“How big is a revolution?” These are the kinds of questions students from grades 8-12 were asking themselves on Diversity in Thought Day on April 2nd. Mentors from Urban Word NYC guided us through a day of poetry and performance “wordshops” during which we were able to take the time to look deep into ourselves and the social injustices we are passionate about fighting.
Founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves, Urban Word NYC™ has been at the forefront of the youth spoken word, poetry and hip-hop movements in New York City since 1999. Hewitt first began their partnership with Urban Word NYC through the first two TEDxYouth@Hewitt events, and this year, in an effort to shine a new light on diversity day, Urban Word NYC spent the day at Hewitt teaching us how poetry can be a powerful tool in fighting for social justice.
The day began with a presentation by Michael Cirelli, the Director of Urban Word, who challenged us to think about the meaning of poetry and how it can and does affect our daily lives. As he concluded his presentation, Cirelli reminded us that, “Poetry is all about being economic with your language.” Following the presentation students broke out into their small group “wordshops.” One of the main goals students had for the day was overcoming writer’s block, and by the end of the day many people agreed that they had learned how to keep writing, with many great poems as proof. The day culminated with performances by Urban Word mentors and students in our community. Natalie Rivera ’13 expressed, “I was so inspired by the courage of the students who read their poems. They showed us that spoken word really can be persuasive.”
When reflecting on the day, students said that while they thoroughly enjoyed the day, they wish that all groups had a more similar experience. Ziba Klein ’13 said, “I really enjoyed the time we had to write, but it felt as though each group did something very different, and it would have been nice to have a more unifying theme to the wordshops.” Even though students might have learned and focused on different aspects of poetry and self- expression, there is no doubt about the inspirational affect it had on the Hewitt Community.
It appears from the students’ reaction that Diversity in Thought Day was a huge success, with many claiming it to be more meaningful than past diversity days. Paloma Stafford ’16 summed up her experience: “As an 8th grader, I was excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this day. It gave me a different perspective on writing as a means of expression and a tool to fight injustices in addition to a way of simply writing essays.”
Enjoy the following video of Diversity in Thought Day 2012 by Ms. Bowllan: