California Story Fund
First Person Urban/Spoken word Project
Youth Speaks
San Francisco
Program Director: Paul Flores
Youth Speaks is a San Francisco-based non-profit dedicated to helping young people find their "voice" through after-school and in-class programs led by experienced poets and writers, and spoken-word events and competitions. including teen poetry slams.
This project led a group of teens through a 10-week writing and performance course examining the idea of what it means to grow up in California. The workshop culminated with performances by workshop participants in two high-profile Youth Speaks events. The final event included a panel discussion examining the themes of the performances.
The aim of the project was to give the youth of the Bay Area a chance to tell the greater populace of their experiences growing up in contemporary California and to provide audiences with a forum for their perspectives.