I went to Youth Speaks "bring in the noise for Dr. MLK Jr." last night and was blown away as usual. Most of the poets were under the age of 19 and all of them were very talented. A number of things struck me about this organization and these teens -- they are super diverse yet incredibly supportive of each other.

Teens from all different racial and ethnic backgrounds literally getting up and hugging some of the readers. One white guy from Berkeley read a very reflective poem about being in love with an Asian woman and all of the cultural baggage that comes with that particular interracial relationship. When he was done, several teens came up and hugged him. A lof of the poets had obviously lived though some major stuff (that's what makes great poetry and I'm sure the process is gut wrenching). It just seems like a really supportive youth community.

Teens are religious -- even in the Bay Area -- this one Asian guy who sounded like Stevie Wonder sang a gospel infused song about the decision not to have sex.

Teens are political -- in the Bay Area. These teens are very politically aware and left leaning. I tried to imagine a Youth Speaks event in...say Alabama. I have a feeling the content of the poetry might be a little less "revolutionary."

Spoken word poetry is really part of the whole resurgence of old school hip-hop. It's intelligent yet rhythmic -- the show was backed up by DJs and interspersed with rap. I give major props to the white kids who got up there and put their own spin on things. "The pimp of pimples" was a classic line. And who knew you could slam to harmonicas.

One weird thing -- they had a free hip-hop mag out of NYC called Mugshot on their literature table. I picked it up thinking -- wow, this is cool. When I opened it I saw a big Salems ad and the back cover was a vodka ad. So it's a free youth-oriented hip-hop magazine that is free thanks to cigs and booze.

Posted by anastasia