From left, James Kass, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Beau Sia, and Paul S. Flores,
photograph by Scott Chernis, 2001

Project Title: No Man’s Land
Recipient Organization: Youth Speaks
Lead Artist: Beau Sia
Genre and Date Awarded: Literary Arts, June 2001
Presented: September 20 and 21, 2002 at ODC/Theater, and November 5, 2002 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Spoken word poet Beau Sia—with collaborators James Kass, Paul Flores, and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, all long-time instructors and mentors for Youth Speaks—explored archetypal, cross-cultural and contemporary concepts of manhood through a spoken word theater piece. The finished work was presented at ODC/Theater in San Francisco on September 20 and 21, 2002. The first night featured the full production and the second presented excerpts followed by poetic responses from teenaged poets who participate in Youth Speaks programs. The collaborators intend to continue developing this work, entitled No Man’s Land, for future presentation.

While No Man’s Land marked a new direction for the poets and for Youth Speaks, the collaborators wrote at the outset, “we present this proposal as artists unable to separate ourselves from our roles as activists, organizers, and educators…we hope to engage in a collaborative learning experience.”

Youth Speaks has become a leading Bay Area platform for developing and presenting spoken word poetry. Its founder and executive director James Kass, instructor/mentor Paul S. Flores and program director Marc Bamuthi Joseph have dedicated significant effort to developing it as a cultural, educational, and leadership development program for San Francisco Bay Area youth. In creating No Mans Land, these three poets collaborated with another dynamic spoken word artist, Beau Sia, and “turned the tables” on their usual process. Rather than teaching and mentoring teenaged artists, over an 18-month period they developed their own spoken word material and in the final six months sought criticism, production ideas, and support from the teenagers. In the project’s final stages, Kamilah Forbes, director of the New York Hip Hop Festival, helped them to shape No Man’s Land into an integrated theatrical presentation.

All four collaborating artists are young (aged 25-32), and each comes from a different cultural background. Lead artist Beau Sia is a Chinese-Filipino literary performance artist, poet, and author, originally from Oklahoma who arrived in San Francisco after achieving critical success in New York City, at the Sundance Film Festival, and on the National Poetry Slam Stage. Shortly before the premiere of No Man’s Land, Sia appeared in Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam at Theater on the Square in San Francisco. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a first generation Haitian-American who moved from a childhood on television screens and Broadway stages to stints with the Senegalese National Ballet and to becoming a National Poetry Slam Champion. Paul S. Flores is a Mexican-Cuban-Serbian novelist, performance poet who grew up on the border towns of Tijuana/San Diego and who formed Los Delicados, a traveling Latino Poetry Troupe. Flores produces events at La Peña Cultural Center and—as part of a different Creative Work Fund grant—published his first novel, Along the Border Lies with Zyzzyva. James Kass, grew up in New York, a descendant of the Jewish intellectual scene. He is a fiction writer and poet who founded and directs Youth Speaks. He also chaired the (Inter)National Youth Poetry Slam & Festival Executive Committee, and co-authored the teacher’s Resource Book and CD-ROM Brave New Voices – Spoken Word in the Classroom.

Their hope was, as four men from these differing backgrounds, to dissect maleness in a fresh, intimate, and honest manner. Working from the premise that each of them had been nominated for the “New Millennium Man Arts Residency,” the writers worked with concepts of competition and definition of what “makes a man” in today’s multicultural America. The collaborators played with the idea of this “Millennium Man” award as a way to ask, “What in our personal and cultural histories has brought us together in the early 21^st Century” How do we model a new paradigm of maleness for the youth that we mentor?” A further project goal was to produce a different kind of spoken word performance. Rather than a series of poets each presenting 10-20 minutes of his work, they wanted to weave their narratives together so that their voices were distinct yet layered--directly challenging, supporting, and conversing with one another.

Founded in 1996, Youth Speaks fosters development of the spoken-word poetry genre and support systems for young poets who previously have not been invited to develop and present their voices to the public. The organization’s philosophy is that creative writing should be presented to young people as a socially functional skill, one that creates avenues toward building relationships and cohesiveness among social groups. Youth Speaks has created significant opportunities for spoken word artists—from participating in the Bay Area Book Festival, Second Sundays, and the Bringing the Noise Reading Series, to the (Inter)National Youth Poetry Slam and Festival. Acknowledged leaders in the field, Youth Speaks and The Living Word Project have been major players behind the rise of poetry/spoken-word literary arts.

