Art of Change/ Arte del Cambio Spring 2025.vI i2

rArtedelCambio

Art of Change

“Art changes people and people change the world.”

-Herbert lui

The Art of Change/El Arte del Cambio Spring 2025

Contributors

Indigo Abreu

Kendall Adams

Poppy Alger-Spruce

Cesar Amaro

Hatteras Bergel

Sequoia Castaneda

Emiliano Cervantes-Aquino

Miguel Cervantes-Uriarte

Jac Commisso

Maximo Dena

Skye Gilory

James Guffey

James Hopkins

Chopra Nguyen

Adrian Ocampo

Nai’a Parker

Oliver Peet

Jaslen Pichardo

Riley Purcell

Jonathan Quezada

Felicia Rodriguez

Ana Rubio Ruiz

Asher Thomas

Yonal Wickramarachchi

Project Co-Designers + Teachers

Lisa Griffin

Rose Willson

Grant Castillo

Editor In Chief

Indigo Abreu

Section Editors

Jac Commisso

James Guffey

Chopra Nguyen

Melu Sibanda

Valentino Meza

Creative Directors

Julie Poon

Shelby Mendia

Copyright © 2025 by High Tech High Students

rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

English Poems Artist Interviews

Indigo Abreu

Kendall Adams

Poppy Alger-Spruce

Cesar Amaro

Hattie Bergel

Sequoia Castaneda

Emiliano Cervantes-Aquino

Miguel Cervantes-Uriarte

Jac Commisso

Maximo Dena

Skye Gilory

James Guffey

James Hopkins Chopra Nguyen

Adrian Ocampo

Nai’a Parker

Oliver Peet

Jaslene Pichardo

Riley Purcell

Jonathan Quezada

Felicia Rodriguez

Ana Rubio Ruiz

Asher Thomas

Yonal Wickramarachchi

Amon

Maria Patrice Amon

Beatriz Badillo

France-Luce Benson

Celeste Byers

Paola Capó-García

Karla Cordero

James McNary

Verde

Editor’s Note

DearReaders,

As tenth grade students of High Tech High, we united to create this magazine. Inside you will find writing in Spanish and English, from student poems and interviews featuring variousartists,includingtheaterartists,poets,musicians,and muralists. Rather than working separately by class, we collaboratedasateamtoproduceallofthearticlespresented here.

One of my favorite experiences while working on this magazine was collabrating with my peers to organize and enhance the articles appearance ensuringitlookedpolished andtidy!

Indigo Abreu Editor In Chief

EL ARTE DE CAMBIO THE ART OF CHANGE

Kadence Hendrickson

This semester, we’ve worked closely with art forms such as theatre, poetry, music, and mural art; we learned how we can use those art forms to help express and make change in our community. At the start of this project, we spent a lot of time exploring our own identities using poetry as a way to express that.

We studied the farm labor movement in California, where Luis Valdez (father of Chicano theatre) used theatre to create short plays called “actos”. Workers performed on flatbed trucks in the fields, using satire as a way to convince others to join the strike, Valdez started working alongside Larry Itliong, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and other leaders in the fight for social change, alongside the messages, “Isang Bagsak” which means “If one falls, we all fall” in Tagalog and “Si, se puede” which means “Yes, we can!” in Spanish.

Inspired by Valdez’s approach, we decided to focus on our community and began creating our own actos based on issues that teenagers face every day such as: mental health, racism, academic pressure, and more. Our goal is to spark change in our community by using these performances to shine a light on the struggles many young people may experience.

We worked daily on our plays and often did readings with the whole class, seeking critiques on how we can make these ten-minute actos as realistic as can be. This process also served as a huge learning experience, building our communication skills and working together as a team. We saw several plays and stage readings in person, allowing us to learn how the process of producing theatre works. We also explored how other artists have used poetry, mural art, and music to speak up about current local and world problems.

We collaborated to interview different local artists, learning about their motivations and what inspired them to pursue art, and what message they want to share with the world. We met the artists, either on a call or in person, and it was an incredibly amazing opportunity. Hearing their stories gave us new perspectives on how art can be used to uplift communities and speak up against injustices. In the final phase of our project, we were given the chance to reflect on what we can do to help our community and how we can use our own voices and art to help create change.

As the year comes to an end, our team and editors have worked closely together to compile everything we’ve done this past semester, creating our Arte del Cambio/Art of Change magazine. Every piece has been thoughtfully written and organized, reflecting growth and creativity that has been developed throughout our time together. We wish that this magazine inspires you to stand with us and be the change you wish to see in the world.

Vínculoeterno

IndigoAbreu

Dosfantasmascaminanunoallado

delotro,unomuerto,otrovivo

Enlassombrasdelosrecuerdos

Dondeprosperanlaangustiaylarisa

NacíenOkinawa,unatierralejana

AhoraenSanDiego,dondeseponeelsol

Ningúnlugarsesientecomounhogar,solounabrazofugaz

Enlainmensidaddelavida,buscomilugar

Micomunidadesmifamiliayamigos

Uncírculoamorosodondeelapoyonuncatermina

Apreciandoanuestrasmascotas,tantoperroscomogatos

Compartimosnuestrasalegrías,nuestrasrisas,nuestrascharlas

Soyelfantasmaconelpelocastañoesponjoso

Pálidocomounfantasma,conirasoporto

Sinembargo,elamorllenamicorazónporaquellosaquienesaprecio

Enlasprofundidadesdemiespíritu,miverdadseaclara

Mimejoramigo,elsegundofantasmaaquí

Conelpelocastañooscuroamedidaqueseacerca lanocheDulceyamistosa,unaluzenlapenumbra

Juntosvagamos,disipandolaperdición

Aunqueelmundopuedenoconocerme,estoyfuerte enestevínculodedosespíritus,donderealmentepertenezcoa enamoradodemimejoramigomuerto,unaconexióntanrara quejuntosviajamos,atravésdelaangustiayelcuidado

My name is Kendall Adams

I am African American and Hispanic

I’m a student, employee, classmate, daughter, granddaughter, and friend

It amazes me how everyone has different perspectives and ideas of a person

Those titles I hold are all different versions of myself, some drastically different yet all the same, true.

However if you were to ask me about myself I’d say…

I am from the sounds of waves crashing against rocks and the traditional California Poppy.

I am from the cars honking nearby and Petco Park’s events.

I am from the sun shining and occasionally rain falling.

I am from gift opening on Christmas Eve.

I am from independent people like the Nava’s, Zepeda’s and the Adams’.

I am from my dads love for bears and my moms love for elephants.

From “Don’t what me!” and “What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”

I have a big, bright gummy smile

I’m from church on Sundays and family lunch afterwards.

I'm from Balboa Naval Hospital.

I’m from no name (a family dish with rice, potatoes, ground beef with a tortilla on the side)

As well as Mexican wedding cookies.

From the time in which my shy quiet sister supposedly won in a fight in which everyone would have thought she’d lose.

I am from the loud music on the weekend mornings to let everyone know it was time to clean the house.

I’m from Vicks “the cure to everything” in my grandma's eyes.

I have a big heart with a huge love for Coca Cola and ice cream yet, I prefer savory over sweets.

I’m a loud and energetic person.

I am from Indio (Palm Springs) and Lehi (Utah)

But when the weather is just the right warmth, the city lights shine, the waves crash against the rocks, and the Magic 92.5 $1000 minute begins to play I’m reminded that I’m from the splendiferous San Diego, California.

La Vida Que Tengo

Soy Poppy

Soy adoptada de Asia

Soy la hija de James Alger y Robin Spruce

Soy la hermana pequeña de Cecilia Alger-Spruce

Tengo la suerte de que mi familia me haya elegido

¿Fue suerte o destino tener la vida que tengo ahora?

Soy estudiante de HTH

Soy compañera de equipo de tenis

Soy parte de la comunidad de Ocean Beach

¿Fue suerte o destino tener la vida que tengo ahora?

Soy pequeña como un ratón

Soy tan ciega como un bebé conejito

¿Fue suerte o destino de tener la vida que tengo ahora?

Soy estudiosa como búho

Soy una pared de ladrillo, terca como un toro

¿Fue suerte o destino de tener la vida que tengo ahora?

Siempre buscaré ayudar a los desafortunados

Siempre me esforzaré por ser el mejor

Siempre tendré tu espalda

Siempre estaré agradecida

Siempre esperaré estar conectado con mis amigos

Siempre esperaré no fallar

Siempre amaré animales

Siempre rechazaré la falta de respeto

Siempre tendré familia en mi corazón

Siempre buscaré tu personalidad no la tuya dinero

¿Fue suerte o destino de tener la vida que tengo ahora?

SOYYOPOEMA

SoyCesar

SoydeSandiego

Soyhijodedospadresamorosos.

deSoyunhermanodecuatrohijos

Elocéanometraepaz

Meencantairalaplayaconmisamigos,OceanBeachyPacificBeachsonmisfavoritas.

SoypartedelacomunidaddeestudiantesdeHighTechHigh.

MeencantavisitarTijuanayprobarlaincreíblecomida

Elocéanometraepaz

Soyalto soymoreno

Soyobservador

Soybondadoso

Elocéanometraepaz

MesientocomoencasaviendoelatardecerenlaplayadelPacífico.

Escucholasolasrompiendocontralaarena.

Quieroiralaplayamásamenudocuandollegueelverano.

Veoalagentehaciendoactividadesydisfrutandodelaplaya.

Elocéanometraepaz

Esperoconvertirmeenchefalgúndíaycocinarplatoselegantes.

Deseoalgúndíatenermipropiorestaurante

Elocéanometraepaz

Meimportamifamilia

Túnopuedescomprarmirespeto

Elocéanometraepaz

OrchidsandBougainvillea

Iamfrom,paintbrushesandwatercolorpaint. Fromplayingcluewithmyfamily Iamfromacozy,warm,andlovinghome. Fromolivetreesandsleepinginpapasanchairs Iamfromorchids,andbougainvillea.

Iamfromfamilytriviaandeatingdinneraroundthetabletogether, fromreadingbeforebed.

IamfromwakingupearlyonChristmasmorning

Iamfromintellectualcuriosity,andatightknitfamily.

FrommemoriesofwatchingJudgeJudywithmygrandmaandgrandpa

FromalwaysbeingtoldIcouldbeanythingIwantedtobeandbeing limitlesslycreative.

Iamfromwakinguptothesmellandsoundsofacoffeemaker,from mygrandpasittingdownwithanentireboxofdarkchocolatemolasses chipsandfinishingthemall.

I’mfromlisteningtostoriesaboutmygrandmaandgrandpa's experiencestravellingtheworld.

FromSunsetCliffssunsets

I'mfrommymomstraditionsshepickedupbeinginthePeaceCorps, like,WestAfricanpeanutstew,andmydad’smom’straditionof pistachiocakeonbirthdays.

Iamfromrainydays

Fromaprotectivebrother,andquietmorningsbakinginthekitchen withmymom.

Frommyaunt’sfloralperfumeandthesmellofmymom’slotion waftingthroughourhouse

Iamfromahousefulloffamilyphotosandgoodmemories.

