Local organization aims to empower youth through poetry
A youth mentor for a local educational program said he used poetry to see himself through a difficult past.
Coon, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, was walking home when he was shot three times. One bullet hit his spine and ricocheted into his lung.
"I was hanging out with somebody who really wasn't my friend, and I pretty much took on their beef, their issues, and I was guilty by association," he said. "I've never been in a gang or anything like that. You don't have to be (involved) in a gang for something bad to happen to you."
Asking to be referred to only by his last name (and stage name), Coon channeled the pain from his wounds and started taking his writing and poetry seriously as soon as he left the hospital. He joined a musical group and, with his friend TroubleSin, became part of a spoken word team called E-legal Tag Team.
The two are now poet mentors for Sacramento Area Youth Speaks, which uses innovative methods to help Sacramento-area kids learn. Since last year, SAYS, part of the University at California at Davis School of Education, has empowered youth by giving them a voice through poetry.
SAYS will inaugurate its poetry slam season Wednesday night at the Roberts Family Center, and the season will culminate May 7 at the 2010 SAYS Youth Summit at the Mondavi Center. Youth ages 13 to 19 are invited