Brian Mooney

Brian Mooney is an educator, scholar, and author who explores the intersections of Hip Hop, spoken word, literacy, and urban education. He is a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University, and teaches high school in New Jersey. Brian’s work has been featured by The New York Times, NBC, Rolling Stone, NPR, SiriusXM, MTV, and others.

Brian is the founder and curator of Word Up, a high school poetry slam that champions the voices of youth poets and MCs in Hudson County, NJ. The event has featured guest poets, rappers, and teaching artists including Kendrick Lamar, Patricia Smith, Andrea Gibson, Sarah Kay, and Rudy Francisco.