Some American spoken-word poetry sprang from Harlem Renaissance, blues, and Beat Generation poetry of the 1960s. In African American culture, spoken word draws on a rich literary and musical tradition. The poetry slam was founded in November 1984 by American poet Marc Smith. He held his first competition at New York's Poetry Project (now called Poetry Project Center) where he was director. In addition to being a writer, Smith was also a musician who played drums. He had been performing with other musicians since age 14. In 1984, he formed a spoken word group called the Def Poets' Society with several other poets. Their goal was to promote their work by doing performances around New York City. The group included Bruce Byron King, Jr., William Everson, and Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones). On August 8, 1986, they held their first slam at the Project. It was an immediate success and has been held annually there ever since. Spoken word is not limited to black Americans. Latino Americans have created their own form of spoken word poetry called micropoetry. It started in the 1980s among Hispanic and Latino Americans living in New York City. First-generation immigrants used poetry as a way to express themselves in English while learning its language. Many micropoets were also involved in or influenced by the underground hip hop movement.