About the program
Under the leadership of Patrice Hill and critical partnership of Urban Word NYC, SAYS brought the Youth Poet Laureate program to Sacramento in 2016.
The Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS) Youth Poet Laureate Program provides a platform that promotes youth voice, civic engagement, political literacy and community building. Through this endeavor, we aim to push the literary arts and poetry aesthetic to include young people's voices, ideas, beliefs and their values that are significantly under-represented and marginalized.
In close partnership with Urban Word, Youth Speaks, Inc. and local city agencies and schools we can move youth voices into the center of civic engagement.
The personal, the artistic, and the community become equal partners in the success stories of our young people. It is the success of our youth that we honor as authentic change in a city’s evolving cultural milieu (as opposed to the negative media-influenced portrayals of our youth), and we believe this success will be part of the tapestry of Sacramento's brilliance. In New York City alone, this program has allowed young poets access to City Hall, City Council meetings, and high levels of press including the NY Times, Democracy Now, Daily News, Al Jazeera, and numerous city-sponsored events.
Home of the National Youth Poet Laureate
The Youth Poet Laureate program elevates the voices of teen writers while providing a platform that promotes youth voice, civic engagement, political literacy, social justice, youth leadership and community building. Through this endeavor, we aim to push the literary arts and poetry aesthetic to include young people’s voices, ideas, beliefs and their values that are significantly under-represented and marginalized in the arts. Vital to the success of this program is the cultivation of key partnerships with city agencies and government, which can/has included the Mayor’s Office, city council offices, county and state agencies and school boards and districts.
The Youth Poet Laureate program strengthens SAYS as a social justice movement that transforms education. That statement is illustrated beautifully in the poetry of SAYS alumni and 2021 National Youth Poet Laureate, Alexandra Huynh.
“The support gave me a sense I could have agency in my own community, it empowered me to enact change in every area of my life, whether it is in poetry or not.”
