Charles “Sircharlesthepoet” Joseph Augustin was born in Haiti. In 2008, Charles moved to Brooklyn, NY, where he started his creative writing career. After 2 years of writing songs, Charles changed his focus to writing poetry. Charles is the author of “How I Escaped Engineering School”—a record of poems about switching his college major from mechanical engineering—and “Black and White”—a collection of poems about racial oppression in America. Charles doesn’t write about a specific topic—he writes about everything. So, on his online poetry platforms (@sircharlesthepoet), there is a great variation of poetry.
TAP Work:
“My experience at TAP was a great wealth of learning that was unlike any learning I’ve ever done—and I’ve spent about 17 years in a traditional learning environment without skipping a beat, so I know a thing or two about traditional ways of learning. With Katie, Karla, Jay, Andre, Amanda, Adriana and all the other mentors, we learned many things, including how to best connect with a student based on their type of intelligence, how to mix activism with the teaching being done in the classroom, and the importance of being consistent with what is done in a classroom. Additionally, in the process of learning these things, we’ve visited different places such as: The National Museum of the American Indian and the Dwyer Cultural Center. As I have said before, my experience at TAP was unlike anything I’ve experienced.”
Most Memorable TAP Moment:
“My most memorable TAP moment was our first community Salon. I loved that I got to witness everyone as they expressed their wonderful talents. It is truly a moment that I will never forget. At that salon, I realized how powerful, skilled and capable the individuals in the TAP program were. I felt more connected with them after that afternoon.”
Find out more about Charles here:
“Beauty Mark”
The Scars on our faces are what relates us,
Though different races.
A hill rises somewhere on your shining
Valley attracting everything light.
Nothing has been right but
That’s a story the snail rarely tells,
Although you’ve climbed.
Claimed victory at the peak—
Of which, we don’t often speak
The Marks on our faces are crafted,
Never draft-ed.
The artist leaving it to be, as it be
A sign of Beauty:
Scars turned around, truly.
