Brave New Voices: Using Poetry to Raise Critical Issues
Every summer, young poets and poetry organizations from around the world gather at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. Considered the largest youth poetry festival in the world, it is funded with support, in part, from the Ford Foundation.
Our grants to Youth Speaks — the organizer of the Brave New Voices annual festival — aim to equip future generations with the means to express themselves freely about critical issues they face. The work of Youth Speaks centers around arts education, youth development, and civic engagement.
Watch a video — courtesy of the Youth Speaks YouTube channel — which highlights the first day of the 12th Annual festival in Chicago and the energy and talent of some of the participants.
Youth Speaks has been a grantee since 2004, receiving more than $500,000 for the development of the Brave New Voices festival and the expansion of its national network of spoken word organizations. In 2008, the foundation invited artists from Youth Speaks to perform; as well as Robert Redford whose Sundance Institute is collaborating with Youth Speaks on environmental issues; and Jeff Chang, author of "Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation," to participate in a panel discussion. Below are videos of the event, "Speaking to the Future: The Power of the Arts to Create Social Change."
To learn more about Youth Speaks and the 2008 Brave New Voices Festival, held in Washington, D.C., watch the Brave New Voices series on HBO.
Read about the foundation's work in media, arts and culture.