A night of poetry and lyrical performances, Youth Speaks Nashville hosted a performance Saturday in Langford Auditorium to benefit the public schools in Nashville.
"The goal of the showcase is to give teens an opportunity to perform and to see the range of skills, and also to make community aware of this program and what we're trying to build here," said Executive Director of Youth Speaks Nashville Benjamin Smith.
The performance, called "The State of the Word," featured artists from Vanderbilt Spoken Word, VIDA, students from Belmont, Maplewood High School, Tennessee State University and many others. Performances ranged from singing to poetry recital to dancing.
According to Smith, Youth Speaks is a teen program that uses spoken word poetry as a tool to work with teens to build presentation skills, develop new leadership and build literacy skills. The program in Nashville began this summer in April, but similar programs have already been established in other cities around the nation.
For Maplewood High School junior and emcee of the show Keayana Robinson, Youth Speaks is an opportunity for her to express herself.
"I got involved with Youth Speaks during the summer, attending the workshops to help develop your skills has a writer and a poet," said Robinson. "My goal is just to become a better poet. I think we're all already on that track. I think Youth Speaks and poetry helps students face problems with no fear at all."
The fundraiser's proceeds go to placing poet mentors and youth organization mentors in public schools with core appreciation for the art of poetry and the art of word play.
"This show is really about the power of spoken word to uplift youth and uplift the community. This is the first of what we hope will be an annual fundraiser," said President of Spoken Word senior Eli Feghali.
For senior Beville Nicholas, this was his last performance.
"It's good to know that we're giving youth a voice. Sometimes we don't really listen to what they have to say so tonight we urged everyone to listen," said Nicholas.
