(BLACK PR WIRE) "" WESTON – Just three years after NFL legend, Jason Taylor, partnered with actor and poet, Omari Hardwick, to create the bluapple poetry Network, the duo has teamed up again to empower and unite South Florida’s youth and community through the art of the spoken word. The latest result of this powerful collaboration is Louder Than a Bomb Florida Presented by Nova Southeastern University and the Miami Dolphins Foundation. The Jason Taylor Foundation will celebrate the launch of this friendly, team-based poetry competition with a “Kickoff Extravaganza” at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Paradise Live this Saturday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m.

This unique showcase will feature the amazing performers of SPEAK! (SPoken Expression Artistic Kreativity!), the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network’s collective of elite youth poets whose purpose is to entertain, educate, and motivate. Additionally, an all-star line-up of nationally recognized poets, The Asia Project, Jason Carney, Carlos Robson and Bertrand Boyd, who have appeared on the likes of HBO Def Poetry, BET and Verses & Flow, will each bring their talents to the Paradise Live stage.

Since founding the bluapple Poetry Network, the Jason Taylor Foundation has seen more than 40 Broward County schools activate this program, with more than 500 participants inspiring their respective communities with self-authored poetry. The Jason Taylor Foundation will launch Louder Than a Bomb Florida by bringing school-based poetry teams together from within its Network, as well as from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County schools and beyond, to showcase this art form through a friendly competition taking place in venues throughout Broward, while providing teens from diverse backgrounds a common vehicle for written and performance-based self-expression. The Foundation will build upon the powerful, sustainable LTAB model, founded in Chicago in 2001, and currently in eight sites across the country.

The apex of Louder Than a Bomb Florida is an 11-day festival from April 8 through April 18, 2015, featuring poetry bouts, workshops, exhibits, and ultimately the crowning of Florida’s top youth poetry team. The most critical component, however, is the year-round, meaningful instruction inside the classroom and after-school clubs, with teachers and teaching artists who create and facilitate a safe space for individual and collective expression.

In addition to Nova Southeastern University and the Miami Dolphins Foundation, other supporters of Louder Than a Bomb Florida include the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, UPS, Steven Douglas Associates, Pavlov’s Ring The Bell Management, Young Chicago Authors, the School Board of Broward County’s Department of Diversity, Prevention and Intervention, Minuteman Press of Hollywood, SuperFan Sports Fundraising, NBC-6, 99 JAMZ, Redline Media Group, Sonshine Communications, Target, Urban Word, Broward County Library, Broward 100, ArtServe, Miramar Cultural Trust, Inc., City of Sunrise and Cinema Paradiso.

Doors open for the Louder Than a Bomb Florida Kickoff Extravaganza at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 20 and the show begins at 7:00 p.m. Adult tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door while students with a valid ID can purchase tickets for $5 in advance or $8 at the door. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call (954) 424-0799 or visit www.tickets.completeticketsolutions.com/jtf. All proceeds directly benefit South Florida’s youth artists involved in Louder Than a Bomb Florida and the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network.