Hear Our Voices: Oakland Youth Poet Laureate 2015
Leg One | 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | 30. Pro Arts Gallery

Event Description

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Several teen finalists will be performing for the chance to be named Oakland’s next Youth Poet Laureate. Join Youth Speaks, Oakland Public Library, Pro Arts and more than a dozen community partners in this celebration of Oakland youth! Hear their voices, their truth, and prepare to be inspired.

Curator: Lana Adlawan

Event Readers

Azariah Cole-Shephard

Azariah Cole-Shephard is 17 and attends Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy.  She volunteers with younger students, is the assistant production director at H.A.R.D. and a leader in #blacklivesmatter. She wants her words to inspire and change lives.

Ericson Amaya

Ericson Amaya is 18 and is on the honor roll at Coliseum College Prep Academy. He recently received the2015 O.G. Award in 67 Sueños collective.  Poetry is his power, his source of healing and his resistance.

Litzy Castillo

Litzy Castillo is 16 and attends MetWest High School. In 2014 she was the Featured Youth Speaker at the Empowering Women of Color Conference at UC Berkeley. She wants her words to lead us out of the shadows of the system.

Lucy Flattery-Vickness

Lucy Flattery-Vickness is 16 and attends Oakland Technical High School.  She earned  1st place in 2015 and 2nd place in 2014 OUSD Martin Luther King Oratorical Festival Finals. She is a wordsmith by nature and an activist by birth.

Tova Ricardo

Tova Ricardo is 16 and attends Bentley High School. She has volunteered at Chabad of East Bay and is a leader in her school’s diversity club.  Poetry is where the pen and the paper meet to reclaim her  freedom of expression.

Ahab Chopra

Ahab Chopra is 15 and attends The College Preparatory School. He volunteers to eradicate Hepatitis B, at the local men’s shelter and tutoring younger students. He wants to share poetry’s ability to transform a tear of sorrow to a drop of joy.

Claire Mansell

Claire Mansell is 15 and attends Tilden Preparatory School. She has volunteered at JMSG's Girls Cam and at Contra Costa Civic Theater. She first had her poetry published in 3rd grade.  Poetry allows her to give the reader something beautiful.