New York Times Features Young Black Poets Who Are the Future

The New York Times is featuring interviews with ten young (teenage), Black American poets (William Lohier, Nyarae Francis, Inari Williams, Alora Young, Madison Petaway, Jacoby Collins, Ava Emhoff, Leila Mottley, Samuel Getachew, and Akilah Toney) by Pierre-Antoine Louis, with an introduction by Maya Phillips. Among the questions Louis poses are: "How do you know when a poem is finished?" and "Why does poetry matter to you?" Picking up with a few of the responses to the question, "Do you think art has a role to play in justice?":

WILLIAM: It’s through literature that we can kind of imagine, that we can speculate on what we would want society to look like.

NYARAE: I like how poetry is able to also be activism in a way because you’re able to talk about some of the issues that are going on, and to express yourself in a way that can push the movement forward.

ALORA: They say that the victor decides how history remembers the world. But I disagree. I think that the artists decide how history remembers that world.

JACOBY: I hate to sound like a hippie or anything like that, but if we literally just used our words, then so much would be different.

Learn more about all of the emerging poets (and experience their work) at the New York Times.