Mark's dances... corner stores and ducking out of back doors to skip chores... and g-nikes and street fights and streets lights would keep night from beating her home... she is a CTC and UPT type of homegrown..." She is New Orleans and she is home." –Keshia “Peaches” Caldwell
Késhia M. Caldwell (affectionately known as, Peaches) has been writing as well as speaking publicly since the age of five
. Inspired by such poets/writers as: Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Nikki Giovanni, Countee Cullen, The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, Zora Neal Hurston, and Sonya Sanchez, Peaches channels her ancestors through her mission of speaking for those whose stories go untold. She believes as long as she has a voice that is heard by the masses, it is her duty to speak truth, love and change in order to foster healing. It is that belief that has garnered Peaches many opportunities as an artist and community activist. She spends much of time working with youth by teaching Spoken Word and leading Life Skills workshops in the city's Recovery School Districts as well as various schools in the Baton Rouge area. She founded a grass roots organization, The Sankofa Speaks Project dedicated to fostering the development and mentoring of young people (ages 12-19) using the art of spoken word as a teaching tool. In addition to performance poetry, Peaches is also an established print journalist, author, and recording artist. She self-published her first book of poetry, Silhouettes of the Soul, in 2002 and released her debut spoken word/music cd (Fat Girl Fantasies, Skinny Girl Blues) later that year. She also served as editor and resident poet for a local magazine in New Orleans, One Hip Hop Magazine. While working with One Hip Hop Magazine, Peaches has interviewed such artists as: Producer Mannie Fresh, Slim and Baby of Cash Money, rapper/actor Sticky Fingaz, rap duo 8-Ball and MJB, comedians Steve Harvey and Cedric The Entertainer, R&B group Unplugged, New Orleans rapper Six Shot and Eve. She has also done featured articles on couture fashion including famed New Orleans designer Harold Clarke. Never limiting herself to being placed in a box, Peaches is the CEO of DivaStating Arts & Entertainment, LLC which is PR and Events Planning Company. With her company, Peaches has worked on various projects such as (but, not limited to): The Hip Hop Summit, The Grand Opening of the D-Day Museum, Essence Music Festival, Essence Encore, Soul of Essence, BET's Sunday Best, 10th Anniversary of the Va**na Monologues as well as various festivals, theatrical productions and concerts. She also works in the capacity of PR for the following: Ashé Cultural Arts Center, T. Lynn's Furniture & Lighting, Class Act Entertainment, Loud 365Media, Joe Esnard of C.E.O. Life Marketing, Red Clay Soul, iKnow Ya Heard Me, Beauty on de Bayou, Tony Boyd-Cannon of TBC Muzic, Dappa of PSP Productions and more. Guided by the path chosen by the Creator, Peaches embraces life and sees hers as an epic poem. Her words and messages have touched the heart and soul of people all over the world, including: Atlanta, Washington, Houston, Philadelphia, California, Amsterdam and Nairobi, Kenya. Most recently she has taken the stage in a somewhat different arena where she participated in the theatre productions: The Musical, Purlie; the gospel stage play, The Unacquainted and Women and War, an all female performance done in conjunction with the 10th Anniversary of the Va**na Monologues.