Beau Sia achieved acclaim in New York’s spoken word scene before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area. He is author of a night without armor II: the revenge.

featured in:

• slam nation (feature length documentary on slam poetry)
• slam, winner of the 1998 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
• “2000 ESPN Winter X-games” (short poetry spots)
• “russell simmons’ def poetry jam” (pilot)

author of:

• A night without armor II: the revenge (mouth almighty books)

audio:

• “attack! attack! go! (full length spoken word album/mouth almighty/mercury records)
• “nyc slams!” cd (compilation cd of new york poets)

anthologized in:

• poetry nation (vehicule press)
• heights of the marvelous (st. martin’s press)
• slam: the movie (grove press)
• slam (alloy books)
• poetry slam (manic d press)

poetry slam accolades:

• Two-time national poetry slam champion, three time finalist

workshops:

• create now workshop for teens
• various asian american writers’ workshops
• assistant to saul williams’ poetry workshop at the omega institute
• in the youth speaks afterschool and school visit program

performed at:

• east coast asian student union 2001
• harvard
• naca national conference
• whitney museum of american art
• teen national poetry slam festival

Paul S. Flores

Paul S. Flores is a Latino poet, fiction writer, playwright, educator, and cultural worker. Paul’s writing has been published in several magazines, including Zyzzyva and The San Francisco Bay Guardian. As a founding member of Los Delicados, he has performed music, theater, and spoken word all over the West Coast.

Selected publications

• San Francisco Bay Guardian 1997 Open Poetry Contest
• Mir(age), periodical (spring 1997)
• Zyzzyva, San Francisco, California (fall 1998)
• Fourteen Hills, San Francisco State University Review (spring 1998)
• 6,500 Literary Magazine, 9x9 Publications, San Francisco, California (spring 1999)
• Spoken City, spoken word CD, Noir Records (spring 1999)
• Word Descarga, Los Delicados, Spoken Word CD, Calaca Press (December 2000)

Book publication

• Along the Border Lies, Zyzzyva Discovery Series, Creative Arts Books (2001)

Awards

• Charles Johnson Award for Multicultural Fiction, University of Illinois, Carbondale (spring 1998)

Selected readings

• “Puro Slam!” San Antonio, Texas (January 2001)
• National Association Latino Arts and Culture Conference, Corpus Christi, Texas (January 2001)
• Salinas Community College, Salinas, California (November 2000)
• “Hecho En Califas: Festival of New Chicano Performance,” La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, California (September 2000)
• “Lenguasos,” Puerto Rican Spoken Word Text, Mexican Museum, San Francisco, California (September 2000)
• North Beach Jazz Festival with Marcus Shelby Trio, San Francisco (July 2000)
• San Jose Floricanto Festival, with Los Delicados (June 2000)
• Malcolm X Jazz Festival, with Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Oakland, California (May 2000)
• Brown Sheep Project with Guillermo Gomez Peña, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco (May-June 2000)
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with Los Delicados, San Francisco, California (April 2000)
• Stanford University, with Los Delicados, Stanford, California (April 2000)
• Second Sundays (San Francisco Slam/NPA) at the Justice League (November 1999)
• Nuyorican Poet’s Café, with Los Delicados, New York, New York (June 1999)
• Zinc Bar, New York, New York (June 1999)
• University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, with Los Delicados (April 1999)
• Borders Books, Zyzzyva presents three novels in progress, San Francisco, California (October 1998)
• Small Press Traffic Literary Art Center at New College of California, San Francisco, California (February 1998)
• Café International, Poems y Poemas, San Francisco, California (September 1997)

Teaching Experience

• Hybrid Performance/Writing Workshop, Intersection for the Arts (2000)
• Youth Guidance Center, Youth Speaks Writing Workshop (spring 1999)
• Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Workshop, Zeum, San Francisco, California (fall 1999)
• Brava! Center for the Arts, Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Workshop, San Francisco, California (fall 1999)
• San Francisco State University, “Creative Writing 401: Introduction to the Short Story” (fall 1998)
• San Jose Center for Latino Arts, Performance workshop with Los Delicados, San Jose, California (1997)

Programming experience

• “FREE SPEECH! Community Activism Through the Spoken Word, CELLspace, San Francisco, California
• Word and Sing Open Mic Poetry and Live Music with Los Otros; Collective Soul: Hip-Hop, Spoken Word & Soul music; Hecho En Califas: Festival of New Chicano Performance Arts, La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, California
• Hybrid Performance Workshop, Intersection for the Arts (2000-2001)

Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Marc Bamuthi Joseph entered the spoken word poetry scene with a strong, wide-ranging background in performing arts, as a scholar of traditional folklore and dance, a young performer on Broadway and television, a dancer with the Senegalese National Ballet and other companies. In1999 he was the San Francisco Poetry Slam champion and the National Poetry Slam Co-champion.

