D’Neise Robinson

D’Neise Robinson has something to say. Tornadoes ain’t got sh*t on me. I’m poverty. Her peers snap their fingers to show they’re impressed by her skills. In the front row are some of her closest girlfriends, ready to perform their poetry at the RAW Talent slam. A few days earlier, a fellow slam student named…

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Richmond youth host second open mic night

Last week, RAW Talent hosted its second open mic night. Kids from across Richmond and the East Bay came out to share original poems and songs. Organizers hoped the event would be a safe place for kids to be creative and show off their talents.

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Young poets to stage Richmond-set ‘Romeo and Juliet’

"Te's Harmony" cast

Richmond Artists With Talent will perform Saturday a one-night-only urbanized version of Romeo and Juliet, swapping William Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter verse for street slang and slam poetry in a familiar tale of two star-crossed lovers — this time from the wrong sides of the tracks. Te’s Harmony, written by Donte Clark of RAW Talent, presents…

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Urban Tilth to host 6th Annual MLK Day of Service

Even though Martin Luther King is technically a holiday, Urban Tilth is asking residents to spend the day helping beautify the city to celebrate the accomplishments of the civil rights leader. On January 21, Urban Tilth is asking volunteers to help plant seeds in the Greenway Community Garden, improve bike trail paths, create a mural…

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Forum addresses issues facing Richmond youth

People sitting at youth forum

At the end of two hours of often emotional, powerful discussion Saturday on youth issues in Richmond – covering education, outreach, violence and fear — the resounding consensus was a need for more: Richmond needs more outlets for talking with, to and about its youth.

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A night of poetry

Donte Clark was the sixth and final poet from Richmond Artists with Talent to perform at the Madeline F. Whittlesey Community Room on Friday night. Midway through his poem, he forgot his lines. After pausing to recollect himself, and with the encouragement of the crowd, he restarted his poem, completed it and earned a standing…

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Richmond youth share stories of struggle and hope

When Jamaya Walker’s father was murdered last March she cried so fiercely she became physically ill. She still has the bullet that took his life, but now, instead of weeping, she writes. “When you’re a daddy’s girl and your dad gets murdered, you don’t know what to do,” 14-year-old Walker said. “I just wrote all…

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