Justice for Trayvon Martin Peace Rally



Photo by Em Allison Photography

On July 20^th more than 100 cities across the nation through the National Action Network, people rallied outside federal courthouses in hopes of provoking the Department of Justice to file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman one week after he was found not guilty in the death of Trayvon Martin.

 

United Council For Equality, a non-partisan social empowerment group, partnered with Teens with a Purpose to host a rally at the Walter E. Hoffman Federal Courthouse at 600 Granby Street in Norfolk, VA on Saturday, July 20th from noon to 1:30 p.m.  The event was be attended by various clergy, elected officials, and concerned citizens of the Hampton Roads community. More than 450 people attended from every race and color, clergy from various religions were represented, legislators from both sides of the aisle attended including Senator Kenneth Alexander, Senator Louise Lucas, Mayor Kenneth Wright of Portsmouth, Councilwoman Angela Williams of Norfolk, both the republican and Democratic Chairs, and more, and various television stations covered the story. Teens With a Purpose represented the youth voice and performed several spoken word  pieces and an acoustic original song.

 

Following the verdict of the George Zimmerman trial, the purpose of the Justice for Trayvon Martin Peace rally was to educate the public on their civil rights, voter education and civic engagement, and to empower youth to let their voices be heard. 

 

The Justice for Trayvon Martin Peace rally event was one of 100 rallies at federal buildings across the nation through the National Action Network, leading up to the March on Washington on August, 24, 2013 in Washington, D.C.  The march will continue the dream as we recognize the 50th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.

 

The mission of United Council For Equality is to unite and empower the community to stand up for equality of all people.

 

The mission of Teens With a Purpose – The Youth Movement is to empower young people to use their voices, their energy, and their talent to affect positive change.  The Executive Director of Teens With a Purpose addressed the crowd,

Photo by Em Allison Photography

"Good Afternoon, It is wonderful to stand with all of you today. I am the Director of Teens With a Purpose. Everyday of my life is dedicated to supporting youth, helping them to find their voice and encourageing them to use their power of that voice to effect positive change. On some levels, I am not a leader but a follower. I strive to follow young peoples visions and voices, helping them arrive safely and productively at their intended destination. And so along with youth members of our organization, I am here today to encourage youth to participate in rallies, vote, march, write songs and poems - do what you can to positively impact this community, country and globe. Today the world is listening, speak peace, speak justice, speak your truth."

Teens With a Purpose are teens creatively cultivating the next generation of leaders. Support the movement, make a donation or volunteer. TWPTheMovement.org

 

15 Poets Battle, 3 Move on to the Grand Slam

Saturday, May 11th was the last opportunity for youth poets to become a part of the 2013 Hampton Roads Youth Poets Slam Team and qualify to represent all of Hampton Roads during Brave New Voices 2013!  The Southside Qualifying Slam was hosted in collaboration Tidewater Community College, Roper Performing Arts Center on Granby Street in Downtown Norfolk.  The event started with a special message from Al Roker, board of Director Member of Teens With a Purpose. The Southside Qualifying Slam took the audience on a lyrical journey with 15 young poets all fighting to get heard. The competition was fierce and a tough job for the judges. The event was hosted by local artist Seven Pierces and TWP member DaVine Chavez. The event was also recorded by Cox Communications.

The Slam had three tough rounds with music by DJ Precise in between the bouts, as well as special performances by Caitlin Messer of the Governor's School of the Arts, group poetry piece by the Teens With a Purpose and Testimony and Maria from SoulStice Reb'L.

Deirdre A. Love, Executive Director said "This was a taste of heaven....the most powerful slam since we started having these events four years ago." Sylvantria "Boobie" Hawkins attended to scope out her competition and said "The Finals will be like Hunger Games."  Per Wikipedia, The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of a 16-year-old , who lives in the post-apocalyptic, where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol,a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12-18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death. Of course, Hawkins was not referring to a physical death but the poets will bring their best to the stage and give the audience everything they have as if their lives depended upon it!

