Happy National Poetry Month!
#WednesdayWords | #NACpoetry |
Artistic Expression & Social Justice
Poetry and other forms of artistic expression have a critical role in advancing social justice, which is the concept that each person should be respected and have equal rights and opportunities.
Art helps us process our experiences and emotions, including our struggles. Creative self expression can help us find renewal and hope after suffering from injustice. The process of creating art helps us become more present to our own selves, experiences, and emotions. By growing in awareness of ourselves, we also start to understand our shared humanity and connection to others as core parts of who we are. Art helps us root out indifference and plants seeds of empathy and compassion in its place. It helps us carve out a little more space in our hearts and minds to hold the experiences and suffering of others. Once we come face to face with our shared humanity, it can no longer be ignored. The natural response to the sense of empathy and connectedness that we find through art is to act for social justice. |
Larry's Poetry
Poetry has long been a passion for Larry, who says: “Poetry enables me to open myself to my deeper thoughts, to use language in unexpected ways, and to communicate with other people at a different level of meaning. Also, it is a lot of fun.”
At NAC, we focus on advocating at the national level for an end to systemic injustices. But the heart of our work, and of any work towards social justice, is also personal. |
Black Voices in Poetry
For #BlackHistoryMonth 2021, we highlighted the work of Black voices in poetry.
A compilation of all voices collected is available here. Two samples are below:
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