NYC Votes is pleased to announce that Crystal Valentine has been crowned the New York City Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) for 2015. A 19-year-old Bronx native, Valentine claimed the title at the sixth annual YPL spoken word competition at Lincoln Center on October 30th. She delivered the winning performance of her original poem, “A Voter’s Problem,” which is included below. Watch the video of her winning performance on the CFB’s YouTube channel.
Crystal has been an avid writer of poetry since elementary school. Her love of writing inspired her to study creative writing at NYU, where she is also pursuing adolescent mental health studies as an undergraduate student.
Crystal is very active in the city’s slam poetry scene. She is a member of the 2014 Urban Word Slam team, a returning member of the NYU poetry slam team, as well as NYU’s current Grand Slam Champ. She has performed her poetry at some of the most renowned locations in New York City, including Lincoln Center, the New Amsterdam Theatre, the Apollo Theatre, and the Nuyorican Poets Café. She has hosted several open mic nights around New York City and has taught poetry workshops for youths.
As Youth Poet Laureate, Crystal will work with the CFB’s voter education campaign, NYC Votes, to reach young voters across the five boroughs, promoting voting and civic engagement at public events, programs and peer-to-peer engagement activities. Over its five-year history, the YPL program has delivered a positive voting message to tens of thousands of young New Yorkers through performances, speeches, voter registration drives, and neighborhood outreach.
Ms. Valentine said: “I am honored to have been named to be the 2015 NYC Youth Poet Laureate. Our latest general election proves how dire the need is for a position of this type with only 21% of youth turning out nationwide. I look forward to using my voice and my art to help re-establish the voting culture that was once present in this city.”
Ms. Valentine writes about her goals as YPL on the CFB’s blog, Full Disclosure.
The Youth Poet Laureate program promotes creative self-expression and civic engagement through spoken word poetry. The competition is a partnership between NYC Votes, Urban World NYC, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Ramya Ramana, the 2014 NYC Youth Poet Laureate, was invited to perform at the inauguration of Mayor Bill de Blasio on January 1, 2014. She says that her tenure as YPL has been “a humbling and honoring experience.”
“We are elated to welcome Crystal to the New York Youth Poet Laureate family,” said Onida Coward Mayers, director of voter assistance at the NYC Campaign Finance Board. “As the NYC Votes ambassador of civic activism and engagement, she will share her talents with young people across the city to rally them around the importance of voting; a message that is needed today more than ever.”
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said: “Ms. Valentine not only used her art as a vessel to communicate the need for increased civic engagement, she is issuing a call to action to our youth – a population whose voice we need to continue hearing and engaging as civic leaders. She has expressed urgency and initiative and for that Ms. Valentine deserves a round of applause. However, since we are operating out of the spoken word world, I will exchange the applause for some well-earned snaps to her victory.”
Michael Cirelli, executive director of Urban Word NYC, said: “Crystal Valentine represents the renaissance of young people in New York City—students who are high achievers across art forms, academics, and civic engagement. Crystal has a been a student in our programs for four years, and has matriculated from being a shy young writer, to a student who excels as an artist, activist and youth leader who drives the core of our work. It is incredibly fulfilling to see her accomplish her goals, while inspiring the next generation of young artist-leaders to succeed.”
Youth-oriented groups interested in inviting the Youth Poet Laureate to speak about voting and to perform her winning poem may contact the CFB’s Voter Assistance Unit to make arrangements.
A Voter’s Problem
Maybe we’re just waiting for the locus to come,
Maybe we’re waiting for the whole world to set fire
For God to finally cleanse this melting pot
For a purer human race to rise from the ashes
Because obviously the stakes aren’t high enough
Obviously college debt isn’t high enough
High school dropout rates aren’t high enough
Increased Metrocard Fares aren’t high enough
Obviously Obama’s signature on the 8.7 billion dollar food-stamp cut isn’t enough
America’s attempt to exile an entire continent isn’t enough
People being beheaded on national television just isn’t enough
Maybe we’re waiting for something ridiculous to happen,
Like Miley Cyrus becoming the first female president
Like racism being diagnosed as a mental illness
Like police sirens becoming our new national anthem
Obviously we’re just waiting for something deadlier than rape culture and police brutality to split this world in half
Maybe politics aren’t Armageddon enough for us
Aren’t spark enough for us
Aren’t call to action enough for us
This is a call to action
To rally
To revolution
And I know it’s hard
Living in a society where we attend more funerals than birthday parties
And I know you think you’re just another flame in an uncontainable inferno,
And what does a flame know about voting anyway
What’s a vote to a burning democracy?
And I think I just saw the rapture coming
And I know you think Obama be just another God that has forsaken us,
Just know that calling any man a God is the true Armageddon
Just know that your refusal to vote is the true Armageddon
So vote because when Armageddon does happen, it will look nothing like this
NYC Votes is the nonpartisan voter engagement campaign of the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) and its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC). In addition to promoting voter registration, participation, and civic engagement in New York City through its many programs and partnerships, NYC Votes sponsors the city’s official Debate Program and produces the citywide Voter Guide.
Urban Word NYC presents literary arts education and youth development programs in the areas of creative writing, journalism, college prep, literature, and hip-hop. It provides writing workshops to teens year-round and hosts the Annual Teen Poetry Slam.