M artin L uther K ing J r .
January 13, 2016
2016 special edition
Young Voices
C ontinued froM P age 4
a New York City youth-empow-
erment movement to bring un-
precedented literary experienc-
es to urban youth.
Sekai Edwards of Jefferson
High School and Alexis Can-
She earned a full scholarship
to an intensive summer theater
program in New York City.
“I was myself, 16 years old,
living in a teeny apartment
in Spanish Harlem for seven
weeks,” says Edwards, who
moved on to become president
Photo by o livia o livia /t he P ortland o bserver
Sekai Edwards of Jefferson High School, who shares the title as
Portland’s First Youth Laureate, is inspired to keep hunting for
writing opportunities and not rest on her laurels.
of Jefferson High School’s
Black Student Union and con-
tinued finding work as an ac-
tress here in Portland. “Oppor-
tunities came one after another,”
she said.
Cannard says she too has
benefited from participating in
the program and explained how
Mitchell’s lessons have helped
her have confidence in herself
as a writer.
“She urged us to remember
our work was valuable, to get
paid for readings and appear-
ances,” she explained. “For me,
as a woman of color, to see my
work as valuable like that is so
important.”
Edwards added that she has
inspired to keep hunting for op-
portunities and not rest on her
laurels.
“Winning this has if anything
made me excited to move on
to a new goal and always have
my mind ready thinking about
what’s next,” she said. “Mo-
mentum is your most powerful
tool. Every time I won some-
thing it’s just an opportunity to
do something else.”
Edwards is headed to Miami
this month as a YoungArts Na-
tional Finalist to perform and
compete against other students
from across the country. She
credits her mom for being her
biggest inspiration, “She always
tells me to reach for more.”
nard of Roosevelt High School
both tied for the inaugural Port-
land Youth Poet Laureate title
this fall, having been selected
from a group of 12 finalists for
the yearlong title. Their victory
gives them access to a national
book and distribution deal from
Penmanship Books, and the op-
portunity to do a regional book
tour.
Both girls have long known
each other as they both attend-
ed Da Vinci Arts Middle School
in northeast Portland. Edwards
said that in 7th grade, she par-
ticipated in her first ever class-
wide poetry slam.
“My teacher told me I should
try out, that I should write some
pieces,” says Edwards. “So I
wrote a piece, and then another,
and I won.” The next year, sev-
eral middle schools competed
against each other for a larger
slam, and Edwards took home
that title too. “I started to real-
ize, I had a knack for it.”.
From there, Edwards partici-
pated in a variety of slams and
contests, including with the Au-
gust Wilson Red Door Project
in 2014, the monologue compe-
Photo by o livia o livia /t he P ortland o bserver
tition that sends winters to com- Participating in a youth poet laureate program to uplift young and
pete nationally in honor of the traditionally marginalized voices has helped Alexis Cannard of
esteemed playwright.
Roosevelt High School gain confidence as a writer.
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