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Ty Gray-EL. The ‘Minister of Poetry' is an internationally renowned poet, storyteller and the founder of Breath of My Ancestors Cultural Enrichment Ministries. He is also Chief Creative Officer of Breath of my Ancestors, Inc., a cultural enrichment company. Ty earned a B.S. in Street-ology from the District of Columbia, a Master’s Degree in Survival from the Ghettos of North America and a Ph.D. in Psyche-ology from the University of Adversity and Hard Knocks. While some laugh at Ty's academic achievements (once labeled ineducable) he is as proud of his accomplishments as any holding degrees from Howard, Harvard or Yale. He is an author, activist, lecturer, playwright, public speaker, husband, proud father of four and Member of Reid Temple AME Church. Rising from the woeful condition of being labeled ‘ ineducable ’ to becoming the author of ‘Breath of My Ancestors/Reflections from the Conscience of an African in America,’ to being called by some “The Vessel through which our ancestors speak”, Ty as a performance poet and Storytelling-Griot has appeared on the Michael Baisden Show, the Steve Harvey Morning Show, the Russ Parr Morning Show, WHUR, BET News, the Pacifica Radio Network and Sirius/XM Radio as well as featured in the Washington Informer and Washington Post newspapers. He confronts the issues of racism with poetic compassion, dramatic storytelling and historical fact while weaving a tapestry of tolerance and hope. Ty’s presentation is a slice of lecture, a slice of poetry, and a slice of theater that all come together like grandma’s sweet potato pie.