Pictures from the Slam can be viewed on the Teens With a Purpose Facebook page.

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet our finalists:

Emily "Em" Allison, Chesapeake

Matthew St. Clair, Hampton
Ayanna Florence, Chesapeake

Raevaughn "Rae of Hope" Johnson, Norfolk

Emeka "S.O.U.L" Onyirimba, Norfolk

Khayla "Cuyjet" Walker, Virginia Beach

ShaJhea Wilson, Norfolk

 

Alternates/4th placers will battle to determine which of them will be competing for the Alternate spot on the 2013 HRYP Slam Team will determine who will compete at the Grand Slam Finals.

 

Get your free tickets 

2013HRYPSlamFestival.eventbrite.com

 

Don't miss the Grand Slam Finals on June 1st 5-7pm

Norfolk State University, 700 Parks Ave, Norfolk, VA

There will be a free college tour 4-5pm

Brave New Voices is presented by Youth Speaks and is the largest international Youth Poetry Festival in the world.

Trailer to Brave New Voices

 

Find out More about Brave New Voices 

at http://youthspeaks.org/bravenewvoices/

I am HEAR - Month long Celebration where Words Matter!

Youth count the cost of their words all month long. I am HEAR was a month-long celebration for National Youth Month in April. The City of Norfolk Department of Recreation, Parks and Open Space collaborated with Teens With a Purpose to celebrate youth through a four-part series of community events that celebrate the power of words and really HEARING what they mean. I am HEAR was held every Thursday in April at the Vivian C Mason Arts & Technology Center for Teens.

 

 The first part of the series tackled music, a very important part of any teens life. Through Listen 2 The Lyrics workshop, youth were empowered to be active listeners. They participated in a very cool listening session with a talk-show set-up which put local rappers on the hot seat. Seated across from these rappers were three young listeners that carefully pulled apart the lyrics of the selected songs. Grace Wiggins of Listen 2 The Lyrics, facilitated an open forum where young listeners, attentively and actively listened to artists Double XL, Brandeesh and Focus. These young listeners analyzed the lyrics through questions about the meaning behind these lyrics. The evening started with a concert by Teens With a Purpose members which was open to the community, young people performed their own positive and original music on an outdoor stage outside of the facility. Listen 2 the Lyrics is an organization based out of Baltimore and uses hip-hop as a tool to develop positive attitudes towards education through critical thinking and problem solving skills in order to increase high school graduation rates of at risk male students and to create positive self image among them. Youth will work together to learn how to make a conscious effort to effectively listen to music of their choice, in order to give serious consideration of how it relates to their lives.

 

 

The second event focused on youth poets & rappers, with the TWP Emcee Olympics which allowed them to battle using their own words. This event featured well-known regional poet from Washington DC, 13 of Nazareth as the special guest for the evening. The third part of the ‘I am HEAR’ series explored the impact that words have on self-esteem. The Words Matter workshop allowed Youth and the community the opportunity to recite and perform original poems and songs and express how the words impacted them as they listened. The workshop concluded with a very open discussion about these topics. The ’I am HEAR’ series concluded with a concert by Teens With a Purpose’s own Music Made Simple, the music division of the local youth development. They performed original songs like “Lyrical Rollercoaster” and poems. There was also a special workshop and performances by local artist Dynasty which combines original music with illustrations in comic-book style drawings which told his own personal story of overcoming adversity.

During this month, Teens With a Purpose also conducted a community HIV testing event. Youth members of TWP performed for the community as they waited to get tested. The testing was conducted by the Urban League of Hampton Roads and Garden of Hope provided gift cards for the first ten people tested. The turn- out was very successful, there were more people willing to get tested than kits available for testing. The month was documented on local social media site Instagram using #IAMHEAR to get the youth’s social sphere of influence in on the action.

