Sometimes I am hard on San Francisco. Why? Is it the ubiquity of Giants caps and jackets that is responsible for my discomfort? Nah, orange and black are just as pretty to look at as Dodger blue and white. The thing that makes me like Bay Area folks is that we like our poetry real and raw and that is how we cooked it February 9th at a spot you may or may not be familiar with called Galeria de La Raza.
San Francisco becomes the site to do an event centering on the poetics of Southeast Los Angeles, particularly the Hub Cities known as the stretch between Vernon, Huntington Park, Bell Gardens, Bell, Maywood and Cudahy, mainly because two of the three from SELA now call the Bay home. Our job was to render these places for the folks that made it out to MPFS. One of the goals I have for this poetry of place series is to give people a chance to voice their critical observations of how space shapes our sense of self as well as how displacement and gentrification continues to produce anxieties about how we inhabit the neighborhoods we might have taken for granted. No judgment there intended when I say take for granted. It's just sometimes we are so accustomed to a way our neighborhood ought to function that we often only notice who and what is coming in versus who and what is leaving. I want to create a space where we can speak openly together in lieu of and addition to tapping into strange impulses like be the sole voice for a community as a way to protect our territories.
Anyway, I wanted to just take a minute to give the Bay Area its due justice for a wonderful night of place-oriented poetry. Does that make sense? It was the Poetry of Place of Southeast Los Angeles with some top to bottom from San Francisco and San Diego to remind us why California can be a maddening, magical and melancholic place for lovelorn Latina/os and messed up mestizo/as. Thanks to my poet friends that came through to read on a bill that complemented such a beautiful moonlit albeit freezing night in the Mission District.
Here we have Marc Pinate quieting and preparing the masses for a night of palabra. Marc performed several songs throughout the night. He used to sing for a San Jose band called Grito Serpentino. The man's voice is really pretty.
Vickie Vertiz is here, reading an excerpt of her novel in progress about two pre-teens living and learning in the big BG, Bell Gardens. Vickie is my co-conspirator for this event and she actually grew up right around the corner from me, near the corner of Loveland and Eastern. She lives in the city now and I didn't meet her until a few months ago at this Latino arts empowerment gathering in downtown Los Angeles. Vickie was the glitter glue that kept us all in touch and hope we can do this again!
We had a lot of great folks roll through to participate in the open mic portion of the Lunada's program. It was so great to finally see Lito Sandoval of Gay Latino performance ensemble of the late 90s and early 2000s, Latin Hustle fame do a piece that night. He is a fabulous writer and an engaging as all hell performer. Read more Lito and often!
Tomas Riley and Leticia Hernandez were two of the five features. The duo are poetry dreams come true. I have cut my teeth on their work and feel really special to have them in my and be a part of their family. They are responsible for statewide unity by bridging NoCal and SoCal together. Tomas as you and your mother knows used to be the heart of Taco Shop Poets and Leticia has curated the powerful and inspiring Pinta Tu Propio Mundo poetry of mujer feroz project now pushing almost ten years. Umm, anthology anyone?
Yosimar Reyes from San Jose, Califas came up during the open mic and did his piece on what does not make you conscious. I love it, so Bay Area. Young Yosi has a new book of work called For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly. Check out his truth spitting here.
Aida Salazar, homegrown in Maywood, Califas, was the last featured writer. She read the crushing tales of bones and panty thieves, home and obsession. It was a treat to read with her because she is amazing and not many in Los Angeles get to do it. I guess she's like a prose unicorn ya know? Aida was a major contributor to the art scene in Los Angeles, producing large events for the likes of Maldita Vecindad and Quetzal for our serious cultural consumption. She's also a performance artist and writer schooled serio pedo styles at Cal Arts and is currently writing a memoir on some very personal experiences about motherhood.
Trust that you'll see her, Vickie and I in Los Angeles telling a tale about other architectures of the Southeast.
It's so easy to get caught up in the beauty of another city especially when they have superior pupusas. But at the end of it all I was really happy to come home to my town and put my head on a familiar lap and pillow. Here's a pic I snapped on my way home from LAX. The poetry of place...coming to LOS ANGELES.
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