There is a movement, growing strong and slick, at the corner of 16th Street and Mission, San Francisco in the heart of Boho. It is a drawing together of people, disenchanted with living life through modern technology, of bowing down before our cyber-idols, Facebook, Google, and YouTube. A group of people tired of being restrained by the steadily growing Big Brother environment in which we live.

However, instead of heading to the streets with weapons, they are using their voices to express their discontent. They are using the street corners of San Francisco from which tobmake their voices heard and the group is growing monthly. There is no entry requirement for this club, no status or society-led standing; all that is needed is a love of poetry and the spoken word.

A Street Revolution Is Born

At the heart of this cultural revolution is Charlie Getter, himself a poet and founding member of Bart‘s Street Corner Poets. Getter started street corner Thursdays at a Mission café, but was quickly relocated to the streets, when the group arrived one night and the café was boarded up. Unwilling to let such a small thing get them down, they hit the streets performing at various locations, to uncaring and indifferent passer-bys. The group persevered, driven by some inner belief and love for their art and over the years, the group grew from a few stragglers to a regular attendance of around a hundred.

The Circle is God

From the beginning, the chalk circle has ruled the gatherings. To provide a small measure of order, Getter will draw a circle on the ground and this is the poets lowly platform from which to perform their work. Only one poet is allowed in the circle at a time and if more than one enters, the audience gets to decide who stays and who goes. Like children playing a game, they point fingers at the poet they don‘t wish to stay, ‘shooting’ him from his perch. The survivor then has the circle to have his say, the vanquished returning to the crowd to try his luck another time.

The Future is Spoken

The average age of the Street corner poets is twenty and their poems, spoken word, rants, raps, or grumbles cover every topic from politics to society to life in general and back again. Furthermore, proving how serious he is about his poetry and his growing tribe, Getter has produced a lit-mag, ‘16th and Mission’ and has worked towards a MFA.

There is a belief and a love of their art in this movement that shines through modern day woes and draws people from all walks of life to the corners of San Francisco. Maybe Getter and his gang of street poets may be just what we need to cut through the mediocrity and stagnation of 21st century life and lift us off our knees, towards something a little higher.