Living Poetry

Donovan Livingston is an award-winning educator, spoken word poet, and public speaker. In 2016, his Harvard Graduate School of Education convocation address “Lift Off” went viral, reaching over thirteen million views and prompting Hillary Clinton to praise, “It’s young graduates like [Livingston] who make it clear that America’s best days are still ahead.” Since his pivotal speech, Livingston has been featured on CNN, NPR, BBC, Good Morning America, and in news outlets across Europe, Australia, India, and South Africa. His convocation address was published as a book by Spiegel & Grau in 2017.
A believer in the enormous opportunities that education provides, Donovan Livingston inspires students, educators, and communities with his conviction that every child has the right to “lift off” and achieve their dreams. Drawing on personal experiences as well as scholarship, Livingston examines the role of culture, hip-hop and spoken word poetry in student experiences in higher and postsecondary education. More specifically, Dr. Livingston is interested in understanding how poetics – rooted in Black lyrical and oral traditions – serve as a catalyst for student success and systemic change in colleges and universities. Livingston’s areas of expertise include educational leadership, critical hip-hop pedagogy, and hip-hop-based qualitative research methodologies. In his role at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Livingston manages the design, implementation, and evaluation of the university’s new general education course requirement for all first-year students. With a dual appointment in the Department of Music, Dr. Livingston also teaches courses on hip-hop history, culture, and composition.
Dr. Livingston has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, master’s degrees from Columbia University and Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations. Currently, he serves as Teaching Assistant Professor and Director of College Thriving at UNC Chapel Hill. He is also the 2025-2026 Chapel Hill Poet Laureate.

Amal Kassir is Syrian American poet, the Poet Laureate of Hillsborough North Carolina, a writing teacher, and most recently, a mother.
Born and raised in Denver Colorado to an Arab father and an American mother. She has performed & taught in 13 countries and cities all over the world, including the United Nations in Geneva.
With her background in community programming and social psychology she pioneered a youth mental wellness program in Denver, CO. She is also the founder of House of Amal, a global writing community that sits at the intersection of faith, introspection and literature.
Her first book, Scud Missile Blues, came out 2024 with 100% of proceeds to Syrian children affected by war.
She lives on a farm with her husband and baby daughter, raising a garden, animals, and a family in this wild world.