Yo Soy

Soy Sequoia

Soy de San Diego

Soy hijo de Jyothi y Dave

Soy el Único

Soy parte de la comunidad de San Diego

Tengo que empujar a través de

Soy muy bueno memorizado ciertos

Soy muy activo

Soy tipo de amigable

Estoy nervioso

Tengo que empujar a través de

SI mi futuro serã bueno

Yo viajar Internacionalmente

Me preocupo por el trabajo escolar

Me gusta hacer surf

Tengo que empujar a través de

Yo entiendo que necesito trabajar para lograr mis objectivos

Un trabajo que disfrantare

Tengo que empujar a través de

Me encanta mi familia

Yo rechazo el odio hacia mi

Me importa ser yo mismo

Tu no puedes comprar mi la vida

Tengo que empujar a través de

Sequoia Castaneda

SOYYO

Emiliano Cedeno-Aquino

YosoyEmiliano

SoydeSanDiego

MifamiliavienedeMexico

SoyhijodeIványNora

HermanomayordeJimena

YosoyEmiliano

YosoyMexicano

SoyestudiantedeHighTechHigh

Megustaestarconamigos

Megustaestarconfamilia

Megustaestarsolo

Tengovariosintereses

Yoquieroserunprofessor

Quierovivirenunacabaña

Megustaelbosque

Megustaverpeliculas

Megustajugarconamigos

Megustaelsilencio

Megustamuchascosas

Yosoyasi

Poema Español English Poem

Miguel Cervantes-Uriarte

Soy Miguel.

Me enorgullece ser de San Diego, nacido en hermosas playas, con un clima maravilloso y atracciones llenas de vida.

Soy el hijo predilecto de Alicia y Simón, el hermano especial de Yuliana, Josylin y Diana, el menor de una familia llena de amor y apoyo. Soy Miguel.

Mi casa está cerca del centro. Escucho la vida de la ciudad, desde las bocinas de los autos hasta el lejano silbido del tren. Me deleito en las calles cultas de mi comunidad.

En esta gran tierra de la libertad, soy Miguel.

Con mi cabello castaño y mi herencia mexicana, sonrío con felicidad y alegría. Soy un espíritu extrovertido y lleno de humor, siempre comiendo y hablando. Deseo ser ingeniero aeroespacial. Mis sueños se alimentan de un deseo de felicidad y aventura. Valoro pasar tiempo con mis amigos y familiares, pero la paciencia no es mi fuerte. No me gusta esperar en largas filas. Mi familia lo es todo para mí, y recuerda, no puedes compararme con nadie más. Soy único. saltando, corriendo, Soy Miguel.

I am Miguel, I am from San Diego, I am from the beautiful beaches, mild climate, and selected attractions, I am the son of Alicia, I am the son of Simon, I am the brother of Yuliana, Josylin, And Dana,

I am the youngest of my family, I’m Miguel

I am from the house near downtown, From the cars honking, To the horn of the train, I am from the cultured streets, In the land of the free, In the Paderes area, I’m Miguel I am brown haired

I am Mexican, I am happy and joyful, I am outgoing and silly, I jump, I run, I eat, I speak, I hope to be an aerospace engineer, I desire happiness, I love riding my bike, I don’t like waiting in long lines, My family is important to me, You can't compare me to anyone else because I’m my own person, I’m Miguel.

Soy Jac

Soy de Estados Unidos

Soy hijo de Jeffery y Bethany

Soy el único

Soy de Estados Unidos

Soy de Estados Unidos

Soy de HTH

Soy americano

Soy de Estados Unidos

Soy blanco

Soy tamaño

Soy positivo

Soy un cachorro que ve a su dueño llegar a casa del trabajo, ¡tan feliz estoy!

Soy de Estados Unidos

Yo cumbro montañas tan fácilmente como una cabra de montaña

Yo viajo el mundo

Trabajo tan duro como la mula que ara los campos en la escuela

Yo pienso profundamente

Soy de Estados Unidos

Yo quiero ser feliz

Yo quiero viajar

Soy de Estados Unidos

Me encanta viajar

Me importa mi familia

Disfruto de la compañía de mis amigos

Me esfuerzo por ser lo mejor que puedo

Soy de Estados Unidos

Iamfromhuevosconjamonandmangojuicefrom Calimax.Wakingupinthemorningsmellingmymom's breakfastfoodandgoingtothekitchentohelpmake breakfast.

Iamfrommymom’stwo-storyhouse,withbeigewallsand bigwindows,ithasasmallpatiowithbeautifulbigflowers

Iamfrommydad'sapartment,madefromsmallblocksbut weshareabigtimeinthatsmallplace-beingintheliving roomisnice.

Iamfromthebigcircularyellowsunflower,thatsunflower youcanfindoutsidemymom’shouse.

IamfromChristmas,beingwithmyfamily,andspending timewithmygrandmotherandsister.Iamfrommy grandparents'warmandrelaxinghouseandalwayssmell foodliketamalesandpavo.

Iamfromattendingchurchandthemovieswithmy family.

Fromthevoiceofmydadtellingmehe'sproudofmeand mymomtellingmeshelovesme.

I'mfromtheUnitedStatesbutIamalsopartofMexico becauseofmypastfamily.AllofthemlivedinMexicoand theypreparedspecialfood,likearrozconlecheorbirria.

Fromthecrazystoriesaboutmygrandfatherwhotaught meandtoldmeaboutaliensandhisadventureswhenhe wasyounger,andthelessonsthatmymomalwaystaught mewithlove.

Iamfromthosespecialroadtripswhenwehadagreat timeasafamilyandallmyfamilycametogetherbecause ofmybirthday.

Iamfromthebigtreeswherewehadalotoftime together,allmyfamilyinmyuncle'sbackyardandenjoying everymoment.

SoyYo Skye Gilroy

SoySkyeGilroy

SoydeAix-en-provence

SoyhijadeLeeyAlysonGilroy

SoyhermanadeZoeGilroy

Soylamayor

SoyJudio

SoyFrances

Soyunvelocistadepista

YoTengopelocastañointensoqueseenredencomounacaja delucesnavidenas

Soytanatléticacomounjaguar mehandichoquesoytanhumildecomouncordero

Soyunaescaladorapersistente,decididoanotenerfin

Megustaayudaralagente

Yoescuchoalagente

megustahablarconlagente

megustaapoyaralagente

YoQuierotenerexito

YoQuieroseguirmejorandomishabilidades

Meencantaviajar

Yorechazolaignoranciaútil

Meimportanmisprimos

Túnopuedescomprarmiconfianza

s o y J a

Soy James

Soy de San Diego

Soy hijo de Becky

Soy el único

Soy James

Soy parte de la comunidad de Julian

Soy parte de la comunidad de San Diego

Soy parte de la comunidad de música

Soy James

Soy una persona de pelo castaño oscuro y ojos marrones

Soy una persona alegre y extrovertida pero tengo mis momentos de ansiedad como cualquier otra persona

Soy James

Yo intento vivir mi vida al máximo y completamente como yo mismo

Yo hago todo lo posible por ser un amigo divertido y cariñoso

Yo creo arte para que lo disfrute todo el mundo

Yo hago todo lo posible por escuchar y ayudar cuando puedo

Soy James

Yo quiero mejorar el mundo con arte y acción

Yo quiero irradiar positividad con más fuerza de la que brilla el sol en la Antártida

Soy James

Me encanta ver cómo la gente puede sacar lo mejor de cualquier situación como ocho mil millones de cromatóforos en el camaleón que es la humanidad

Yo rechazo la idea de que la gente deba ocultar su verdadero yo

Me importa que la gente viva su vida con alegría

Tú no puedes comprar mi alma

s james guffey

Soy James

SOY YO POEMA James Hopkins

Soy James

Soy de San Diego

Soy hijo de Shelley y DJ

Soy hermano de Grant

Soy nieto de Nana, Pa

Bill, Pop, Grammy, Grampee and Abuela Ann

Soy el hermano mayor

Soy James

Soy de HTH

Soy del gimnasio de escalada

Soy de Estados Unidos

Soy James

Soy blanco como una nube

Soy tan flaca que mis piernas parecen dos tallos de bambú

Soy James

Soy simpático

Soy amable

Soy James

Yo escalo

Yo estudio

Yo salgo con mi familia

Yo salgo a cenar con mi familia

Soy James

Yo espero aprender a conducir

Yo espero salir del país algún día de vacaciones

Soy James

Me encanta escalar

Yo rechazo el racismo

Me importa mi familia

Tú no puedes comprar mi amistad

Soy James

SoyChopra

SoydeCalifornia

SoyhijodeThienyKD

SoyhermanodeAlex,Bella,yDharma

Soytododemi

SoyAsiáticoAmericano

SoyDungeons&Dragons

SoypartedelaHolyCows

Soytododemi

Soydelgado

Soybien

Soytododemi

Yoleocomounnarradordeaudiolibros

Yojuegocomoesetíoenunareuniónfamiliarcuandosacasloswiisports

Yoestudiocomouncientíficoalbordedeungrandescubrimiento

Yoduermocomounoso

Soytododemi

Yoesperoconseguiruntrabajoestable

Yoesperotenerunacasa

Soytododemi

Meencantaanime

Yorechazolasmalasvibras

Meimportanbuenasrelaciones

Tunopuedescomprarmirespeto

Soytododemi

SOYTODO DEMI CHOPRA NGUYEN

Soy Yo Adrian

Ocampo

Soy Adrian

Soy de San Diego

Soy hijo de Maira y Israel

Soyel mediano

Soy Chicano

Soy Barrio Logan

Soy Chicano

Soy moreno

Soy Hispano

Soy relajado

Soy agradecido

Me pregunto qué haré cuando sea mayor

Yo ogio he odio que no deberías dar por sentado la escuela

Yo quiero estar orgulloso de mi mismo

Me siento que el tiempo va rápido

Yo sueño ser rico

Yo trato de ser lo mejor que puedo

Me encanta mi familia

Yo rechazo el drogas

Me importa el baloncesto es importante para mi

Tú no puedes comprar mi felicidad

Soy Yo Nai’a

SoyNai’a

SoyDe San Diego

Soyhija de Rae Parker

Soyhermana de Katrell

Nai’a Parker

Soynieta de abuela Pam an abuela D

Soyla menor

Soyde San Diego

Soyalta

Soymorena

Estoyfeliz

Estoy tonta

Me pregunto cómo será la vida cuando

sea mayor

Quiero una buenavida

Me siento feliz

Me gusta jugarpistaycampo

Me encanta mi familia

Yo rechazo odiar

Tu no puedes comprarmi feliz

EPICCHILDHOOD OliverPeet

‘Iamfromlittletoycars,fromhot-wheelsandmatchbox. Asmalltwobedroomapartmentbutprettyspacious. Hardwoodfloors.

FrompeasoupwithhamaroundChristmastime. IamfromthehoneynutCheeriosand2%fatmilk. IamfromthetoygoblinsthatwouldtakemytoysifI didn'tcleanthemup.

