The Poetry Vlog (TPV): A Poetry, Arts, & Social Justice Teaching Channel

Today's flash briefing poetry reading is Youth Poet Laureate of the West Coast (and located here in Seattle), Azura Tyabji. She reads us her original piece, "Zero v. Stockfish". Join us later this week for our longer chat on social media, trauma commodification, diaspora, and coalition building! For recent collaboration episodes with the Youth Poet Laureate Program, tune in to the last two weeks here on the podcast or visit the YouTube channel (bit.ly/thepoetryvlog).

On Azura Tyabji -- Azura Mizan Tyabji writes from the perspective of a young woman of Black and Indian descent living in Seattle, Washington. She currently serves as the Youth Poet Laureate of her city, and as the National Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador for the West region of the United States. What motivates every aspect of her artistic practice is a love for community, justice, and healing. Poetry inspires movements for radical change, and Azura strives to lend her voice to that legacy by commanding attention to injustice and invoking a future without it. Her debut poetry collection will be released by Poetry Northwest in May 2019.  

For more info, visit her site: (https://www.azuratyabji.com/).

Say Hi Azura at: (https://www.instagram.com/azura.tyabji/) @azuratyabji.

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

Texts we will reference this week:

In Seattle, Luther Hughes for Winter Tangerine: http://www.wintertangerine.com/lom-luther-hughes-1 

Diaspora: A Narcolepsy Hymn, Kyle Dargan for Winter Tangerine: http://www.wintertangerine.com/dargan-diaspora

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Chicago Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson reads hers and Lucille Clifton's work and then discusses Black feminist embodiment and musical influences -- including but not limited to Jamila Woods, Marvin Gaye, and Joni Mitchell. In the words of Terrance Hayes: "“Kara is amazing! She’s a terrific writer of course in the poems but in the prose too. Style plus insight.” Finally: special shout out to Dr. Camea Davis, Urban Word NYC, and The National Youth Poet Laureate Program (see links below) for putting together such a rad collaboration.

On Kara Jackson --

Kara Jackson is the daughter of country folks. She is the Youth Poet Laureate of Chicago. Her work investigates a trail of language that leads from the South to the North. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Jackson attempts to document her lineage of divine womanhood in a country that demands its erasure. She is a product of the literary bloodline created by women like Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Joan Baez. Jackson is an alum of the solo voice jazz ensemble at Merit School of Music. Jackson received the Scholastic Art and Writing Award for her short story Nursery Rhymes, which won a silver medal at the national level. She is an Adroit Journal mentee. Jackson is an alum of the Spoken Word Club at Oak Park River Forest High school. She represented the school in the Louder Than a Bomb festival from 2016-2018, and in her final year performed on final stage at the Auditorium Theatre, where she was granted the Literary Award by Patricia Smith. Her poems have appeared in POETRY, Frontier Poetry, Rookie Mag, Nimrod Literary Journal, and Saint Heron. She has two articles published in Blavity. She has two poems featured in the latest anthology edited by Kevin Coval, The End of Chiraq. Jackson is a TEDx speaker. She will attend Smith College in the fall of 2019. For more: (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kara-jackson)// Kara's TEDx Talk: (bit.ly/KJTEDx) // VS Podcast: (bit.ly/karavs)// Follow Kara at: (https://www.instagram.com/fridahalo/) + (https://twitter.com/fridahalo?lang=en).

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org). 

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate of Chicago, Kara Jackson. She reads us "Poem for the Midwest". Join us later this week for our longer chat on black feminism, poetry as embodiment, Lucille Clifton, and music! We especially discuss how this poem is a way to think through the particular social space of being Black and female while reclaiming self-body appreciation and care.

About Kara Jackson -- Kara Jackson explores the essence of invisibility, the authentic elements of language, and divine womanhood through music, writing, and occasionally visual art. For more: (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kara-jackson) // Follow Kara at: (https://www.instagram.com/fridahalo/) + (https://twitter.com/fridahalo?lang=en).

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate of Chicago, Kara Jackson. She reads us "Anthem for My Belly After Eating Too Much ". Join us later this week for our longer chat on black feminism, poetry as embodiment, Lucille Clifton, and music! We especially discuss how this poem is a way to think through the particular social space of being Black and female while reclaiming self-body appreciation and care.

About Kara Jackson -- Kara Jackson explores the essence of invisibility, the authentic elements of language, and divine womanhood through music, writing, and occasionally visual art. For more: (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kara-jackson) // Follow Kara at: (https://www.instagram.com/fridahalo/) + (https://twitter.com/fridahalo?lang=en).

