A group of young writers graduated from a poetry camp named for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s father.

The students participated in the Amiri Baraka Poetry Camp for the past four weeks. The camp works with the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, the H.U.B.B Center and several other organizations that work with underserved youth. The students are taught writing, poetry, black culture and critical thinking.

"Not only are they learning about poetry, they're learning literacy. They’re learning different genres of poetry so they're learning a lot. They learn how to express themselves in ways, they probably haven't expressed themselves before,” Mayor Baraka said.

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The camp is coordinated by Fayemi Shakur, a freelance writer, cultural critic and yoga teacher living in Newark.

Amiri Baraka was an actor, writer and poet who served as the second Poet Laureate of New Jersey from 2002 until the position was abolished in 2003. He died in 2014 at age 79.