Hosted by Poetry International and Spit Journal, Voice for Change is a San Diego spoken word series that invites nationally recognized poets to perform poetry alongside young students from our local communities, touching on themes of identity, social justice, culture, and diversity.
What Young Students Say About Obstacles They Face Every Day:
“People confuse my race… Some people think I’m Arabian. They call me names like: Pocahontas, Osama’s daughter, Terrorist. But I’m Mexican!”
“Bang! Bang! Is the usual music that echoes throughout the streets of Southeast San Diego… I live where blood gets tossed around more than footballs.”
“After I hit the bully the counselor asked, ‘Why are you fighting? This is not Africa. Here in America we don’t fight in school.'”
“I used to live where food supply was scarce, we ate rice, and eggs. Meat was too expensive in Cuba.”
“When you’re the girl with two moms, you tend to lose friends.”
“My father was shot six times. I couldn’t cry at the funeral because I never knew who my father was growing up.”
How Does This Series Aims to Help Young Students?
“Trauma is an affliction of the powerless… Traumatic events overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection, and meaning…Recovery, therefore, is based upon the empowerment… Recovery can take place only within the community, it cannot occur in isolation.” – Judith Herman, M.D.
Our aim is to create such a community:
Poetry International Online 