Chi City Youth by Jazmine McKinney

I selected Jazmine McKinney's poem, 'Chi City Youth' to wrap up poetry month.   This spoken word poet eloquently describes the violence that Chicago's youth must face daily.  McKinney's vivid description of the day-to-day struggle is not to be taken lightly and she does not hold back.  This video is a 'real' and provides the listener with a true account of life in Chicago's from the lens of a young person.  

This video is part of a projected funded in part by a City of Urbana Arts grant and produced by University of Illinois PhD student Raymond Morales.   I encourage you to listen 12 audio works and several videos by six Illinois artists.   The audio is available for download on Morales website at The Show 1045.  

Like my friend said, "Poetry is a way for young people to express themselves, allow them to use a pen, paper and their authentic voice as their instrument."