Louder Than a Bomb Florida

Louder Than a Bomb Florida (LTABFLA)

Building upon the amazing impact the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network has had on area youth since launching the program in 2013, football legend Jason Taylor and his Jason Taylor Foundation took bluapple to new heights by bringing the “Super Bowl of Poetry” to South Florida! The 2014-15 school year marked the launch of Louder Than a Bomb Florida (LTABFLA), empowering and uniting South Florida’s youth and community through the art of the spoken word.

At the start of each school year, teachers and students from schools as far south as Homestead and at times, as far north Jacksonville, often with the assistance of a bluapple Teaching Artist, begin working, learning, creating, and sharing within their classrooms, in after-school clubs and through various teen open mics throughout South Florida, developing safe spaces for individual and collective expression on their respective campuses and in their communities.

The culmination of this work will manifest in the form of Louder Than A Bomb Florida, a month-long festival which is highlighted by a friendly competition taking place in dynamic venues throughout the tri-county area. A diverse group of students, parents, administrators, and community members representing schools from Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties participate in LTABFLA, creating authentic narratives to reimagine the self and one another while developing mutual respect and tolerance for difference.

The point is poetry

This powerful, youth initiative aims to:

Utilize the poetry slam as a community organizing tool, unifying our wonderfully diverse, extremely spread out South Florida population – LTABFLA bridges gaps between community borders and introduces teens who would not otherwise meet. The festival will also bring students, educators, business leaders, and others from the tri-county area and beyond together into a variety of unique cultural, civic, and educational spaces across Broward County and beyond.
Make the student the center of their educational experience – LTABFLA inverts the traditional educational paradigm by asking students what THEY think, see, and experience in their worlds, often re-engaging students at schools, while still meeting educational standards.
Empower young people with tools necessary for success – LTABFLA provides students with a platform for their voices to be heard. These students realize the strength they possess and are validated through the stories they tell and the experiences they share.