To Help New Yorkers "Comprehend the Pleasures and Possibilities of Their Power as Citizens"

Nkosi Nkululeko is the New York City Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) for 2016. The program promotes creative self-expression and civic engagement through spoken word poetry. As the 2016 YPL, Nkosi will deliver a positive voting message to thousands of New Yorkers. Here, he shares more about the message he hopes to communicate in the coming year. 

It is a privilege to have been selected as New York City’s new Youth Poet Laureate. The year opens with a new face on a country challenged by questions of the way we as a people wish to be represented, treated, acknowledged and loved.  I am a Harlem native; my choice of craft is language and music.  I hope to help my fellow New Yorkers comprehend the pleasures and possibilities of their power as citizens.

As Youth Poet Laureate, I hope to use my voice to inspire and motivate my listeners to discover the untapped brilliance we all hold. We reside in a world invented from beasts, of a kind of rage that damages us. In my upbringing, I have noticed how the arts return us to our native selves, a form most human. I hope my voice will bring light to the genesis of humanity; to a community enriched with love, interaction, and recognition of the other for who we are and the better selves we strive to be. I cannot wait to see what this year brings and I hope you will assist me in this journey. 

—  Nkosi Nkululeko

Nkosi, 19, is a Callaloo Fellow and The Watering Hole Fellow. He has received nominations for the American Voices Award, Independent Best American Poetry and The Pushcart Prize. Nkosi was a member of the 2014 Urban Word NYC Slam Team and the 2015 Urbana-NYC Slam Team. He has performed his written works in venues such as the Apollo Theater, Nuyorican Poets Café and Harlem Stage. His work is currently published in No Token, Rose Red Review, Hobart and elsewhere. He lives in Harlem, New York, and enjoys listening to jazz.