Author Agrees To Tone Down Controversial Poetry Book
NEW YORK (CBS 2) – The poet behind a controversial urban poetry book has agreed to tone down the content before it is taught in city schools again.
Tylibah Washington is rewriting her "Streets in Poem Form" book to make it more age appropriate.
Parents in Brooklyn complained that the book's sexually explicit comments about everyone from drug dealers to presidents weren't appropriate for fifth graders.
While she agreed to change it, Washington still believes in the original message.
"The message that I convey in these poems is that you can transcend anything in life that you want to do. You're capable of being able to do it," Washington said.
Washington is the goddaughter of City Councilman Charles Barron.
