For the past two weeks, young metro Atlantans ages 13 to 18 have been honing their skills as creative writers and spoken-word artists as part of the National Black Arts Festival’s Brave New Voices Institute. On Saturday, these 20-some artists — male and female, black and white — will perform before a sold-out crowd (sorry) at the new National Center for Civil & Human Rights. As one young man explained it, “This project has helped me learn what it truly means to be free with my words.”
And that’s not all. The NBAF has announced a new multiyear partnership with San Francisco’s Youth Speaks and the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. The international poetry slam fest will come to Atlanta in 2015, bringing to town 600 young spoken-word artists from across the United States and the world. The festival then will return to Atlanta every five years in partnership with the NBAF.
The NBAF, in its 26th year, is the longest-running multidisciplinary arts festival of the African diaspora. Events continue through September. For a complete schedule, GO HERE. Meet the young artists in this ENCORE VIDEO.
