This workshop is for artists and arts advocates interested in integrating hiphop and poetry into their social justice practice. Using The BreakBeat Poets as source material, participants will engage with the editors and each other to discuss teaching styles, tools, and approaches for all ages of students. This workshop can include students, professors, and community members with any level of experience teaching poetry, hiphop, and/or social justice. 

When Rakim rapped "It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at" in 1990, he enabled a generation to bring the world around them into their poetry, whether on the page or on wax. In this tradition of placebased arts engagement, The BreakBeat Poets: It’s Where You’re At is a public program in which The BreakBeat Poets will lead a cypherstyle workshop based on the aesthetics and cultural contexts of significant locations across Phoenix. It's Where You're At brings together participants from different neighborhoods, pushes them to write back to the world in which they live, and gives them an opportunity to share their work in a supportive and engaging format. It's Where You're At helps participants celebrate the aesthetic landmarks and cultural communities that are often overlooked in the dominant narrative of a city’s culture and provides the tools for people to interact with the art and people who live around them. 

Contact Ashley Hare to reserve your space or visit the Eventbrite registration page at: 

Bring a blanket to post in the park while an MC facilitates peformances by local artists perform poetry, break dance battles, step dance, song, and variety of art forms. Be ready to showcase your skills on stage as well!

Evening Reading/Discussion and Performance (6:00pm – 8:00pm)

Cesar Chavez Park