On October 6, 2009, New York City’s most gifted young poets will take to the microphone for their chance to become the first-ever New York City Youth Poet Laureate. Teen poets, rappers and ranters will give their best voice to the power of youth civic engagement.

The NYC Voter Poet Slam, a joint project of the New York City Voter Assistance Commission (VAC) and Urban Word NYC will be held on Oct 6, 2009, Youth Voter Education Day. As part of the fourth annual Voter Awareness Month program, an annual Citywide, non-partisan community outreach campaign to promote voter registration, awareness and participation, the NYC Voter Poet Slam program seeks to engage and celebrate youth voices. The Voter Assistance Commission and Urban Word NYC recognize that youth voice and community engagement is vital for increasing voter participation in the democratic process and empowering young people to effect positive changes in their communities and beyond.

"Engaging our younger New Yorkers civically and encouraging their active participation in our democratic process is critical to the vitality of our city," said Onida Coward Mayers, Executive Director of the Voter Assistance Commission. "Launching programs such as the Youth Voter Poet Slam allows VAC to engage young people around our city in the democratic process"

A series of workshops are being held at CUNY campuses throughout the City for New York teens to develop their writing and resume-building skills. At the close of the workshops, teens will submit their best writing and resumes to a judging panel. Teens with the best submissions will be selected to participate in the NYC Voter Poet Slam. The winner of the NYC Voter Poet Slam will be named the NYC Youth Poet Laureate for 2009-2010. Additional prizes will be given for runners-up in the Slam.

Teens will be judged not only on the basis of their fine writing and performance skills, but on their history of and commitment to civic engagement, as illustrated on their resumes.

Special guests Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott, award-winning actor Malik Yoba,

and Poet Bob Holman will help officiate the event.

Please join us for this FREE historical event for our City!

The NYC Voter Assistance Commission (VAC) is a non-partisan government agency, established by a revision to the New York City Charter in 1988, dedicated to increasing voter participation in the democratic process by encouraging and facilitating voter registration and voting by all eligible United States citizens who are residents of New York City. Each October, VAC celebrates Youth Voter Education Day as part of its Voter Awareness Month initiatives. It is a citywide, nonpartisan campaign to stimulate greater voter awareness and participation in New York City, municipal, state and federal elections.

Founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves, Urban Word NYC (UW) has been at the forefront of the youth spoken word, poetry and hip-hop movements in New York City since 1999. UW presents literary arts education and youth development programs in the areas of creative writing, journalism, college prep, literature and hip-hop. UW works directly with 15,000 teens per year in New York City alone. Urban Word NYC believes that free self-expression - matured in an enhanced critical literacy environment -improves self confidence and strengthens educational achievement for NYC’s inner city youth. We promote active literacy, critical thought, and positive social dialogue across boundaries of age, race, class, gender, culture, and sexuality.