Many moms could relate to spoken word poet Hollie McNish's anthem for women who breastfeed in public -- a YouTube tour de force that went viral earlier this month.
But McNish writes poetry on a wide variety of other subjects, too -- and adult listeners aren't her only intended audience. The poet, who has a Master's degree in Development Studies, says she was recently inspired to create a series of videos for The Economist Educational Foundation because she has "quite a big issue with the fact that so much journalism doesn't seem to be very approachable for the young people I know and work with."
"I never read broadsheets or magazines like The Economist as a young person," she said in an email to HuffPost Parents, explaining that she wishes more young adults would look beyond "tabloids and trashy magazines":
I like reading The Economist (politics section) but none of my pupils would read it. I think my poetry is normally quite easy to understand, probably cos [sic] my mind is quite easy to understand -- I hope anyway. ... I didn't think "these poems are for young people" specifically, I just wrote what I wrote and then cut out any swearing etc. afterwards!
The four videos below, which cover everything from globalization to the meaning of fame, challenge kids to examine the things they take for granted -- and think independently about the people and events that play a role in their daily life. As such, they fit perfectly with the Economist Educational Foundation's mission to "help [young people] understand how important global issues affect their lives and empower them with the skills to do something about it."
McNish says two further videos from the series should be available soon. Enjoy!
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