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Poetry is being used as a tool for racial healing across the US, with poets like Kelvin “KJ” Marshall, Margie “Mia X” Johnson, and Salaam Green using their art to explore themes such as social determinants of health, youth development, and faith-based experiences. Through community programs, workshops, and open mics, poetry is helping people better understand their lived racial experiences, challenge harmful racial narratives, and build connections across generations. Poet laureates are leading these creative, healing-focused spaces, and using their art to confront historical pain and transform it into power.<\/p>\n
This article by Aaliyah Amos<\/a> was originally published to Word In Black on February 13, 2026. <\/p>\n A short, rhyming kindergarten verse that ended with a simple \u201cI love you,\u201d was Kelvin \u201cKJ\u201d Marshall\u2019s first step into poetry. Fifteen years later, Marshall, now 22, understands how that same art form is something deeper: a way to grieve, process and heal \u2014\u00a0both personally and within the broader Black community.<\/p>\n Now a community health worker from Newark, New Jersey, Marshall blends his work in the community with his love of poetry. His self-published book \u201cDella\u2019s Gospel,\u201d written after the death of his aunt, explores faith, loss, and the emotional weight many Black families experience when navigating systemic stress.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Racial Healing in Black America \u2014\u00a0What the Data Tells Us<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPoetry has given me an outlet to explore different emotions, but it\u2019s also given me a chance to connect with others,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Across the country poets like Marshall are turning verse into a tool for racial healing \u2014 creating space for reflection, storytelling, and collective understanding. Through community programs, workshops, and open mics, poetry is helping people better understand their lived racial experiences, challenge harmful racial narratives, and build connections across generations.<\/p>\n For Marshall, that work begins by focusing on themes such as social determinants of health, youth development and faith-based experiences. These\u00a0issues typically stem from questions that arise in his mind as he reflects on the communities he serves.\u00a0<\/p>\n As he shares his work with other artists at workshops and open mics, Marshall says he has \u201cthe privilege of being a student in the game, so I\u2019m able to constantly learn.\u201d<\/p>\n The Role of the Poet Laureate<\/p>\n Across the country, poet laureates are helping lead similar creative, healing-focused spaces that help communities process history and possibility together. Newark Poet Laureate, Margie \u201cMia X\u201d Johnson describes the role as \u201can ambassador for poetry and literacy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0Racial Healing Starts With Honest Conversations<\/a><\/p>\n For Johnson, racial healing means finding love despite narratives that have harmed people of color. She has written numerous poems about the Black experience, confronting history and restoring dignity to people whose lives have been distorted or erased.<\/p>\n \u201cPoetry is an effort to help us find and love ourselves inside of stories that have demeaned us \u2013 in a life that has hurt and broken us,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s also about wholeness, healing and confronting what we can\u2019t be silent about.\u201d<\/p>\n