Inspiration Motivation Entertainment

Have you heard of Julian “Juelz” Davenport -- an inspirational poet from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania? Well I encourage you to allow him show your students the ​Power of Words​.
Through his trials and triumphs allow him to guide you through his path from his pen pal days as a child, to his penitentiary days as a young adult and to his Pennsylvania pen days which created the positive writer, author and inspirational poet he has become today.
His book series​ ​IN MY EYES ​is a great way to celebrate the power of words. It covers topics that are rarely taught in the classroom with poems such as ​MY SOCIETY ​which captures the ill’s and very truth that a lot of students/children are living today.
Do you want to have your students inspired to write their truth? Well, Juelz offers two sessions one 45 minute presentation introducing your students to how words have made a major impact in his life. He breaks his story down into three Pen’s which are symbolic of a time writing has made a major impact in his life. They go as follows.
● Pen Pal​ covers how writing found Juelz at a young age.
● Penitentiary Pen​ covers how writing guided Juelz through incarceration
● Pennsylvania Pen​ ​“Keystone pen” ​covers how Juelz took trials and turned
them into triumph by finding his voice through poetry and writing.
As a follow up to that presentation Juelz also offers a writing workshop centered around the theme ​MY WORDS HAVE POWER w​ hich give the student the opportunity to work with Juelz to create poems tailored to the students' voice. Juelz works with the student to come up with poems and posters to reflect the theme. In the past Juelz has been known to bring inspiration to students you would rarely hear from resulting in them reading poems or statements they have written and most importantly expressing themselves. Juelz encourages students to feel comfortable sharing their stories through writing.

IN MY EYES URBAN POETRY SERIES
Created by Author Julian “Juelz” Davenport

See a 6’2” approximately 200lb black male running south on Vernon Street in Harrisburg’s south Allison Hill area overlooking the Pennsylvania State Capitol? Well, Vernon Street is the street where I wrote my book, In My Eyes -- and it’s the same street where I grew up as a child.
Hello, my name is Julian Davenport. Good friends call me “Juelz”. Sometimes I wear a hoodie. Sometimes my pants sag. I prefer my music loud, profane, and with lots of bass. I have a certified skill at rolling medically-approved homemade “cigarettes” in 60 seconds or less, but ironically no higher education degree.
Gifted with a natural love of writing, I was never a great student. You might say I would easily fit the statistically archetypical by-product of a struggling single Mom and a disengaged, frequently incarcerated father. An at-risk kid, yes -- but a reluctant caricature, largely left by institutions and circumstances to be raised more by the loveless code of the street than tony choice schools, with no privileged nepotistic opportunities or appropriately refined etiquette to grease the way.
Convinced by veteran street mentors, a self-maximizing choice against poverty and squalor made the allure of fast cash irresistible. Unfortunately, those activities were not appreciated by The State. My successful entrepreneurial career as an independent South American chemical distributor for needy self-medicators was abruptly cut short and exchanged for frugal free room and board at a secure, gated community of like minds.
Prison is a bad, bad place. The Pen can, however, provide useful time for seriously deep reflection. On one humid hot summer night, long after my release, I leaned back shirtless on the cool porch steps at home to consider the wild but not uncommon confluence of contributors that led to my revolving door of crime and punishment, prosperity and despair. While watching winged moths do their dizzying death dance in urine-colored sodium vapor glare, it occured to me that others might benefit from my life’s laborious lessons learned. I decided to compile both past poetry and write fresh works about living in the trap as a cathartic attempt to heal my emotional wounds. “In My Eyes” born on the cold concrete steps of Vernon street -- a proud Pennsylvania original.