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Young poets compete in regional qualifying events in New York, Ft. Lauderdale and San Francisco for the chance to represent their city at the Brave New Voices 2008 National Slam Championship. Among those vying for places in the six-person poetry teams: B. Yung, a Brooklyn street teen with fire in my chest; Britney, a fearless competitor with cerebral palsy and huge ambitions; Mike, a crowd-pleasing audience favorite; Jasmine, a team leader coping with sickle-cell disease; and Ericka, a novice who compensates for her tough upbringing through writing and over-eating.