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CJ Suitt

@suittsyouwrite

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NC✈️CA Writer.Cuddler.Poet.Brother.Friend.Fighter.Lover.Son. Heavy Breather.Traveller.Performance Artist.
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“Stories make up our reality. If we start to tell different stories, our reality will change.” —CJ Suitt, on The Carrborean Radio Hour with Flame Tree Story

Yesterday I sat down with CJ Suitt, performance poet, arts educator, inaugural poet laureate of Chapel Hill, for a conversation about the art of storytelling and the metaphors that shape us. 🎤✨

CJ grew up listening. Really listening—observing well and taking it all in. He sat at the feet of his elders: absorbing the delight of his mom’s stories that made him laugh and the whimsy of his dad’s stories that held a “flimsy relationship with the truth.” He marveled at his pastor who could take a 2000-year-old story and craft a metaphor so people would live it. A quiet kid by nature and necessity (his dad’s favorite phrase: “a closed mouth catches no flies”), CJ learned that listening cultivated an appreciation of words.

Those words became his poetry.

CJ’s work as a poet, educator, and community organizer is rooted in one conviction: stories don’t just describe reality—they make it. Which means the stories we tell most often become the stories we live.

That’s the art and power of storytelling.

🎧 Listen to the full interview (link in bio)
📻 @wcomfm 103.5 FM, @the_carrborean Radio Hour with Flame Tree Story
🌐 Find CJ’s work online at suittsyouwrite.com
🎪 Look for CJ at @westendpoetryfestival this weekend in Carrboro
📱@suittsyouwrite on Instagram

#flametreestory #TheCarrboreanRadioHour #wcom #westendpoetryfestival #storytelling

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At our Orange County screening, poet CJ Suitt @suittsyouwrite shared an original poem inspired by Theory of Change — followed by conversations with people from all walks of life about what the film brought up for them.
This is what we hoped these screenings could be: not just watching a film together, but making space for reflection, connection, and conversation. Catch us tonight in Boone, NC at the @apptheatre!

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It’s BACKKKK! After a year off due to the flood, we’re beyond excited to announce Coalesce will return in January! This is one of our favorite programs at the Eno Arts Mill and is the BEST way to kick off the new year... and this year the opening will be January 1 - New Years Day Night 🌚 💫 ✨ Open to Orange County poets and visual artists, the application window closes three weeks from today - October 27, 11:59pm. Link in the comments!

P.S. A huge thank you to Morrow Dowdle and Max Dowdle for starting this wonderful program in 2023 and for entrusting us to carry it forward in their legacy.

🟠

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Weave and Spin came to a close tonight after four years, and we owe a massive THANK YOU to Morrow Dowdle. Morrow created a literary community at the Eno Arts Mill when we were still fledgling. They brought our area’s most talented writers into our little space, and offered a safe space for countless writers to take the big SCARY leap of reading their work aloud. Our community is better because of you. 🙏🧡🙏🧡🙏
#hillsboroughnc #enoartsmill #artsorange #weaveandspin

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Wonderful Paperhand Puppet Show last night at The Forest Theater! Amazing puppetry! Awesome poetry and adapted text by Khalisa Rae with contributing writer CJ Suitt among others!

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POH 2026 was one of the most beautiful, healing, rejuvenating, empowering experiences I’ve ever been apart of. It’s already been a full moon cycle since camp and yet it feels so timely that the day I’m finally able to post about happens to be on Rowsey’s birthday 💙.

I will forever be grateful for camp (and specifically CJ) for bringing us together 4 years ago- allowing us to meet on the other side of the U.S. when we literally lived less than an hour from each other in NC. My Leo twin and fellow hype-man, my first camp without you here physically was a push, but feeling your presence constantly was the greatest gift. I know you were so proud of camp this year- both campers and staff alike.

To see the youth we came in with graduate this year was so amazing and full circle! And even though I had to use my PTO to be there, it was %1000 worth it. The kids are gonna be more than alright- they’re going to carry the torch of love and liberation and find the beauty in the midst of the pain and destruction. I’m so so proud of them!!!

Thank you to everyone who made POH 2026 so wonderful. ✨ and happy birthday my friend @rowdylife 🫶🏾. Thank you for everything. Love and miss yall so much. #pohbolinas #powerofhopecamp #leoseason #youthempowerment

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On June 6th, our president and poet @mtende_thepoet hosted a book launch for her newest poetry book, When I Was a Little Girl!🧡🥂

With an amazing turn out of friends, family and kids at heart, it was an exciting day to celebrate a touching read.

When I Was a Little Girl is a beautifully illustrated poetry book for adults that gently guides readers back to the fearless, feeling, and fiercely authentic child who still lives within them. Through lyrical and reflective verse, Mtende Roll explores the quiet grief of growing up-the dreams set aside, the emotions suppressed, and the boldness traded for conformity. With warmth and emotional honesty, she bridges the distance between who we once were and who we have become, revealing a powerful truth: the inner child was never lost.

💌Order your copy of When I Was a Little Girl today on Amazon! Link on our story and in our link in bio.

#RollConstruction #AlamanceCounty #MtendeRoll
@mtende_theinvestor

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@tankandthebangas are bringing their funky soul dance party back to the Triangle for a Juneteenth celebration at Cat’s Cradle Back Yard on Saturday, June 20! Joining Tank and the Bangas will be psychedelic Latin orchestra ¡Tumbao!, R&B phenom Aiel J, and more. Tickets available now!

