www.urbanwordnyc.org

Urban Word NYC exists on the belief that teens can and must speak for themselves, providing a safe and supportive space where youth can discover their own powerful voices. They facilitate this process through the changing poetics of spoken word and hip-hop. Workshops designed by Urban Word for youth in all five New York City boroughs develop critical thinking skills, leadership and artistic self-expression. Urban Word strives to make sure youth are invested in challenging paradigms that promote, condone or ignore inequities.

Urban Word serves over 15,000 teens in NYC annually, through workshops such as Write the Power (examining the interdependence of art, community and social justice); Applied Poetics (exploring what it means to be an artist in a world of constantly changing demographics); and Women Reborn and Who’s the Man? (gender-based workshops that explore the roots of gender inequity and gender-based violence). Urban Word further facilitates academic achievement through a series of initiatives that complement its core programs, including awarding over $250,000 in scholarships each year; hosting an annual college fair; and organizing the Creatively College Bound program, which uses poetry, spoken word and hip-hop to guide high school juniors and seniors in writing creative and powerful admissions essays.

Urban Word youth can be seen at community events, festivals and performances year-round. As part of the NY Knicks poetry slam, Urban Word performances are recorded and aired each year on the MSG cable network. And, in 2009 Urban Word teens were profiled on the HBO seven part series Brave New Voices as they prepared for Youth Speaks' 2008 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Finals competition.