Can poets unite and give voice to issues left unsaid? 

100 Thousand Poets for Change, an international movement to promote serious social, environmental, and political change brought more than a dozen poets to two public parks: the Rose Garden at the State Capitol and Fremont Park.

Saturday’s event was an international day of poetry, celebrated with 700 events in 550 cities in 95 countries in every continent but Antarctica. The multi-national event mixed politics and poetry in some odd and surprising ways.

While a politicized poetry reading is not controversial in most countries, in some nation’s organizers risked harassment or arrest for expressing independent viewpoints with their words.

The Sacramento line-up included an array of perspectives covering modern societal ills such as universal healthcare, to the war in Afghanistan, to the development of public spaces, to economic disparity, to disappointment in our world leaders, to acknowledging those who still struggle to exercise the freedom of speech in their country, and the fading so called "American" dream.

Readings were recited by Mario Ellis Hill, Bob Stanley, Allegra Silberstein, Alexa Mergen, Sean King, Lawrence Dinkins, Susan Kelly-DeWitt, Emily Wright, Tim Kahl, Frances Kakugawa, Sandy Thomas, Bill Gainer, Abe Sass and a handful of open mic participants.

The highlights were Dinkins evocative poem about "America" and King’s forceful riff - "One Day" on healthcare – or the lack of it.

My favorite was Kahl’s clever, bluesy critique on the privatization of public spaces. Kahl melded his own spoken word with Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Sunshine When You’re Gone” to make a powerful statement about the environment, homelessness, and the economics of community destruction.
 

Editorial Note: A correction was made to the caption of image 6 after the story was published.