Buddah Desmond is a poet who writes about the human condition in a way that is edgy, raw, and, at times, unconventional. His inspiration is culled from personal experiences and the social, political, cultural, and historical events of the day.

Themes of his writing include: home / belonging; personal + collective freedom / liberation; the transformative power of love; individual + community wellness; legacy + living a good life (relationships + family + community + honoring our ancestors); personal empowerment (self-esteem + self-love + self-acceptance); sexuality; the fight against oppression (police brutality + injustice + inequality + inequity + racism + homophobia + transphobia + sexism); Black culture + history + pride. These themes run deeply throughout Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics (2012), Exotic Shifter (2014), From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection (2020), shifting from the inside out: love poems (2022), and Everything I Miss(ed) At Home (2023).

His poems, proselike at times, serve as reflections and offer insights into his world and the experiences of those around him. While the subject matter may at times be heavy and in-your-face, there’s always a sense of faith, hope, persistence, resilience, and optimism.

Buddah Desmond was born in Washington, DC but reared in various cities in Prince George’s County Maryland (a suburb of Washington, DC). He fell in love with the arts at a very early age. Aside from reading and writing, he loves music, singing, drawing, fashion design, and cooking / baking. At the age of seven, he began writing and illustrating stories and used old clothes, cardboard, glue, and tape for binding to make his own books.

As he grew older his passion for writing, especially song lyrics and poetry, flourished. He spent many a day (and night) in the library researching and learning as much as he could about writing and the many literary figures he admired that paved the way before him. Some of his writing influences include: Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Saul Williams, jessica Care moore, Terry McMillan, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, E. Lynn Harris, Octavia Butler, Gil Scott-Heron, Elliot Torres, Rita Dove, Louise Glück, Pablo Neruda, Shakespeare, Countee Cullen, Walt Whitman, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Buddah Desmond’s poem, “Everything I Need Is Right Here,” appeared in an anthology entitled, The Shades Of Autumn (1999), when he was 17. It was his first poem to be published. While in college he continued honing his craft, having more poetry published in Gracie’s Dinnertime Theater and writing music reviews for RIT’s The Reporter magazine. He went on to write poetry and music reviews for Pictures and Frames Magazine and served as a contributor to Encore Status Entertainment. In the summer of 2005, he began blogging about his many interests in life, love, the arts, and politics on his blog, BuddahDesmond’s Place. His writing has also appeared in Mixed Mag, MOOV Magazine, MUSED Magazine Online, MelaNation, LitMag 2020, No Line Left Behind, Osamasetorbest.com, the PBS Blog, sana sana, vol. 1, SOUL Issue Ten, and Vocal Expressions.

He has performed and / or appeared on panels at venues and events such as Busboys and Poets, The Summit 2017: Healing Through Faith & Justice, The Ask Rayceen Show, the DC Metro Scholastic Writing Awards, the OutWrite LGBTQ+ Book Festival, the Baltimore African American Book Festival, and the Authors Forum at DC Black Pride. He is a member of Gamma Xi Phi, and has served as a healing leader in the DC-based arts + faith + social justice organization, The Sanctuaries.

Buddah Desmond is also a singer, artist, voice actor, speaker, cook / baker, user experience (UX) professional, entrepreneur, and health and wellness advocate. He’s a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), University of Maryland University College (UMUC), and Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH). His next poetry project, tentatively titled Coming Up From The Downside (Finding Joy In Our Song), is currently in-progress.