Louder Than a Bomb and Beyond
By Awilda González

Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican HS has been well known in the Louder than A Bomb Competition scene in the past, so coming into competition after almost a 2 year absence was going to be no piece of cake. When asked by the Principal Matthew Rodriguez to take on the Poetry Class I have to admit I felt so under qualified to take on the task, but because of my love of poetry and foremost my love for the students I agreed…little did I really know what I had agreed to.
After months of teaching and keeping the poetry and writing momentum going it was time to make a mark and let our presence be known once again in the LTAB competition. With the assistance of a graduate and former LTAB competitor Cassandra Figueroa, auditions were held and after many ups and downs of the team the long awaited final LTAB Slam Team was created. Dainah Malave, Yamil Grajeda, Jessi Fuentes and Andrea Pagan would represent the school and once again revive the poetry writing reciting frenzy. After vigorous and at times frustrating moments individual pieces were formed and the group piece came to life.
The experience we had at times still today is unexplainable even electrifying, right before our eyes some writers who had never done spoken word were removing the layers of fear that at times hold us back from realizing dreams, but this team stuck through and made a dream a reality. Fifty-seven schools competed during preliminaries and we were in the top 16 coming in first during our bout at Columbia College with our group piece “Unhidden Truths” was enough to take us to semi finals at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Never would we have imagined that after being gone from the LTAB scene we would come this far, but the beauty is that we did. We might have not taken it all the way to finals but we sure gave them some competition. Winning the “Truth Out Loud” award which was given by the Executive Director of Young Chicago Authors, C.C. Carter was an honor. Louder than a Bomb competition came and went but never our love of poetry and our passion for words and the power to express ourselves. The team continues to write and every moment we can we continue to encourage each other.
We have a few upcoming projects which include Poetry Night at Batey this Friday, April 17th at Batey with Willie Perdomo, which has appeared in Def Poetry Jam and author of children’s books and Ivan Sanchez author of “Next Stop” and “It’s Just Begun”. Our students are excited and nervous to share the stage with these two gentlemen but eager to share and let the words flow.
Be on the lookout for future events and keep writing, never be afraid of your words, because they are yours and they can make an impact!