The National WritersCorps Alliance and Borders Books & Music co-sponsor the Youth Poetry Slam League, which gives young poets like Iweala the chance to compete against kids from other schools in other cities, and on occasions like this, against famous poets. Some of the teen poets go on to the National Teen Slam Team, which held its large-scale competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this year.

"The thing I like about WritersCorps is it's a place where the meaning and the importance of the word is stressed and celebrated," Iweala says. "It's working to make people realize they can use the word to contemplate and think about relevant issues."

The teens use poetry to talk about what's on their minds. Lauren Wyatt, 14, writes about what it's like to be a strong African-American woman, battling stereotypes and trying to remain independent in relationships with men.

"I know that letting someone determine my self-worth, and what I am capable of, and what I say is weak and that can't be because I know what I want."

Wyatt, who is confident on stage as long as she has practiced her piece, says that the poetry slam gives people an opportunity to hear about other people's perspectives. "I think that, as human beings, to be able to grow together we need to understand what people are thinking and what they're feeling," Wyatt says.

A Program's Evolution
In addition to sponsoring poetry slams and writing workshops for teens, DC WritersCorps features a writer-in-residence program in local middle schools and a family literacy program for elementary school children in three local housing projects. In 1999, the program won a Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Commission on the Arts and Humanities for its use of innovative programming to reach at-risk youth.

"As an inner city, DC has many problems," says Ken Carroll, executive director of DC WritersCorps. "The program has provided some alternatives for kids to express themselves."

"I can tell people how I feel," says Jershelle Bay-Wilson, 12, a participant in the Youth Poetry Slam League. "Instead of going to my room, wasting my mind on TV or outside playing, doing something I'm not supposed to, I write."

WritersCorps began in 1994 as a collaboration between Americorps, the National Endowment for the Arts and Associated Writing Programs. But after three years, Americorps, a division of the Corporation for National Service, cut the program's funding. "They had a hard time quantifying the results for arts organizations," Carroll says.

But that didn't stop the honors from coming: in 1999, the Youth Poetry Slam League was nominated for the Mayor's Art Award. Harper Collins has agreed to publish a poetry anthology of students' writing in spring 2002. The program now relies on individual donations and local foundations and corporations including the Eugene & Agnes Meyer Foundation, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Starbucks and Borders Books & Music.

Carroll, a poet, playwright and fiction writer who has been active in the community throughout his career, believes in the program's ability to offer kids the opportunity to meet new people and to realize that their voices and opinions matter in the larger world. "What often happens with students who are poor or minorities is, we celebrate them for being able to sing or being able to shoot a basketball. We don't celebrate them so much for being able to create," Carroll says.

It's About the Words
In the end, the young poets beat the veterans in Bring in da Slam 5, 131-130. It was a close contest, and the energy is high. All tonight's performers are surrounded by admiring audience members. Flashbulbs pop, and the crowd slowly flows out to the city street outside.

As the teens know from their experience in poetry slams, winning isn't everything. The important thing is that they have had the opportunity to share their ideas. "The slam is just a vehicle for getting their words out to a wider audience," says Lisa Pegram, program director.

Pegram, also a poet, says the program offers a unique opportunity for kids to meet new people and realize that other kids are struggling with the same issues, trying to express themselves. "It's exciting to go somewhere and be surrounded by thousands of other kids who are poets," Pegram says. "At the slams, teens gain sense of camaraderie and understand a greater purpose outside of competition."

"It's not about the points," says Collette "Phoenix" Lampkin. "It's not about the competition. It is about the poetry."