On Wednesday, April 26, First Lady Chirlane McCray will announce the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate at Gracie Mansion in New York. The competition is championed by Urban Word, which leads the Youth Poet Laureate Program in NYC. Harlem-born, award-winning, rapper Kurtis Blow will perform and introduce the First Lady.
The two finalists, Hajjar Baban and Amanda Gorman, were selected from five National Youth Poet Laureate semi-finalists who were decided by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities chaired by First Lady Michelle Obama in July 2016.
The event will feature a poetry slam with six prominent NYC youth poets: Ramya Ramana, Ashley August, Nkosi Nkululeko, Zora Howard, Trace DePass, and Sharon Lin.
