Hi Curtis,
Just wanted to send an e-mail across and say thank you for the excellent poetry reading event last night at Brownsville Heritage House.
It was an excellent experience for me and I really appreciate the warm welcome I got from everyone there, seeing as I’m in another country and was reading poetry in public for the first time. I was made to feel really comfortable so I could express what I had to say.
Thanks once again and look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Marc Sobbohi
Curtis Harris a resident of Crown Heights and founder of Green Earth Poets Cafe, a organization that promotes literacy, self-confidence, communications, community, and educational development among young people in disadvantaged areas of NYC through the performing arts.
Detroit schools are turning their students into published poets with a little guidance from professional writers and a program called InsideOut. Jeffrey Brown reflects with U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey about visiting the Motor City middle-schoolers and the “sense of power” she witnessed as they found their voices. click here for article
Green Earth Poets Café ‘s program-“No more silent voices” to begin poetry slams at Rikers Island July 19, 2014 from 12:00 to 2PM for youth 16 & 17 year olds.
Hello:
We pray that all is well with you and yours and that you are enjoying this great weather. I write you today to inform you of great news for Green Earth Poets Cafe. We announced in March,2014 that we were rolling out a new program for incarcerated youth in NYC. This program, a creative writing poetry workshop, will be accessible to young people who are incarcerated or detained. In these workshops, young people learn new tools for coping with stress, moving past trauma, and learn to take responsibility for their actions and their emotions.
They will learn self-expression techniques using poetry and creative writing. We are happy to report that the program “no more silent voices” will commence Saturday July 19, 2014 at Rikers Island from 12 noon to 2:00pm for youth 16 and 17 years old. We will have a poetry slam performance for these youth on July 19th and return the following week every Saturday for the summer to do the workshops. We ask that you keep us in your prayers and ask for any financial support you can give to support this endeavor. See attach link (http://www.gofundme.com/6fn45s)
Green Earth has been chosen by NYS Senate candidate Jesse Hamilton III (20th SD) as their organization of the week.
Kai’son who has performed with Green Earth Poets Cafe -“Helping people find their voice”has been awarded an internship with the office of Jesse Hamilton III candidate for NYS Senate in the 20th district. Congrats Kai’son you have found your voice.
NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer Assemblyman Nick Perry
NYC Councilman Brad Lander
Kids — 12 and 13 years old — pour their guts onto paper in verse. They spend weeks furiously writing, revising, and coaching each other, and revising again. When they are done, they stand alone in front of their peers and recite poetry, using voice and gesture to bring their words to life.
This may sound like an English teacher’s pipe dream, but it is becoming a common experience in classrooms across the country. In lower-income neighborhoods in cities like New York and Chicago, students are competing with words and then settling in for discussions of metaphor, assonance, consonance, and allusion.
Slam poetry, a blend of literature and performance that culminates in live competitions called slams, is transforming these students from reluctant, shy, or diffident learners into passionate artists. It is helping teachers not just teach writing but also build confidence. For more information about “Our youth are slamming” literacy program and how this can be implemented in your school, please contact us via email or call: Curtis Harris, Executive Director at 516-670-4868.
Green Earth Poets Cafe 5 Year Anniversary Special
