Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices

The top ten teams compete in the semi-finals. Ft. Lauderdale struggles in round one. Jasmine's team performs a poem about her. The top two teams, Rochester and New York City make it to the finals. Chicago and Hawaii also progress to the finals. Because of a time penalty issue, Philadelphia is also allowed into the finals. less

The teams arrive at the quarterfinals. Ericka works on her poem about her food addiction and her father. The New York team works on Britney's presentation. San Francisco team members run into trouble remembering their lines. The San Francisco team doesn't make the semi-finals. Philadelphia and Hawaii also perform and move onto the semi-finals. New York also qualifies for the semi-finals. Ft. Lauderdale makes it to the semi-finals. Ann Arbor receives an honorable mention. less

On the Ft. Lauderdale team, Jasmine remains in the hospital with her sickle cell, but teammate visits and she keeps writing. John is frustrated because he gets demoted to alternate due to his bipolar. He misses Jasmine. The coaches discuss whether they should take John instead of Jasmine due to her health. On the San Francisco team, Ericka works on her poem about food addiction and abuse. The Hawaiian team has an overnight party to work on their poems. They work on a poem honoring Hawaii and their language. The New York team has a mock exercise in singling out the weak links. The coaches decide to keep the whole team and focus on working on Britney's confidence. less