By Jess Lawson, Communications and Outreach Coordinator

This June, Free Minds had the great pleasure of participating in a collaborative music and poetry event as part of the Our City Festival, celebrating DC through the arts.

Poet Ambassadors at mic

Free Minds Poet Ambassadors performing at the Our City Festival

The Our City Festival was originally founded in 2008 to bring the diverse communities of DC together through film. Hoping to strengthen DC’s unity while embracing its diversity, the festival chiefly showcased movies that were about or took place in DC.

This year the “Our City” concept expanded to include music and literature as well. Earlier this spring, several new organizations including Free Minds submitted applications to the DC Public Library and Kendra Rubinfeld Public Relations (KRPR), the presenting partners of the event. We were so excited to be selected as one of the show curators, and even more thrilled to be partnered with Chris Ousley from the Bumper Jacksons, a folk band combining DC roots jazz, country swing, and street blues.

Deciding to combine slam poetry and DC’s very own Go-Go music, we collaborated with Ousley to host two poetry workshops in preparation for the performance. During the first workshop, spoken word artist Bomani Armah worked with the FM members to teach the mechanics of crafting rhythmic poems, and then facilitated the creation of the members’ own collaborative piece entitled, “Our Voices.” The week after writing this collective anthem, Bomani and the Poet Ambassadors met with drummer Kenny “Kwick” Gross from the Chuck Brown trio to put the poetry with music.

On June 7, just two weeks later, Free Minds Poet Ambassadors found themselves at the Martin Luther King Library, about to go on stage in the Great Hall. After receiving a warm introduction from DCPL Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan, Bomani opened the show with two of his original pieces. After warming up the crowd, he went on to introduce the seven Free Minds Poet Ambassadors. One FM Poet Ambassador, Phil, shared a little bit of his own personal story and motivation to do violence prevention outreach before the music began. Joining together as one voice, the seven Free Minds members then began to speak out their anthem.

Our Voices are unique; We want to be heard and respected.
We’re sick and tired of being rejected and neglected.
Our Voices tell you where we’re coming from
Our pain inside derives from growing up in the slums.
Our Voices say a lot about the struggle
We living in a jungle steady tryna dodge trouble.
Our Voices, Our Voices, Our Voices are the key.
Now we feel accomplished, accepted, and free.

During the performance, drummer Kwick was joined by Daniel Bennett on bass and Marcus Young on keys, who performed with flexibility, talent, and expertise. In between rounds of the chorus, each Poet Ambassador also individually shared poems written by fellow Free Minds members still incarcerated.

Among the poems shared were pieces entitled “The Perfect Child,” “They Call Me 299-359,” and “Where I Come From.” The poet ambassadors shared their DC stories bravely and honestly, and received a standing ovation at the end of their performance.

As Bomani noted, “The more these young men can tell their stories, the better off we all are.” Truly, our city is made stronger when people who have been voiceless not only have their stories told, but they have their voices heard. As we like to say, when a Free Minds poem is read, hope is spread. Thank you to everyone who made this incredible event happen, including the organizers, artists, and attendees.

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