La Casita is a church and Latin community center on Woodbine St in the heart of Old Louisville. It was a beautiful location for Louisville's participation in a global event on Saturday, September 24. Louisville poets and musicians performed as part "100 Thousand Poets for Change", a global poetry reading occuring simultaneously in 600 different locations in 96 countries.
The event was focused on bringing poets and other artists together to bring awareness to social, political, and environmental change. The Louisville event was produced by Sheri Wright, Merle Bachman, and Sonya Vries (who was also celebrating her birthday).
The event had delicious refreshments sponsored by Heine Bros Coffee, Cake Flour, Grape Leaf, Porter Paints, and the Wiltshire Pantry. About 200 people turned out for the free event throughout the evening, many of which donated money for La Casita, whose mission is to enhance the overall quality of life and healthy living for members of Hispanic/Latino families and the communities in which they dwell.
Tiffany Gonzales was the humble MC who kept the show moving through several sets of poets and musicians. Musicians included Huh Robots, Appalatin, Shadwick Wilde and the Quiet Hollers, and Hal Dolls. The music kept a mostly folk feel, and suited the event. The poets included local Merle Bachman, Sheri Wright, Marta Miranda, Sonda De Vries, Katarina Stoykova-Klemer, Bil Brown, Kate Welsh, Aletha Fields, Eric Sutherland, Makalani Bandele, Tom Pearce, and myself. The poets came from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicities.
Stephon Barbour was filming the event so as to share it with the rest of the world. It was an amazing feeling to know that you were participating in something much bigger than your own work, your self, your city, your country. Being a part of something global hit me about half way through the event. The beautiful "old world" architecture of the church made it all that much more of an awe inspiring event, and only deepened my respect and commmitment to the religion of "art".
Photo: Listeners enjoy the music of Appalatin
