(L to R) John Schreiber, CEO of NJPAC; Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka; Dave Rodriguez, NJPAC’s Executive Producer; Last Poets, Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole, and Baba Don, Ysabel Gonzalez, Poetry Creative Officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Tanuja Dehne, President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; and Poet and Pulitzer Prize Winner Tyehimba Jess. Photo courtesy of NJPAC
(NEWARK, NJ) -- On January 24, 2024, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation (Dodge Foundation), New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced plans for 2024 Dodge Poetry initiative – a new collaboration that celebrates poetry as a catalyst for communities to advance social change.
Guest speakers featured John Schreiber, CEO of NJPAC; Tanuja Dehne, President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka; Ysabel Gonzalez, Poetry Creative Officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
The event featured special poetry performances by Poet and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka,who recited his poem, "Digging Max," paying homage to his late father Amiri Baraka, a legendary poet and playwright who worked with Max Roach. Then, a surprise poetry performance by the legendary Last Poets, Abiodun Oyewole, Baba Don and Felipe Luciano, who continue the legacy of The Last Poets' who originally formed in 1968 in Harlem, New York.
The event also included an exceptional performance by Poet and Pulitzer Prize Winner Tyehimba Jess, a champion for Black voices in the literary arts. He is the Board President of Cave Canem, an organization committed to cultivating Black poets' artistic and professional growth. Tyehimba Jessperformed his poem, A Black Man's Prayer, a profound poem about peace.
This expanded partnership between the Dodge Foundation, a private foundation that supports organizations working towards a just and equitable New Jersey, and NJPAC, Newark and New Jersey’s anchor cultural institution that enhances lives through world-class performances, education programs, and community engagement, is made possible through a grant the Dodge Foundation provided NJPAC.
For the first time, Dodge Poetry will expand beyond its biennial poetry festival (which has been headquartered at NJPAC since 2010) to include poetry programs in Newark throughout the year including NJPAC’s Horizon Sounds of The City.
These Dodge Poetry events will have three goals to: 1) mobilize communities and fuel movements for social change; 2) amplify poet activists who challenge and reframe existing narratives and norms; and 3) create spaces for empathy, healing, and repair for individuals who have experienced systemic racism.
(L to R) John Schreiber, Tanuja Dehne, President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. Photo courtesy of NJPAC
Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka shared, “Because poetry impacts hearts so directly, it has great power to transform communities, and give rise to social change, hope, and healing,” said Mayor Baraka. “This year-round poetry program about to ripple through Newark will realize one of my greatest wishes for the city, and I thank the Dodge Foundation and NJPAC for making this happen.”
Building on 40 years of poetry programming, the new collaboration between NJPAC and Dodge Foundation will extend the footprint of Dodge Poetry across the entire city of Newark. The events are designed to engage and activate residents, especially young people and community partners, and to highlight the intersection of poetry and social justice.
The first initiative kicks off on Friday, January 26th with Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite performance in Prudential Hall at 8:00pm, a celebration of the centennial of Max Roach — drummer, bebop pioneer, and civil rights activist — who explored social justice issues and racial inequality through the lens of jazz and poetry. Performers included Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, who presented his poems by his father, Amiri Baraka (a long-time Max Roach collaborator) as well as his own writing; drummer Nasheet Waits (of Max’s percussion ensemble M’Boom); vocalist Cassandra Wilson; poets The Last Poets, Sonia Sanchez and Saul Williams; saxophonist Ravi Coltrane; pianist Nduduzo Makhathini; and bassist Eric Revis. Advisory Committee member and past Festival Poet, Vincent Toro, who open the event.
Dodge Poetry will culminate with the 20th celebration of the Dodge Poetry Festival, an event that has to-date engaged more than 150,000 people including 45,000 high school students, on October 17-19, 2024. The Festival will be hosted by the Dodge Foundation at NJPAC, which has welcomed poets and artists from across the United States to Newark every other year since 2010, and it will feature performances, readings, and special programs designed to build a community of poets and citizens mobilizing for racial and social justice, repair, and healing.
Tanuja Dehne, President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Photo courtesy of NJPAC
“The Dodge Foundation has a long legacy of creating opportunities for people to explore and engage with poetry. Now, the reimagined Dodge Poetry will expand our ability to reach new places and people, and focus our programming on artists and activists who interrogate and address issues of social justice,” says Tanuja Dehne, President and CEO of the Dodge Foundation. “By holding these events and the festival across Newark, we will honor the city’s legacy and further amplify the voices and narratives of those who have been at the forefront of activism for racial justice.”
“Ours is a city of the arts, a center of creativity where there are so many stories that need to be heard. Through this initiative, we look forward to sharing the aspirations and realities of all Newarkers” said John Schreiber, President and CEO of NJPAC. “All of us at the Arts Center are excited that the Dodge Foundation is collaborating with us on creating authentic, community-centric programs that spotlight poetry as a means to advocate for social justice and artistic expression.”
