the hard-working, lovely students of city at peace invited me to headline their fundraising event at busboys and poets on march 28, 2009. 
i was very humbled and surprised that they even asked me, so i made sure to put on a great show. i’ve been volunteering at city at peace since october, and it has been one of the most meaningful endeavors ever. i’ve worked with many youth-focused non-profits before, so i know a legit operation when i see one, and city at peace is by far the most legitimate i’ve seen. the levels of trust, cooperation, honesty, and intensity demonstrated by these teenagers and the staff are just unmatched elsewhere. dealing with real life issues that teens face, like depression, suicide, and homophobia (just to name a few), city at peace teaches nonviolent conflict resolution and coalition building across race, class, and gender lines. it is hard to describe with words alone, but if you know anything about liberatory pedagogy, or you’d like to learn, this is the org to study.
the event was packed, sold-out, and standing room only. i sold a few chapbooks at special inflated prices to help contribute to the fundraiser. all told, we exceeded our fundraising goal of the night by thousands!
one of the students, jessica, is going to college next year in wisconsin to study performance poetry specifically. she is grrreat! she did this wonderful piece about columbus day and all the eff’d up stuff columbus did.
not the best pic of her ever, but i had to include her here. she was very impressive with her poetry, and we all expect big things from her in the future. and right now too.
this was my last featured set, and it was all the way back in march. i need to get back on my grind, huh?
JBT 