Poetry for Change with Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate Cydney Brown

by: Charlotte Juan

Cydney Brown may not yet have graduated from high school, but she is already using her brilliant mind and voice to inspire people to speak their truth as Philadelphia’s Youth Poet Laureate of 2020.

She is no stranger to doing activism work for her community, having achieved the status of Girl Scout Ambassador and being a recipient of the Girl Scout Gold Award for her service project. Project GOOD – Girls Overcome Obstacles Daily is the mentoring program she launched to give middle and high school girls a space to connect with each other, work on healthy coping mechanisms, and build self esteem.

As Philadelphia’s Youth Poet Laureate, she wishes to “inspire young girls to speak their truth because it is valid and it is important”.

Her writing has focused on topics like social justice, self-love, and human nature in the past, and began as a way for her to feel freedom through her words. Poetry has no constraints, and she hopes to inspire others to develop their own creativity and voices through this medium. She has already begun her work in Philadelphia as the youth ambassador of poetry by leading workshops and participating in poetry readings in person and online. Check out Shine Global’s interview with Cydney Brown here:

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