John Legend helped students write moving poems about what it means to be a man
Last week, students at Centennial High School in Columbus, Ohio, attended an hourlong assembly they'll never forget.
The lucky high schoolers got to watch John Legend play his hit songs "Love Me Now" and "All of Me" in their own gym. The unique performance was part of a program called Axe Senior Orientation, which brought Legend and the poet Carlos Andrés Gómez to the school to mentor three students and help them develop artistic pieces that challenge what it means to be masculine.
The pilot program was the brainchild of Axe, the personal care line once best known for its macho advertising. But since the launch of its Find Your Magic campaign last year, the company has worked to tear down harmful stereotypes about what it means to be a man -- and it wants to increasingly take that conversation to young people.
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So with the help of Centennial High School administrators, Axe paired Legend and Gómez with three students: Deiontay Bowie, Aria Brent, and Kitano Watkins. At the assembly, the three students shared their personal commitment to create and foster "inclusive masculinity" amongst their peers and then performed poems they developed with their famous mentors.
Each of them composed powerful pieces that addressed myths and misconceptions about masculinity, urging fellow students to embrace themselves despite pressure to be someone else's version of a man.
If you're feeling pessimistic about the stereotypes that keep boys and men trapped in outdated gender roles, these poems will make you hopeful for the future.
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Rebecca Ruiz is a Senior Reporter at Mashable. She frequently covers mental health, digital culture, and technology. Her areas of expertise include suicide prevention, screen use and mental health, parenting, youth well-being, and meditation and mindfulness. Rebecca's experience prior to Mashable includes working as a staff writer, reporter, and editor at NBC News Digital and as a staff writer at Forbes. Rebecca has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a masters degree from U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
