Lady Rose

La Toya A. Hampton, MSW (she/they), known artistically as The Poet Lady Rose, is a queer Black and Indigenous femme educator, poet, filmmaker and entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon. She began performing spoken word poetry in 2008, adopting her stage name in memory of her late father, Roosevelt, whose spirit infuses her performances with a blend of grace and strength.

La Toya's passion for writing was evident from an early age, with her skills recognized through awards as early as elementary school. Her academic journey includes a background in English, Spanish, Education (including Early Childhood and Special Education), Mental Health, and Social Work. She piloted and received an award for creating and implementing Finding Our Road to Success (FORTS), a mentoring program assisting girls transitioning from elementary to middle school. Understanding the power of words to empower marginalized communities, Lady Rose has incorporated writing into her professional practices, conducting classes for elementary, middle, and high school students, helping them explore poetry as a form of self-care, expression, and a tool to uncover and share common interests and struggles.

Raised in Portland, often referred to as “the Whitest City in America,” she pursued her Bachelor's in Social Work at Concordia University. Her journey continued at California State University, Long Beach, where she earned her Master's of Social Work, gaining a deeper understanding of community disparities while working as a Child and Family Therapist in South Central Los Angeles.

Lady Rose's poetic reach transcends geographical boundaries, captivating audiences across the United States and beyond. She has performed at open mics based in Portland, Los Angeles, Memphis, and New York, and has been featured in Blacque Butterfly's Soulful Showcase, Unchaste Readers Series, Screen Time Slam, One Mic One Globe, SoapBox Poets Open Mic, just to name a few. Notably, she was the opening and closing poet for Resmaa Menakem, New York Times Bestselling Author of "My Grandmother's Hands," and performed for the Oregon State House of Representatives.

Her poem "Brown Knows" is featured in the acclaimed documentary "Black Girl in Suburbia." She spearheaded her one-woman show, "Holes of a Piece of Me: An Introduction to Lady Rose," at Headwaters Theatre in Portland in 2013, and self-published a chapbook of the same name, with an expanded re-release slated for 2024. Her work has been published in "Reflesh: Dreaming the Future Anthology," "She Rose Magazine 'Sex Issue'" (March 2022), and Los Angeles Poet Society’s "Acid Verse Volume II: The Earth Beneath Our Feet" (March 2022). She was also one of the artists included in the exhibit “Unceded Kinship: Land, Place and People Art at University of Oregon. Her current major themes focus on Black pride, identity, spirituality, and healing the Mother Wound.

In 2022, she made her filmmaking debut with "Petals and Thorns: A Spoken Word Journey," a documentary commissioned by the Portland Playhouse that follows the transformative journey of Black Portland youth through an intensive writing and spoken word camp, going from novice writers to confident performers. The film has been lauded by critics and showcases Black excellence and storytelling in a captivating narrative.

A Cancer who operates simultaneously in her head and heart, Lady Rose draws from a deep pool of inspiration and influence, resulting in a thought-provoking, challenging, yet tender and vulnerable style uniquely her own. Her dedication to creating community, especially among Black people and youth, is the thread that holds together everything she does. As an educator and mentor with over 25 years of experience, she empowers youth through poetry as a tool of self-expression, connection, and self-care, guiding them to explore their common struggles and strengths through the written word. Through her artistry and advocacy, she endeavors to uplift and empower Black and BIPOC communities, merging her background in mental health, youth advocacy, and the literary and performing arts into a powerful force for change.