The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation (Dodge Foundation) and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) announced plans for the 2024 Dodge Poetry initiative – a new collaboration that celebrates poetry as a catalyst for communities to advance social change.
This expanded partnership between the Dodge Foundation, a private foundation that supports organizations working towards a just and equitable New Jersey, and NJPAC, Newark and New Jersey’s anchor cultural institution that enhances lives through world-class performances, education programs, and community engagement, is made possible through a $1.7M grant the Dodge Foundation provided NJPAC.
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In 2024, for the first time, Dodge Poetry will expand beyond its biennial poetry festival (which has been headquartered at NJPAC since 2010) to include poetry programs in Newark throughout the year. These Dodge Poetry events will have three goals to: 1) mobilize communities and fuel movements for social change; 2) amplify poet activists who challenge and reframe existing narratives and norms; and 3) create spaces for empathy, healing, and repair for individuals who have experienced systemic racism.
The initiative kicks off on January 26th with Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite, a celebration of the centennial of Max Roach — drummer, bebop pioneer, and civil rights activist — who explored social justice issues and racial inequality through the lens of jazz and poetry. Performers will include Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, presenting poems by his father, Amiri Baraka (a long-time Max Roach collaborator) as well as his own writing; drummer Nasheet Waits (of Max’s percussion ensemble M’Boom); vocalist Cassandra Wilson; poets Sonia Sanchez and Saul Williams; saxophonist Ravi Coltrane; pianist Nduduzo Makhathini; and bassist Eric Revis. Advisory Committee member and past Festival Poet, Vincent Toro, will open the event.
Building on 40 years of poetry programming, the new collaboration between NJPAC and Dodge Foundation will extend the footprint of Dodge Poetry across the entire city of Newark. The events are designed to engage and activate residents, especially young people and community partners, and to highlight the intersection of poetry and social justice.
Dodge Poetry will culminate with the 20th celebration of the Dodge Poetry Festival, an event that has to-date engaged more than 150,000 people including 45,000 high school students, on Oct 17-19, 2024. The Festival will be hosted by the Dodge Foundation at NJPAC, which has welcomed poets and artists from across the United States to Newark every other year since 2010, and it will feature performances, readings, and special programs designed to build a community of poets and citizens mobilizing for racial and social justice, repair, and healing.