I’mfromtakinggrahamcrackersonerrandstothestore. I'mfrompeanutbutterandapplesandtechdecks. Fromthemicrowavepizzapocketsandchocolatechip cookies.

Iamfromthehotchocolatepacketsthatyoumicrowave. AndeatingcrunchyDoritosandicecreamwhilebinge watchingmovies.

Iamfromstayingupallnightandplayingvideogames withfriendsatsleepoverswhileeatingjunkfood. WatchingscarymovieswhenIwastooyoung. I'mfromgoingtothebeachandenjoyingthesunandthe waves.

Fromgettingpushedintowavesonasurfboardbymy dadandgettingthefeelingofcatchingawave. I'mfromplayingbasketballwithmydadatthe laundromatonthecrunchyrockygravel. FromplayinglittleukulelebehindmyheadlikeJimi Hendrix.

Havingsockfightswithmydadinthelivingroom. I'mfromhavingNerfbattleswithmyfriendsat sleepovers.

Wrestlingmyfriendsinthegrass.

I’mfromanepic,adventurousandfunchildhood.

Soy Yo

Soy Jaslene Pichardo

Soy de San Diego

Jaslene Pichardo

Soy hija de Evelyn Reza y Emmanuel Avalos

Soy hermana de Alejandro y Junior

Soy la mediana

Soy Jaslene

Soy Méxicana

Soy artista

Soy de Chula Vista

Soy Jaslene

Yo tengo ojos café

Yo tengo pelo moreno

Soy creativa

Soy curiosa

Soy Jaslene

Yo pintar

Yo dibujar

Yo crear

Yo escuchar música

Soy Jaslene

Yo quiero ser un pintor famoso

Yo quiero viajar el mundo

Soy Jaslene

Me encanta pintar

Yo rechazo las acuarelas

Me importa mi familia

Tu no puedes comprar mi creatividad

Soy Jaslene

RILEY PURCELL

YosoyRiley

SoydeHighTechHigh

CuyocorazónestáenSouthParkSanDiego

SoylahijadeKathyyKieranPurcell

Ysoyunapersonacuyamayoríadefamilianoesgenealógica

YosoyRileyP

SoyStPatrickclassedeconfirmación

Soytodosmisamigos

Yalmuerzosinterminablesenlagalería

YosoyRileyRoo

Soylaniñaquesoloquierehablarespañolconsumadrina Concortinasdepelorubiaymanosdeltamañodeunabarbie Quepuedehacercualquiercosaenlagotadeunsombrero

Soycreativa

Soyestudiosa

Soyorgullosa

YoSoyRileyMichikoPurcell

Soyagradecidaatodaslaspersonasquesonmirazónpara estarmejor

Yalasmanosquemeayudancuandomecaigo

YoSoy

Jonathan Quezada

Soy Jonathan

Soy de San Diego

Soy hijo de Marlene y Enrike

Soy hermano de Gianna

Soy nieto de Lupe y Alonso

Soy el mayor

Soy Jona

Soy de mi familia

Soy de la cumunidad de videojuegos

Soy de Tijuana

Soy Jona

Soy chaparro

Soy fuerte

Soy divertido

Soy alegre

Soy tímido

Soy humilde

Soy amigable

Soy Jona

Yo quiero éxito

Yo sueño en grande

Me encanta la musica

Soy Jona

Me encanta cantar

Yo rechazo las malas influencias

Me importan mi familia y amigos

Tu no puedes comprar mi cultura

Soy yo

Soy Felicia

Soy de San Diego

Soy hija de Josue y Alyssa

Soy Hermana de Josue Jr y Sophie

Soy nieta de Abuela Imelda, Abuelo Tono y Abuela

Andrea, Abuelo Noe

Soy la Mediana

Soy Felicia

Soy parte de HTH

Soy parte de San Diego

Soy parte de Shelltown

Soy Felicia

Soy baja

Soy Morena

Soy irritante

Soy cansada

Soy Felicia

Yointento

Yollorar

Yobromear

Yohago

SoyFelicia

Yodecesolaplaya

Yoesperounasvacaciones

Meencantadormir

Yorechazoelodio

Meimportapormifamilia

Tunopuedescomparmifelicidad

soyFelicia

Felicia Rodriguez

SOY YO

Ana Teresina Rubio Ruiz

SOY ANA TERESINA RUBIO RUIZ

SOY DE SAN DIEGO

SOY DE UNA FAMILIA UNIDA Y GRANDE

SOY HIJA DE MARIA Y RAFAEL

SOY HERMANA DE CAROLINA, MARIA, Y SOFIA

SOY NIETA DE MARIA TERESA

SOY LA HIJA MÁS CHICA

YO SOY ORGULLOSA DE MI IDENTIDAD

SOY DEL SOL QUE BRILLA SOBRE LAS PLAYAS DE SAN DIEGO

SOY DE UN AMBIENTE DE PURAS MUJERES DE MENTE FUERTE

SOY DE UN HOGAR TRANQUILO

YO SOY ORGULLOSA DE MI IDENTIDAD

YO SIEMPRE SOY FIRME MENTE

SOY SEGURA DE YO MISMA

SOY CHAPARRA PERO DE CARÁCTER FUERTE

SOY RUBIA CON OJOS GRANDES Y PROFUNDOS

YO SOY ORGULLOSA DE MI IDENTIDAD

ME PREGUNTO CÓMO ES POSIBLE QUE HAYA GENTE QUE NO

TENGA CLARA SUS PRIORIDADES

YO SE QUE UN DIA VOY A CUMPLIR TODAS MIS METAS

YO QUIERO REGRESAR A MIS PAPAS TODO LO QUE ME HAN DADO

YO CREO EN KARMA Y BUENAS INTENCIONES

YO SOY ORGULLOSA DE MI IDENTIDAD

ME ENCANTA AYUDAR A OTRA GENTE

YO RECHAZO A LA GENTE QUE NO ME AYUDA CRECER COMO

PERSONA Y PROGRESAR

ME IMPORTA MI FAMILIA Y LO QUE PIENSAN DE MI

TU NO PUEDES COMPRAR MI CONFIANZA

YO ESTOY ORGULLOSA DE MI IDENTIDAD.

Yonal Wickramarachchi

POEMA

Soy Yonal

Soy de san diego

Soy el más alto de mi familia

Soy el mayor

Soy Yonal

Soy de san diego

Soy de tang soo do

soy de HTH

Soy Yonal

Soy alto como el edificio del Empire State

Soy marrón

Soy superado

Soy divertido

Soy Yonal

Quiero una vida cómoda

Me siento cansado

Me preocupa que mis calificaciones se me mueran

Me gusta hacer varios alimentos

Soy Yonal

Sueño hacer una vida cómoda para mí

trato de hacer mi mejor

me encanta la comida deliciosa que rechazo bullying

Mi familia es importante para mí

No puedes comprar mi amistad

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: AN INTERVIEW WITH MC AMON

Miguel Cervantes, KK Hendrickson, James Hopkins, Owen Lee, Imani Robinson

INTRODUCTION

¿Poder para quién? " ¡Poder para la gente! " Entrevistamos a Amon el MC con una banda local llamada Neighborhood Kids. Hablan y protestan sobre temas actuales del mundo. También hacen música sobre justicia social y ambiental. Verás la visión personal de Amon sobre la música que él y su grupo hacen en esta entrevista.

EARLY LIFE

Amon always loved to make music. He said, “ I think even in high school, I told my friends, I want to be a music artist.” When he got older, he wanted to be a music artist or rapper. Even though this seemed like a challenge, he still thought it was achievable. He said, “ I love the genre, and I love being able to talk about something and inspire people. So all that made me just want to go into this realm where you can inspire people through music.”

Growing up, he lived all around San Diego, such as in Vista, Riverside County, and Poway. He now lives in North Park. He said, “ I feel like all those different places help me see a different perspective of people.” Even though he has mostly lived in San Diego County, he has moved a lot. There are many successful creative people coming from San Diego. San Diego is huge, around 1.4 million people live here. The unique influence of San Diego on people is super interesting.

IT STARTED WITH ONE SONG

We were curious to learn about when he started creating music and what inspired him. Amon shared, “ I started creating music in high school, and I just needed an outlet. So, I was always into hip-hop and rap, and just one day, I figured out that I could write and it made me just want to keep doing it. I had a love for it and that's what started me to make music was around high school time. My favorite song that I've written is ”Bitty Bomb” with The Neighborhood Kids.” It’s not surprising to learn that, when he was younger, he was into hip-hop and rap. One day, he wrote a song and liked it, so he continued to write songs while he was in high school. We think that it’s so cool that his musical career started just because he wanted to make just one song. We wonder if he ever thought that he would become a popular and successful artist when he first started out.

CURRENT ISSUES, THEMES, & VALUES

A lot of the Neighborhood Kids' songs are released with the goal of equality and how we as people need to come together. A lot of their songs mention their values and what they stand for in the world. In the song “The World is Worth Saving,” they talk about oppression and unity. Amon sings:

Everybody is made equal, and we should all figure out a way to live on this planet together Nobody's bigger than the Earth

The Earth is our Mother, the Earth is what we should protect

And we should stop fighting each other and start helping each other

I think that's the message for everybody: there's really unity. We need to get along and help our community and help each other Overall, “ The World Is Worth Saving” by Neighborhood Kids serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of unity, equality, and environmental responsibility. Through their lyrics and message, the band emphasizes that humanity must come together, support one another, and prioritize the well-being of the planet. Their music not only raises awareness of social and environmental issues but also inspires listeners to take action in creating a more compassionate and sustainable world.

FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH MUSIC

Amon was always into music and envisioned himself being a rapper. He first started experimenting with making music during his years in high school. He said he just started writing one day and found that he was actually good at it, and he enjoyed it. He sees making music as an outlet, and he’s passionate about the songs he writes.

THE BEGINNING OF THEIR CAREER

The Neighborhood Kids started this group in 2020 and got their group name from just playing with the kids in their neighborhood. He said their main drive to start and continue this career is that they love the aspect of making music and sharing it with others. Amon said he never really took any music engineering classes and just worked on perfecting his craft by going to open mics and working with other people’s music. He said a lot of the time he’ll “ just mess around rap with my friends or just show my songs to people and just see what they think.” You can tell that he has a passion for music and a love for this kind of art.

MODERN INFLUENCES

As far as current influences go, he said, “ Some of my biggest influences are Kendrick Lamar, System of a Down, Immortal Technique Wu Tang, Gangstar, Rage Against the Machine Atmosphere and a bunch of other artists.”

He also said that he is influenced by underground artists with a message. These artists influenced him to write instrumentals. He said, “ I decided to write to my favorite artist instrumentals, and then it kind of just clicked.” His message to others is “ once you figure out things that you could do, if you just keep practicing it, you'll just get better at it.”

RECENT TOURS

Amon and the Neighborhood Kids are currently touring around the West Coast, with their next show being in Los Angeles on April 4, 2025. On the website bandsintown.com, we were able to find their schedule and ticket prices. There was a way to request tours near where you live. we think that it’s pretty interesting that you can send your love and support by requesting for the Neighborhood Kids to perform nearby. For a concert, these tickets were pretty inexpensive, meaning that if you’re interested, you should take a look into their music. If you like it, there’s nothing wrong with giving your support and watching them perform live. The Neighborhood Kids have been touring mainly in California, but they have had a few in Seattle, WA, and San Francisco, CA, too.

ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS

Some advice Amon gave us was that you can do anything with practice and repetition and not to underestimate yourself. He said, “ A lot of it is just practice and repetition. Like anything in life, the more you practice it, the better you will become. And music is no different."

Another piece of advice or motivation Amon gave that I liked was when he said, “ All you need is experience with a lot of things in life, and y'all could really do anything. And I just want to let you know whether you want to be a musician, videographer, a teacher, a scientist, an astronaut, I don't know, anything that you want to do, y'all could do it.” When he said that it made us feel inspired and uplifted in what we want to do with our lives.

The Medium for Empathy: Theatre Artist Maria Patrice Amon

Multi-Hyphenate Theater Artist

We had the opportunity to interview Dr. Maria Patrice Amon, theatre artist and professor at California State University, San Marcos. Though her title is officially Dr. Maria Patrice Amon, she encouraged us to call her Patrice in theconversation.

The title of Theatre Artist is a complex term, allowing her to take on multiple roles like producing, writing, directing, and more. She explained, “I am a multi-hyphenate theater artist. So, in theater, we often take on many different roles. The definition of the roles is usuallyobvious.Butfolkscanoftendomultiple things. It's hard to do them all at once. You often switch or shift between the two.” When she is a producer, she arranges for funding, hires necessary talents, and finds spaces for the play. As a dramaturg, she helps shape and expand the worlds and characters of plays for the writers. She has so much experience in so many different areas that allows her to help othersbringtheirideastolife

.

Over the years, Patrice has been involved with and produced theatre in many diverse communities . This could be working with Latinx creators to make new play festivals and plays. It could be empowering and share the experiences of women with plays like “Hoops” and “On Her Shoulders We Stand”. She is constantly trying to give opportunities to underrepresented artists so that they can share their experiences and broaden people’s perspectivesthroughtheatre.

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Power Politics and Baja Blast

In our interview with Patrice, we asked the question, “How do you seek to inspire others throughyourwork”?Andsherespondedbysaying that, of course, plays could be used for one specific purpose, but she tries to put political discourse/messages into her plays. The political message is justified by the fact that every interaction is somewhat political and thus involves negotiation of power. She used the example of purchasing a Baja Blast, saying, “That's politics, whetherornotyouhavethemoneytopayforyour Baja Blast, how you treat the person who's selling you your Baja Blast. It's all about negotiations of power. Do I have more power because I have the money and I'm buying it from you? Do you have morepowerbecauseyouaretheoneincontrolof my Baja Blast? All of it is a negotiation of power.” Patrice tries to use the space in her plays to explorethesenegotiationsofpower.

She says that theater is the best method of exploring negotiations of power and storytelling due to the fact that it connects people. She said that when people in a theater gettogether,theirheartbeatssyncup.Syncing helpsyoudevelopabetterconnectionwiththe humans around you. Due to this, she thinks thattheaterisoneofthebestenvironmentsto express meaning through art. I think that all of our group members took lots of different things from this part of the interview. It really characterized how we thought about her work, showing that theatre can be used as a tool to express and convey experiences and emotions thatwouldn’tusuallybeseen.

Transferable Skills in Education

We asked Patrice if she thought her degrees helped her in her current field of work, and she answered with “Absolutely”. In her studies before looking into theatre, Patrice shared that political science studies and law school gave her a good understanding of power dynamics and how things get put together, which in turn added context to the stories she told. Her law degree also helped her understand how to get funding, whom they can hire, and how to make contracts. Her knowledge from law school was able to enhance what she could bring to the world of theatre.

According to Patrice, the more diverse an education you get, the more it will serve you in the future. If you want to be a project manager, learning to cook can teach you to manage tasks, prioritize steps, and adapt to unexpected changes (like running out of an ingredient). If you want to work in sales, participating in team sports can give you an understanding of goal-setting and teamwork. If you wanted to be a programmer, you could play video games to improve your hand-eye coordination. Patrice believes that her varied education, though not directly connected to theatre, gave her valuable knowledge that was useful in her current journey.

First Experiences WithTheatre

Patrice stated that she adored theater growing up and enjoyed going to plays of all kinds. She likedthestorytellingstructure,however,shehad major stage fright and felt that she was a bad actor.

Patrice would go to undergrad for a bachelor's degree in political science to attend law school. After studying for several years, practicing law for her career didn’t sound fun to her; instead, shechosetoattendgraduateschoolforaPhDin theater.Atfirst,shewroteabouttheatreartists, andovertime,shestudiedtobeadirector.

Theater is a Mirror

We discussed how her background in political science and law has influenced her work as a theater artist. When we askedhowtheaterisatooltochangeor educate the way people think, she said, “It's the mirror we hold up to society”. That quote has been used for many years, she said, and went on to explain, “Theater has been a tool for people to speak to other people or to tell the historiesandsortofshapesociety.”That stood out to me because we were wonderinghowitwasused.Shetoldus about its Greek History and how the Greeksusedtheater,andtheyuseditas anexampleofhowtopraisegodsandto be a good citizen. This was interesting becausetheyusedtheaterasamodelof what to do and how to be a “Model Citizen”.

Politics and Theater

Asweweretalkingabouthercareer,weaskedhowtoday inthesocialcontextofthismoment,howdoyouorother theater artists use theater to contradict some of the negative messages being spread about immigrants? She responded, “ I fundamentally believe theater is a tool for empathy.It'sawayforustoteacheachotherhowtosee eachother.”Whenshesaidthat,itmademethinkmaybe wecanusetheatertotalkaboutourcurrentsituation.As we interviewed her more she started talking about this new project they are working on. A new project on immigration, with a staged reading directed by Patrice and TuYo Theater. While they are making that project, it seems to me hard and important to talk about immigration right now. This play, “Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center,” is about young children who were temporarily relocated here from an ICE detention center in Texas in 2020. This is true, even though the story in the play is fiction. It seems powerful to use theatre to address or relook at things that happen today orrecently,intermsofpowerandimmigration,especially.

Connecting Big Ideas

We enjoyed talking with Dr. Maria Patrice Amon and learning about her journey as a theater artist. We were inspired by the ways she uses her art form to express politics through theater and show the audience how to treat one another. Many of us were surprised by the way she connects political science and philosophy to theatre, and appreciate that she shared those ideas with us. Some groupmates shared that their favorite parts of the interview included her connecting the importance of theatre to Greek society and talking about her latest project. One member wrote: Patrice is a visionary theater artist who understands that true education transcends mere information; it is about training the mind to think critically and ask meaningful questions. She articulates this belief with the insight that her family experienced fueling the narratives she creates. To learn more about Patrice, please visit her website at https://www.mariapatriceamon.com or follow her on Instagram using @mariapatriceamon at https://www.instagram.com/mariapatriceamon/?hl=en

Historia en Murales: Una Entrevista con la Muralista Berenice Badillo

MIGUEL LUA, FRAN CIS CO MENDOZA, CARLA MONZON, JONATHAN QUEZADA

Intro

Una gran artista y mujer cuyo sus principios son de admirar. Berenice Badillo es una artista que usa su arte para centrar la atención en ciertos problemas de su comunidad. Una persona admirable que no tolera lo que no se debe.

Enfrentando Problemas Siendo una Mujer Mexicana

Cuando Berenice inició su sueño de ser artista de murales la mayoría de los artistas eran hombres y no miraban a Berenice con potencial. Ahí fue donde Berenice se dijo nosotras las mujeres tambien somos chingonas y se puso las pilas y les enseñó a todo quien la dudaron que ella sí puede ser artista , igual muchos de los artistas eran Americanos o en otras palabras Gringos siendo mujer ya era una duda pero siendo Mexicana era una duda mas grande Berenice no se dio por vencida y les demostró que una mujer Mexicana es lo más chingon.

Experiencia como mujer siendo artista

Berenice Badillo tuvo una experiencia muy diferente a los otros artistas que la rodeaban. Además de ser artista es mujer por lo cual ha sido tratada injustamente en su vida. Cuando ella empezó a crear arte buscaba algún tipo de mentor que la apoyará en su carrera. Desafortunadamente había personas que no creían en su potencial por ser mujer ya que en ese tiempo la mayoría de los artistas eran hombres. Berenice era muy persistente y de igual manera consiguió un mentor que la apoyará con su arte. En fin Berenice hizo su primera obra de arte de manera que todos la vieran en un lienzo grande. Esta obra es tan buena que la gente pensaba que era de su maestro, pero obviamente el crédito era de ella. Como mujer Berenice nos representa en su arte muchas de sus obras nos demuestran como el centro de atención y este tipo de representación es muy importante para las mujeres del mundo especialmente las que son de origen Mexicano o Latino en general ya que nuestra gente es representada en las obras de arte de Berenice.

Un Mural de las Mujeres en el Parque Chicano

Berenice Badillo restauró recientemente un mural del Parque Chicano que pintó en 1997, subiendo setenta pies de altura, convirtiéndolo en el mural más grande del parque hecho por mujeres, para mujeres y sobre mujeres. El mural, que tiene imágenes de mujeres en situaciones reales chicanas, así como imágenes oníricas que se extienden hacia los ciclos de la luna, es hermoso y poderoso. Cuando el mural se hizo originalmente, alguien lo destrozó, lo que fue profundamente perturbador e impactante.

Dos Culturas Divididas

Berenice se identifica como Mexicana - Americana cuando mis compañeros y yo entrevistamos a Berenice le hicimos preguntas sobre el porque hace arte que representa la raza mexicana y no a los Americanos, ella nos dijo que nosotros mexicanos pasamos por más problemas por ejemplo el racismo mientras los Americanos no se preocupan por nada.

El Arte y Sus Beneficios Terapéuticos

Aparte de ser una gran artista, Berenice también es psicóloga y nos contó de los beneficios del arte para la salud mental. El arte es una forma de terapia, al crear arte ciertas emociones son liberadas por lo tanto es una forma de terapia. Un gran ejemplo que nos compartió es la frustración que sintió al ver que no era entendida o comprendida por la gente de su alrededor. Este tipo de emociones la llevaron a liberarlas en el momento de crear su arte. Una manera de expresarse como tal pero a través de sus creaciones artísticas. Como psicóloga ella comprende la manera que las emociones afectan el cuerpo y por lo tanto sabe tratarlas, por lo cual una manera efectiva es a través del arte.

