Broken City Poets | Short Documentary

If a city becomes a ghost town, what happens to its youth?

"Broken City Poets” is a documentary that chronicles the lives of four high school students who are challenged to use poetry and journalism to make sense of their bankrupt, gang-ridden city.



The Center for Investigative Reporting and Youth Speaks, a San Francisco-based literary nonprofit hosted a series of poetry workshops in Stockton, California, in 2013. With nearly 300,000 residents, Stockton was the first large American city to file for bankruptcy and at one time was the nation’s foreclosure capital.

The students’ deadline for finishing their poems coincides with a citywide slam poetry competition whose winners will go on to compete in a national contest. During this journey, the students learn that language is a means of personal redemption, as well as a tool for social change.

Directed by Ariane Wu
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Ariane Wu
José Vadi
Michael I Schiller
Stephen Talbot

Executive Producers
Susanne Reber
Joaquin Alvarado
Hodari Davis

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Sound Design and Mix by
David Sandwisch and
Christopher Galipo

Music by
Marcus McCauley

Colorist
Zachary Medow

Titles
Rebecca Shumway

Starring
Joshua Merchant
Tama Brisbane
Jayda Daniels
Corey Baxter
Adrian Tyson Jr.
Alyssa Tinaco

A Brief History of Rhyme | Baba Brinkman at TEDxNavesink

In this talk, rap artist Baba Brinkman demonstrates that rap music isn’t just music, it’s also an innovative poetry form rich in linguistic playfulness. In the same way Shakespeare was a lyrical entertainer of the past, Brinkman believes that “rappers are the main lyrical entertainers of the present.” Rap is simply a modern, innovative, and playful form of poetry—a contemporary style of a timeless art form. With examples spanning Eminem and Jay-Z to Chaucer and Lord Byron, you will learn how the techniques used rappers for crafting memorable rhymes have ancient antecedents.



Here is an end-of-the-day summary of TEDxNavesink Play, skillfully put into rhyme by rap artist Baba Brinkman in one of his signature “rap-ups”. For those of of you unable to attend the event, just check out the other videos from TEDxNavesink Play to see the talks he’s referencing.





About Baba Brinkman

Baba Brinkman is a Canadian rap artist, award-winning playwright, and former tree-planter who has personally planted more than one million trees. He has a Masters in Medieval and Renaissance English Literature from the University of Victoria.

To date Baba has written or co-written four hip-hop plays, which have toured the world and enjoyed successful runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and off-Broadway in New York. He has also released ten original rap albums on his independent label Lit Fuse Records.

Baba is also a pioneer in the genre of “lit-hop” or literary hip-hop, known for his adaptations of The Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh. He is a recent recipient of the National Center for Science Education’s “Friend of Darwin Award” for his efforts to improve the public understanding of evolutionary biology.

The Rap Guide to Evolution (“Astonishing and brilliant” NY Times), won a Scotsman Fringe First Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination, and was featured on US national TV on The Rachel Maddow Show and at the Seattle Science Festival opening for Stephen Hawking.