To help shape and guide the events and strategy over the year, Dodge Poetry has convened an Advisory Committee of award-winning poets and activists: Sean Battle, CEO and Founder of EvoluCulture Ventures, a Newark-based integrated arts organization that holds space for artists and art lovers; Tamiko Beyer, a social justice communications writer and strategist with roots in radical queer organizing, racial justice organizing, and art activism; Naomi Extra, a poet, writer, cartoonist, and scholar with a PhD in American Studies from Rutgers Newark; Willie Perdomo, a two-time New York Foundation of the Arts Poetry Fellow and former NY state Poet Laureate; andVincent Toro, an award-winning Puerto Rican poet, playwright, stage performer, author of two poetry collections, and full time professor at Rider University.
Other Dodge Poetry events being scheduled throughout the season will include a special screening of Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, including a discussion with the filmmaker, Michèle Stephenson, on March 27th; a project that provides a forum for young people to share their stories and their views of social justice issues alongside poets, created by NJPAC in partnership with Rutgers University-Newark’s MFA Program in Creative Writing; multiple virtual events, streamed nationally, that focus on the use of poetry to advance positive social change, complete with both readings by activist poets and discussions on the use of poetry as a tool of protest; and free Dodge Poetry performances for the community offered as a part of Horizon Sounds of the City, NJPAC’s long-running outdoor summer concert series held on the Arts Center’s campus Thursday evenings in July and August.
Photo courtesy of NJPAC
More information about Dodge Poetry, upcoming shows, and events can be found at njpac.org/dodgepoetry. The Dodge Poetry Festival does have an open submission process, and applications will be accepted for performance consideration beginning in mid-February.
Ras J. Baraka is the 40th Mayor of the City of Newark. A native of Newark, whose family has lived in the City for more than 80 years, Mayor Baraka’s progressive approach to governing has won him accolades from grassroots organizations to the White House. With a forward-thinking agenda that reduced crime to its lowest levels in five decades, addressed affordability while maintaining steady growth, lowered unemployment, returned local control of schools after more than two decades, and replaced all 23,000 known lead service lines in less than three years at no cost to residents, Baraka has defied expectations since taking office in 2014. Mayor Baraka’s futurist agenda has included the implementation of a groundbreaking partnership called Hire. Buy. Live. Newark, a program that marks the first time that any US city has sought to transform its economy by combining employment, procurement, and residential strategies. Mayor Baraka was educated in the Newark Public Schools. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s Degree in Education Supervision from St. Peter’s University in Jersey City. His father, the late Amiri Baraka, was a legendary poet and playwright. His mother, Amina Baraka, is herself a renowned poet. Doting husband and father, Mayor Baraka is a published author who recently released the audible memoir “The Book of Baraka” and is well-regarded in the entertainment industry for his appearance on the Grammy-award winning album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in his authentic role as an educator, and for his EP “What We Want.”
The Last Poets was formed in 1968 in Harlem, New York. Before RAP knew its name, there was a group of ambitious young men who reflected the harsh spirit of their times and whose work remains prophetic and inspirational today. The Last Poets started in the late sixties, speaking out as few other musical groups had, or have since, about racism, poverty, and other African American and societal concerns. RAPPERS of the civil rights era, The Last Poets' charge has been taken up by many contemporary artists who have felt the legendary group's influence. Since the Last Poet's first recording in 1968, their work has profoundly influenced the hip-hop landscape. Phrases they coined, like "Party and Bullshit," have become a mainstay in the Hip Hop lexicon. Today, they continue to spread their message, touring the world and recording new music. They've also collaborated on award-winning album projects with established recording artists, including Nas, Common, Erykah Badu, Kanye West, Styles P., and Dead Prez. They also performed in the inaugural season of HBO's" Def Poetry Jam," were cast in the movie" Poetic Justice" (1993), toured with Lollapalooza (1994), and performed in venues around the world. All of the members of the Last Poets have carried on their artistry, and while some may no longer perform or record albums, the concept and idea of the Last Poets has remained a constant in their lives. Oyewole and Hassan continue to perform and record for one reason: To promote self-empowerment in the African American community through music and the spoken word. Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole, and Baba Don continue to carry The Last Poets' Torch.
Tyehimba Jess is a Pulitzer Prize winner and is a champion for Black voices in the literary arts and is the Board President of Cave Canem, an organization committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets. In Tyehimba’s own poetry, he documents, celebrates, and explores the complicated history of Blacks and Black culture in America, particularly those stories, those voices unsung. Tyehimba first worked with Dodge Poetry in 2010, at their first Festival in Newark, and joined them again in 2020 for their virtual Festival.. He is the author of two books, Leadbelly and Olio—Olio which won a Pulitzer Prize along with a host of other prizes and recognition. He has received numerous fellowships and is a Professor of English at the College of Staten Island.
Established in 1974, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation envisions a just and equitable New Jersey where people of all races and communities have equitable access to opportunities to thrive. Over its 50-year history, the Dodge Foundation has distributed more than $500 million in grants and technical support to New Jersey nonprofits. Today, building on decades of learning, the organization focuses its support on those who are directly addressing the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity to transform lives in New Jersey.
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is among the largest performing arts centers in the United States. It is the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey — where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. As New Jersey’s anchor cultural institution, NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the state’s and the world’s best artists, while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted more than 11 million visitors (including more than two million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents.
