Youth Creative Think Tank
Power Lab brings together youth, organizers, industry experts, and community leaders to leverage the power of culture to influence policy, combat misinformation, and heal civic trauma.
How It Works
- We bring together passionate young poets to learn about the power of public narratives and social justice storytelling
- We explore dominant narratives about complex issues at the center of young people’s lives
- We innovate and create new poems, ensemble performances, digital films, and PSAs that connect individual voices to collective stories
IN THE LAB:
GUN VIOLENCE
As gun violence surges across the country, we urgently renew our commitment to creating safe spaces for young people to speak about issues. Our latest project partners with Brady and Golden State Warriors’ Head Coach, Steve Kerr, to engage our cohort, and youth writers across the Bay Area to explore the history of guns in America, and to imagine a future America without gun violence.
Barrels to Bouquets:
America Without Gun Violence
Spoken Word Competition
“Barrels to Bouquets" is an online spoken word competition open to all Bay Area youth ages 13- 21. The top-scoring poet will be featured at a special performance at the SkyBar in the Chase Center in San Francisco on October 6, 2022 with Golden State Warriors’ Head Coach, Steve Kerr.
"Looking back at the 2020s: When America Felt Hopeless in the Face of Gun Violence. A US History Lesson"
Congratulations to Zoe Dorado, a 17-year-old poet from Alamada CA who has been crowned the winner of Power Labs’ first competition ‘Barrels to Bouquets: America Without Gun Violence’ in partnership with Brady United and Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr.
We put the call out to our network of over 10,000 poets in our community and eight talented poets were selected to engage in a two-week-long workshop series led by Youth Speaks staff to produce the work you are viewing today as part of Power Lab.
As the competition winner, Zoe will be joined by Brady United supporters and Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr as she performs her winning piece at the Skybar inside Chase Center on October 6, 2022.
