From July 19 to July 23, 826LA students attended our virtual Summer Writers Workshop. With the help of our partners at Picturing Mexican America, students had the opportunity to write and create art, drawing inspiration from the history and future of LA.
Throughout the week-long workshop series, middle and high school students learned how to write about the past, present, and future of the city of Los Angeles. Volunteers and 826LA staff and interns were present to help students experiment with diverse writing methods, like spoken word poetry and mapmaking.
Xavi Moreno teaches spoken word poetry on Day 2 of Summer Writers Workshop
The week began with Documenting History, a workshop that challenged the concept of recording history. Professor Marissa López of UCLA presented snapshots of 1800’s LA that deviated from standard textbook lessons. López challenged students with thought-provoking questions, like: Who makes decisions about what gets remembered? How can we bring unseen or ignored things to light? López also asked what students wanted to be remembered for. Most hoped to be recorded in history as “kind” or “a good friend”. Students chose sources like a Rubik’s Cube and a papier-mâché sculpture to show future LA historians just what type of person they were.
For the remainder of the week, workshop leaders reinforced Lopez’s idea of bringing “unseen or ignored” things about Los Angeles and students’ identities to light.
On Tuesday, East LA community leader and artist Xavi Moreno conveyed the power of spoken word when he performed two of his own spoken word creations! Xavi went on to help students develop their own poetry, advising them to take inspiration from their identities and their neighborhoods. Students went above and beyond with the lesson, weaving unique ”I Am” spoken word poems to perform later in the week.
The next afternoon, UCLA PhD candidate Gabriela Valenzuela taught students how to create their very own maps of Los Angeles. The visual medium helped students communicate the sites, people, and objects important to them through eye-catching visual representations.
On Thursday, Efren Lopez, a doctoral candidate in English at UCLA, led students on a visual journey by sharing art and photographs of Los Angeles. Lopez took this journey a step further by asking students to share what future Los Angeles might look like. Students created their own visuals before writing themselves as historical figures of the future!
Attendees applaud a student’s writing.
Students used the remaining day of Summer Writers Workshop to finalize their writing projects from the week. They also gave powerful live performances of their finished “I Am” spoken word poems. 826LA Program Coordinator Cecilia Gamino and Professor Marissa López said farewell to volunteers and students after Friday’s writing session.
At this year’s Summer Writers Workshop, the amazing workshop leaders empowered students to take control of the way their stories will be told through history. Participating students (and even staff and volunteers!) walked away from Summer Writers Workshop with a new perspective of Los Angeles, as well as the tools to write and explore their identity.