Open Mic Renegades

06/19/2026

June is layered with remembrance, celebration, liberation, and identity.

It is Caribbean Heritage Month, a time to honor the ancestors, traditions, resilience, music, food, spirituality, and cultures that continue to shape our communities. As a Trinidadian woman, I carry the stories, wisdom, and strength of those who came before me.

It is Pride Month, a reminder that everyone deserves the freedom to exist authentically, safely, and unapologetically. Pride is about visibility, courage, community, and the right to be fully yourself.

It is also Juneteenth, honoring the delayed freedom of enslaved African Americans and reminding us that liberation is not just a moment in history. It is an ongoing practice of truth, healing, justice, and collective care.

And cosmically, June asks us to do something similar.

Gemini season encourages conversation, curiosity, and connection. Cancer season invites us home to ourselves, our roots, our emotions, and our chosen family. Jupiter in Cancer reminds us that abundance grows where we feel safe enough to belong.

This month asks:

What traditions do you carry?
What truth are you finally ready to speak?
What parts of yourself deserve to be celebrated instead of hidden?
What does freedom mean to you?

May June be a month of honoring your roots, celebrating your authenticity, reclaiming your voice, and remembering that your existence is sacred.

Happy Caribbean Heritage Month.
Happy Pride Month.
Happy Juneteenth.

May we continue creating communities where everyone has a place at the table.

06/10/2026

Open Mic Renegades welcomes the poet, the musician, the comedian, the storyteller, the first-timer, and the person who just needs to sit in a room full of creative people.
Community is the art.

06/10/2026

🎤✨ OPEN MIC RENEGADES ✨🎤

Join us as we celebrate Juneteenth, Pride Month, community, creativity, and the power of authentic expression.

📅 Saturday, June 27th
⏰ 7 PM – 10 PM
📍 Kokomo’s Café, Winter Haven

We are honored to welcome our featured artists:

🔥 Quinn — curator of Quinn’s Corner, Writer’s Block of and The Traveling Open Mic .corner.accessories

🔥 B — poet representing NYC and Orlando, bringing powerful words and unforgettable energy

🎨 Live Art by Dante


🛍 Vendors:






🎥 Event Recording:
Jeremy Garner

🍴 Food and good vibes provided by Kokomo’s your $20 ticket provided (1) drink ticket and buffet in the back of the cafe.

Hosted by Shanice Ariel, founder of Open Mic Renegades, a movement dedicated to creating safer, inclusive spaces for artists, poets, musicians, storytellers, and dreamers to be seen and heard.

A huge thank you to Kokomo’s for continuing to support local arts, culture, and community.

🎟 Tickets available now
🔗 Link in bio

Whether you’re performing, vending, or simply showing up to support, there is a place for you here.

Come celebrate freedom, creativity, resilience, Pride, and community with us.

Hope to see everyone there. ❤️🏳️‍🌈✊🏾🎤✨

06/08/2026

What I Built With Open Mic Renegades

Open Mic Renegades was never just an event.

It was built from grief, exhaustion, hope, and the refusal to let creativity die in a world that constantly tells people to be smaller.

I built Open Mic Renegades because I knew what it felt like to need a stage and not have one. To need community and not know where to find it. To carry stories, poems, songs, heartbreak, healing, and transformation and have nowhere safe to place them.

The blueprint was simple, but not easy.

Create a space where the seasoned artist and the first timer stand on equal ground.

Create a space where poets sit next to musicians, where dancers sit next to comedians, where the quiet observer becomes next month's performer.

Create a space where people are allowed to be fully human.

What most people see is a microphone, a venue, and a flyer.

What they don't see are the countless hours behind the scenes. The financial sacrifices. The late nights. The anxiety of wondering if anyone will show up. The tears after events. The messages from people saying, "I needed this more than you know."

They don't see the grief.

The grief of losing venues.

The grief of watching communities disappear.