The City of Norfolk entered into a lease agreement with local non-profit Teens With a Purpose-The Movement (TWP) in the fall of 2012 to provide a designated location for teen programs in the city. The center is also home to the Department of Recreation, Parks & Open Space’s (RPOS) Youth Services Bureau, which provides city-wide teen programming such as the Norfolk Youth Council and After the Bell after school program. The change in location will allow for increased partnerships between the groups, in turn providing more opportunities and programs for area teens.


The Vivian C. Mason Arts & Technology Center for Teens is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m and will be holding a teen leadership summer camp, Camp Inspired starting in June. The Vivian C. Mason Arts & Technology Center for Teens is located at 700 E. Olney Road in Norfolk Virginia. 

Special thanks to: Art Thatcher & Cliff Russell of Norfolk Recreation Parks & Open Space (NRPOS), Grace Wiggins of Listen 2 The Lyrics, DJ Kira and of course the brave artists: Brandeesh, Double XL and Focus

View additional photos for I am HEAR

New Poets Move Forward at the Peninsula Qualifying Slam

 
On Saturday April 20th, 2013 the HYRP held its Peninsula Qualifying Slam at the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center in Newport News. Seven poets between the ages of 13-19 competed in three rounds until three poets were left standing. The evening began with a few inspiring words by TWP's Executive Director Deidre Love followed by the "Sacrificial Lamb" Jared Frazier's poetry performance. As the "Sacrificial Lamb", Frazier performed prior to the slam poets in order to warm up the audience and judges, and generate excitement in the room. The judges' panel of five was filled by a highly qualified and impressive mix of authors, poets, speakers, and musical artists.
 

Quayshaun Moore and GodChild The Omen, Hosts

Each poet was given three minutes to perform, with the judges scoring each reading and dropping the poets with the lowest scores. In the first round all seven competing poets performed. Topics ranged from familiar problems to American society. Ashaunti Horton (13) the youngest poet to perform delivered a piece on the avoidance of becoming a statistic. Unfortunately, she did not continue, but her execution was great and her message inspiring. After the first round two poets were eliminated.


Nathanial Lovell

After the first round, HYRP Slam Coach Nathanial Lovell recited a piece that had audience members crying out in agreement and standing out of their chairs. Lovell's message was about women knowing their worth and not allowing others to take them for granted. The second round proceeded with the remaining five poets competing to move into the final round. Emeka "S.o.u.l" Onyirimba's (19) dark yet beautiful performance was welcomed by a large round of applause, and admittance into the final round of the slam. Slam poet Jaida Everett (15) gave a powerful message on always having passion even when the world gives us false hope. Although she did not progress to the final round, Everett plans on competing at the next qualifying slam on May 11th.

Emeka 'S.O.U.L' Onyirimba, 2nd Place

Matthew 'Levi' St. Clair, 1st Place

In the final round Jeanette Lam (16) was the last slam poet to be eliminated. Although she stumbled during the first round her positive attitude propelled her into the second and final round. The Peninsula Qualifying Slam was Lam's first recital at a HYRP event, and she did such a great job. Her positive themes of never giving up and always pushing forward made for an endearing three rounds. Lam says she will probably attend the next qualifying slam. The stand out moment of Saturday evening's event was Matthew "Levi" St. Clair's final round recitation. St. Clair spoke of his disability and how he beat the medical and social odds in his community. A proud college student St. Clair has never viewed his medical condition as a disability and he ended his poem with "Impossibility is an impossibility." His final words brought the audience to its feet with everyone chanting "Levi, Levi Levi!" Needless to say St. Clair was one of our qualifiers for the night.


Here's to hoping that we see Jeanette Lam, Jaida Everett, and our other competing poets at our next event on May 11th at the Norfolk Qualifying Slam at the TCC The Roper Performing Arts Center! And congratulations to Emeka "S.O.U.L.", and Matthew "Levi" for moving on to the Grand Slam.

Great job guys, and good luck!

- Danielle Ruiz

Photos courtesy of Em-Agery Photography