"These Are Our Stories"

Check out performances and photos from People's Poetry 2009!

Organizing Through the Spoken Word 

In the summer of 2007, Mark-Anthony Johnson created People's Poetry as a way to connect young artists of color with the Strategy Center's work of conscious organizing and civil rights movement building. 

People's Poetry trains youth to use their poetry and art to educate and organize their communities. The poets have taken their spoken word pieces to the buses and streetcorners of L.A.

Our first People's Poetry Night

Our very first People's Poetry Night on June 6th, 2008 showcased the work of our young people and our fight to expand the Social Welfare State in direct confrontation with the Prison/Police State.

The young people performed poetry pieces around three of the Community Rights' campaigns: 

• The Green Ribbon Campaign. A national coalition of civil rights organizations fighting for the fully funded return of the 250,000 Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Rita to the Gulf Coast.
• 1,000 More Buses, 1,000 Less Police. The fight for the expansion of social services and civil rights in direct confrontation of the Prison/Police State.
• Defeat the Runner Initiative. Part of our Take the Initiative work in challenging racist, sexist and classist policies that take form in the electoral system.