A young black male raised without a father, expelled for assaulting his teacher in fourth grade finds poetry mentors who help cultivate his gift for words and turn him into a beacon of hope in his community. It's the kind of adversity-overcoming story that fuels the inspirations of Hollywood filmmakers. It is also the real-life story of Sacramento Area Youth Speaks poet/mentor Andre Tillman, otherwise known as Dre-T. "I would say ages six through eight were my troubled years," Tillman says, recounting the incident that got him expelled from grade school, "I remember knowing it wasn’t my teachers fault." It was right around this time that a young, frustrated Andre Tillman would discover wh

After several years of planning, Vibe, the new urban youth lounge, will host a party at 5 p.m. on Saturday to celebrate its grand opening. Located at 1725 K St., the center will provide a place for teens to do their homework, socialize and be safe, said Catherine Pentoney, spokeswoman and former chair of Vibe’s Board of Directors. Since 2007, the Vibe Foundation has been raising money to open its youth lounge. The nonprofit organization was founded by Julian Nagler and David Schenirer. “Vibe was a concept that came out of a need in Sacramento for the youth to have productive things to do,” said Nagler, one of Vibe’s co-founders. Nagler said he believes places like the Boys and Girls Clu

 Community was the name of the game at the South Sacramento games on Saturday. Residents played a variety of games, all focused on building cooperation without competition. We made the games so that nobody’s a winner and nobody’s a loser,” volunteer Charles Chenauot said. The games  included capture the flag, don’t spill the beans and Simon Says, but with a twist. Simon and Simone used the same concept as Simon Says, but without winners or losers. Instead, when Simon told a player she was out, she could join Simone’s game and keep playing. “We have a lot of community games where people can come together and play without having to be competitive,” volunteer Staphonya Cabrellin said.

A youth mentor for a local educational program said he used poetry to see himself through a difficult past. Coon, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, was walking home when he was shot three times. One bullet hit his spine and ricocheted into his lung. "I was hanging out with somebody who really wasn't my friend, and I pretty much took on their beef, their issues, and I was guilty by association," he said. "I've never been in a gang or anything like that. You don't have to be (involved) in a gang for something bad to happen to you." Asking to be referred to only by his last name (and stage name), Coon channeled the pain from his wounds and started taking his writing and poetry seriously

This fall the Crocker Art Museum will host a daylong festival of contemporary films by female directors exploring the roles of Japanese and Japanese American women. Held to coincide with the Crocker’s exhibit of contemporary ceramics by Japanese women, Soaring Voices, the festival will include four film screenings at the Guild Theater, located at 2828 35th Street, on Saturday, October 17. Local filmmakers, artists and scholars will introduce and offer insight on each film. “Soaring Voices tells the story of Japanese women breaking into the male-only ceramic world, and these films expand on that story by looking at the position of women in Japanese society as a whole,” commented Christian