Ara Katz
Co-Founder, Co-CEO
Humble The Poet is a Spoken Word Artist, creative, and keen observationist who’s devoted his life to finding truth unspoken and speaking it aloud. He’s known for stimulating audiences with ideas that challenge conventional wisdom and go against the grain. He’s energized in his passion to communicate complex thoughts through meaningful words and illuminate the beauty of the world to the world.
A former elementary school teacher, he has embraced poetry and spoken word as a conduit for his poetic teachings. In the past few years, he became a YouTube phenomenon, currently with over 190K fans. Hailing from, Toronto—one of the most diverse cities in the world—Humble’s work has been recognized by Kanye West and Vogue Magazine. He has performed at Lollapalooza, SXSW, and joined Lilly Singh on her world tour.
Humble The Poet won 2017 Canada Reads book contest, championing the book Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis. He’s also written two books: UnLearn: 101 Simple Truths (2014), and Beneath The Surface: 101 Honest Truths To Take Life Deeper (2015). In his words, “Critical thinking is key, and we have to question information passed on to us, whether it’s been passed down for generations, or read yesterday off of Buzzfeed.” Humble also says he wants to “to shake your ass, shake your heart, and shake your mind all at the same time.”
In conversation with Humble the Poet:
Share your life story in six words: Life Long Learner with Sexy Beard.
What was your first brush with science? Watching my older sister work on her third grade science experiment where she ran hot wheels cars on a track, and if they went fast enough, they would clear a loop.
What’s your current obsession? In other words, what wakes you up every morning? I’m obsessed with learning new things everyday. I use creating art as an excuse to learn about a new topic, or develop a new skill. I’m obsessed with having as many new and unique experiences as possible before my energy re-organizes itself.
Why do you think bacteria are important? Bacteria are essential to the ecosystem that we are. They are important elements to bringing harmony to our mind, body, and spirit. Without bacteria, there would be no us.
How do you define science? Science for me is using observation and experiment to better understand the universe within and around us.
How do you define health? Health for me is impacting my current condition for the better or worse.
What are you currently reading / listening to / watching? Kurzgesagt–In a Nutshell did a great video titled: How Bacteria Rule Over Your Body–The Microbiome. It was not only very informative, it was fun to watch!
Favorite microbiome-nurturing food? Bananas.
Scientist, dead or alive, you’d like to have lunch with? Carl Sagan.
Best mindgasm fact? If you were to fly a plane around the world it would take about 40-50 hours. If you were to fly around the biggest star it’s believed it could take 1100 year.
How do you bring activism into your poetry? Raising awareness to important causes is always a start, but definitely only a first step. I aim to encourage self-awareness and self-empowerment through my work which will light a fire with some, and set them on a journey to contribute to causes they feel most important.
The song you get sh*t done to: Git Up, Get Out–Outkast ft. Goodie Mob
When did you discover your ability to turn words into something so much more? I’ve been writing and sharing my work since I was 8, but it wasn’t until I was in my teens that I was able to sweet talk a Best Buy employee to let me into the store after closing did I realize the way I put words together can really have an impact. At that point I had to decide if this was going to be used just for my benefit, or for the benefit of others as well.
Fact most people don’t know about you: My front teeth are fake.
Social? @humblethepoet on Instagram @humblethepoet on Twitter