About

The Afrikan Poetry Theatre, Inc. is a 49 year old cultural arts, not-for-profit institution.The A.P.T. was organized to bring cultural and educational programs & workshops to aid in raising the quality of life in Southeast Queens, in particular and the metropolitan New York area in general. Nov. 11th is Afrikan Poetry Theatre Day in the Borough of Queens. In 2017, following the death of our Founder, John "Watusi" Branch, the inter-section of 176th St. & Jamaica Ave., in Queens,NY was renamed John Watusi Branch Way.

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Our Programs include children's cultural workshops, dance, drama classes, jazz and African music concerts, lectures, acting classes, film making classes, martial arts classes, ESLclasses , conferences, seminars, make-up & beauty classes, book writing workshops, poetry readings workshops, open mics, drum & piano classes, Indy film screenings/ Black History Month Film Festival, art exhibits, job readiness training, and mentoring.

 

The Afrikan Poetry Theatre also hosts one of the largest Kwanzaa celebrations in NYC with over 1,000 attendees each year. For the past 30 years we have fed and clothed thousands in the South East Queens region through our APT Cares Day/Thanks Giving Day Program. The Afrikan Poetry Theatre is a member of The Coalition of Theatres of Color, The Jamaica Is...Arts Alliance, Jamaica Now Action Plan/Arts & Culture Initiative, and has ongoing partnerships with: 

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 HV Films Global,The Black Spectrum Theatre, Hall of Fame Multi Media Studios, The Milton Bassin Performing Arts Center at York College, Jamaica Center for Arts & Culture, Jamaica Performing Arts Center, Cultural Collaborative Jamaica, The Greater Jamaica Development Corp, Jamaica YMCA, Queens Central Library, Museum of The Moving Image,MoMA PS1, Blackmass Publishing, No Longer Empty, The National Black Theatre of Harlem, Purposefully Pretty Inc. and others that we have allied with over our 44 years of programming.