Words Beats & Life!

Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim friends and family!

It's hard to believe it's already been one year since the inaugural Words Power Festival, our largest program for National Poetry month.  This years celebration will be centered around the healing power of storytelling. Enjoy slams and storytelling delivered by some of the nation's most amazing poets and MCs! Hear talented authors read passages from their latest works! Watch as the DMV Youth Poetry team battles it out in slam showcases and finally, a paint jam because we LOVE graffiti! We will spend this entire month showcasing the many ways that poetry and poets are part of our lives and our culture, so be sure to check out or Instagram for the release of our mini documentaries featuring the new Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, MD and Arlington County, VA Youth Poet Laureates and don’t miss the Spotify takeover by our Director of Poetry, Patrick Washington.

This month is about sharing the power of the spoken word, we hope you join us!

TOWARDS 2040: Creative Leaders Fellowship is OPEN!

Words Beats & Life and our community are building a future in which freedom, liberation and radical love are the foundation of our work; systems and spaces are truly accessible to anyone; communities support and invest in each other; and youth and educators are at the center of our collective success. In 2020, we convened our global family to start imagining what our collective work, through Hip Hop culture, could achieve by 2040. One thing that was clear is that in order to make change, we need more leaders from underrepresented communities in the arts, culture and creative sectors.

Student Spotlight

My name is Liam M.and I’m a 16-year-old artist from Arlington, VA. I rap and engage in various related creative activities, such as beat production, graphic design, poetry, and more. It’s mostly the raps though. I was inspired to start taking rap seriously after the passing of one of my personal heroes (or villains), MF DOOM. I used to write in hopes that I could one day work with him, now I write as if I’m working with him every day, watching over my shoulder. Additionally, I write in hopes that I can work with a living hero, Tyler, The Creator. The real dream, though, is that one day, in 20 years, another 16-year-old artist will be writing an artistic statement for their summer program, and let you know that they write every day in hopes to work with me.

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