African-American Heritage Month: The Promise and Power of Our Youth
Channel: GLIDE sf
Date: 28/02/2023

GLIDE and Youth Speaks celebrated African American Heritage Month by celebrating the voices of three young Black artists and activists as they reflected on what African American heritage, Black culture, and Black power means to their lives in 2023.

Youth Speaks is an organization that challenges youth to develop and amplify voices as creators of societal change. 

Watch this panel discussion featuring live performances by some of the greatest young poets in the Bay and offer invaluable insights into the present and future of Black life from youth at the forefront of Black culture today.

Host Moderator – Aniya Butler: Aniya is a 16-year-old spoken word poet and organizer from Oakland, CA. She works with a youth-led climate justice group, Youth Vs Apocalypse where she directs the Hip Hop & Climate Justice Initiative and coordinates the No One Is Disposable action planning team. Using poetry and organizing, Aniya emphasizes the importance of acknowledging that climate change is a direct result from the same oppressive systems responsible for the social injustices frontline people experience every day. Aniya wants to help rebuild a world with foundations of equity, sustainability, and love so that every living thing can truly thrive. 

Our panelist include:
Myra Estrada: Myra is an African American and Mexican female poet. Myra considers herself an activist and utilizes her political poetry as a way to expand her knowledge and express her beliefs. In addition, she believes poetry offers a connection between her and others through rhythm, prosody, and vocalization. Myra served as the 2021 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate.

Lee the Prophet: Lee is a 17-year-old from Pittsburg, CA. She is a rapper, a poet, and an artist. Lee enjoys highlighting the African experience in her work by using her art to capture life in new essences. Lee is a recent Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Semi Finals Champion.

Vazh: Vazh is a prolific artist and student in the ocean of creativity and abstract thoughtfulness. Composing the lightness of youth, while also catching the shadows of society within his craft, he continues to dominate in the field of making the foreign feel familiar and effortlessly tying complex understandings into melancholic rhythms and introspective verses. Vazh brings a fresh life to the world of music and hip hop altogether, constantly catching lightning in a bottle and using those discoveries to puncture and illuminate the darkest truths of life, love, ideals and sufferings. He’s also just a guy and the 2022 Youth Speaks MC Olympics champ.


Learn more about GLIDE here: www.glide.org and Youth Speaks here: https://youthspeaks.org/