Many performers can capture the attention of an audience - only a few can actually mesmerize a crowd. Meet Liza Garza. A Flint, Michigan native, whose love affair with music and words is helping to raise hip-hop’s next generation.

When did you first realize you had a way with words?
Everyone has a way with words. Everyone manifests his or her own reality. I was blessed to awaken at an early age and realize the importance of making my speech excellent. I was always fond of letters and sounds and the power they held.

When we first met, you said you thought spoken word was another element of hip-hop. Can you explain what you meant?
Hip-hop is self-validating, so it has a wide and broad definition. The oral tradition of the spoken word is what emceeing is, so I don..t necessarily consider there to be any boundaries. It is all related. I am hip-hop, my kids are hip-hop and we don..t need a checklist to be this.

Finish this sentence: Liza Garza is a self-confessed…
Slave. I am only a vessel. I am a slave to the creator and the purpose he has given me with these gifts. Within this knowledge and understanding, there is immeasurable beauty. I am in no way oppressed. The more I accept this the more beautiful it becomes.

Liza Garza is available for speaking engagements covering feminism, hip-hop and activism. You can purchase her first book, You Never Knew Until I Spoke, and her debut CD, ‘BloomBeautiful’, online at www.lizagarza.com.