Speaking Truths: Young Adults, Identity, and Spoken Word Activism

228 Pages·2022·2.054 MB·English

by  Valerie Chepp

Speaking Truths

Speaking Truths
Young Adults, Identity, and Spoken
Word Activism
VALERIE CHEPP
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chepp, Valerie, author.
Title: Speaking truths : young adults, identity, and spoken word activism / Valerie Chepp.
Description: New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021016604 | ISBN 9781978801103 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781978801110 (hardback) | ISBN 9781978801127 (epub) |
ISBN 9781978801141 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Social justice. | Youth—Political activity. | Social change.
Classification: LCC HM671 .C479 2022 | DDC 303.3/72—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016604
A British Cataloging- in- Publication rec ord for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2022 by Valerie Chepp
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street,
New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined
by U.S. copyright law.
References to internet websites (URLs) w ere accurate at the time of writing. Neither the
author nor Rutgers University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed
since the manuscript was prepared.
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www .r utgersuniversitypress . org
Manufactured in the United States of Amer i ca
For Zavi

Contents
List of Tables ix
Preface xi
1 Spoken Word Activism: Young Adults and Social Justice
in the Age of Neoliberalism 1
2 Spinning Stories from Words Got Spit: Researching
a Verbal Arts Community 23
3 Speaking Truths: Experiential Knowledge, Embodied
Testimony, and Activist Storytelling 43
4 Creative Politics: Art, Justice, and Empathic Possibilities 67
5 Healing Justice: The Politics of Healthy Selves
and Communities 85
6 #Activism and Beyond: Sustainability and Social Change
in a Digital World 104
7 Intersectionality as Activist Strategy: T oward a New
Identity Politics 121
Appendix A: D oing Ethnographic Research in the Era
of Social Media 131
Appendix B: Core Sample by Venue Participation 145
Acknowle dgments 147
Notes 151
Bibliography 187
Index 201
vii

Tables
2.1 Overview of poet sample 35
2.2 Description of poetry venues 39
B.1 Core sample by venue participation 146
ix