* Annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam. Youth Speaks has the historic distinction of being the first U.S. organization to host a Teen Poetry Slam. The 11th Annual Slam in 2007 featured almost 600 Bay Area teens and attracted an audience of over 5,800 people during its month-long period, Newer statistic needed here at locations such as La Pena Cultural Center, ODC Theater, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Masonic Auditorium.
* Brave New Voices, The International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. Each year, Youth Speaks partners with one of our national affiliates to present this one-of-a-kind festival in rotating cities. BNV gathers 500 teen poetry slam champions from across the U.S., and even parts of Europe and Africa, for a week of performances, seminars, and workshops. These young writers will reach an audience of over 100,000 over the course of the festival, which culminates in an Olympic-style Youth Poetry Slam. (Link to BNV site here.)
* Queeriosity. To jump start Gay Pride Week, Youth Speaks celebrates the voices of the LGBTQ community and allies.
* Under-21 Open Mics. Ongoing, monthly events, the Under-21 Open Mics are designed as performance “open-houses” for new young writers and performers, as well as for new Youth Speaks audiences. Held in community locations throughout the East Bay and San Francisco, these events are hosted, produced, and promoted by members of Spokes, and are always free.
* Bringing the Noise for Martin Luther King Jr. Every year Youth Speaks honors the contributions of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in this dynamic night of poetry and performance. The annual “I Have a Dream” speech remix keys an evening of insight into the issues of the past, the problems of the present, and the promise of the future.
* The Living Word Festival, produced by the Living Word Project (the resident theater company of Youth Speaks) is an annual fall festival, which takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is curated by acclaimed artist, activist and educator Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and features new co-commissioned performance works, live music, and a host of outreach activities that include workshops, speaker sessions, literary panels, educational activities, and more. The Living Word Festival is committed to presenting groundbreaking new interdisciplinary work, particularly that of artists from the West Coast. In its eight year history the Living Word Fesitval has featured the likes of Goapele, Jason Samuels-Smith, The Kev Choice Ensemble, Sarah Jones, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Jessica Haggedorn and Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Mos Def.