Joe Davis is an award-winning spoken word artist and bestselling author who uses poetry to power possibility.
He is the founder and director of Finding Your Freedom Practice, an artist collective teaching holistic health and wellness practices through spoken word, writing, music, theater, film, and dance. Joe holds a Master of Arts degree in Theology of the Arts and also heads a multimedia production company, a soul funk band, and a racial justice education program. His work has been featured on BET, MPR, CNN, VH1, and the Twin Cities CW. Based in Minneapolis, he tours internationally to join schools, faith spaces, nonprofits, businesses, and correctional facilities to practice envisioning and embodying a world of collective liberation and human flourishing.
Program Offerings
Workshops
Freedom Practice Sessions
Guided creative wellness workshops that blend journaling, body-centered skill building, and daily rituals designed to nurture mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Workshops are customized to participant types. (15 minute pop-up activities to two-hour programs)
AfroEssentialism
AfroEssentialism is a liberative, African-rooted practice of remembering and reclaiming what truly matters—beneath the layers of grind culture, generational trauma, and systemic oppression. It’s about liberating yourself from behaviors that don’t benefit you, expectations that don’t align with your values, and habits that keep you small—so you can embody joy, wholeness, and collective freedom. Rooted in the cultural wisdom of the African Diaspora and inspired by Afrominimalism by Christine Platt, AfroEssentialism invites descendants of the African Diaspora to clear the clutter—spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and materially—and practice intentional living as a form of healing justice and liberation. This workshop is generally 2 hours, invites storytelling, journaling, community building, and more. Best for Teens & Young Adults, Adults, Older Adults.
Residencies
Finding Your Freedom Practice: Poetry to Power Possibilities
Students create and share meaningful spoken word poetry through creative prompts that explore identity through name poems, personal reflection, sensory writing, breathing exercises, and reframing past experiences to declare future visions. Residencies conclude with community performance and collective creation. Learning goals include:
- Build self-awareness and confidence through creative expression
- Explore personal identity through poetry and somatic practice
- Foster empathy and community belonging
- Create and share meaningful original work
Duration: 5 sessions, 60-90 minutes each (easily modified for more or fewer sessions depending on community)
Participant Types: Grades 6-12 (adaptable for adult and other communities)
Performance
Freedom Artist Session
High energy, motivating, inspiring, connective. A live, interactive spoken word poetry and storytelling session that moves beyond a performance to catalyze healing, shift perspectives, and power possibility in every room. Can be customized to fit audiences of various ages.
Freedom Songs – Live Freedom Funk Performance
A high-energy concert experience with music collective, The Poetic Diaspora, fusing poetry, Hip Hop, soul, and funk to celebrate joy, love, and liberation.
Professional Development
Freedom Facilitator Training — Train to Guide the Practice
Trained to transform. An immersive professional training designed to equip participants with the tools, frameworks, and wisdom to facilitate signature Freedom Practices in community. This offering empowers educators, healers, and leaders to guide embodied, creative, and liberatory experiences. Prerequisite: Participants must attend at least one Freedom Practice Session prior to training.
Duration: 2-3 Hours
Participant Type: Adults, Educators, Teens & Young Adults
Teaching Artist Statement
I am an artist, author, and activator of joy, carrying forward a cultural lineage of artistic excellence rooted in love, legacy, and liberation. Through poetry, performance, and practice, I center the arts as a sacred tool to power healing justice, transforming wounds into wisdom, pain into power, and story into solidarity. My work emerges from the belief that creativity is not a luxury but a lifeline—an embodied way to reclaim our wholeness, reimagine our world, and intentionally shape new possibilities.
At the heart of everything I do is the ethic of ubuntu, a South African ethic that means “I am because we are.” Whether on stage, in classrooms, or in community spaces, I create experiences that move us from isolation toward connection, from scarcity toward abundance, and from individual survival toward collective thriving. Each poem, project, and performance is an invitation to build a movement of solidarity, collaboration, and collectivism—where we ignite our shared power, celebrate our joy, and co-create a future of flourishing together.
“I am building my summer yoga class around your book. I’m certain many of my students will be buying it if they haven’t already. Last week I ended class by reading “Brave Space” & tomorrow I will start class with “Good & Worthy of Love”. I just embodied “Good & Worthy of Love” on my own & found such an internal peace. In addition to being a yoga teacher, I am a social worker by profession. I have participated in Resmaa Menakem’s Somatic Abolitionism class & have been trying to get my reps in with VIMBASI. Your book is providing a beautiful vehicle for me to do my own inner work before I share with others. Thank you for sharing your words with the world!”
Molly Nefstead