Vida Temprana y Experiencias

La rebelión y las opiniones de son dos grandes cosas cuando se trata de la vida temprana de Badillo. Sus primeros trabajos en el Parque Chicano, aunque ya no están allí, todavía deja su mancha en esas paredes. Como mujer en un mundo centrado en el hombre cuando se trataba de pintar y expresarse a través del arte, no era realmente aceptada. Desde cuando tenía 14 años hasta alrededor de 23 años, serían ella y tal vez algunos de sus amigos de la escuela los que la seguirán mientras su imaginación florecía. A sus 20 años buscaba ayuda para ser parte de algo más grande hasta que viajó a Los Ángeles, donde conoció al fallecido Michael Schnor. Schnorr vivía en San Diego. Michael Schnor era un pintor que tenía dificultades muy similares para ser aceptado, similar a Berenice. Es mejor conocido por el extenso trabajo que había realizado pintando y reconstruyendo murales más antiguos. Las inspiraciones de Berenice fueron principalmente del arte en México, nos explicó lo diferente que era el uso de los colores, cómo las cosas se sentían más vibrantes en comparación con los estados. También había mencionado sus experiencias en Michoacán cuando era niña.

Disfrutamos hablando con Berenice Badillo y aprendiendo sobre su viaje como artista. Nos inspiramos en las formas en que usa su forma de arte para hablar por las mujeres y el grupo LGBTQ+ en su arte

A muchas de nosotras nos sorprendió su fuerte voluntad por la reacción violenta en su tiempo en el Parque Chicano. Algunos compañeros de grupo compartieron que sus partes favoritas de la entrevista fueron cuando ella expresó sus opiniones y su forma de ser. Para saber más sobre Berenice Badillo puedes seguirla en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbadillos/?hl=en

CENTERING HAITI AND

EMPATHY

THROUGH THEATER:

AN INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT

FRANCE-LUCE BENSON

AWARD-WINNING

PLAYWRIGHT

SKYE GILROY

MELUSI SIBANDA ASHER THOMAS

TOBY HAMILTON

NAI’A PARKER

INTRODUCTION TO FRANCE-LUCE BENSON

¿Alguna vez te has preguntado cómo es ser un dramaturgo? ¿O cuánto impacto puede tener en tu audiencia?

Entreviamos a France-Luce Benson, un dramaturgo haitiano-estadounidense condecorado enfocado en inspirar el cambio y la empatía a través del teatro. France-Luce Benson experimentó problemas mientras crecía, principalmente en Miami, Florida. Estos problemas eran la xenofobia hacia la comunidad haitiana, que se notaba en las escuelas y los barrios. Usted aprenderá acerca de sus experiencias a medida que crece a través de problemas y luego se convierte en una dramaturga galardonada.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a playwright? Or how much impact it can have on your audience?

We interviewed France-Luce Benson, a decorated Haitian-American playwright focused on inspiring change and empathy through theater.  France-Luce Benson experienced issues while growing up, mostly in Miami, Florida. These issues were xenophobia towards the Haitian community, which was noticed in schools and neighborhoods. You will learn about her experiences as she grows up through issues then becomes an award-winning playwright.

MOVING HOMES

As we began the interview with Professor Benson, we asked her about moving from one place to another. She shared, “I'm really excited to talk about this subject because displacement, acculturation, and assimilation are common themes in my work. This perhaps is due to the fact that I moved around so much at a very young age."

She shared, “I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire). We left when I was a baby. I think I wasn't even a year old when we left. So I don't remember it at all. From Zaire, we moved to Canada, then Boston, then finally settled in Miami, Fl when I was seven years old. I was too young to remember much about Canada and Boston, so I consider Miami my hometown because it was basically where I grew up.” She didn't remember much since she was so young but it's crazy how many times she moved such large distances. We wonder how that affected her, and why she had to move so often.

INSPIRING HER CREATIVITY

France Luce had an interesting and unusual childhood, and we were curious about how that has formed her art. She liked this question, and said it was deep. “ I do feel really lucky that from a very young age my parents had me in dance classes and I did piano, and so I was exposed and encouraged to explore my creativity at a really young age.” We found it really interesting that her parents were so supportive of her explorations in the arts, leading her to dance at a semi-professional level and to dive into the world of theatre.

France-Luce Benson always had a passion for theater and playwriting at a young age. She tells us about how she attended a performing arts school in both her middle and high school years. Here she was able to explore theater and eventually find her love for the art. “My high school was performing arts and once I started doing theater, I never wanted to stop. I just loved it. and then I started writing plays in high school. I was kind of just exploring. I took my first playwriting class in high school. but it was in college when I started to get really serious about it. And it was just another extension of creating theater. I liked writing. I liked making up stories. I liked creating characters. and yeah, I never looked back. I just was like it was the only thing I ever wanted to do.” Even though she took theater more seriously in college, she was still enjoying the process of creating stories and plots.

At the beginning of the interview, we learned about how Benson experienced xenophobia towards the Haitian community in Miami, Fl. “The Haitian community was a target for hate speech, hate crimes, and it trickled down into neighborhoods and schools.” We found this really surprising because Miami is so close to the Caribbean, and it made us think about how differently prejudice plays out in one place versus the other (like Boston compared with Miami). We wanted to follow up by asking more about the differences she has experienced in places she has lived and created work.

THEY WANTED THE BEST FOR ME: PRIDE AND GENUINE CARE

There are many values that France-Luce holds and represents. She explains that her parents were immigrants and that they worked very hard for her and themselves. As France-Luce began to enjoy theater, her parents were proud and acknowledged her talent but worried that she would not be able to make enough money to sustain and support herself. She says, “My parents were immigrants and had to work really hard and so of course they were nervous when I started doing theater and really loved it and started expressing a desire to want to do it for a living, obviously my parents were very concerned that I would not make money. so while they were proud of me and really acknowledged my gifts and my talents, at the same time they could be discouraging. But I understand why because they just wanted the best for me and really were afraid that I wouldn't be able to support myself.” What this shows me is that France-Luce’s parents were very uplifting but also had standards for their child which is something that a lot of parents usually do. We noticed how her parents acknowledge her talent but at the same time worry about not making money to sustain self need support which is also something many parents worry about today. We feel like this is something that connects to most parents that genuinely care about their children.

Going back to earlier how we explained about the issues she encountered as she grew up, she says that she has grown from those times. The incidents that occurred back then have taught her and made her the person she is today, “I would say that who I am as an artist today was actually shaped by a lot of those challenges that I experienced when I was young, because it made me more driven to write about Haitian culture, giving us a voice on stage, challenging all those negative stereotypes. so it did end up having a positive impact, but it was definitely difficult when I was young. Was really difficult.”

Hearing about this is absolutely beautiful and stunning, we need more people like France-Luce shaping challenges into talents.

CONNECTING WITH CULTURAL PRIDE

During the interview, some themes and issues that were in the past were mostly about racial demographics. She remembered, “As a child, I had a lot of complicated feelings about my identity, just out of fear because kids were bullied just for being Haitian. And so when I was young, there were times where I didn't want people to know I was Haitian because I was afraid. And so I had to grow out of that. so I really learned to love who I am and my culture and embrace my identity and that's become a big part of who I am as an artist.” It’s very difficult to truly understand what she had to go through and we wonder if discrimination to Haitians when she was growing up connects all the way back to the Haitian Revolution and maybe even to this day in the ways Haitian immigrants are vilified in the current administration.

Dr. France-Luce explained that she tried to hide her racial ide she was scared that people would know and dislike the fact that explained that living in New York was completely different from differences were usually about how people saw her and how peopl similar to her. In Miami she experienced children discriminatin her community, which she saw. Dr. France-Luce remembered, “The target for hate speech, hate crimes, and it trickled down into Unfortunately, this is a very common experience for immigrants “Miami, there was a lot of xenophobia towards the Haitian community, which unfortunately hasn't changed a lot. I mean, we've kind of regressed with this new administration.”

When she says that there was a lot of xenophobia back then, and then connecting to how it’s regressed with this administration shows a lot and makes me have a woahlike feeling or reaction. As we just mentioned, this seems very typical in America since there is a lot of racism and as you can see she mentions that in our current situation with this new administration, things have gotten worse which shows a lot since it's being shared by someone that was affected by this situation decades ago.

DEVELOPING AS A PLAYWRIGHT/ THE BIRTH OF A PLAY

We asked how she developed her interest in writing, specifically in playwriting. “I was an actor first. All of the initial training and experience was as an actor. But I was frequently discouraged by the lack of roles written for people who looked like me. I think I took my first playwriting class in high school and loved it. I got more serious about playwriting in college and was encouraged by my professors. I wrote my first full length play, Silence of the Mambo, as a senior in college. The play was well received and went on to tour South Miami. Once I moved to New York, I began to pursue both acting and writing, but I found myself naturally gravitating towards writing. I wanted to continue to create interesting, challenging roles for Black actors, and I wanted to amplify the voices of marginalized communities, while celebrating and elevating my culture.” We definitely agree that there hasn’t been enough representation of people of color and other marginalized communities throughout various art forms such as theater, and this makes us appreciate Dr. France-Luce even more for highlighting less-centered stories and events, both current and historical.

Add a little bit of body text

We asked: how do you come up with your play ideas, and how do you develop a play? She shared: “It varies. I am often inspired by historical events, ones that have been erased from our history books. Or, sometimes, I'm inspired by my own experiences. Writing offers me an opportunity to work through my own trauma, or to understand myself and others. I can be inspired by anything, really. There are so many stories waiting to be told. Developing a play can be a long, arduous process - and it can change from play to play. I usually begin with research, then come up with a story. Although I frequently have characters come to me and they start speaking in my head and eventually make their way to the page.” Learning about how personal the process of creating play ideas can be was interesting to us. We hadn’t heard of the idea of writing a play as a healing process.

we asked further questions to learn about the technicalities of making a play. She shared, “From there, I discover the story as I write the first draft. Once I have a first draft, the development process includes private table readings with collaborators, or staged readings in front of an audience. The next phase is usually a workshop production which means that I work with a director and actors anywhere from a few days to a week. We put the play up on its feet without a lot of technical elements. It's just about working on the text. The last step is the first production. When a play is being produced for the first time, there are inevitably lots of changes to the script during the rehearsal process. Sometimes new pages come on opening night. That's a very brief description but, again, it varies depending on the type of play, the collaborators, the company, etc.”

THEATRE TO BUILD EMPATHY

We asked her about how theatre can bring people together. “Many people say that this country is more divided than ever. How do you think that theatre can help us bring us together?” Her response was really interesting. “I think the way theater can bring people together is that when you can see yourself in someone who is different from you, it'll bring you together. you realize that we actually have much more in common as human beings than what we have. . . in our differences.” We agree with what she said, we’ve never really thought of theater in that way.

ADVICE FOR YOUNG WRITERS

We asked her what advice she has for writers and specifically possible playwrights who are our age. Her advice was to “Just write. Write as often as you can, every day if you can. Writing is like a muscle that you have to build. You can only do that by writing. And if you are specifically interested in writing plays - you need to read plays and go see plays. I would also say to write with courage and truth. People often say write what you know, but I don't totally agree with that. I say, write what you care about. Write from a place of curiosity. And be patient with yourself and the process.” This advice will impact us, moving forward. All of us just wrote our first plays, and will perform them in the weeks to come. We appreciated meeting and being hosted by France-Luce Benson and some of her students and colleagues at Cal State San Marcos. To learn more about her work and writing, visit www.francelucebenson.com or on Instagram at @luceloveslight, and watch for her upcoming productions.

