The Commute

The Commute

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The Commute is a team piece performed by the poets of Northside College Prep Slam Poetry Team: seniors Ashley Gonzalez, 18, and Tyler Sauter, 18, alongside junors Emma Coleman, 17, and JD Amick, 17. This was the first year in the competition for Emma and JD, the second year for Ashley and the third year for Tyler (who can also be heard performing here and here).

Though everyone knows “the points are not the point, the point is the poetry” – congratulations to Northside College Prep, who successfully advanced to the Final round of competition, one of the top four teams in the 2012 Festival, out of a field of over 90 schools and community organizations who participated. 

The largest of its kind in the world, Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is Chicago’s rapidly-growing teen poetry festival, taking place February 18 - March 10, 2012, 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 2012 recordings, alongside nearly 200 Louder Than a Bomb Finalist pieces recorded by Chicago Public Media (WBEZ-Chicago) over the past eight years.