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MODERN LIT: A Group Study For Poets

Who we are: The Mission Statement Poetry Collective was founded to provide a space for poets to vent, to experiment, and to pour our resources, both tangible and intangible, into the community. Myself, Christopher K.P. Brown, Lauren Yates, Warren Longmire (and later adding Kassidi Jones) would meet bi-weekly to discuss poems, our lives, our blackness and have outings. From our many discussions, we saw a dearth of spaces in Philadelphia that black people and People of Color could gather, talk about poems, talk about racism, talk about anything without fear of being judged.

What we did: We started the Mission Statement Workshop Series. The Workshop was held monthly at the Art Church of West Philadelphia and facilitated by poet laureate Yolanda Wisher. We discussed everything from Prince to Phillis Wheatleys subversive activism to George Washingtons teeth. The sessions encouraged not just writing but also immense and deep research into the lives of the poets and cultural figures we studied.

Where we are now: We took a break for 2017 because life and also the realization that the space we were in did not align with the values of the workshop. In that time, we have been inundated with past participants asking when the workshop will be back and inquiring about workshops in Philadelphia in general. As a result of this, we decided to start the workshop back up in 2018. Currently we have an overflow of facilitators and interested participants ready to engage.

As for a space, we are looking for a partner. A space that is POC friendly, invested in community work, and respects the work that is being done with this series.