Gerard Matthews is more than a writer — he is a voice shaped by fire, faith, and the unshakable rhythm of survival. As a poet, spoken word artist, bandleader, and cultural truth-teller, his words carry the resonance of lived struggle and hard-won wisdom. His verses have risen from pulpits, echoed across city parks, and spilled into the printed page, always with the same purpose: to speak the truth as it is, not as the world would prefer it to be.

A stroke survivor, Gerard lives every day as proof of resilience. His journey through adversity deepened his understanding of both the fragility and the brilliance of life, lending his poetry an urgency that is as spiritual as it is political. He weaves together threads of activism, music, history, and faith to create art that confronts America’s fractured mirror while offering visions of wholeness.

Gerard’s work is rooted in rhythm — the cadence of spoken word, the pulse of jazz, the heartbeat of protest. He challenges audiences to not only hear his words but to feel them, to let them resonate against their own experiences and assumptions. His artistry is as much a conversation as a performance, inviting listeners and readers into a dialogue about race, justice, and the possibility of love in a broken nation. Through both his writing and his band, Soundmine Merchants, Gerard Matthews embodies the power of art as resistance and renewal. He is not simply telling a story — he is demanding that the story of America be told with honesty, rhythm, and courage.