I met Jalen Kobayashi in 2017 through Young Chicago Authors’ Louder Than a Bomb poetry festival, where for years we were on separate teams, expressing ourselves through spoken word and sometimes even competing against each other. We’ve since become close friends, connecting through our gifts with the pen and our shared passion for Black liberation. We’ve supported each other’s creative journeys, and we had each other’s backs on the front lines of the fight for justice for marginalized identities during the uprisings of…
