Jive received his B.A. in Media Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his M.F.A. in Writing and Activism from Pratt Institute. He is the founder of Insurgent Poets Society, Carnival Slam: Cultural Exchange, and the co-founder of the Brooklyn Poetry Slam. Jive is also the Friday night poetry slam curator and host at the Nuyorican Poet's Café. In 2017, he received the first John Morning Award for Art and Service.