Just Ratio It

This past Thursday at Hyde Park Academy, a group of students came into the 4th floor art room for pizza and an open mic. What they got was a poetry workshop and an audience of their peers to hype them into sharing their work. We read a poem of 1920’s Chicago slang (the petty pantry, the snuggle pup, the soup-and-fish) and discussed how language changes over time. Poets were challenged to write poems about their daily lives, using as much of the language of their generation as possible. But even if the young people of 3025 have no idea what rizz is, they will know what it means to connect with friends and dream of a bigger, better life ahead.