A word on Activism and poetry with Baltimore’s youth poet laureate A’niya Taylor

By Amir Muhammad & Assata Makonnen | November 30, 2023

A’niya Taylor at 20 years old has made a beautiful name for herself in the world of writing and poetry. 

Taylor was a Marylander of the Year finalist in 2020 for her activism by the Baltimore Sun, which included organizing a protest against the death of George Floyd that had 20,000 people in attendance. She graduated from Baltimore City College High School in 2021. Then went on to win the Brave New Voices individual poetry slam, in the same year. She has been awarded the Baltimore Youth Poet Laureate for two consecutive years (2022-2023) and was the captain of the Baltimore City Youth Poetry Team in 2021 and 2023. 

Assata Makonnen, a member of the CHARM Journalism Team, got the opportunity to interview this bright light in Baltimore after she released her first poetry book, “The Space Between: The Hurting The Healing The Loving.”

Taylor is the type of young woman that the youth of today can look up to. Her goals, ambitions, and work ethic are inspiring. An example of what can be found in the city of Baltimore when looking beyond the challenges. Diamonds in the rough like Taylor showcases the determination and the ability to create a positive change possessed by the youth of Baltimore.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity:

Assata Makonnen: How did you first get into poetry? 

A’niya Taylor: So, I was in the 6th grade and my previous English teacher, who’s now my debate coach, ​​Mr. Kay decided to have a poetry club instead of a debate club. And he showed us this poet named Prentice Powell and I just thought it was so cool. It was a poem called “Beautiful as Black” and I just thought it was the most beautiful poem I’ve ever heard. I realized, Like oh, I want to do that. So I felt like [poetry] was another thing that was, like in my wheelhouse. And then it became something that felt very therapeutic because I’m not good at communicating, but I was really good at writing, so it was the easiest way for me to flush out how I felt and what I was thinking. At a time when I didn't really know how to do that in a safe way.

AM: How has your culture, experience, and living in Baltimore impacted your writing?

AT: Oh, God. The way that I grew through my writing as far as topics are concerned, it has a lot to do with the environment. So, when I first started writing I was young. I didn’t have a big experience with the world outside of going to school and experiencing my home life. That environment impacted the way I wrote because I was writing about the things that were happening around me and at the time it was like family confusion and daddy issues and things of that nature. And then I got older and I started hanging around like outside, you know, you get older when you become a teenager you’re in the world more. So you experience the world more, and for a black girl in America in general and not really catered to Baltimore itself, but just as a black girl in America. You don’t really write about the flowers. You don’t write about the birds and the clouds, and then you don’t really write about those things because those aren’t the things that are happening around you. A garden can be in full bloom, but also a block down somebody could have got shot. So it's like, what do you decide to write about? Usually, the thing that seems the most concerning are the things that you want to change and the things that you write about. So, I started doing activism first. As far as me being in the community, it was through activism first. So a lot of my experience in poetry has grown from my activism. I did a lot of work with a City Block, which came out of Baltimore City College and Students Demand Action and March for Our Lives and Baltimore Peace Movement which used to be Baltimore Ceasefire. So a lot of that is talking about gun violence and trying to fix a hurting community whether it’s through food resources clothes drives, or things of that nature. So I was writing a lot about that.

AM: What has been your most memorable activism experience?

AT: Oh God, two things came up into my head. The first one was the climate strike of 2019 in D.C. It was Zero Hour and the National Children's Campaign that were heading it. I was just there to participate. But But I remember wanting to go there as a participant and then them putting me at the front of the line. It felt so good to be in group of people who are all fighting for one thing. I remember after that the headlines started coming out and I saw my picture in Time magazine and Color magazine and Bustle. And I was like, oh my god. 

AM: and what about the second memorable activism experience that comes to mind?

AT:  The other one was the 2020 march here in Baltimore when we planned the march after the death of George Floyd. I was on the 2020 Baltimore city youth poetry team. My sibling. Dustin came to the poetry group chat and was like, “hey, I wanna do something about [the death of George Floyd] like something needs to happen. We should do something.” I was like OK. And they were like, “Hey, you have experience with this can we all work together?” And I Was like, yeah, for sure. They counted on the helicopter, 20,000 people in attendance. We organized it in five days. We recorded the whole thing, and the plan was to make a documentary called “Day Five” about how we planned it in five days. It was only five or six of us who organized this whole thing in the five or six days that we did it. It was completely peaceful and no one really talked about it outside of Baltimore, which is something that isn’t confusing or surprising. That when good things happen, no one’s talking about it. But for me it was a very memorable summer.

AM: Where do you see yourself in five years?

AT: I know I want a tour by 25, so whatever I do within the next five years is to get to that. And then the book, [The Space Between: The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving] dropped and then my dad, who’s also my manager, [Victor Frantz Rodgers 2nd  “Slangston Hughes”], he was like,  “Hey, what do you think about a book tour?” Being that I’m about to do something I hadn’t thought of doing until I’m 25. I want to give my whole self to poetry. So being able to do this tour earlier in the game than I thought I would makes me excited. I must have set the bar really low if I’m about to do a tour now and I wanted that by 25. So now I just want to do more. Now I just want to do everything. I want to build an interactive poetry museum here. Write more books, perform more places.  Once you do it the first time, I've recognized now that anything you want to do is pretty much easier.

If you would like to listen to the rest of the wonderful conversation, click below.