Sista-B-Fly

Aqueelah “SistaButterfly” Shaheed is a community artist who has been writing since the tender age of nine. Being the daughter of a poet, she was able to experience life on stage by the age of twelve, infusing her poetry with her saxophone. She is a graduate of Arts High School in Newark. As a drama major, she quickly attached herself to the late poet and teacher, Halim Suliman. He mentored her writing and took her to local poetry venues where she performed her original poetry. At Arts High, she was a member of the Speech Team, where she combined poetry with dramatic interpretation. She was the NJ State Forensics Champion in Dramatic Interpretation and/or Poetry for three consecutive years. At the age of 20, she wrote and performed in her one-woman show entitled “Sister Butterfly”. It premiered with rave reviews at The African Globe House of Poetry Series to standing room only audiences. Recently, Aqueelah won the Wednesday night slam at the world famous Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City. She produced a DVD of this winning performance at the Nuyorican, which was directed by Jamil A.C. Mangan. She has been featured at numerous venues including Euphoria, Serengeti Plaines, Bogies, Verse for Verse, the Knitting Factory, and Rutgers University. She is currently rewriting her one-woman show, SistaButterfly.<