Last year during this same week in December I was in Miami visiting my parents and my mother took me to an event called WordSpeak. A local Miami arts organization called Tigertail runs a teen spoken word program and every year during the last week of December they have a slam and sell copies of their poetry book.
For those who are not familiar, spoken word is performed poetry. The artists write pieces and then perform them for a crowd. Last year's Tigertail WordSpeak event was the first time I had been to a spoken word performance since college. I was completely blown away by the content of the poetry, the way the artists used their voices and their bodies to bring their poetry to life, and most of all, their bravery. All of the poets are younger than twenty.
At last year's slam I was particularly moved by two young men, Diego and Wesley. Their poems stuck with me and just by closing my eyes I could get back there. Right back to the moment when I heard their words and watched them move their bodies as they delivered these personal poems.
When I learned the date of this year's WordSpeak event I made sure I would be in town and available to attend. The members of the WordSpeak team have changed a bit since last year, but their performance was still brilliant. I feel so lucky to get to come to this event every year and hear their stories. Its truly powerful.
The Tigertail WordSpeak team competes each summer in the Brave New Voices poetry festival. This year they made it to the semi-finals and one team member, Yarminiah Rosa, has been invited to Sundance in January to perform in Brave New Voices Speak Green, which is a project sponsored by Robert Redford. These young poets are an inspiration.
Please check out the WordSpeak team's webpage and show your support.
