Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey is an author, performer, and event producer. He has published two books, Look, Black Boy and Heart Notes, released two albums, produced a short film with the Brucemore titled Willing to Grow, and starred in an award winning documentary titled The Negro Artist. In 2024 he was the recipient of the Iowa Author Award for Poetry. He is the winner of several slams across the United States, placed 7th in the 2023 UNESCO Slam-0-Vision global poetry slam, and is curating a community of spoken word poets in the Midwest through his high school program, IC Speaks, the adult-slam team, io-what, the recurring open mic, House of Words, and the two-day festival, Mic Check Poetry Fest.