The grief of feeling unsupported while still showing up to support everyone else.

The grief of carrying a vision before others can see it.

And yet, despite all of it, Open Mic Renegades continues.

Because originality cannot be copied.

The logo can be copied.

The format can be copied.

The aesthetic can be copied.

But the heart behind it cannot.

Open Mic Renegades was built from lived experience, from being an artist, a poet, a healer, a community builder, and someone who understands what it means to need belonging.

What I've created is more than an open mic.

It's a living archive of voices.

A place where strangers become friends.

A place where artists remember why they started creating.

A place where people release what they have been carrying.

A place where healing and art meet.

That is the blueprint.

Lead with community.

Honor authenticity.

Make room for everyone.

Stay when it's difficult.

Keep creating even when no one understands the vision yet.

Because every movement starts with one person brave enough to believe it can exist.

And Open Mic Renegades is proof that it can. ❤️🎤✨

06/05/2026

✨ Open Mic Renegades continues to grow, and we are so grateful for every person who has helped make this movement what it is today.

A huge shout out to Ari Safari for editing this video and putting it together for us! 🙏

We also want to give so much love to Kokomo’s Café for believing in this vision and providing a welcoming space where people can gather, connect, perform, and be themselves. Community spaces like this matter, and we are thankful to call Kokomo’s home.

What started as a simple idea has become something much bigger than us. Open Mic Renegades is about giving people a stage, a voice, and a place to belong. Every month we watch strangers become friends, artists find confidence, and stories come alive through music, poetry, comedy, dance, and creative expression.
8 years later in July!

We are incredibly excited for what’s ahead. The movement is growing, the community is expanding, and we can’t wait to continue building something beautiful together with all of you.

Thank you for showing up.
Thank you for supporting local art.
Thank you for believing in Open Mic Renegades.

See you at the next one. 🎤✨🖤

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

✨ Thank You, Maxina Sunshine ✨

We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Maxina Sunshine for being one of our featured artists at Open Mic Renegades.

Maxina is a published poet whose work beautifully spans both light and shadow. With over 500 poems set to be published in the coming years, her words explore themes of faith, healing, growth, illness, resilience, and the ever-evolving journey of the human spirit.

Her poetry has a unique way of inviting reflection, encouraging others to cultivate hope, healing, and goodness in their own lives. Rooted deeply in her love for Jesus, family, and community, Maxina’s mission is to inspire others through both her art and her faith.

Beyond her writing, she is a devoted family woman, freelancer, and creative soul who finds inspiration in life’s simple moments—whether sharing iced coffee with loved ones, connecting with clients, or writing from her peaceful porch-office surrounded by pets, plants, music, and nature.

Thank you, Maxina, for sharing your voice, your heart, and your gifts with our community. Your words left an impact, and we are honored to have had you grace the Open Mic Renegades stage.

🌻 Catch the Light and Grow Like Wild.

Follow for poetry and live readings, and explore her writing at jabbermax.com.

06/04/2026

✨ A huge thank you to Eva Nova for being one of our incredible featured artists at Open Mic Renegades. ✨

Eva Nova embodies transformation and rebirth. Inspired by the alchemization of the story of Eve, Eva Nova represents the “New Eva” — the return and remembrance of the multidimensional Divine Feminine. Through her artistry, movement, music, and creative expression, she reminds us of the power that comes from reclaiming our voice and authentic selves.

As a designer, music writer, belly dancer, and yogini, she weaves together creativity, wisdom, and embodiment in a way that inspires those around her. Her presence on our stage was both powerful and deeply moving, encouraging our community to embrace self-expression, transformation, and personal freedom.

Thank you, Eva, for sharing your gifts, your energy, and your artistry with us. We are honored to have witnessed your magic and grateful for the light you bring into the world.

🌹 Keep creating.
🌹 Keep expressing.
🌹 Keep inspiring.

With gratitude,
Open Mic Renegades ❤️🎤✨