Environmental Justice

April 22nd – Meet the Roots & Rhyme Poets and Performers!

Finalists

Janani Balasubramanian

Mohammed (MoMo)  Elasmai. ”I was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco and immigrated to West New York, New Jersey at the age of 10. I have a black belt in Taekwondo and have been representing Stanford University in regional and national competition since freshman year. I plan on majoring in Economics with minors in Mathematics and Creative Writing.  I enjoy watching soccer and football, as well as late night writing.” - M.E.

Lyla Johnston. “Lyla Johnston is a Stanford senior majoring in Anthropology with an “Environment, Evolution and Ecology” focus. She believes that a “we-consciousness” should direct human interaction with itself and the environment in order to bring our behavior in alignment with the fact that we are a part of a larger system and that any effect we have on the earth is an effect that we have on ourselves. She advocates that self-love, in every sense of the word, is the antidote to spiritual imbalances that give rise to physical/environmental imbalances on Earth” – L. J.

Jamaica Osorio

“Jamaica is an Internationally recognized Spoken Word Artist from Honolulu Hawaii. Since winning both team and individual awards in 2008 and 2009 jamaica has spent most of her time writing both poetry and music. Jamaica was privileged enough to be invited by the first family to perform in the White House in 2009 and since has graced staged around the world including stops in New Zealand, Colombia, and Sweden. Currently Jamaica is finishing up her third year at stanford and hopes her writing will continue to present her with opportunity to explore the world.” - J. O.

Mia Shaw

Semi-Finalists

Janeisha Hawkins (North San Francisco Bay)

Nicole Torcolini

Performers

Riel LaPlant, Storytelling

Luke Wigren, Acoustic Guitar

Stanford Spoken Word Collective

Beats Spun by

DJ OldSchool Chuckie, Beast Up Productions

E-mail: chuckieobien@yahoo.com Cell: (408)892-1915

Honorable Judges

Mercedes Zapata, Stanford Spoken Word Collective

Dr. Tania Mitchell, Associate Director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity

Stanford NAACP

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Stanford Chapter NAACP EJ  – Presents ROOTS & RHYME its First Annual Environmental Justice Young Adult Poetry Slam

SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER . YOUR VOICE. (Y)OUR FUTURE.

The Stanford NAACP EJ Chapter defines Environmental Justice as the
fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of
race, color, national origin, educational level, or income with
respect to distribution of environmental burdens and benefits. In the
spirit of spreading EJ consciousness, the Stanford chapter of NAACP is
opening its first annual environmental justice young adult poetry slam
to youth ages 13-24 in the San Francisco Bay Area. PEOPLE FROM ALL
BACKGROUNDS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT THEIR POEMS.

COMPETITION RULES:
• Must be original work
• Must be performed in 5 minutes or less
• Poet must be between the ages of 13-24
• Relating to one or more of the following categories that are broadly
defined: the environment/your surroundings, indigenous communities and
people of color

SEMI-FINALISTS (10) will be given special recognition on the Stanford
NAACP website and a certificate.

FINALISTS (5) will be given the opportunity to perform at Stanford
University’s art and sustainability spring festival, Vision eARTh the
weekend of April 21-23rd, 2011 and prises. Vision eARTh attracts
hundreds of young artists and sustainability leaders.

http://visionearth.stanford.edu/

Contest Opens by April 1st, 2011 at 8am

Contest Closes by April 20th, 2011 @ 5pm

Notification sent by April 20th @ 11:59pm.

Acceptable forms of submission:
-Written .doc
-Music file .mp3
-YouTube Video

SUBMIT POETRY TO:
NAACP.stanford@gmail.com

The Stanford NAACP is a leading Green group of color on Stanford University’s campus and influential chapter in the climate justice activism throughout the Association’s Youth & College Division because of its Environmental Justice (EJ) Committee.

Through the EJ Committee, the Stanford NAACP aims to highlight social justice, racial equality, and class conflict into the discussions about the environment and climate change.

As an inaugural member of the Stanford Green Alliance for Innovative Action (GAIA), the EJ Committee collaborates with key stakeholders to have the greatest impact on students, faculty, and community members within our reach.