Okay so I never got to talk about my dinner with the AMAZING poet Sonia Sanchez. First, I must say that it was an honor and second, wow, she is so small in person:)But anyway the reading was amazing. I have been to poetry readings before, but Sonia Sanchez brings a whole different kind of energy when she reads.
Sometimes I think about how poetry has changed. In New York, Spoken Word is the newest thing among youth and its so powerfully performed that slams are attended by people from all walks of life. I fell in love with it when I was eleven watching Russel Simmon's Def Poetry on HBO. Artist like Sanchez inspired a whole generation of young poets, like myself, and activism is alive and well in their work. I'm so amazed by this thing called poetry and how it passes along certain traditions especially among urban youth. Where is their place in the public sphere? Where do they have power and access? And is the world willing to listen?
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