Tank and the Bangas Host a Carrboro Juneteenth Celebration
w/ ¡Tumbao!, Ariel J, + spoken word performances by CJ Suitt and Dasan Ahanu
Cat’s Cradle Back Yard
Saturday, June 20
Doors: 4 pm : Show: 5 pm

@tumbaoband @arielj.music @suittsyouwrite @dasanahanu

For Tank and the Bangas, music is a vessel for unbridled joy and transcendent connection—forces as integral to their essence as their wildly original sound. On their new album The Last Balloon, the New Orleans-bred outfit channel those impulses into something celebratory yet profoundly human, exploring themes of frustration, resilience, and self-realization with equal parts raw emotionality and playful exuberance. A shapeshifting collective helmed by lead singer Tarriona “Tank” Ball and multi-instrumentalist Norman Spence II, the globally beloved group completed the LP after winning a GRAMMY for 2024’s spoken-word powerhouse The Heart, The Mind, The Soul, moving from incendiary poetry to a euphoric collision of soul and hip-hop and forward-thinking R&B. As the final installment in a trilogy of albums that began with 2019’s Green Balloon (a critical triumph that earned them a GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist), The Last Balloon ultimately solidifies Tank and the Bangas’ legacy as one of modern music’s most steadfast voices of sublime exhilaration.

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Eclipse opens in just two weeks! See the remount of the 2022 Carolina Performing Arts commission 3/30-31 + 4/10-11, 7PM 🧱🔥 For tickets to Eclipse and registration for Southern Futures Assembly events, see links in bio + full schedule below!

Southern Futures Assembly:
3/30-3/31, 7PM: Eclipse performances*
4/1, 2-4PM: Restorative Circle***
4/7, 11:30-1PM: Bricks as Memory Lecture**
4/8, 10-11AM: Well Practice**
4/10-4/11, 7PM: Eclipse performances*
4/12, 2-4PM: Restorative Circle***

* ”Name Your Price” Tickets
** Free, Registration Requested
*** Free, Registration Required

🎥: @iximchemedia

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When we visited Saxapahaw back on Valentine's Day Weekend we managed to catch @suittsyouwrite at the local theatre. A beautiful show of poetry, storytelling and deep emotions. It was our pleasure to meet you and we hope you are doing well!!

#poetry #3731 #loveandloss #saxapahawnc #livetheatre

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✨🎉 𝟮𝟬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗜𝗡 – 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗘’𝗥𝗘 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗗 🎉✨

We’re popping the confetti and dropping our March/April 2026 issue on stands 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌! 💛📖 Our 20th anniversary edition celebrates the stories, people and places that shape Orange County – and we packed it cover to cover with memories and momentum.

Inside, we:
📸 Flip through 20 years of unforgettable covers;
🗞️ Hear from the founders, editors, photographers and early staffers who built these pages from scratch;
🏡 Revisit stunning homes and design trends – and ask experts what comes next;
💍 Catch up with past wedding couples to see where life has taken them;
🍽️ Share reader-favorite recipes straight from our archives;
🌱 Spotlight local leaders and longtime business owners celebrating milestones of their own;
🏗️ Take a closer look at the evolving vision for Carolina North and what it means for our community
➕ and so much more!

🎬 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛
We brought back former staffer Hannah Lee (2018–2022) and photographed her at Lumina Studio Loft. We partnered with @uniquities (celebrating 34 years!) for a standout spring look, @balloons_tunes (46 years!) on the festive flair and staff photographer @jmsimpsonphoto, who captured every joyful moment. 📸🎊

For two decades, you’ve invited us into your homes, trusted us with your stories and turned every issue into a living scrapbook of this community. This edition is dedicated to 𝙔𝙊𝙐 as much as it is to this milestone. 🥂 Here’s to our next chapter together! 🎈✨

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THIS WEEKEND! Don’t miss 3731 by @suittsyouwrite at @hawriverballroom // for tix visit link in bio
🎥: @iximchemedia

About 3731:
3731 is an intimate, multimedia solo performance that turns the stage into sacred ground. This show explores how objects become portals to memory—unearthing stories of devotion, sacrifice, humor, and loss through poetry and song. Layering ritual, storytelling, sound, and projection, the piece asks how we carry our mothers with us, and how remembrance itself can be a radical act.

About CJ:
CJ Suitt (he,him/they,them) is a performance poet, arts educator, and community organizer from Chapel Hill, NC, whose work is rooted in storytelling and social justice. CJ was the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Chapel Hill, NC.

CJ co-directed, produced, and starred in a historical reenactment of the 1947 Freedom Rides, performed at many national and local music festivals, including Gnarnia, Shakori Hills and Bonnaroo, and acted in a production of Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments. His career as an educator has allowed him to work with young people awaiting trial at the Durham Youth Home, older inmates whose voices have been silenced within the Orange County Correctional Facility, and high school and college-aged men pushing to redefine masculinity in their schools and communities. Additionally, he has collaborated with organizations such as Transplanting Traditions, Benevolence Farm, and Growing Change on the intersection of storytelling and food justice.

He is committed to speaking truth to power and aims to be a bridge for communities who can’t always see themselves in each other.

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