Write with Pride
poets Amie Whittemore (L) and Simba Woodard (R)
“Why now? Why not?” poet and spoken word artist Simba Woodard laughs. He and poet Amie Whittemore are talking about Write with Pride, a new initiative sponsored by Whittemore through an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship and presented in partnership with Southern Word.
Write with Pride is a program designed to give LGBTQ youth in Davidson and Rutherford Tenn. counties an inspiring, barrier-breaking space to write, create spoken word pieces and build community. In a year rattled by unrest and violent rhetoric, it’s the safe haven young people need to find and make space for their own voices, and to discover a community.
“I feel there are so many spaces where these young people feel they don't belong,” Woodard says. “There are so many spaces where they feel that they're not represented.”
“Just one more person to feel like, ‘Oh, I’m not alone. I can be whoever it is I want to be — who I am. And other people can see me’ ... If I can help someone feel that, that’s more than enough. —Amie Whittemore”
When Amie Whittemore was named Poet Laureate of Murfreesboro, Tenn., where she also teaches at Middle Tennessee State University, she knew she wanted to reach out to young people in the area.
“I wanted to do some workshops for LGBT youth,” she says. “But I wasn't sure what that was going to look like until I learned that the American Academy of American poets offers a laureate fellowship with awards ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. And so with that funding, I was like, ‘I can make a really cool series of LGBT workshops if I could find the right partner.’”
Southern Word is a Nashville-based organization dedicated to youth development and education through spoken word. Executive director Benjamin Smith jumped at the opportunity and recommended Simba Woodard as a mentor for students.
“I've been a part of Southern Word since I was 13 years old,” Woodard says. “And I’m Black Trans man here in Nashville. So it was like, ‘why not? This is the perfect fit.’”
Together they crafted a series of virtual workshops and open mics that will run throughout the fall and winter, culminating in a spring conference. While COVID has thrown a wrench in the works, Whittemore and Woodard agree that Zoom and virtual meetups offer some advantages.
“Here's some students from Stratford high, and here's some students from Hume-Fogg, and now we can be in a space together, which wasn't that possible before,” Woodard says. “And now I can have some youth I've worked with in LA work with some youth in Nashville.”
“One of the powers of the Zoom meetup is connecting across geographies that would have been harder to connect across,” Whittemore says. “And I think that's really useful for Write with Pride. We're trying to make some inroads into Rutherford County where there's less support for LGBTQ+ youth … I think this will actually help us connect with those youth since they don't have to go anywhere.”
Both Whittemore and Woodard reflect on their own journeys to being their full selves, and it reinforces their commitment to helping young people with Write with Pride.
“When I was a young queer person, I really found community through what I read,” Whittemore says. “I was very shy, nerdy — wasn't sure who I was, and I found connections through the things I wrote and the things I read. And I thought that perhaps that would reach other people who are trying to sort out what it means to be themselves, especially when they may be growing up in a community or family where being out is not an option necessarily, or at least not a comfortable option. So I did really want the writing workshops [to be] not only a place for self expression, but as simple as an earlier place for community to let them know that they're not alone.”
“We're trying to find ways to sustain it, to keep programming like this, because it's so very much needed,” Woodard adds. “So it's really a community building program. So we have plenty of writing programs, but we wanted to build a space, create a space for our queer and LGBT plus youth, and ways for them to build community. So outside of just the workshops, I'm also putting together a resource sheet, ‘here are some orgs so you all can go to connect, with here's some representation in the media, here's all of these things.’”
“After the first workshop that Simba and I led, we had the students fill out a little survey,” Whittemore says. “And one said, ‘I didn't realize there were so many LGBTQ+ people in Tennessee. I felt not alone. I felt happy.’ And it was like mission accomplished. At that moment, I was like, that's what I want. Just one more person to feel like, ‘Oh, I'm not alone. I can be whoever it is I want to be — who I am. And other people can see me.’ Just being seen, I think is so big. If I can help someone feel that, that's more than enough.”
If you’re interested in getting involved with Write with Pride, reach out to info@southernword.org.
