Love Jones," a New Line Cinema feature film based upon his life; was featured on HBO's "Def Poetry Jam;" contributes regularly to NPR; has lectured and performed throughout the U.S., Cuba, and Europe; and currently teaches at both Clark University and Berklee College of Music.

Reggie Harris has traveled the world for over 40 years as a songwriter, storyteller, and lecturer using music and the spoken word to make an impact in education, social and racial justice, the environment, faith and in human and civil rights. He is a teaching artist in the Kennedy Center’s CETA program, a Woodrow Wilson Scholar, Director of Music Education for the Living Legacy Project (leading pilgrimages to Civil Rights landmarks throughout the American South), and a winner of the Spirit of Folk Award from Folk Alliance International, the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Award, and the Magic Penny Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children’s Music Network.

The show was hosted by Opening Doors co-founder Alastair Moock.

This event was made possible by Belmont Against Racism, Belmont Public Schools' Department of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Well-Being, Someone Else’s Child Foundation, Nine Athens Music, and The Club Passim Folk Collective.

Photography by Paul Locke