PainttheChangeYouWanttoSee:

AnInterviewwithMuralistCelesteByers

ShelbyMendia,JoshPerez,JuliePoon,RileyPurcell,EmanuelServin,YonalWickramarachchi

Pintaelcambioque quieresver: Unaentrevistaconlamuralista

CelesteByers

Si tuvieras la oportunidad de pintar por todo el mundo y descubrir tu identidad, ¿la aprovecharías? Esta fue una oportunidad que Celeste Byers aprovechó, ahora es una artistareconocidainternacionalmentequehacreadomásde 40muralessoloenSanDiegoydocenasmásen6paísesde todoelmundo.Losmuralessonunaoportunidadparacrear algo que pueda conectarse con todos mientras muestra la historiayhonraalasfigurasqueimpactaronalacomunidad en la que se encuentra. Recientemente cambió su enfoque haciaelredescubrimientodesuidentidadyherenciaatravés del trabajo de estudio en una serie llamada Chinese American Dream, donde entrelaza la historia de su familia con temas subyacentes de migración y sus luchas con ser racialmenteambigua.

Compartió con nosotros el proceso de convertirse en muralista, sus cambios de perspectiva, sus viajes y cómo sus murales cobran vida. Su objetivo es compartir la experiencia humana y cómo las culturas e identidades difieren de un lugaraotro.

AMeaningfulWaytoConnect WithTheWorld

Celeste Byers is a San Diego-based artist and muralist with a deep cultural and artistic background. She was born and raised in Ocean Beach, San Diego, half-Chinese, half-American and fourthgeneration Chinese American, her heritage and growth have shaped her artisticwork.CelesteisaHighTechHigh alumni, her artistic journey began in high school, where their project-based learning nudged her talent for drawing. Celeste talked to us about how she originally went into the field of teaching, but her career pivoted when she became an art instructor in Sri Lanka. It wasthereshediscoveredherpassionfor mural work, eventually deciding to focus ontravelingandcreatingmurals.

“WhenIwas16....IdecidedIwantedtobeanartist,‘causethat'swhatIalwaysloved todo.IremembermycollegeadvisoraskedmewhatIliketodo,andIwaslike-‘Oh, Ilikeshopping,andIlikeart!’ Heradvisorencouragedher,“Let'smakeacareerout of the art part.” She was also recognized by a teacher for her talents in sophomore year. “My teacher. . .was like - ‘Oh my God, that's actually really good! And so from then on, he let me paint whatever I wanted. and so then once I was able to paint. I just like loved it. . .I could just do [it] all day and lose myself and get satisfaction out of it.” It was cool to hear about her young self growing passionate about her future career.

In 2019, Celeste began building her art and mural painting business in San Diego. She has focused on creating piecesthatrepresentandconnectwith local communities. Her work is vibrant, using uplifting colors and reflecting the cultural and historical significance of the locations she paints in. Her international experiences, influence and improve her artistic perspective. Celeste’sartisnotjustforherpersonal reflection,butit’sawaytoconnectwith the world, celebrate her heritage, and leave meaningful works in the communitiesandplacesshevisits.

LosingHerselfInHerArt

We were curious about how her interest in art grew and developed. She explained, “I think the project-based learning [at High Tech High] really led me to art. I remember [that, in] one of our projects, we had to make up a book on the San Diego Bay, and it was like, ‘People who are good at writing, be writers!’ You did what you were good at; for me, I was good at drawing. . . I actually remember I passed my bioscience class because I wasn't doing that well in science, but my teacher let me pass by drawing, which I don't think could happen at other schools. I think it. . . really helped lead me toward my strengths and let me use them for my own success.” We could understand her experience in our school, which develops students’ unique strengths in different ways. She explained further how she begantoidentifyherselfasanartist,and toimagineherfuture.

Finally, she also gave credit to her parents for always supporting her and allowing her to broaden her skills. She described her first commission as an artist, “My dad is a pilot, and when I was in college he asked me, do you want to paint a mural on my hanger? I was like, sure, why not? And so I did, and I actually did enjoy it.” This mural is really awe-inspiring, and it was interesting to learn how she integrated whales into the design because he loves them; it was a way to thank him for supporting her. I am also grateful for his offer, because without this mural, we might never have gotten to experience seeing her beautiful and powerful art in mural form.

Mural Process

PlanningVSPainting

Celeste talked to us about the working conditions and process as a mural artist. When we asked how long the process of making a mural typically takes, she said “It doesn't take that long for me. If you want me to paint this wall, I could do it pretty quickly, but getting approval just takes so long, and I have to go through so many people to get approved. So, sometimes I've had to plan murals for like two years. . . which is so funny ‘cause it's only going take me two weeks to paint it.” We were surprised by this new information, as we would have guessed that the painting would take

‘She

LovesBirdsandHeLovestoFly’

One group member asked about how the public reacts when they see her working on a large mural. She talked about how people will come up to her. It's generally a nice experience. “

Usually, people are really lovely, I've noticed, like I've been around other muralists painting [and] it's like the same experience. . . if you want to feel nice about yourself, go outside and start painting a mural [because] people just come and start complimenting. They will be like ‘beautiful, beautiful!’ No matter what you're doing.” It is cool to learn how people are interested in how she is serving the community.

Celeste described how the history and stories connected with where she’s working affects her art. “When I paint in different places, it's like, I have to go research that place to go see what's appropriate for that place. That's one of my favorite things. . .researching the history of a place and learning so I can make something appropriate for their community.” We can see in her art around town and the images of murals around the world that she puts details in her work that are specific to the people and place where the art is.

We also discussed safety concerns for mural artists, which we didn’t realize was actually so important. She explained, “that actually is a thing, like accessing walls that are sometimes challenging because of the height or because of obstacles, like physical obstacles in front of the wall or, like, if the ground isn't level. . .it's just dangerous, I was just painting in Seattle, in Chinatown, last year and the people. . .had never organized a mural project. So, when we got there. . .the ground was not level and there were all these blackberry bushes, so it was actually really, really scary to paint.” When she brought up these safety risks and examples, it was surprising. We realized that there are hidden dangers in many jobs, it seems.

WorldTraveler

Something we noted when we interviewed her was how many places she's traveled to. It turns out she's painted murals in many different parts of the US and other countries. She has murals on both coasts of the US, (including San Francisco, Seattle and Savannah) as well as several in Mexico (including Mexico City, the Yucatan,and Cancun), as well as New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and more. When we asked her about what it was like to travel to all of these different places, she shared that she typically arranges all of her own flights, lodging, and more. “Generally, if someone brings me somewhere on a project and there's a budget, it's like the budget is all inclusive and I have to manage everything. I have to book my own flights and accommodations and all that sort of things. . . it was really great to build my portfolio and travel.” Hearing about all of her adventures was really cool, and we had never realized that some people can make a living and travel the world from painting murals.

Epiphany

After learning about her early style and process, we were really interested in how that had changed and evolved overtheyears.Shementioneditwasaftershefoundherloveofmuralsthatinspiredhertodivedeeperintowhat she was creating, and what type of muralist she was going to be. In the beginning she used her past experience asanillustratortocreatecompositionsthatcombinehyper-realisticplantlifewithmoresubtleabstractimagesor important cultural figures to promote environmental harmony and peace. “It would take me around two months ‘cause I was like ‘Oh, I'll paint this tiny thing or that tiny thing,’ but as I kept painting murals I realized I really had tochangemyviewofspace.”

She told us about her realization about her shift of perspective, although she was very established in the mural world, she noticed her views and compositions started to change. “I just had this epiphany; I could see the world in like dark and light values. I feel like that realization made me able to like being able to paint or draw realistically.” This newfound epiphany inspired her to branch out of her comfort zone, taking her abstract contemporary style and merging it with other artists she was collaborating with to create a unique fusionthatmergedtwoworldstogether.

Willamartha’sHoneyPot

Celeste has made many murals throughout her years of painting.When we went to interview her, she showed us one of her murals, Willamartha’s Honey Pot, that shows multiple images strangely put together. To begin, there is a woman that has lots of bees and flowers around her and also a small elephant on a flower.Before we interviewed her she showed us the mural and told us the story behind it. She told us that she panted this mural for a local beekeeper named Shauna Aiken.The reason that she painted the bees is because she wanted to make people think about how important bees are for are world. She also wanted people to know about her grandmother, who is a early settler in Ocean Beach. Someone asked about the elephant that was handing a hearttoabeethatwasalsointhemural,shesaidthereasonbehinditwasbecauseshewastoldaboutaproject in Kenya where they were using bees to protect crops from elephants. She went into more detail behind the project and what they do is use bees to stop the elephants from stepping on farmers' crops, which saved the elephantsfromthefarmersthatwantedtokillthemoverit.

Her descriptions gave us a lot of insight into her style and how everything had a meaning. When we first got to themural,Ihadnocluethatthebrightcoloredmuralwithsomerandomladyhadsuchdepthandthat’satheme alotofustookawayfromherwork:notallmeaninghastoberightinyourface;itcanbesubtleandfun,butstill projectingastrongmessage.

Before the interview we got to see some of her artwork on her website , some of us noticed that in one of her piece’s called “Uoc Vọng” her and her collaborator's signatures and was in English and Chinese. We were curiousandaskedheraboutit.AswetalkedwelearnedthatitwasacollaborationwithStevieShaoandLauren YS in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood; together ey created a mural that represented the Vietnamese community. Towards the end, they found out they th bo th had English and Chinese names and decided to incorporateit.

While her murals aim to connect with communities, Celeste also creates personal works, such as portraits of her family, to explore her identity. She embraces the educational aspect of mural painting, researching the history and values of each place to ensure her art honors and celebrates its unique culture. Celeste talked about how she recently found herself exploring her heritage later in life “I think growing up in San Diego and not being around very many Chinese people, as an adult, I am more interested in my heritage ”. This journey is now in her more recent art, through her series, Chinese American Dream. One piece from her Chinese American Dream that we found interesting was called Jungle Airforce, it’s a picture of her cousin as a banana using a common asian metaphor that meanslookingAsianontheoutsideandwhiteontheinside.

Project-Based Learning and Life

We were interested to learn about her early career as an artist. She was a HTH student and that led her to gain some inspiration to make art. We can all relate tothisbecauseweareallHTHstudentsandfeellikeweknowwhatshemeans.A lot of projects at this school inspire us to do things, too. When she was in HTH her Biology teacher would let her pass assignments by drawing and making art pieces. She thought that was very interesting for a high school to do. Later in her life after college she started to do murals. She was hired to teach art at a university in Sri Lanka, and later in the middle of her teaching role, she had a change of heart. She was working with murals and decided that she wanted to commit to it. She started to do murals for free to gain a reputation, spending a lot of time on her work so people would start noticing it. She eventually noticed that she needed to make money from her work, so she started taking paid art jobs and asking for more money to create art. She has made 40+ murals in San Diego alone, along with some out-of -state pieces like New York and Las Vegas, andevenhasmuralsinmanyothercountries.

