Words of Affirmation – Threads of Change Shares the Power of Poetry at Brave New Voices Festival 2024

Threads of Change had the privelege of hosting the Opening Plenary: the State of the Union during this year’s Brave New Voices in Washington, D.C. The legendary annual festival is attended by over 500 of the nation’s leading young poets and artists who convene for four days of arts education, performance, and civic engagement. 

Opening Plenary: the State of the Union was the very first event on the second day of the festival and a powerfully curated program that inspired a deep commitment to civic engagement and using the power of our voices to advance social and political movements that young people care about the most. Cultural Engagement Lab’s staff Alexis Posey, Kat Evasco, and Lindsay Nuon were joined by Threads of Change movement partners, Progress GA, Poder NC, and Pro-Choice AZ who shared their exciting work in the reproductive justice and civic engagement movements. 

We engaged the crowd of young poets with the commissioned poetry of Ayanna Florence, champion of the 2023 Slam Charlotte Grand Slam, North Carolina Regional Slam, Queen of the South Slam, and Women of the World Poetry Slam. Her strikingly intense poem focused on the bans on abortion with no exceptions in 12 states across the U.S., in addition to the racial discrimination faced by Black women accessing medical care, and her deeply personal experience with abortion access. As a Brave New Voices alum, the experience of her poetry delivery left a special impact on every individual in the room. 

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When commissioning Ayanna, we knew we wanted to focus on reproductive justice and provided data around North Carolina, a state that has a twelve-week abortion ban. Ayanna was eager to write about this issue, noting that the right to abortion access wasn’t something she had ever previously written about. It was profound to experience her activism through poetry and her unique ability to tell her story through the Threads of Change data. 

Additionally, we were honored to commission a poem from Brave New Voices alum, organizer, activist, and renowned poet Nathan Wallace. The relatability and trust between Nathan and the Brave New Voices attendees were beautiful to witness as he created parallels between voter suppression and civic engagement in Georgia. His rootedness in voter engagement work was undeniably valuable as he delivered his poem on specific electoral issues such as data on how many ballots were thrown out in the last election. 

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Notably, our highlight from this year’s Brave New Voices was witnessing the passion and excitement of young artists and the context of how Gen-Z and millennials will be the largest voting block in the quickly approaching election. The presence of our partners sparked conversations and partnerships that are potent with a desire to create cultural change and strategy. 

The impact of our panel was solidified by the real-time survey conducted by the Cultural Engagement Lab.  The top three issues that mattered most to young people polled are:

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1. Reproductive Rights
2. Cost of Living & Inflation
3. Gun Violence, Crime, and Safety

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Cultural Engagement Lab staff and Brave New Voices alumni Kat Evasco noted, "Ten years ago, we weren’t talking about gun violence. During this year's finals, every team had a gun control poem. It’s top of mind.” Collecting this national data was incredibly helpful to learn what matters most to our up-and-coming leaders in activism and art. Threads of Change will continue to focus on data-driven insights that highlight the issues that matter most to our communities and that we believe are ripe for change.