POVERTY SLAM! How Slam Poetry Transforms the Lives of Impoverished Youth

Abstract

This paper will discuss slam poetry's impact on impoverished youth by looking at the format and history of slam, slam's connection to poverty, and why slam makes such a connection to impoverished youth. The most important sections of the paper will illustrate how slam poetry empowers youth performers through the political and contentious messages of their poems. The paper will conclude with a discussion of slam's critics and defenders, as well as slam poetry's future. Through literature reviews, examples of youth slam poems, and scholarly research, this paper shows not only how and why America's poor urban youth participate in slam, but how they are transformed as a result. [From introductory section]