Power to the poets: Brother Mike’s revolutionary legacy

Latest

The Niles West High School Slam Team performing at Louder Than A Bomb 2015, at the sold out four-thousand seat Arie Crown Theater. PHOTO/ADAM GOTTLIEB
The Niles West High School Slam Team performing at Louder Than A Bomb 2015, at the sold out four-thousand seat Arie Crown Theater.
PHOTO/ADAM GOTTLIEB

CHICAGO, IL —A raised fist holding a pen, with a mic in the foreground: that is the logo for this year’s Louder Than A Bomb festival (LTAB). Organized by Young Chicago Authors for 15 years now, LTAB remains the largest youth poetry slam in the world and it is growing. This March it brought together over 1,300 young people from all parts of the city, suburbs, and beyond. The festival symbolizes to many an artistic renaissance happening in Chicago, and—as can be seen from the logo—the spirit of revolution.
This year’s logo was chosen in homage to “Brother Mike” Hawkins, an educator at YouMedia Center who mentored a generation of up-and-coming Chicago emcees. Mike died on December 3, 2014, at the age of 38. He is deeply missed and widely remembered for empowering young people to speak out against injustice. (In one of his poems, he says: “I want to plant seeds in revolutionaries.”) The day after Mike passed, Chance The Rapper tweeted: “He would say, “Power to the People” and Youmedia would say, “Right on!” and know exactly what it meant. Rest in peace Brother Mike”. In honor of this, the theme for LTAB 2015 was #PowerToThePoets.
Indeed, LTAB seems to get more political every year, and the ages at which students address issues of race, gender, and class seems to keep getting younger. One remarkable line I heard this year came from a young man on the Kuumba Lynx team: “We won’t win until this game is ours.”
Here is what a few members of the community had to say about LTAB:
“The safe space and the creative space that LTAB creates is something that isn’t really found in education . . . and it should be . . . Every kid has the potential to write poetry, to be an artist, but they aren’t in spaces that encourage them.”
—Daisy Maass, 15, poet
“It’s beautiful how this gathers people from disparate parts of the city . . . to listen to each other and to develop empathy by hearing each other’s stories… I think it’s a model for education and what we’d like the city to be.”
—Brady Gunnink, coach
“If it wasn’t for these programs, I don’t know where my mindset would be—I could have conformed to something that is completely opposite of what I believe in now . . .
“I feel like Chicago is in a renaissance right now . . . I feel a movement coming . . . I feel it in my soul that something is creating, stirring up, something is manifesting, and I think that begins with giving power to the poets, power to the children, power to the youth . . .
“I think maybe in terms of . . .  “American history” we don’t see leaders as the youth . . . which is obviously problematic.”
—Kaina Castillo, 19, LTAB organizer
Learn more about LTAB at youngchicagoauthors.org

+ Articles by this author
With upbeat music and lyrics directly inspired by current struggles for social justice, Chicago-based Reggae Fusion band Adam Gottlieb & OneLove offer their songs to the soundtrack of a new revolution. Adam Gottlieb (first known from the Youth Spoken Word poetry movement) now writes primarily in the form of songs, brought to life by the incredible band OneLove. Comfortably rooted in a versatile Reggae/Folk-Rock sound, the band dexterously fuses Funk, Blues, Hip Hop, Ska, Jazz and more. You can find OneLove's music on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, etc. Follow the band on Facebook and on our official website: adamgottliebandonelove.com. 

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Students Walk Out Across the Country to Protest Trump’s Election

Read the speech delivered by a student at the student walkout at MSU two days after the Presidential election. Thousands of students nationwide walked out to protest Donald Trump's election and his policies on the same day.

Let’s Join Hands to Resist the Trump Agenda

Thousands of groups and millions of people are beginning to reach out to one another to resist the Trump agenda. Regardless of who we voted for, we the people, have a common interest in seeing to it that all our families are well taken care of, that all children are well educated and have a future, and that we have a society free of climate disaster, racism, bigotry and inequality.

How Democrats Ignoring Gaza Brought Down Their Party

"Many Americans roused to action by their government’s complicity in Gaza’s destruction have no personal connection to Palestine or Israel. Their motive is not ethnic or religious. It is moral."

Undocumented Families Are Fighting for Our Future. Will You Join Us?

'As an undocumented mother, I can’t help but worry for my son’s safety first. As an organizer, my worry turns to resolve.'

Fighting for Climate, Students Walk Out Over Trump

"[The student nationwide] walkouts represent a call to action for both parties," said Sunrise Youth Movement, a group that advocates for political action on climate change.

More from the People's Tribune