WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.660 align:middle line:84% Really happy to have this crowd here tonight. 00:00:01.660 --> 00:00:02.970 align:middle line:90% Thanks everybody for coming. 00:00:02.970 --> 00:00:05.390 align:middle line:84% Glad that it's not quite as cold as it was yesterday. 00:00:05.390 --> 00:00:07.440 align:middle line:84% It feels pretty nice right now in Tucson. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:09.823 align:middle line:84% Thanks for choosing to come to a poetry reading tonight. 00:00:09.823 --> 00:00:12.240 align:middle line:84% I want to tell you a little bit about this poetry reading. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.670 align:middle line:84% It's a little bit different than some of the others 00:00:14.670 --> 00:00:16.545 align:middle line:84% that have happened here at the Poetry Center. 00:00:16.545 --> 00:00:18.210 align:middle line:84% It's connected to a larger project. 00:00:18.210 --> 00:00:19.530 align:middle line:84% And I want to talk a little bit about that, 00:00:19.530 --> 00:00:21.390 align:middle line:84% tell you about what to expect this evening. 00:00:21.390 --> 00:00:23.250 align:middle line:84% Talk a little bit about what's upcoming at the Poetry Center, 00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:25.560 align:middle line:84% and then get out of the way, because everybody 00:00:25.560 --> 00:00:29.160 align:middle line:84% else who's coming after me as so much more exciting than I am. 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:30.992 align:middle line:84% This project tonight, Randall is here. 00:00:30.992 --> 00:00:31.950 align:middle line:90% Randall Horton is here. 00:00:31.950 --> 00:00:34.680 align:middle line:84% He's helping kick off a project at the Poetry Center 00:00:34.680 --> 00:00:36.690 align:middle line:84% that we're calling the Art for Justice Project. 00:00:36.690 --> 00:00:38.940 align:middle line:84% How many of you have heard about this project already? 00:00:38.940 --> 00:00:39.390 align:middle line:90% Any of you? 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:40.110 align:middle line:90% Some of you have. 00:00:40.110 --> 00:00:41.280 align:middle line:90% OK, good. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:42.030 align:middle line:90% I'm glad you have. 00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:45.010 align:middle line:84% If you haven't, here's what's happening. 00:00:45.010 --> 00:00:46.710 align:middle line:84% The Poetry Center has some funding 00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:49.110 align:middle line:84% from a grant of the Art for Justice Fund. 00:00:49.110 --> 00:00:52.170 align:middle line:84% And the funding is to investigate the legacy of-- 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:54.030 align:middle line:84% and the policy of mass incarceration 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:57.300 align:middle line:84% on contemporary American life and on our future. 00:00:57.300 --> 00:00:58.590 align:middle line:90% On both of those things. 00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:00.515 align:middle line:84% That legacy for how it impacts us now, 00:01:00.515 --> 00:01:01.890 align:middle line:84% and how it might impact us how we 00:01:01.890 --> 00:01:03.930 align:middle line:90% imagine things going forward. 00:01:03.930 --> 00:01:06.990 align:middle line:84% It's one of our most vexing social, cultural, and political 00:01:06.990 --> 00:01:09.840 align:middle line:84% problems, and it's very much our problem. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:11.700 align:middle line:90% I use that word intentionally. 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:13.800 align:middle line:84% And my challenge to you over this reading 00:01:13.800 --> 00:01:15.720 align:middle line:84% and the others that will come in this series, 00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:19.050 align:middle line:84% is to think about that problem and how you will respond to it. 00:01:19.050 --> 00:01:20.820 align:middle line:84% Because how we respond, I think, largely 00:01:20.820 --> 00:01:26.710 align:middle line:84% defines who we are as a country, as individuals, as a city, 00:01:26.710 --> 00:01:29.795 align:middle line:84% as a state, and there's a role that you can play. 00:01:29.795 --> 00:01:31.920 align:middle line:84% But you have to imagine that it's your problem too. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:34.087 align:middle line:84% And that's one of the hopes that these readings will 00:01:34.087 --> 00:01:38.070 align:middle line:84% make obvious to us over time, is that will help understand that 00:01:38.070 --> 00:01:39.480 align:middle line:90% and think about it. 