Essential Workers Express Themselves Through Poetry

Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Mark Nowak and Christine Yvette Lewis.

Poetry and pandemics may not be synonymous with one another but in times of crisis, art plays an outsize role. Now, a new initiative that engages working people, including those considered “essential workers” to express their frustrations and give voice to their hopes and desires, has been gaining traction.

A project called #coronavirushaiku by the Worker Writers School has become popular with domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, migrant workers and more.

Mark Nowak, Founding Director of the Worker Writers School and author of the new book Social Poetics. Christine Yvette Lewis, Secretary Cultural Coordinator at Domestic Workers United.

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience.

Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman.

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Christine Yvette Lewis Coronavirus COVID-19 Domestic workers Essential Workers Free Speech TV Mark Nowak Pandemic Poetry Rising Up with Sonali Sonali Kolhatkar Workers Writers School