Chinaka Hodge: An Ideal of Expression

To call Chinaka Hodge an advocate for expression would be a huge understatement. Hodge, who receives her B.A. today from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, is a poet, playwright, spoken word artist, and radio personality, and was a member of the Berkeley/ Oakland team that won the National Youth Poetry Slam. She has performed in concert with Lauryn Hill and her second book, For Girls With Hips, was just released and is available at www.youthspeaks.org.

But Hodge’s penchant for expression isn’t limited to her own talents. For years now the Oakland, CA native has worked to inspire it in others as well. Among her numerous volunteer efforts, she has been mentor and board member for Youth Speaks, a literary arts education center in San Francisco that encourages teens to express themselves through creative writing and slam poetry. This summer she will go to work full time for the non-profit, helping create new theatre works with a hip-hop aesthetic. She’ll also be responsible for putting together a national college tour for these performances.

Hodge published her first book, based on her spoken word performances, Know These Limbs, in fall 2002. She was a recipient of Dave Eggers’ 826 Valencia young author scholarship, and her work has been featured in Teen People Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oakland Tribune, and Scholastic Magazine, and on PBS, NPR, C-Span, and HBO’s Def Poetry Jam.

If it sounds like Hodge might be a bit overloaded, have no fear. She prides herself on managing to stay organized while satisfying all her passions.

“I’m a good multi-tasker,” says Hodge. “For all the things I do, they each kind of feed back to my writing or my organizing.”

Many at Gallatin who have watched her at work over four years can attest to this.

“I can think of no better representative of the energy, creativity, intelligence, and talent that characterizes Gallatin and the NYU student body than Chinaka,” said Ali Mirsepassi, acting dean of the Gallatin School.