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.700 align:middle line:84% Randall has written 20 new pages of work 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:43.860 align:middle line:84% that's being presented tonight for the first time, 00:01:43.860 --> 00:01:44.780 align:middle line:90% and we're so excited. 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:46.530 align:middle line:90% This is the debut. 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:48.030 align:middle line:90% So the premiere. 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:49.693 align:middle line:90% And so welcome to the premiere. 00:01:49.693 --> 00:01:51.360 align:middle line:84% And we're so excited about this project. 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:53.443 align:middle line:84% Each of the readers who are coming in this project 00:01:53.443 --> 00:01:55.500 align:middle line:84% will be bringing new work that they've 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:57.660 align:middle line:84% written in response to the prompts 00:01:57.660 --> 00:01:59.850 align:middle line:84% to their thinking about these issues 00:01:59.850 --> 00:02:01.810 align:middle line:90% when they come to Tucson. 00:02:01.810 --> 00:02:04.548 align:middle line:90% So we're so excited about that. 00:02:04.548 --> 00:02:06.840 align:middle line:84% I want to give a special thanks to the project partners 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:09.539 align:middle line:84% at the Poetry Center who are helping work on this project, 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:11.550 align:middle line:84% and guide the work of this grant. 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:13.710 align:middle line:84% And that's Diana Delgado, our literary director 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:14.550 align:middle line:90% who's over here. 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:18.130 align:middle line:90% 00:02:18.130 --> 00:02:20.310 align:middle line:84% Two partners who are far away but who are close, 00:02:20.310 --> 00:02:22.710 align:middle line:84% and who will preside tonight as well. 00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:24.660 align:middle line:84% Reginald Dwayne Betts, and Kima Jones 00:02:24.660 --> 00:02:26.160 align:middle line:84% are both project partners helping us 00:02:26.160 --> 00:02:27.810 align:middle line:90% imagine the shape of this work. 00:02:27.810 --> 00:02:30.570 align:middle line:84% And then also Joe Watson, who's here in the front as well. 00:02:30.570 --> 00:02:33.220 align:middle line:90% 00:02:33.220 --> 00:02:34.837 align:middle line:90% More about Joe in a second. 00:02:34.837 --> 00:02:37.420 align:middle line:84% There's three more presentations in this series in the spring. 00:02:37.420 --> 00:02:39.700 align:middle line:84% The Art for Justice readings are nestled within the larger 00:02:39.700 --> 00:02:41.320 align:middle line:84% reading series at the Poetry Center, 00:02:41.320 --> 00:02:44.020 align:middle line:84% so you'll see these in sequence over the next three years, 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:44.950 align:middle line:90% and they will come up. 00:02:44.950 --> 00:02:46.278 align:middle line:90% So we've got one this fall. 00:02:46.278 --> 00:02:47.320 align:middle line:90% Randall's kicking us off. 00:02:47.320 --> 00:02:48.700 align:middle line:84% We've got three more in the spring. 00:02:48.700 --> 00:02:50.260 align:middle line:84% And that's Nikky Finney who's reading 00:02:50.260 --> 00:02:52.480 align:middle line:90% in February with new work. 00:02:52.480 --> 00:02:55.540 align:middle line:84% Patrick Rosal and Evie Shockley, a reading in March, 00:02:55.540 --> 00:02:58.210 align:middle line:84% and then the poet Natalie Diaz is coming down from Phoenix, 00:02:58.210 --> 00:03:01.350 align:middle line:84% and she's going to read for us in April. 00:03:01.350 --> 00:03:08.080 align:middle line:84% I think I just said Phoenix, which I didn't mean to say. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.770 align:middle line:84% No one's probably ever said it that way ever. 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:13.690 align:middle line:84% Joe is working on a project-- the grant's 00:03:13.690 --> 00:03:15.070 align:middle line:90% larger than these commissions. 00:03:15.070 --> 00:03:16.430 align:middle line:84% And so there's other pieces and parts of it. 00:03:16.430 --> 00:03:17.200 align:middle line:90% I won't go into all of it. 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:18.700 align:middle line:84% But I want to talk about the project 00:03:18.700 --> 00:03:20.890 align:middle line:84% that-- one of the projects Joe is helping us with. 00:03:20.890 --> 00:03:22.840 align:middle line:84% And that is a project that's connected 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:24.790 align:middle line:90% to an app called Flikshops. 