Ty GrayEL
Speaker - Renowned StoryTeller - Poet Laureate - Billboard Award Winner - Certified Recovery SpecialistTy GrayEL, the Minister of Poetry is an internationally renowned poet, storyteller and founder of Breath of My Ancestors Ministries, a cultural enrichment organization dedicated to restoring the heritage of Africans in America and the CEO of TyGrayEL, LLC.
Ty earned a B.S. in Street-ology from the District of Columbia, a Master’s Degree in Survival in 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 (having once been labeled ineducable) he is as proud of his accomplishments as any holding degrees from Howard, Harvard or Yale. He is an author, activist, lecturer, public speaker, husband, proud father of four and was the first recognized Poet Laureate of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a two-time Spoken Word Billboard Award winner and recording artist with BOOA Music.
Rising from the depths of drug addiction and incarceration to becoming an author, lecturer and recording artist, he is now called “The vessel through which our ancestors speak.” As a performance poet, storytelling-griot and activist he has appeared on the Michael Baisden Show, the Steve Harvey Morning Show, the Russ Parr Morning Show, WHUR, BET, the Pacifica Radio Network and Sirius/XM Radio, as well as featured in the Washington Informer and Washington Post.
As an ordained minister of the Gospel, he confronts the issues of racism and bigotry with poetic compassion, dramatic storytelling and historical fact, while weaving a tapestry of tolerance and hope. Ty’s presentations are a slice of lecture, a slice of poetry, and a slice of theater that all come together like grandma’s sweet potato pie.
“I consider Ty Gray-EL as the number one spoken word artist on the planet.”
Mike Vick
“I have worked with champions throughout my career and I consider Ty Gray-EL to be the undisputed Heavy Weight Champion of the Spoken Word.”
Rock Newman
“It’s hard to experience Ty’s work without feeling every emotion imaginable. His work is simply extraordinary.”
Dr. Boyce Watkins
“Ty Gray-EL is our modern day Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Langston Hughes all rolled into one.”
Rev. Dr. Lee P. Washington
“I love him. His work is extraordinary and exceptional.”
Dr. Nikki Giovanni
“Our ancestors have found a vessel through which to speak. His name is Ty Gray-EL”
Clayton LeBoeuf
“Ty Gray-EL’s spoken word poetry and his ability to channel our ancestors qualifies him as the quintessential African American griot and the Poet Laureate of the African Diaspora.”
Dr. Kristal Owens-Gayle
“Ty Gray-EL has written the black woman’s anthem for the twenty-first century and has singularly raised the self esteem of every black woman on the planet.”
Dr. E. Faye Williams
“The Ancestors must consider Ty Gray-EL as their Griot. His storytelling and poetry is captivating yet educational at a level that enriches the soul. His talent is more than just a learned skill, it is ingrained in his being and comes as natural as his breathing. I’m sure my grandmother would be proud.”