Carlton Johnson is a homeless man who sells the Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C. He’s also a poet.
Although Johnson began writing poetry when he was young, the poems he writes today reflect the things he sees and feels when he’s out on the streets. Sometimes he even recites poetry to his customers.
“I call it street slamming,” he said. “They’ll see what I see but they’ll hear what I’m feeling.”
In the first episode of “Look at This,” Brian Carome, Street Sense Media’s executive director, said a valuable resource the newspaper provides for its vendors is an opportunity for self-expression. Many vendors, like Johnson, do this by writing articles or poetry for the newspaper they sell.
This week’s episode of the “Look at This” podcast, Johnson and fellow vendors Ayub Abdul and Darlesha Joyner share their poetry and talk about the importance creative expression plays in their lives.
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