Appreciating diversity... understanding difference... and grasping the cost of bullying

Shane Koyczan - Beat Poet

By an odd set of circumstances this amazing Canadian beat poet has entered my life in the past couple of days. On Friday I was talking with a student who briefly opened up and shared a story of bullying, dropping out of school and now coming back to BVC. The student commented on the incredible support and acceptance they found with us. When I asked what motivated them to return, the student said that a poet called "Shane something" had a poem on pork chops and karate chops that described "what happened to me perfectly".  I made a mental note to track down the poet from those scant clues.

Also on Friday, I picked up my kids and on the way back from pho, my son starts to get very excited about a poet that he is studying in ELA 20-2. This is a kid that rarely gets excited about anything and very rarely about anything having to do with school. He asked for my phone, found a YouTube video and played it over the car's audio system as we drove home.  The poem was "To This Day" by poet Shane Koyczan.  In the poem is the line about pork chops and karate chops... the SAME day I had two encounters with the same poet from two different people.

The more I listened to the beat poetry the more I was touched deeply by what he had to say.  Here are two links to examples of his work:

• To This Day  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY
• The Crickets have Arthritis   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdialVpVvM

I wonder what opportunities we have for this Canadian poet's work to become part of our curriculum. Clearly it speaks to important contemporary topics in a powerful way.