Students from Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts in Harlem performed songs and poems for the New York City Council last month.
The students were invited to visit City Hall by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council member Inez Dickens. They performed works from an anthology called Old Flame New Fire II, which they created as part of the Inez Dickens Kuumba Literacy Initiative. The book features prose and poetry written by Wadleigh students as well as the work of established poets including The Last Poets founder, Abiodun Oyewole, who wrote the book’s preface.
The students received a City Council of New York Citation for their work. Librarian Paul McIntosh, who heads Wadleigh’s program, received a City Council Proclamation from Speaker Quinn and Council Member Dickens. In turn, each council member received a copy of the students’ book.
Kent Bueno, a senior, said “I never thought that I would receive a citation from The New York City Council, much less perform here.”
The day ended with the students performing at a venue near City Hall for an enthusiastic audience that included Governor Paterson.
Khareen Brockington, a seventh-grader, summed up the day saying, “I feel like a star. Before today I didn’t even know where City Hall was.”