The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council in partnership with The Poet Life Announces the Launch of their national “You Don’t Want That Smoke” campaign.

{San Francisco, CA} - The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) is excited to announce the launch of the “You Don’t Want That Smoke” poetry campaign.

Each year 45,000 African Americans die from tobacco-induced diseases. “The only way for the tobacco industry cartel to continue to rake in their billions in profits is to recruit and addict new replacement smokers. Those replacement smokers are our children, we must disrupt their pipeline of death and disease that runs through our communities” said AATCLC Co-Chair Carol McGruder. The focus of the AATCLC is to inform and influence the direction of commercial tobacco control as it affects the lives of African American and African immigrant communities. The AATCLC works at the intersection of social injustice, health equity, and public health policy.

Joining forces with The Poet Life, an organization of professional poets, keynote speakers, event coordinators, and facilitators working to create unique and innovative experiences, the AATCLC is launching this campaign that will use poetry and spoken word to touch hearts and minds as they inform and educate communities across the country.

The “You Don’t Want That Smoke” anti-tobacco poetry campaign will be an interactive experience featuring an online poetry contest and blog series. Starting January 19, 2023, poets from across the country can compete for a chance to win cash prizes and more by visiting the AATCLC website www.savingblacklives.org and registering their anti-tobacco inspired poetry performance videos.

Poets will also have an opportunity to showcase their written word skills during the “You Don’t Want That Smoke” blog series. The AATCLC and The Poet life believe the world is rediscovering the power of poetry, and together they will engage, educate, and connect communities across the country until the day that no more African Americans lose their lives to tobacco induced diseases.