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate of Chicago, Kara Jackson. She reads us "Landays for the women that pulled her pepper spray out on the CTA." Join us later this week for our longer chat on black feminism, poetry as embodiment, Lucille Clifton, and music!

About Kara Jackson -- Kara Jackson explores the essence of invisibility, the authentic elements of language, and divine womanhood through music, writing, and occasionally visual art. For more: (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kara-jackson) // Follow Kara at: (https://www.instagram.com/fridahalo/) + (https://twitter.com/fridahalo?lang=en).

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate of Chicago, Kara Jackson. She reads us "Homage to My Hips" by Lucille Clifton (click for the poem's transcript via The Poetry Foundation). Join us later this week for our longer chat on black feminism, poetry as embodiment, Lucille Clifton, and music!

About Kara Jackson -- Kara Jackson explores the essence of invisibility, the authentic elements of language, and divine womanhood through music, writing, and occasionally visual art. For more: (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kara-jackson) // Follow Kara at: (https://www.instagram.com/fridahalo/) + (https://twitter.com/fridahalo?lang=en). 

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

*Error in episode: compulsory heteronormativity comes from the term, "compulsory heterosexuality," coined by Adrienne Rich, not Audre Lorde. 

YouTube Edition: (https://youtu.be/YoaYkLzMlBI) or (bit.ly/JacksonNeal1). 

Youth Poet Laureate in Houston, TX, Jackson Neal — in the running for title of National Youth Poet Laureate — discusses drag poetics, haunting as queer method for healing, trans poetics, Diana Khoi Nguyen’s “Ghost Of,” Pabllo Vittar, and so much more. This is part of a longer collaboration in the month of March with Urban Word NYC (urbanwordnyc.org) and The National Youth Poet Laureate Program (youthlaureate.org) with Dr. Camea Davis (cameadavis.com). 

When guests, especially youth activists, come on the Vlog project, they are being vulnerable and courageous, leaving an open access public record for teaching, learning, and community-building purposes. Beat the trolls and leave love for these special guests in the comments <3. Plus, see the links below to follow and say hi to them over on social. 

More on Jackson Neal -- Jackson Neal is a freshman at the University of Houston and a three-time member of Houston’s premier youth poetry slam team, Meta-Four Houston. He is the 2017 and 2018 Space City Grand Slam Champion, a 2018 National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Writing, and the 2019 Southwest Regional Youth Poet Laureate. His writing and videos have been featured in the Claremont Review, Muzzle Magazine, Houston Chronicle, Houston Public Media, and elsewhere. A proud member of Clutch City, Jackson carried H-Town wherever he goes. Check out more of Jackson Neal’s work: (http://jacksonnealpoetry.tk/) // (Instagram.com/jaxnealpoetry) // (Twitter.com/jaxnealpoetry). 

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate Jackson Neal. He reads his luscious poem, "In my Body." Join us later this week for our longer chat on trans poetics and haunting as a method for hopeful and queer livability!

More on Jackson Neal -- Jackson Neal is a Queer, boundless, scorpio poet from Houston, Texas. They are a two-time Space City Grand Slam Champion, a National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Spoken Word, the Youth Poet Laureate of the Southwestern Region of the United States. For more info and to reach out, visit (jacksonnealpoetry.tk) // Say hi to Jackson on Social: @jaxnealpoetry for both IG and Twitter.

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate Jackson Neal. He reads his own incredible poem, "Death Drop From Grace." Join us later this week for our longer chat on trans poetics and haunting as a method for hopeful and queer livability!

More on Jackson Neal -- Jackson Neal is a Queer, boundless, scorpio poet from Houston, Texas. They are a two-time Space City Grand Slam Champion, a National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Spoken Word, the Youth Poet Laureate of the Southwestern Region of the United States. For more info and to reach out, visit (jacksonnealpoetry.tk) // Say hi to Jackson on Social: @jaxnealpoetry for both IG and Twitter.

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).

Today's flash briefing poetry reading Youth Poet Laureate Jackson Neal. He reads Diana Khoi Nguyen's poem, "Family Ties." Join us later this week for our longer chat on trans poetics and haunting as a method for hopeful and queer livability!

More on Jackson Neal -- Jackson Neal is a Queer, boundless, scorpio poet from Houston, Texas. They are a two-time Space City Grand Slam Champion, a National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Spoken Word, the Youth Poet Laureate of the Southwestern Region of the United States. For more info and to reach out, visit (jacksonnealpoetry.tk) // Say hi to Jackson on Social: @jaxnealpoetry for both IG and Twitter.

On The National Youth Poet Laureate Program: (youthlaureate.org) // (urbanwordnyc.org).

● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com).