"My favorite form of poetry is honesty."
Matthew Cuban Hernandez
Poet, Actor, Emcee, Educator
What I've been up to
It's been a beautiful summer
I dropped my second book of poetry to a sold out book release. This was such a magical event and the culmination of 3 years of hard work and processing the grief in my life. To top things off my book became an Amazon best seller the next day!
I took a delegation of 15 teachers, artists and activists to Havana Cuba!
8 who I work with teaching poetry to incarcerated youth and classrooms around Los Angeles with the phenomenal @streetpoetsinc in partnership with @cmlkcuba and @wfpsolidaritycollective
In June I celebrated another year around the sun, living in my purpose, and gave away over 300 copies of "All Brown Boys Get Trumpets" and the final prints of "3032" to a few hundred amazing high school students!
I'd love to see you at Street Poets inc's FREE WEEKLY Writing and Meditation circle! You can join inperson at our office or virtually on Zoom!
I'm working on a few other exciting projects and can't wait to let you know about but for now please be good to yourself. Please find more reasons to laugh, to dance, to be passionate, and to love yourself and others better!
Reviews on Matthew's new book! "All Brown Boys Get Trumpets
This book is dedicated to every kid told who they were, before discovering on their own. It's for the teachers and mentors praying their students won't fall into the traps the world has set for them. These poems are for liberation, and those who strive for peace by any means. For the ones who feel like a mistake, the ones riddled with grief and self-doubt. This book is for Duval County.....
I am a Brown boy embracing all
that is my mix.
Matthew ‘Cuban’ Hernandez is a poet, emcee, speaker, actor, and performance coach from Jacksonville, Florida. He has toured as far as Abu Dhabi and nearly every major city in the United States and Europe, performing, teaching and coaching poetry. A teaching artist for over 15 years, Matthew has spent the last ten years working in youth detention centers across Los Angeles County, currently serving as the Director of Camp Programming for Street Poets, Inc. In addition, he is a current Lead Teacher and Co-Founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement. Cuban has opened for artists such as Wu-Tang, performed for platforms such as BuzzFeed and NPR and even appeared on the award-winning television show, Better Things. For the last two summers Matthew lead an arts and culture delegation to perform, teach and speak in Havana Cuba. Matthew is also a three time Southern Fried poetry slam champion and an award-winning poetry coach. Cuban’s favorite activity is making people feel great; sometimes he does this through hip hop and poetry.
As an educator, Matthew is engaging like no other teacher I have met. His warm and generous energy is practically tangible the moment he enters a classroom. His writing workshops are thoughtful and fun, and his understanding of the craft is unmatched. But what impresses me most about Matthew beyond his creative skill is his unique ability to make everyone he comes in contact with feel inspired, empowered, and appreciated. It’s his gift and it’s a privilege to experience.
Sierra DeMulder
award-winning international poet, educator
since the beginning, you gave light to others you believed neglected by the world. since that time, you gathered light to share in community. since then, you've grown to give yourself light no other could give... let it be known that your gifts are growing, bless beyond you, and are a light in our lives that we are all thankful for
Beau Sia
Tony award-winning poet
I appreciate Matt for always being optimistic, believing in me even when I didn't believe in myself and letting me know I have a story that needs to be heard.
Matthew 'Cuban' Hernandez is a gift to the world serving as an inspiration for the creator I hope to be and for the human I strive to become. A poet, rapper, educator and friend, Cuban is a light amongst us. With his electric spirit, encouraging heart and enormous joy, I am thankful to call him family. PS: he is definitely someone you would want on your zombie apocalypse team.
Justus Jones
rapper, mentee
Safety hasn't always been easy to come by in this life, so I cherish it when it comes by. There are few people about whom I can say without hesitation make me feel completely safe when I'm around them. Matthew does.