Sharing Her Beliefs and Showcasing Who She is

We absolutely loved talking with Celeste Byers and learning about her journey as an artist. We were inspired by the ways she uses their art form to express her identity, background, and beliefs. Many of us were surprised by the logistics or business side of making a mural and turning that into a career. One group member shared how they thought it was crazy that she did some of these huge murals for free due to how long it would take to get it organized. Some of us shared that their favorite parts of the interview included how warm and welcoming she was. We loved how she went into detail and had a story for every question we asked and seemed very comfortable talking about her life and connecting with us as fellow High Tech High students as opposed to a bunch of kidsinterviewingher.Onegroupmemberwrote,“Ifeltgenuinelyhonoredtomeet and interview her with my group. It was an incredible experience to talk with her and hear her stories. We all hope this project turns out well and that she enjoys it. It’s incredible to see how she expresses her identity, background, and beliefs through her art and murals. This has a significant impact on many people, which we found amazing. It’s inspiring to witness someone openly share their beliefs and showcase who they are.” To learn more about Celeste Byers and her art, please visit her website at https://celestebyers.com/ or follow her on Instagram at @celestialterrestrial.

Inspiredbythe Past:An Interviewwith PoetLaureate PaolaCapóGarcía

Poppy Alger-Spruce

Mason Mickel

Jackie Perez

Jaslene Pichardo

WHO PAOLA IS

Paola Capo-Garcia is a poet. She has been an educator for 14 years. 5 years as a teacher at High Tech High Media Arts as a 12th grade English teacher and 2 years as HTHGSEand7yearsatthecollegelevel.

EARLY LIFE

She grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on an island she loved. Her mother was a single mom raising three kids, and they grew up watching TV. Paola loved the stories through TV and movies. She also wouldlearnEnglishfromwatchingTVand listeningtomusic,soshegrewupbilingual. Her family was mostly lawyers or technicians, and not artists. But she had one uncle who was a painter and another uncle who was a graphic design artist, so she connected with their artistic side. When she was in high school, she got her first journal and turned it into a poetry journal and wrote her first poem on her own, and fell in love with poetry. On her way to becoming a poet, she talks about thejourneyofit.

La Introdución

¿Lapoesíasiguevivaenestesiglo?ElsueñodePaola Capó-García es mostrar a la gente que la poesía es una “cosa próspera”, durante esta entrevista hablamos de cómo la poesía tiene un gran impacto en ella y en los demás. Ella habló sobre lo que hace para difundir el mensaje. Tuvimos una gran entrevista con ella y hablamos con ella sobre su infancia. Por qué sus experiencias impactaron su trabajo y ver inspiración en el trabajo de otras personas y hacer su propio trabajo. Nos inspiramos ensutrabajo

RELATING TO HER POEMS

THE KEY TO HER POEMS

As Paola was growing up, her feeling of the world grew stronger and with her journal she could put her emotions through words. It helped her love poetry. In her own words, “It just came from this natural desire to write things and to understand different things that were happening to me at that age.” She can use her feelings to write poems that can connect to her and her readers. One example of a poem she wanted her readers to relate to is a poem called “call me.” She said “the second stanza is all about it's not just me, it's happening to all the women around me, right? We have that in common that unfortunately unites us, gives us a common experience. And so it's kind of like this sadness or this lament that we are all experiencing this.” Her goal is to not only open people’s eyes to the world’s problems but to include something that everyone can relate too.

In the interview we asked what Paola uses in her poetry and what she wants it to mean to the reader. Paola explains that she loves to talk about her own journey as a woman. She wants her poetry to be relatable. She also intentionally adds other relatable things whether it is a TV show or a book. That’s a good way to make people want to read her poetry but it also helps her readers be in touch with her writing and feel something. Another thing she does is use a repetitive writing style, she uses that so it’ll help people think more into the meaning of the word. People can start to question the word and try to understand it in many different ways. She also uses humor to lighten her writing whenever she is talking about something intense or deep. She said “I want poetry to feel like bad standup comedy.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Paola just officially became the San Diego Poet Laureate. As a laureate, she is representing the city in literary arts. Being a laureate requires her to organize poetry events with libraries or art institutions, and give readings. Her first project is to partner up with a place called Burn All Books. She is organizing an event that will help publish local writers through zines, and she is also going to have poets reading their work. This will help her collaborate with local places and it’ll help other writers trying to publish. She wants to send a message to the world that poetry isn’t dead. “There are so many people publishing incredible work …… beautiful stuff that helps a lot of people out there, and so I want people to know that this is a real lifestyle, a real genre and that it still exists and it's not like old white dudes writing with quill pens writing old poetry…I want them to know that they can do it too, that you don't have to have a certain disposition or background or specific skill to write poetry. I think as long as you can feel something you can write a poem.” She’ll keep writing poetry and organizing events, until she’ll reach her goal.

WRITING GUIDANCE

When asked for advice she explains that if you feel like a topic is important to you, write it and you do not need a certain skill or background in order to Paola finds that using topics that are worldwide known has helped. She also mentions that in her writing she often is repetitive and being insistent in her writing style, her poems being accessible and understood. The Reason she does the repetitive style is for it to be understood in all kinds of ways from different people's point of view.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

We enjoyed talking with Paola Capó-García and learning about her journey as a poet artist, and our new poet laureate for San Diego. We were inspired by the ways she uses her art form to speak about certain topics she felt like she had a strong opinion for.  Many of us were surprised when she told us that she often used inspiration from TV shows and music as a way to learn a whole new language . Some groupmates shared that their favorite parts of the interview included sharing about her book Clap For Me That’s Not Me and it showed us how she wants her poems to be interpreted. It was fascinating that she can be really deep but funny at the same time. To learn more about Paola Capó-García, please visit her website at https://www.paolacapogarcia.com or follow her on instagram @whatwouldscullydo.

AN INTERVIEW WITH POET

KARLA CORDERO

Kendall Adams, Hattie Bergel, Nayari Partida Sillas, Adrian Ocampo, Oliver Peet, and Finn Wojdak,

High Tech High

Introducción

¿Alguna vez ha habido una historia que desearías haber compartido? Karla Cordero, una poeta de San Diego, se trata de contar historias no contadas. Aunque presentar su trabajo es parte de su trabajo, se describe a sí misma como una oyente más que una iniciadora de conversación en las reuniones. Ser una narradora corre en su familia y ella da el mayor crédito a las habilidades de narración de sus padres.

Además de sus padres, ella ha tenido otros mentores y esto es lo que tiene que decir sobre sus experiencias: “La tutoría es muy importante y ha habido tantos mentores que han entrado en mi vida y me han enseñado mucho sobre poesía”. Esta entrevista fue perspicaz y nos enseñó sobre los esfuerzos de un poeta. Las respuestas de Karla fueron bien articuladas y dieron más profundidad a sus experiencias,yesteartículolorefleja.

Airing Out the Laundry

Our group interviewed San Diego poet Karla Cordero, who describes herself as a poet, activist, and educator. Karla, a descendant of the Chichimeca people of northern Mexico, born and raised along the region of the US-Mexico border, is a published poet who covers various topics in her writing. She has won numerous awards, including the San Diego Book Award for her first published book of poetry, How to Pull Apart the Earth, and was a finalist for the International Book Award. She is a professor in composition and creative writing at MiraCosta College and San Diego City College. Whilst reading this article, you’ll learn more about the artist herself and what more might be in store for this inspiring poet. Cordero frequently draws on experiences very unique to her own life – but oftentimes she’ll write something and immediately feel unsatisfied. “Culturally,” she says, “we're taught you don't air out your dirty laundry. You don't talk about what happens in the home. But I think as poets having those difficult conversations are really important.”

As a poet, sometimes making room for yourself and your stories can be challenging. “There's times you meet your heroes with hopes for guidance, and sometimes your heroes aren't the kindest of people.” Receiving critique from your idols, the constant rejection from the publishing world– “...you apply, and there's a lot of rejection, and you quickly learn being a writer: That's just part of your identity. When you're young and in that world, it can really take a toll on your self-esteem and self-doubt, and imposter syndrome can hit you heavily if you don't have the thick skin to realize that it doesn't determine your value and your worth.”

Early Connections to Poetry

Inmiddleschool,Karlastartedwritingstoriesusingajournalwithalock.Shewasinspiredbythemovie Harrietthe Spy,whichisaboutagirldocumentinggossipinherneighborhood.

WheninterviewingKarlashesharedthatgrowingupChicanaalsoheavilyinfluencedher.Shetoldusthatabigpart of how she writes comes from when she was growing up listening to her family tell stories, she expresses that she “also learned a lot about telling a story and how to craft a story by listening to my Tias and my aunties, my uncles, my dad say the same story over and over again.” She clarified that that's what began to teach her “how you start a story, how you make a story funny, the way you word things so you can taste and experience everything using all five senses.” This is a very important skill to learn for writing because you want poetry to pull you in and place you intotheworldofthepoem.

How She Got Her Start

Karlaquicklydevelopedaninterestinpoetry.AtCSU San Marcos, a literature assignment in the Community literature course assignment made them explore literature in the community. Karla saw a flyer for a poetry slam, which sparked her interest in poetry. Later She went to that competitive poetry event, where she would watch people share poems in just three minutes, showing their ability to show emotion using poetry. This experience sparked Karla’s interest in poetry and peopleinthecommunityofliterature.

Scribbling and Space

During the interview, we asked about her writing process and what she does to start off her poems, to which she gave a good response. She talked about how she never would write on a laptop or keyboard and how she always just uses a blank piece of paper in her notebook to start off, then also explained how it's super messy when she writes, scribbling things out and what not. She also explained how when she reads or listens to stuff and sees a really good line, she tries to replicate those moves. She said that she has to set up her space for writing when she starts, like lighting a candle, listening to music and just writing in a comfortable space. She said a lot of times she sees something that bothers her or she thinks is really beautiful and then goes to write about it.

Influences

Artists usually are inspired by other artists, so we wonderedwhoinspiresKarla.Sheexplainedthatshehas manyinspirations.Sheattributedalotofherintellectual curiosity to the guidance of her parents, who she said, “were always really good about always having books on the shelves” and that, “they always had arts and crafts andglitterandconstructionpaperandencyclopedias.So I was always fully consumed and surrounded by language and art.” She described how that shaped her into the poetry-loving person she is. She also told us about her many role models within the writing world, shenamedplentybuttonameafew,oneofhermentors Willie Perdomo, Sandra Cisneros who wrote House on Mango Street, and Jose Olivarez. She shares that she's taken away and learned different valuable lessons from each one. Another big influence is her niece Zoey, she described that “ it was absolutely magical to see her learn how the world operates, which kind of taught me how to be a writer again.” and Zoey would remind her “The sky is blue, the grass is green, look at that bee, an ant. she really took time to just be in awe of the tiniest littlethingswetakeforgranted.”.

Stories to Honor

Currently,theartofwritingismoremodernized,youcan find a poem or newspaper online. Instead of typing online, Karla enjoys writing on a piece of blank paper. When she isn’t inspired or mentally blocked, she follows herrituals,whichinvolvemusicandkeepingherfavorite books close by for inspiration. This stimulates her brain and allows her to think of conflicts she’s seen online or memoriesandsheinstallsthemintoapoem.