00:03:24.790 --> 00:03:27.490 align:middle line:84% And Flikshops are a way that you can send messages 00:03:27.490 --> 00:03:30.950 align:middle line:84% into writers who are currently systems involved. 00:03:30.950 --> 00:03:33.340 align:middle line:84% And so it comes out as a postcard. 00:03:33.340 --> 00:03:35.235 align:middle line:84% It's an ability to take a picture, 00:03:35.235 --> 00:03:36.610 align:middle line:84% send a quote, or something that's 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:39.700 align:middle line:84% happening at these readings, and share that message with writers 00:03:39.700 --> 00:03:40.887 align:middle line:90% who are currently inside. 00:03:40.887 --> 00:03:42.970 align:middle line:84% And we're excited about that bridge between what's 00:03:42.970 --> 00:03:44.500 align:middle line:84% happening here in this space, and the things 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:45.917 align:middle line:84% that we're thinking about, and how 00:03:45.917 --> 00:03:48.850 align:middle line:84% we may take that conversation more broadly with other writers 00:03:48.850 --> 00:03:50.140 align:middle line:90% who can't be here. 00:03:50.140 --> 00:03:52.510 align:middle line:90% And we're hopeful about that. 00:03:52.510 --> 00:03:54.280 align:middle line:84% In connection to that, to those Flikshops, 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:55.863 align:middle line:84% we're excited about the correspondence 00:03:55.863 --> 00:03:58.520 align:middle line:84% that's going to come back to us and those conversations. 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:00.700 align:middle line:84% And so starting in the new year in January, 00:04:00.700 --> 00:04:02.230 align:middle line:90% the first will be January 26. 00:04:02.230 --> 00:04:02.950 align:middle line:90% It's a Saturday. 00:04:02.950 --> 00:04:05.112 align:middle line:84% It'll be a sequence of Saturdays once a month. 00:04:05.112 --> 00:04:06.820 align:middle line:84% We'll be having a community workshop here 00:04:06.820 --> 00:04:09.400 align:middle line:84% at the Poetry Center that will be focused on mentorship 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:12.040 align:middle line:84% of writers who are responding to those Flikshops, 00:04:12.040 --> 00:04:13.365 align:middle line:90% and also just correspondence. 00:04:13.365 --> 00:04:14.740 align:middle line:84% And if you're interested in that, 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:17.140 align:middle line:84% it's meant to be a drop-in experience. 00:04:17.140 --> 00:04:19.420 align:middle line:84% Those are, again, on Saturdays in the new year. 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:22.570 align:middle line:84% That'll start January 26, and I hope that you'll come and take 00:04:22.570 --> 00:04:23.440 align:middle line:90% part in those. 00:04:23.440 --> 00:04:25.780 align:middle line:84% You'll hear more about it on the Poetry Center's emails 00:04:25.780 --> 00:04:27.140 align:middle line:90% and social media. 00:04:27.140 --> 00:04:29.440 align:middle line:84% We have an opener tonight, and each of these readings 00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:31.180 align:middle line:84% and the Art for Justice program will 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:33.280 align:middle line:84% have an opener that's connected to work 00:04:33.280 --> 00:04:36.010 align:middle line:84% that's happening in Tucson around the issues that 00:04:36.010 --> 00:04:37.360 align:middle line:90% are concerned with the grant. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:39.760 align:middle line:84% And Joe is helping us curate this as our community 00:04:39.760 --> 00:04:40.780 align:middle line:90% engagement specialist. 00:04:40.780 --> 00:04:43.907 align:middle line:84% And so he's helped invite Ojalá Systems that's here tonight. 00:04:43.907 --> 00:04:45.490 align:middle line:84% We talked about how to introduce them, 00:04:45.490 --> 00:04:47.570 align:middle line:84% and they're excited just to introduce themselves. 00:04:47.570 --> 00:04:49.990 align:middle line:84% So they're going to show you what they do, and they're 00:04:49.990 --> 00:04:53.110 align:middle line:84% going to perform for about 20 minutes before Randall reads. 00:04:53.110 --> 00:04:55.870 align:middle line:84% My colleague Julie Johnson here at the Poetry Center 00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:58.270 align:middle line:84% on our library staff will come up and introduce Randall 00:04:58.270 --> 00:05:00.850 align:middle line:84% in between Ojalá's performance and Randall's reading. 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:03.670 align:middle line:84% So without further ado, I want to welcome up Ojalá Systems 00:05:03.670 --> 00:05:05.150 align:middle line:90% to come perform for us. 00:05:05.150 --> 00:05:07.230 align:middle line:90% Thank you for being here.