4:30 - 5:30
Students from the Spoken Arts program at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts will open for 2023 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Nairobi Barnes as our featured reader.
As a woman who leads with her heart, Barnes says, her words have never steered her wrong and with every new journey she embarks on, a poem follows. She has written press releases about voting rights, discrimination against Black women, and Black hair and how it defines her culture.
The Oakland Youth Poet Laureate program is a citywide effort to celebrate literacy through poetry. Each year they accept applications from talented Oakland writers (ages 13-18) to join a community of young poets. Spoken Artists at Ruth Asawa explore their creative voice(s) through poetry, dramatic and comedic performance, improvisation, rap and public speaking.
Poetry
Programs designed to celebrate the art of the poem, including readings and talks.
Performance
Events featuring theater, music, art and dance.