On August 18th, 2026, the Sakura Series hosted a beautiful night of poetry and raising funds and mutual aid for Colombia and Hawai’i!

These were the 5 amazing artist/organizer judges for the poetry slam:

1. Akemi Kochiyama - Founder of Yuri Kochiyama Solidarity Project @yksolidarityproject and Granddaughter of human rights activist Yuri Kochiyama

2. D. Black - Award-winning actor, writer and poet

3. Noah Arhm Choi - Poet, Educator, winner of Jack McCarthy Prize and 2026 Lambda Literary Poet-in-Residdence

4. Tamanda Namangale - Spoken word poet featured on TEDx, Lincoln Center and the Africa Gender Equality Conference

5. Emily Kim - Award winning director, writer, and actress and winner of Jury award for best narrative at NFFTY

BLOOM is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature and administered by Brooklyn Arts Council. The Sakura Series is blessed to be an official grantee!

View photos of the event on Sakura Series’ Instagram page.