To mark Martin Luther King Day on Monday 18 January and the one year anniversary of Barack Obama’sinauguration on Tuesday 20 January, Rich Mix presents a week of special events encompassing theatre,film, spoken word and live music, which will celebrate and question our notions of freedom at the start of the year of the next General Election.

The programme includes Mercury/MOBO award winning saxophonist Denys Baptiste’s Let Freedom Ring! The show features a world class line-up of jazz musicians, brand new visuals from VJ collective Yeast reflecting on Obama’s first year, and extracts from the epic poem Mental Fight, whose author, Ben Okri, joins us for a rare “In Conversation”, looking at his career and inspirations, and including readings from his latest work, “Tales of Freedom.”

Film and theatre examine the lives of controversial and influential Black Nationalist leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, with a screening of Spike Lee’s acclaimed biopic Malcolm X; and a performance of Eclipse Theatre’s stunning one man show, Michael X.

Spoken word performances complete the week, with Elizabeth Mansfield telling the extraordinary stories of refugees and exiles from all over the word in The Uninvited; and an All-Star Poetry Olympics Superjam celebrating our freedoms, with a stellar line up of poets and writers led by super bard Michael Horovitz.