When she experiences writer's block she thinks about how she doesn't want to leave any stories behind and how some people don't have the privilege or platform to tell their stories. “I think about my grandparents who were migrants and farm workers and how I can honor their stories since nobody else can and nobody else will.” Thesestoriescouldhelpsomeonesowhenshe’sdoubting herselfsheremembersthesignificanceofherwriting.

she has in store to work on overtime. It’s all baby steps, onefootinfrontoftheother.Wewerehappytohearthat she has many amazing ideas in store and I’m excited to gettoseetheseideascometolife.

Reflection

We enjoyed talking with Karla Cordero and learning about her journey as a poet. We were inspired by how she uses her art to speak up about what it means to be undocumented, migration issues, and exploring her Chicana identity and femininity. “I think about my grandparents who were migrants and farm workers and how I can honor their stories since nobody else can and nobody else will.” Many of us were intrigued to learn that her niece, Zoey, helped bring her creativity back and essentially became a muse when she was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Some group mates shared that their favorite parts of the interview were when she spoke about her writing process and how certain shows, cartoons, and comic books inspired her. “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were so impactful in my life as a young reader who grew up along the border, and in a dualspeaking household.” This was an amazing experience, and we appreciate Karla for sharing her insight into what it’s like to be a poet. To learn more about Karla Cordero please visit their website at Poems-Karla Cordero or follow her on Instagram at @karlaflaka13.

Chasing The Sound: An Interview With

Musician James McNary

¿Cómo muestra una canción una historia o un consejo? Aprendimos sobre la música cuando entrevistamos a James McNary, un músico de San Diego. Ha estado haciendo música durante unos 15 años. Nos contó sobre su tiempo tocando en Jam ‘N’ Slate, una banda que hizo con su amigo, y pasando por momentos difíciles tratando de autoproducir y publicar su propia música. El expresó su trabajo duro tratando de hacerlo grande en la industria de la música. Al mismo tiempo, nos dio consejos sobre cómo hacer música y seguir nuestra pasión. Nos habló sobre sus influencias en la música, y el uso de su proceso creativo de escritura para escribir canciones.

・ Indigo Abreu ・ Isaiah Amado ・ Cesar Amaro ・ Gianni Groening ・ James Guffey ・ Valentino Meza ・

Multi-Instrumentalist Musician

James McNary is a 24 year old solo musician. He has been making music for around 15 years now! He is a multi-instrumentalist that, as he states “can play pretty much every instrument.” James enjoys all music genres, but he mainly makes indiepsychedelic music. James is influenced by bands like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tame Impala, jazz bands like BreadCrumb, and rap artists like Tyler the Creator. He was also a big fan of 60s and 70s bands like Pink Floyd. He says, “I like music that takes me a second to think of how they did whatever they're doing. And then it helps me apply that when I make music.”

We were curious about how he started to get interested in music, and in playing instruments. James shared about his early childhood when he was first exposed to music, “...my dad, he played guitar when he was around my age, and stopped around then.” He also shared that his dad enjoyed many genres of music, and that he was obviously influenced by his dad’s passion for music. It makes sense that the guitar was one of his favorite instruments.

He explained his shift from being casually interested in music, to when it became one of the most important things in his life. He had a traumatic experience that brought him closer to music, stating, “In high school, freshman year, I had a bit of an accident. I fell through a roof, and I almost died. And after that, after I got home… all I wanted to do was play guitar. I had a really big brain injury, but all I wanted to do is play guitar. Ever since then, music has just kind of clicked with me.” No matter what has happened to James, we think his guitar is always something he can grab and feel safe and at ease with himself, It also seems like it was a part of his healing process throughout the injuries.

JAM ‘N’ SLATE BEGINNINGS

We wondered about his first band, Jam 'N' Slate, and how it started. He explained, “That'sfunny.Wemetinelementaryschool and we were on a Lego robotics team, and wewerefriends.Hewasinamilitaryfamily. So he would move out of the state for a while, come back, but over the years we just grew closer and closer until all of a sudden one day went over to his house. He had a drum kit, and I had a guitar and we just decided to, like… what if we just play our instruments together, and jam? And so we did that, and it turned out really well. And then from that day forward, it was a very interesting headspace when we were together. The band was called Jam (and I wasJam[becauseofmyname]James)and then he was Slate (for Slater). There were other members, but Slater and I would get together and sit at a computer with our instrumentsandrecord.Anditwaslikeone brain working on music together.” It was very interesting to hear how this childhood friendship developed into a professional friendship, and it is a common way that bands get together. As two musicians meet, they tend to branch off of each other’s musical ideas. It is sometimes true that musicians begin their bands with people they knew in childhood, but sometimestheydon’t.

GOING SOLO

ThebandJam‘N’Slatesplitduetoa disagreement.Theydidnotsplitforever; itisatemporarysplittotaketimeapart fromeachother.WhenJamesMcNary split from his band it was a scary experiencehestates,“Allofasudden,I didn'thavealeadsinger,andIdidn’thave a producer,”due to the fact his best friend/mainbandmemberSlaterwasthe headofproductionandthebandsinger.

James didn't want to stop music just because he didn't have a singer or producer.Hewasinspiredtomakemusic; musicfeltasifitwascallingtohim.Due tohimwantingtonotstopbutnothaving a singer, he had to become more comfortablewithhearinghisvoiceand singingonasong.Whenhemakessongs hetriestotrusttheprocess.Butlikewith anything,changewillalwaysbedifficult.

CREATING SOUNDSCAPES

WeaskedJameswhetherhisbeatswere digitaloracoustic.Hesaidheusesdigital instrumentscalledsynthesizers,butalso recordsguitarbitsandturnsthemdown fortexture.Thatisonewayhegetshis psychedeliceffectinhissound..Wealso askedhowheachieveshispsychedelic themeinhismusicandhetoldus,“A bunchofsynthesizerslayeredontopof eachotherdoingkindofthesamething orasimilarthingtoreallybuildafull sound.”Withthis,hecreatessomething hecallsa“soundscape”,whichisasortof collectionofsounds.Healsosharedthat heusestheYamahaCSreface.Inmy opinion,itwasreallyinterestinghowhe layershismusictogethertoformcool beatsthathavelotsofelementstothem.

CREATIVE WRITING PROCESS

James says that his writing process is very interesting. He sometimes is not able to sleep, so he then proceeds to spend all night writing lyrics and playing guitar, or humming a melody to match the lyrics. James says, “I would write lyrics to songs that felt like they would add to the chords. And you have a feeling that makes you want to write a song—and everything you do, every time you record, or add lyrics, or add a guitar part or anything, you take away from that feeling and it gets harder to preserve that.” James says that writing and making music takes a long time; according to him, sometimes a song will take him as long as eight months to write, make and produce. But on the positive side, he says that other times he says that it can take him just a week. He says, “You want to make sure that you're in the mood, and in the mode, to be your best creatively. Be open, and be also with the vibe of the song. I have jazz songs I'm working on, and I have metal songs I'm working on. So, I don't want to be in a metal mood when I'm working on a jazz song or vice versa.” That makes sense, and I can relate to having different moods making me want to do different things.

VUNERABILITY & PROCESSING USING ART

James McNary’s music has a lot of meaning behind the lyrics. Looking specifically at his song, “The Otherism Leaves My Bones”, he talks about powerful things as the disillusions of friendshipandfindingtimetorefocuson himself. In the song, some of the lyrics include:

IalwayscrywhenIcanwriteasong thatfeelingsayingnothing'swrong connectionhome,anotherlife rememberingthisborrowedtime andfeelinglikeitallmakessense theonlywayitallmakessense thesemomentsthatIspendwithyou

This section shows the emotion and vulnerability that he likes to use in his writing and music. We think this song is reallyuniqueandmoving.

Processing using art is something many artists do no matter what form of art they create. His song “The Spark GoesOn”isaboutprocessingthefactof mortality and someone close to him will die one day; he states, “It felt like a release of emotion writing these lyrics.” I was curious about what triggered him to feel this way and realize this, his answer was, “nightmares of losing a parent”. James said when writing “The Spark Goes On,” he was crying and following his feelings and his emotions when writing these lyrics. He states, “But feeling emotional while writing is how youknowit'sagoodsong.”

Hethinksthebiggerlessonfromthis is that life is uncomfortable, and you're going to have to just lean into those feelings. He says, “You can grow a lot andmaturealotjustbysittingwiththose feelings, instead of hiding from them or tryingtosilencethem.”Sonexttimeyou feel uncomfortable with grief or anger, instead of taking it out on the world, or shoving it down, try doing what James McNary says. Just try sitting in those uncomfortable feelings, and make art withthosefeelings.

ADVICE

Anyone who has been making music for fifteen years—or anyone who’s worked at any craft for that long, for that matter—will undoubtedly have some gems of advice for people who are exploring a similar path. James McNary had some great advice for us. In his experience, the most important thing is just to experiment, experiment, experiment; to make anything and everything you have the creative urge to make, whether or not you know if it’ll be a success, or even if you know it will be a failure, because every piece of music you make will help you learn. The onlywayanyone can learn anything is bytrying.

He talked about his experience ofwhen he started out making music, and hadn’t figured out the right ways to use all of the tools at his disposal yet. But by using the tools wrong, he was able to learn what he needed to fix to make them sound right. He says, “A lot of my earlier albums—who knows if anyone’s going to ever listen to them—but, they’re very processed. … I learned the outermost capabilities of all these software tools, and I learned how I could take my guitar and turn it into a wall of noise, or a synthesizer, and turn it into something crazy. … I learned how to produce, and I learned the extent of what an EQ can do, a compressor, a distortion, a phaser. I learned because I would put a reverb on the entire song, and do crazy stuff that you're not supposed to do, but I learned what does it sound like when you do that. And so, yeah, maybe I lost an album, but I experimented and I tried that.… Maybe it didn't work out, but there's a next thing. And then you can learn from whatever you failed at. Or, it goes really well, and then you can learn from that, and you keep on going.”

REFLECTION

We enjoyed talking with James McNary and learning about his journey as a musician. We were inspired by the ways he uses his art form to speak about emotional and challenging life events with depth. Many of us were surprised by how honest and vulnerable he was in our interview, as well as how creative and entrepreneurial he and his band had to be in order to get followers. Some groupmates shared that their favorite parts of the interview included when he talked about how recovering from an injury actually served his focus and passion for his music, and the ways that he composes music and tests it with audiences before releasing it to the public.

YOUTUBE: SPOTIFY:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC625vG5g2VFA1aUkyxvQMXA

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6anSMpBfB3fopGfbK85fXV

https://www.instagram.com/james.McNary/?hl=en

LaMusicadeImigrantes: UnaEntrevistaconVerde

EmilianoCedeno-Aquino,MaximoDenaLopez,BrendaGonzalez, AnaRubioRuiz,AremiTorres

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ARTE DEL CAMBIO

GRIFFIN-WILSON-CASTILLO

SPRING 2025

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2