Emancipation Month has officially begun in Toronto following Mayor Olivia Chow’s proclamation on Tuesday, so here are the events happening in honour of the occasion.
On April 28, Randell Adjei spoken word artist, author, arts educator and founder of the Scarborough-based youth-oriented initiative Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere (R.I.S.E.) was named the first Poet Laureate of Ontario. The unprecedented accolade is a moment in Adjei’s mounting legacy that’s been building since grade school.
“It’s been a journey,” Adjei reflects. “It’s been about facing adversity, intimately, and finding different avenues to overcome it.” Adjei is frank in divulging the hardships woven into his story, highlighting several arrests in his youth and also the alarming and pivotal time when he was jumped and mugged shortly after being named valedictorian of his high school and graduating as an Ontario Scholar. Adjei has been able to ultimately find a centre, and a purpose, through writing about these instances of upheaval. “When you’re born to do something, I don’t think anything or anyone can hold you back from your destiny.”
Ontario s first poet laureate on what introspective arts can do for youth
Randell Adjei, Ontario s first poet laureate, says poetry saved his life and shaped who he is.
Social Sharing
CBC News ·
Randell Adjei is Ontario s first Poet Laureate.(Legislative Assembly of Ontario) comments
Randell Adjei, Ontario s first poet laureate, says poetry saved his life and shaped who he is.
The creative outlet helped him as a youth, and continues to be there today amid a pandemic that has taken a toll on everyone. I think it gave me an opportunity to release, and writing poetry in general is just a cathartic feeling, Adjei said on CBC Radio s
Randell Adjei (photo by Lady Mensah Studios)
For the first time ever, Ontario has a poet laureate.
Scarborough, Ontario, spoken-word artist Randell Adjei was unanimously confirmed to the role by members of provincial parliament on Wednesday.
Adjei, 29, says he feels grateful to have been chosen as the inaugural provincial poet laureate, and hopes that this news brings a bit of light to those who hear it.
“I feel as though there’s something brewing, something happening amidst all of the challenges that we’ve been facing throughout the past year,” he says. “It’s nice to know that there’s some positive news that many of us are hearing at this point in time.”