Youth Speaks presents teen spoken word finals

On January 28, 2006 at 7 p.m., Youth Speaks Wisconsin (YSWI) will present the Third Annual Teen Spoken Word Finals in conjunction with the Wisconsin Union Theater‘s World Stage performance of internationally renowned hip-hop ensemble Daara J.

Youth Speaks is a program housed in the newly established Office of Multicultural Programming at UW–Madison. This unique collaboration taps into the growing interest in urban arts culture among a broad cross-section of today’s youth and signifies a growing appreciation and understanding of the influence of hip hop on the cultural fabric of American society.

The finalists for the teen spoken word event will be drawn from a series of semi-final competitions to take place in four Madison-area high schools and at the Warner Community Center. The six winners of the January 28 competition will receive an expenses-paid trip to compete in the Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival in New York City on April 25-30, 2006, with teenagers from over 40 cities across the United States and England.

For the past two years, Madison has sent teams to the Brave New Voices festival. In 2004, they traveled to Los Angeles and in 2005 to San Francisco.

Following the Youth Speaks Teen Spoken Word Finals, Daara J, a political hip-hop group hailing from Dakar, Senegal, will perform. Considered among Africa’s premier hip-hop groups, Daara J has toured worldwide spreading their positive messages of environmental justice, respect for human rights and social justice. Daara J’s 8 p.m. concert will be followed by an African dance party to be held at the Memorial Union’s Rathskeller beginning at 10 p.m. and hosted by Madison’s own Atimevu Drum and Dance Ensemble.

Serving as one of the chapters of the national Youth Speaks office in San Francisco, YSWI has worked over the last two years to:

• develop a youth slam team to compete at the Brave New Voices National Youth Poetry Slam;
• integrate spoken word in the classes and the creative life of the Madison K-12 schools; – establish groundbreaking work in higher education through the creation of the First Wave Spoken Word and Urban Art Learning Community at UW–Madison;
• and launch a major initiative with the UW–Madison’s School of Education on a summer teacher-training institute that will provide Midwestern K-12 teachers with educational tools to incorporate spoken word into their classroom experience.

Tickets are $10 for students, and range from $18 to $30 for adults for Saturday’s spoken word and hip hop extravaganza. Tickets are currently available at the Wisconsin Union Theater box office or by calling 262-2201.

For more information on Youth Speaks Wisconsin, contact Willie Ney at wney@wisc.edu.