Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
Teen Rap Crisis II is a humanities-based program designed to give voice to concerns and triumphs, uncover facts, and build awareness of public health issues as seen through the eyes of contemporary African American youth, ages 15-24. Reflecting on the original 25-year-old Teen Rap Crisis, participants will partake in thoughtful discussion and collaborative learning experiences through writing with Story Stitchers artists Bobby Norfolk, KP Dennis and Howard Cox, leading to a poetic performance and a post-performance discussion with Professor Sean Joe from Washington University, a scholar in Black male adolescent self-destructive behavior and related societal causes and implications. Activities take place both inside and out of the City of St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center, providing an opportunity for youth to explore topics related to individual lives and society at large through writing, discussion, performance and learning. The program is a part of the St. Louis Storytelling Festival.
The goals of the activity are to bring attention, clarity and opportunity for meaningful action to the issues surrounding the challenges faced by youth, especially African American youth in urban environments through documentation, storytelling, performance and discussion. The program also creates opportunities for intergenerational interaction and collaborative storytelling through collaborative learning experiences and discussion.
Saturday, May 5 St. Louis Storytelling Festival
10:00-12:00 City of St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center
No public admission.
Teen Rap Crisis II Performance and Discussion
and
2:00-2:30 Kranzberg Arts Center Gallery
PUBLIC PERFORMANCE / Q & A
Kranzberg Arts Center Gallery
501 N Grand Blvd., St. Louis 63103
For The Talking Cure exhibition:
All ages.
Free.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is supporting this program in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Kranzberg Arts Foundation, and Missouri Foundation for Health and in collaboration with the City of St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center and the City of St. Louis Department of Health.
