The Voices of Young Spoken Word Artists: What Are They Really Teaching Us?

Art mirrors life, and if we want to know the state of our affairs, just listen to the artists. Many adults talk about how to change the behavior of the young, but do they listen to the youth who are making suggestions to adults about how the adults' behavior needs to change? Kwesi Ronald E. Harris, Director of the African American Male Resource Center, has listened to the young voices perform their lyrics at Chicago State University all year and he has made some surprising discoveriesabout their perceptions. What are the youth really telling us about the world we have created? What can we learn about how to make the world better from listening to their songs and poetry? Kwesi shares his observations as he prepares for the final presentation of the semester of spoken word artists whose art truly reflects life.