If Baton Rouge based non-profit Forward Arts has its way, the world’s next great slam poet may be a teenager from Baton Rouge.
The youth literary arts program uses poetry and spoken word performance to empower Baton Rouge youth and increase exposure to modern storytelling techniques. Program director Desireé Dallagiacomo said the organization instills 13 to 19-year-olds with self-confidence and helps them discover the power of their voices.
Dallagiacomo was 19 when she joined the program as a teaching artist. A California transplant working with education non-profit City Year, Dallagiacomo said she thought the organization was revolutionary.
Originally known as WordPlay Writing Project, the youth writing cohort was founded in 2005 by Baton Rouge native Anna West, who operated the program as a service extension of the local Big Buddy Program. In 2011, current executive director Chancelier “Xero” Skidmore and marketing director Donney Rose, both established poets, took over the program and expanded it into Forward Arts, Inc.
Today, Forward Arts hosts poetry workshops in every East Baton Rouge Parish middle and high school, as well as Dutchtown High School, Episcopal High School and Port Allen High School, Dallagiacomo said.
Coupled with the non-profit’s after school writing workshop, WordCrew, open teen mic night, Freshhhh Heat, and summer sessions, Forward Arts serves between 8,000 and 10,000 young people annually, she said.
The program is changing lives, Dallagiacomo said.
“For some of our young folks, this is the first place that they feel like they can really, truly be themselves,” she said. “It’s creating an entire generation of folks who feel safe and empowered to tell their stories.”
Unlike other extracurricular activities, youth spoken word breaks down the barriers of the insular teenage experience and teaches participants to embrace vulnerability and have the confidence to share their personal experiences with their peers, Dallagiacomo said.
Animal sciences freshman Chazzi Hayes said joining Forward Arts’ WordCrew as a junior in high school helped her overcome insecurity and shyness, giving her reassurance that her words matter. Two years later, Hayes is a veteran member of WordCrew and a poet on the non-profit’s All Star Youth Slam Team.
Hayes said teenagers curious about the organization and its programs should take a leap of faith. Even if they’re shy or introverted, Forward Arts has a place for them, she said.
Baton Rouge Magnet High School senior Kalvin Marquis said the group is all about creating a safe space for self-expression and the exploration of identity. Young people come for the poetry, but stay for the community, he said.
“The main thing we focus on is cultivating a safe space where no matter what, you feel accepted. That is more than what some places offer, like school or work or even home, sometimes,” Marquis said.
Representation is crucial to acceptance, Dallagiacomo said. To advance its core tenets of acceptance and diversity, Forward Arts infuses its in-school curriculum with socially responsive poetry by a diverse range of authors, including poets of color, women and living artists students can connect with, she said.
It’s difficult for burgeoning writers to envision themselves as successful creatives when they don’t have a role model similar to them. Often, students don’t think they have the “thing” necessary to become a poet, Dallagiacomo said. Many do, but they haven’t been put in a situation that brings it out in them, she said.
As a young black man from a low-income household, Marquis he’s seen few people in the arts who reflect his experience and the lack of representation made him question if he could be successful. When Marquis takes the stage now, he said he performs for everyone who identifies with him and aims to provide hope to other young aspiring poets.
Kinesiology sophomore Jazmyne Smith said writing is a democratic art that can be a powerful tool for catharsis for people of all backgrounds.
“It’s so important because as a community, as a city, we’ve gone through a lot and we’ve seen a lot of things,” Smith said. “Everybody processes it differently and I think writing is an interesting way to try to process the environment.”
The Forward Arts family was forced to do considerable processing after a difficult 2016.
In late July 2016, days after the Forward Arts All Star Youth Slam Team competed at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival, 18-year-old Kaiya Smith, a slam team member and rising freshman at Southern University, passed away suddenly. The loss cut deeply.
At the 2017 Brave New Voices competition in San Francisco, the final round of competition fell on the anniversary of Kaiya’s death. Navigating the grief was difficult, but the team, many of whom were close friends of Kaiya’s, chose to open their performance with a poem dedicated to her, Dallagiacomo said.
The choice resonated with the audience and other competitors, centering the room and creating an almost spiritual experience, she said. Standing on stage during the awards announcements, the group was stunned when they were named the international champions.
Marquis said he fell to his knees in shock when Forward Arts’ name was announced. The victory was the first for a Southern team in the competition’s 20 year history, and marked the first time a Forward Arts team has advanced to the final round of competition, Dallagiacomo said.
After narrowly missing qualification for the Final Stage in 2016, being able to achieve their dream felt like coming full circle, Smith said.
“It felt like in that moment we had finally done it,” she said. “Even though she wasn’t there, it felt like she was there cheering us on. It was very much in her honor and because of her we were able to do as much as we did.”
