NJ S.L.A.M. TEAM
The New Jersey S.L.A.M. (Supporting, Leading, Advocating, & Mentoring) Team, consists of a group of four New Jersey based performance poets/spoken word artists who are dedicated community activists and are seeking to implement a dynamic community building approach aimed at an audience of urban youth, their families, and their surrounding communities.
The purpose of the New Jersey S.L.A.M. Team is to enhance and revitalize urban communities; youth empowerment and education; conflict resolution; the usage of intervention and prevention methods for destructive behavior and juvenile incarceration; rebuilding of families; and making available positive artistic outlets for writers, performers, poets, singers, rappers/hip-hop artists, etc.
One of the major projects being conducted by the NJ S.L.A.M Team is a feature show entitled "A Change Will Come" which was developed in early 2003. Inspired by the motif from Sam Cooke's song, titled "A change gon' come", the story revolves around four individuals, from different backgrounds, personalities and purposes. They happen to have a set of chance interactions while waiting for a public bus to arrive at a neighborhood bus stop. The boarding of the bus symbolizes a journey which each person begins after a short time waiting during which each person an interaction with a stranger who is waiting for the same bus to arrive. These interactions leave each character with an altered view on some part of their life and help each person to board the bus and begin traveling on the road to change. Throughout the dialogue of the play, the characters use poetry/spoken word art as a means to convey thoughts and feelings about various topics and subject matter from gang violence and insolence to HIV/AIDS and different dramas associated with everyday life.
Every aspect of the combined work of the members of the NJ S.L.A.M. Team emphasizes a strong urgency for people to come together in order to begin to rebuild and better ourselves, each other, and our communities as a whole. They seek to reach these goals through instilling four fundamental initiatives into all of the endeavors they embark on:
- Supporting the youth by embracing their needs, ideas, and personalities, as well as being the pedestal that helps them strive upward and outward.
- Leading the youth to become leaders themselves and serve as catalysts for change within their own communities, and serve as teachers and path makers for future generations.
- Advocating for the youth and taking all necessary steps to make sure that children, education, arts, and other recreational activities are not left out of the important developmental stages of a student's or young person's life.
- Mentoring for the youth by role modeling and serving as positive figures within the lives of each person that a S.L.A.M. Team member becomes involved with.
Booking Info: rockypresents@hotmail.com | 480.636.9392
