Top 10 Reasons to Support Split This Rock
1. Split This Rock Poetry Festival is transformative—poetry by and for the 99%We put Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, and Rachel McKibbens, Women of the World Slam Champion, on the same stage, bringing together poets from across the spectrum—young and old, LGBT and straight, all races and ethnicities, all poetic styles. Affordable, accessible, inspiring, rich, and community building—this festival is a ‘must-attend’ event for ALL. – Maria Luisa Arroyo2. Split This Rock is revitalizing poetry as a living, breathing art form
We promote poetry that awakens us from our slumber and welcomes us to the table of creative democracy—poetry by America’s new voices, wild voices, essential voices. Our curated Poem-of-the-Week series brings this jagged, glad music to thousands across the country.
3. We’re helping DC youth raise their Brave New Voices
Split This Rock Teaching Artists work with students at the intersection of creative writing and social justice, reaching over 300 students through after-school poetry clubs, weekly writing workshops, and monthly open mics and poetry slams. This year the DC Youth Slam Team doubled the students we sent to the Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Festival, finishing in the top 10 of over 50 teams!
4. Split This Rock weaves poetry into movements for social change
Our mantra, by Martín Espada, is: Let the blasphemy be spoken: poetry can save us. We publish poems in conjunction with Foreign Policy in Focus and the Institute for Policy Studies and present them during the Global Day of Action on Military Spending, the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, the Abortion Care Network’s annual conference, Metro Teen AIDS programs, and more.
5. We build audiences for provocative, visionary poetry
What do Richard Blanco, Mahogany Browne, Tarfia Faizullah, Aracelis Girmay, Terrance Hayes, Brenda Hillman, and Patricia Smith have in common? They’ve all read at Sunday Kind of Love, Split This Rock’s monthly series, now celebrating its 7th year! Presented in partnership with DC’s premiere poetry venue, Busboys and Poets, Sunday Kind of Love is the most diverse reading series in the city—and perhaps in the country—showcasing poetry that tells the true stories of our time.
6. Split This Rock’s youth voices speak for justice!
Split This Rock’s Youth Programs are building partnerships around the city and around the world. The young poets speak out against police brutality, economic inequality, and homophobia. Their What Are You Afraid Of? Campaigns challenge their peers to identify and resist oppression, bridging divides between communities. Whether performing at the Kennedy Center or working with artists from Brazil, our students are raising their voices for justice and peace.
7. Split This Rock poets tell the true stories of our time
Hundreds of poets submit each year to our annual contest, judged by such luminaries as Naomi Shihab Nye, Patricia Smith, and Mark Doty. Their poems cut through the stultifying language of political propaganda to tell the complex stories of how we live today: how race and gender and history shape our identities; the enduring legacy of slavery and colonialism; the devastation of war and its aftermath; how we might save ourselves and our home, this earth.
8. We learn from one another every day
Workshops, discussions, roundtables—Split This Rock sponsors workshops on writing from the body, writing in response to photographs, writing in the voice of another. We discuss the poetry of our foremothers and fathers. We gird one another for the hard work of changing the world, one poem at a time.
9. Adrienne Rich did!
When our hero Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) sent a donation on the eve of Split This Rock’s 1st festival, she included this note: May this gathering inspire and affirm the spirit of many, especially younger poets and teachers, who have felt betrayed by… broken promises and opportunism. Thank you for your belief in the freeing power of language and action.
10. Because we are the ones we have been waiting for
2013 is the 5th anniversary of Split This Rock. Who would have imagined we’d come this far in such a short time? Split This Rock has grown and developed because you were hungry for it: a platform for poetry of provocation and witness, a home for the vital poets who write and perform this indispensable work. Please join us in building this strong, vibrant home. When we split this rock, we hope you'll stand by our side!
Donate online at SplitThisRock.org/donate or send a check to:
Split This Rock
1112 16th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Your gift is fully tax-deductible. Thank you!
Split This Rock | info@splitthisrock.org | 202.787.5210 | www.SplitThisRock.org
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