PLAY PODCASTS
Dispatch From Parker Elementary with Tongo Eisen-Martin

Dispatch From Parker Elementary with Tongo Eisen-Martin

Rightnowish

August 12, 202211m 3s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Last year, renowned writer and San Francisco Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, told us that it's not enough to simply be a poet. "The poet needs to just come on down to the trenches," he said, explaining that quality writing comes from the lived experience of participating in community activism.

In direct application of his own philosophy, Tongo has been involved with the occupation of Parker Elementary School, where organizers are fighting against the latest round of school closures in Oakland Unified School District — schools that are located in communities that are largely populated by Black and brown students.

Tongo has been a part of the group's Freedom Friday events, where artists of all sorts are invited to show up and perform. As the fight against the school closures continue, we're going into the archives this week to share Tongo's poem, "A Sketch of Genocide."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices