Young adults use spoken word to bring social change
Twenty young poets delivered bold, original dialogue about justice in a first-of-its-kind spoken word event at Avondale blending creativity and social change.
Poetic Justice featured students from Avondale College of Higher Education and three Seventh-day Adventist high schools performing pieces about issues such as domestic violence, God’s heart for humanity, international poverty and refugees.
“I found writing about these topics helped me relax,” says Ben Pont from Macquarie College. The students spoke with conviction—nerves were well hidden. “I felt confident in my ability to act as a voice for those who can’t speak for themselves,” says Madison Kendall. Her Avondale School classmate Kerryn de Waal says Poetic Justice encouraged young adults “to express themselves and to share their ideas with the world.”
Kerryn collaborated with former Avondale College of Higher Education student Wes Hendricks who says Poetic Justice met “a need to be heard, not only by others, but by ourselves. Many of the poets found out what they really thought about justice by being challenged to think about it.”
Avondale School, Central Coast Adventist School and Macquarie College each played a role in fostering participation and preparation—the schools organised poetry workshops during lunch with some of their students also meeting after hours. “Poetic Justice connected like-minded people to form bonds of solidarity,” says Joshua Brown, the English and history coordinator at Macquarie, “and that’s so important in a world of individualism where it can feel like you’re the only person raging against the injustices of our existing system.”
Hosted by Christian charity Asian Aid in partnership with Avondale College of Higher Education, Poetic Justice is a reminder of how committed young adults can promote and embody social change. “It’s important young people learn how to make an impact,” says Asian Aid’s marketing coordinator Joshua Moses. “It can be tough preparing to make a living while also contributing positively and sustainably to society.”
Believing in the power of creative expression to bring social change, Asian Aid plans to make Poetic Justice—held in the Education Hall on Avondale’s Lake Macquarie campus on August 27 this year—an annual event.
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