Julia Dinsmore: Poetically Bridging Class Divides

Podcast Interview with Julia Dinsmore By sharing her first-hand account of dealing with poverty, Julia Dinsmore teaches her audience about socio-economic inequality while empowering people to be part of the solution. She invites listeners to think critically about the actual and imagined divides that alienate people experiencing poverty in society; in particular, she speaks about the weaponization of the sacred knowledge shared through "oral culture,” which she contrasts with "print culture,” and the dehumanization that can result from hoarding too much wealth. Julia Dinsmore is an author, poet, singer-songwriter, and poverty abolitionist who is best known for her poem, “My Name is Not Those People.” Julia uses creative voice and storytelling to talk about the one thing we too often ignore – class and poverty in America. From church basements to the halls of congress, Julia has presented in her edu-performance style, calling those who listen to join the work of creating a just world for those experiencing poverty and marginalization. She is a teacher for students in high schools and ivy leagues. She has taught students at Stanford University, Brown, Duke Divinity, Swarthmore, and Amherst College, among others. She is most well known for her classes in neighborhood “porch sitting” which she calls an alternative to service-learning. Interviewers: Lara Nagle, Community-Based Learning Projects Manager, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance, and Steven T. Licardi, LMSW, a spoken word poet, mental health advocate, and therapist with New River Valley Community Services Presented in partnership with Virginia Tech University Libraries, Center for Humanities at Virginia Tech, and the Office for Inclusion and Diversity Advancing the Human Condition Symposium at Virginia Tech.