Fieldwork

• Investigation of Senegalese folklore and dance, Senegal (summer 1998)
• Investigation of Haitian folklore and dance, Haiti (winter 1998)

Acting

• Broadway: “The Tap Dance Kid (1985); “Stand-up Tragedy” (1990); “Black and Blue” (1991)
• Regional Theater: “The Tap Dance Kid,” national tour (1986-87); “Betsy Brown,” Princeton, New Jersey
• Television: “The Robert Guillaume Show (1989); various commercials (1981-1991)

Poetry

• Productions: “The Living Word Project (1999); Generations (1999); 10 Poets and a Mic (1999); National Poetry Association’s Cine Fest (1998); Youth Speaks’ Living Word Stage at the Bay Area Book Festival (1999)
• Workshops: Literary workshops in the Bay Area at Marin Academy, University High School, Longfellow Middle School, Berkeley High School, San Francisco Day School, Gloria R Davis School, and East Palo Alto High School.
• Awards: 1999 San Francisco Poetry Slam Champion; 1999 National Poetry Slam Co-champion

Dance

• Ayoluwa West African Dance Collective (1994-95)
• Printz Dance Project (1998-99)
• Senegalese National Ballet (1998)
• Savion Glover’s “Click” (1990)
• Frank Hatchett’s V.O.P. (1989-1993)

Other Professional Experience

• Screenplay Analyst, Universal Studios, New York City (summer 1994)
• Assistant to the Producer, “Dreams of Democracy,” Documentary film on Post-Duvalier Haiti, produced by Jonathan Demme Summer (1995)
• Editor-in-Chief, Maroon Tiger, Morehouse Weekly Newspaper (1996-97)
• Founding Editor, The Maroon, Monthly Review of Culture and Politics (1996-97)
• Multi-cultural Alliance Teaching Intern (1998-99)
• Founder-Producer, Underground Live, Monthly Cultural Forum, Atlanta, Georgia (1996-97)
• Member-Mentor, Ndugu, Community-based African Rite of Passage Organization, Atlanta, Georgia (1995-present)
• Member, National Association of Black Journalists (1995-97)
• Member, Multi-cultural Alliance (1997-present)
• Faculty Advisor, Colors (multi-cultural student organization at the Branson School), 1997-99
• Founding Member, Project Reconnect, 1998-present

James Kass

Youth Speaks’ founder James Kass is a poet and novelist with a strong background as a teacher, event producer, and community organizer. He is widely recognized for his leadership and community service.

Professional experience

• Executive Director and Founder, Youth Speaks (San Francisco, California and New York, New York)
• Chair, National Youth Poetry Slam Festival Executive Board
• Instructor, Creative Writing Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California
• Curator and Director, Youth Stage, Bay Area Book Festival, San Francisco, California
• Independent grant writer, publicist, and event producer
• Production Manager, Zyzzyva, national literary arts quarterly
• Administrative Assistant, Center for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL), KQED-TV, San Francisco, California
• Lead Teacher/Educational Coordinator, Phoenix Urban League Head Start, Phoenix, Arizona

Highlights of professional experience

• Poetry Workshop and Assembly Program (The Peer Poets Project), founded and coordinated project reaching more than 85 high schools
• Coordinated free after school creative writing workshop program for teenagers
• Developed and facilitate teachers’ resource workshop
• Developed Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam
• Curated and developed the Living Word and Next Chapter Youth Stages at the Bay Area Book Festival
• Coordinated and hosted, National Youth Poetry Festival, bringing together 200 teens from around the country
• Coordinated the Poet Laureate Reading Series, 1999 and 2000
• Coordinate, manage, and host Second Sundays and Strictly Slam, monthly poetry slam/reading series
• Director, C.H.I.N.K. & The Watta Melin Boyee, a spoken word theatrical production featuring Mark Bamuthi Joseph and Beau Sia to be performed July 2001 at Intersection for the Arts
• Creative Director, host, emcee, and artistic director, Dockers Khakis Spoken City, independent reading series
• Develop, coordinate, and host the Brining the Noise Reading Series, a professional produced series for writers under 21
• Co-author and editor, Brave New Voices, a teacher’s resource guide to teaching the spoken word (Heinemann Press)
• Co-produced and co-directed Poetic License, an award-winning documentary film, aired nationally on PBS (April 2001)

Awards

• Founding Poet Laureate Selection Committee member, City of San Francisco
• Three-time award recipient, “Service to the Art,” Creative Writing Department, San Francisco State University
• Nominated for the California Wellness Foundation’s Anti-Violence Award (1998)
• Nominated for the Ford Foundation’s Community Leader Award (2000)
• San Francisco Bay Guardian fiction prize winner (1997)
• Nominated, Bay Area Goldie, San Francisco Bay Guardian (2000)
• NPR Morning Edition, Community Leader Recognition