We Rock the Mic: Youth Spoken Word Poetry

“They told me about We Rock the Mic and I thought it was going to be something boring,” says Natalia Delgado, a 14-year-old from Lancaster. “And then I actually got into it.”

We Rock the Mic is a program created by The Mix at Arbor Place, a youth development center in Lancaster. It helps at-risk students learn to write and perform their own poetry. Through poetry slams and the production of a CD of their work, We Rock the Mic helps students learn to express themselves verbally in a positive way and helps to instill them with confidence.

Ty Gant, the facilitator of the program, says it’s been amazing to see the change in the kids. “When I started six and a half months ago most of them didn’t even want to stand up and say their name. Now they’re speaking in front of a bunch of people at random times and it’s just incredible to watch.”

We Rock the Mic teams up with another of The Mix’s program called “Remixed Studio” which introduces kids to audio production.

“We have an intern who’s also a rapper and producer,” says Jeremy Raff, the Director of Programs at The Mix, “[He] works with a separate group of kids who maybe aren’t as comfortable being in front of people and want to do the behind-the-scenes thing.”

We Rock the Mic will be having a CD release party at Tellus360 on June 16th at 6pm. Proceeds from the sales benefit The Mix at Arbor Place. Downloads of the CD are also available below.