The Poetry Movement is a nonprofit organization that seeks to harness the power of the written and spoken word through workshops, performances and publications that bring people together to celebrate their everyday travels as well as to empower new journeys and explorations. Based in Racine, WI and Chicago, IL, it provides performance, educational and publishing opportunities for poets of all ages and experience levels. The Racine Arts Council is its fiscal agent. 

Why is the Poetry Movement needed? 

The current transportation infrastructure in the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor faces socio-cultural, ecological, and economic obstacles. These problems are not new but rather stretch back to the historical development of the region.  

Amid the removal and attempted conquest of sovereign indigenous people, the Chicagoland and Greater Milwaukee area have since their respective foundings in 1937 and 1846 grown toward a megalopolis while remaining racially and economically divided landscapes. Along with the economic growth that has followed from this urban expansion, the area has seen sharp increases in income inequality marked by disproportionate educational attainment, prison sentencing and community violence. Likewise, these socio-economic conflicts find ecological corollaries in air and water pollution that are likewise tied to reduced green space. Individuals from the most marginalized social groups in our current economic, political and social climate face a mental health crisis, the product of which can be seen in homelessness, drug overdose and suicide rates. 

To address these concerns, our project aims to synthesize ecological wisdoms from the Eastern, Western and Indigenous Meso-American traditions while unifying disparate communities in the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor around shared experiences and histories of transportation as a means of cultivating new narratives about the individual and collective changes needed for a sustainable future. We aim to accomplish this through an increased focus on producing, publishing and performing poetry that tackles mental health issues in public spaces.

In addition to connecting with diverse audiences through voluntary participation in workshops, publications and performances, we aim to partner with organizations throughout the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor to extend the reach of poetry's benefits. 

About the Founders