Mobile enters 2026 with a new poet laureate, and it is a figure who has loomed large on the city’s spoken-word scene for 20 years: Alex Lofton II, aka Huggy Bear da Poet.
Huggy Bear da Poet, poet laureate. There’s a note of whimsy there, but please recognize that Lofton is approaching his two-year term with serious intent. As the Mobile Council put it in the December announcement of his selection:
Alex Lofton’s lifelong connection to Mobile is woven through generations. Raised between the heart of Mobile, the neighborhoods of Prichard, and the red-clay hills of Citronelle, his earliest performances took place inside his grandmother’s country church. Lofton refined his voice and passion for the arts at John L. Leflore Magnet High School, where he developed the integrity, purpose, and creative drive that have shaped his career.
For more than 20 years, Huggy Bear has authored, performed, educated, and advocated through the art of poetry. His mission has remained constant: to use poems as a bridge — uniting people across racial, social, and political divides, empowering young people, and strengthening the fabric of the community.
Or as Lofton himself put it in a social media post after that announcement:
I relocated back to Mobile after living abroad and separating from the military in 2005. When I would introduce myself as a poet, people stared as if I just told them I was Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. As time passed, my works and deeds spoke for me, and the introductions were unnecessary.
The city poet laureate program, supported by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, was announced in late 2023; University of South Alabama professor Charlotte Pence, then the director of USA’s Stokes Center for Creative Writing, was the first person selected to hold the title.
The job comes with some built-in duties. But as Lofton makes clear, he’s coming in with some goals he sees as obligations.
“The biggest is something that I’ve been doing for the last 20 years,” he said. “I want to go into these schools. I want to do these poetry workshops to educate these kids, man. … Because I talk to a lot of educators and they say writing skills, the writing scores, are horrible. The reading scores are horrible. All they want to do is rap.”
Now, Lawson is not anti-rap. He thinks the portion of it that dominates the pop charts – and thus what kids hear the most of – lacks balance. Too much sex, drugs, and violence; too little thought-provoking wordplay and insight into real life. But he thinks the genre can be a powerful teaching tool that can present classic literary concepts in contemporary form: Alliteration, double entendre, onomatopoeia.
“I want to take what we do in our poetry workshop and what they do in hip-hop,” he said. “And I want to blend it so they can recognize what they’re doing. These kids, you know, it’s like they know they’re doing it, but they don’t know what they’re doing.”
“When they see it on standard test, they don’t know what ‘hyperbole’ means, but they know what ‘cap’ means,” he said. “You know what I’m saying? So, if we make that correlation [so that] when they see the word hyperbole, they ask you who’s capping? Who’s exaggerating?”
Beyond general education, Lofton said he’s keenly interested in working with children who have been wards of the state. That comes from working years ago with a Birmingham-based nonprofit called Real Life Poets, which has used poetry to give a voice, and hope, to at-risk children in bleak circumstances.
Lofton said that state agencies may provide a last refuge for some children without families or advocates. But when that support ends, they have few resources.
“It’s rough out here, man, for anybody. Let alone just an 18-year-old who just got booted out the system because he turned 18,” he said. “So I want to work with these kids. I want to kind of give them some skills that help them deal with some of the trauma, the obvious trauma they dealt with just being in the position they’re in and also just kind of help them learn some life lessons that’s going to help them.”
Thirdly, he wants to share his spotlight with the young talents he finds along the way, giving them the opportunity to show larger audiences what they can do.
“Adults don’t get to see these youth in a positive light,” he said. “So, I want to take our young rising stars, and I want to give them a platform. I want to put them on the stage and I’m going to say, hey, this is what our creativity is about.”
“That’s the beauty of poetry,” he said. “It’s so inclusive. You don’t need a special set of skills or training. All you need is imagination and a pen and a paper or phone these days and everybody’s allowed. It’s a big party.
“I really think it can be a vehicle to bring people together, of all races and cultures,” he said.
Poetry has a unique way of encapsulating life experience, be it a moment or an emotion or a sense of self. And as much benefit as that may have for the poet, it also offers the reader an intimate window into other lives.
“And that’s what I want to teach these kids,” Lofton said. “I want to say, if you want to make rap music, can what you’re saying in your rap make sense to stand independently? Think about what you’re saying, you know, the message that you’re relaying. And a lot of times they can’t hear exactly what they’re saying because it’s all about the beat.”
It’s easy to contrast Pence and Lofton and say one represents the traditional, academic side of poetry and the other represents the street-level, hip-hop-driven side. Lofton is quick to caution that it’s not so simple. Mobile is the size town where there’s been plenty of interaction and crossover. He said he counts former state poet laureate Sue Walker as a friend and colleague.
“Probably 15, 16, maybe almost 20 years ago, she’s invited me out to Satori Coffee, her readings out there back in the day,” he said. “And she also wrote me in her syllabus, and I will actually go out to South Alabama and teach her Ph.D. class. Because she saw the beauty in the art and it didn’t matter if you had an MFA or Ph.D. in writing … Dope art is dope art, whether you’re self-taught or went to Juilliard.”
“What I love about Mobile, and I don’t know if it’s necessarily unique, but I don’t really see it often, the academics and the slam or street poets, they all kind of intertwine,” he said. “They kind of mingle and mesh, and that’s something that’s rare, you know, and it seems like it’s always been that way.”
Lofton said he respects the work Pence did in her term and looks forward to building on it.
That means we can expect to see a lot of him in the two years to come, as he carries on one of Mobile’s newest traditions. After a career as a prominent voice within the city, he’s got his chance to be the voice of the city.
“Dr. Pence was a joy to work with as Mobile’s first poet laureate,” said Jason Johnson, director of communications for the city of Mobile. “She did a wonderful job representing the city and bringing poetry to public events across Mobile. We appreciate all that she did to make poetry more accessible and to highlight the writings of Mobilians. We wish her the very best and look forward to working with Mr. Lofton as well.”
“One of the best things about Mobile is the many voices that have shaped its story for more than 320 years,” said Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis. “We are grateful that the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Mobile Arts Council are continuing this program, which will help a new generation find its voice. I am confident that Mr. Lofton will do an excellent job sharing the power and expression of poetry with our city, and particularly with young Mobilians.”
For updates on Lofton’s activities, follow Huggy Bear da Poet on Facebook.