09 Sacramento Poet Laureate Program

The Sacramento Poet Laureate Program extends and brings to life the power and beauty of poetry and spoken word in our community. Sacramento’s current Poet Laureate Andru Defeye began his tenure in 2020 and will continue to serve in this role through 2024. While Andru was active throughout the year with open mic nights, readings, community performances and events, he was singularly responsible for reimagining and reigniting Sacramento Poetry Day (officially established by Mayor Anne Rudin as October 26) in

2022. Through Andru’s leadership, and the support of 20 other poets, a citywide effort across three school districts was created that served thousands of youth. Resolutions were secured from Sacramento City Unified School District and the City of Sacramento and ten poets were honored through an award ceremony organized by Andru Defeye.

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Every time I approach this dais My grandfather says “Make them feel it.” My father says “Pray for them.”

I am both my father’s son and my grandfather’s grandson Poets have always spoken life into leaders and magic into the masses

From the Fili and the Bards to the griots we have always been entrusted to hold the stories of our tribes like gutter gold so I know more about you all than you will probably ever know about me.

I have a story of how one of you gripped a grieving girl after the death of her dear friend with words given straight from god in a whisper that no one else heard I have a story of how one of you put your peace on the line to help a broken woman put hers back together without her ever being the wiser who her guardian angel was.

I have a story of one of you taking the time to tell a young man who life had given up on to not give up on life and that young man finding enough strength in your words to carry them around for decades

I have stories of those who protest each of you and who they think you are because of stories they don’t know. Stories that make you more than vote counts or operators of a broken machine. The stories that make us human. The stories where our healing is.

I hold their stories that you have never heard of pain and trauma from living in a broken machine daily But I can see clearly that there is a we because I hold all of these stories. This is the importance of poetry and poets we hold the stories that remind us who we really are “Poetry is how we speak ourselves into existence” We are the fili and the bards. We are the griots.

The city of Sacrament is full of mini Maya Angelous and Amanda Gormans

The next Langston Hughes lives in the heights writing right now and wondering what the worth is in his words and how do we put a price on his story how it is told and who gets to tell it Simple. We don’t.

We teach everyone to tell their own stories. And we listen.