“The devil whispered in my ear: ‘You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.’ Today, I whispered in the devil’s ear: ‘I am the storm!’ Confession. Remember, I am and you are the storm. Heroes, not all of us need a cape.”
~ An excerpt from Charles’ spoken word poem, titled “Voice Boxing with Heroes”
Charles “CP Maze” Perry Jr. is a scholar, former Marine, husband, proud father of five, and poet from Houston, Texas. Charles’ passion for poetry compelled him to pursue a degree in poetry and creative writing at the University of Houston. One of his most vivid memories of performing a poem is when he decided to read a poem to a room full of his fellow Marine Corp soldiers. Charles was unsure about how his poem would be received, but to his surprise his Marine brothers erupted in applause.
Charles is also a fervent advocate for families in the education system who face adversity. He advocates on behalf of those who are enduring financial struggles and are unable to afford basic necessities. Within his own family, he has twin sons, Charles and Cole (10), who are autistic for whom he is constantly pursuing supportive services such as speech pathology. What makes Charles unique is that he uses his gift of poetry to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves – giving a voice to the voiceless. Currently, Charles is a student at the University of Houston pursuing his bachelor’s degree in creative writing and poetry. With his rankings of 3rd & 4th in the world for performance poetry at Poetry Slam, Inc., Charles is determined to leave our world better than we were given it.
Read the blog post from program associate Mike White on rwjf.org to learn more about how RWJF is prioritizing and responding to parent and caregiver voices.
Watch Charles’ full spoken word poem here:
