Ray

By PRESENTED AS PART OF LOUDER THAN A BOMB

Ray

By PRESENTED AS PART OF LOUDER THAN A BOMB
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(WBEZ/file) Poet Natalie Richardson of Oak Park and River Forest High School

Poet Natalie Richardson, 17, is a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School and participated in Louder Than a Bomb for the third time this year.

Her piece Ray is a poem in which she takes on the persona of Ray Charles.

The largest of its kind in the world, Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is Chicago’s rapidly-growing teen poetry festival, taking place February 16 - March 9, 2013, at various venues around Chicago. Aiming to bring teens together across racial, gang, and socio-economic lines, LTAB is a friendly competition that emphasizes self-expression and community via poetry, oral story-telling, and hip-hop spoken word.

Click here to hear all the other 2013 recordings, alongside over 200 Louder Than a Bomb Finalist pieces recorded by Chicago Public Media (WBEZ-Chicago) over the past nine years.