 Hi everyone, welcome. My name is Pauline and I am a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. We are so happy to have you here with us virtually to celebrate San Francisco's Young and Emerging Writers at Word Storm. You'll hear the original works from Writers Core Youth participants that have been working with teaching artists all year long. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that I am in San Francisco, California on the unceded land of the Ramayatush Olone people. To learn more about Indigenous land and the people who work, study, play, and live on the land, please visit the link in the chat. Before we start, a little bit about the collaboration. The Writers Core Teaching Artist in Residence Grant program focuses on youth literacy, development through creative writing, and nurtures the artistic and professional talents of teaching artists through regular cohort meetings over a course of three years. The WCTAIR has a history of prioritizing and providing access to LGBTQ plus youth, teenage parents, low income youth, and youth affected by the juvenile justice system. Word Storm is organized by the San Francisco Arts Commission through the Writers Core Teaching Artist in Residence Grant program, and in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library. We are pleased to host this virtual event, and I'd like to welcome Tina, the Arts Education Program Officer. Thank you so much, Pauline. Hello there, everyone out there. My name is Tina and I'm the Arts Education Program Officer at the San Francisco Arts Commission. So before we begin our event, I want to thoughtfully acknowledge the contributions of our teaching artists, students, staff, librarians, community partners, and especially our school sites, June Jordan School of Equity, Woodside and Reading Elementary. You all are the heart of this program and you continue to amaze me every single year. Special thanks to WCTAIR resource coach Leticia, SFAC Program Associate Candice, and for making WCTAIR really awesome and taking it to the next level this year. And also a special thanks to our SFPL librarians, Ileana and Christy for co-organizing this event and many others in past years and of course in the future. So without further ado, here's our host, MC Sethi X. Thank you so much for that introduction, Tina. Appreciate it. And a big shout out to the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Public Library for hosting us this year. Let's give it up for them one time. My name is Mandeep Sethi, aka Sethi X, Sounds of Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and I'd just like to say greetings to the beautiful people out there and welcome to WordStorm 2021 presented by the SF Arts Commission in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library and the Writers'Corp Teaching Artists in Residence Program. I will be your host for today's event and I could not be more excited. I am a Writers'Corp Teaching Artist at June Jordan School for Equity, located in San Francisco's Excelsior District. We are excited to be with you virtually this year as we celebrate our student writers and their prolific work. This year we will be hearing poetry from a multitude of students from all over San Francisco. So I just want to give a shout out to all of our people who are here attending with us on YouTube. Shout out to you. And without further ado, let us begin. First up is our beloved Writers'Corp Teaching Artist in Residence, Robin Carter. And let me tell you a little bit about Robin. As a Bay Area Fiction Writer and Educator, Robin Carter has spent the past 18 years teaching creative writing, variety of settings. Her work with adult learners has been as an instructor in a degree program designed for veterans and she currently serves as a mentor in the Penn America Prison Writing Program. Her most recent work with youth has been as a San Francisco Writers'Corp Teaching Artist in Residence at Reading Elementary. Shout out to the Reading Elementary students here with us today. In her role there, she leads comic and graphic novel writing workshops for third, fourth and fifth grade English language learners. Recently collaborated with the KQED Teach Professional Development Series to create Making Digital Comics, which is a self-paced online class for educators who want to integrate comics into their curricula. Her short story entitled Excelsior won first place in the 50th New Millennium Award for Flash Fiction and her short story, Wild Kingdom, won first prize in the 2019 Prime Number Magazine Awards for Short Fiction. Wow! Her current project is a collection of semi-autobiographical link stories that span decades and nations, but together tell the story of a San Francisco that no longer exists. A city the tech boom paved over, pushed out or erased. We're talking the Tenderloin, Mission, North Beach and Chinatown of the 80s and 90s. I look forward to hearing from Robin and her students this year, so please join me and let's show some love as I pass over the virtual mic to Robin. Hello and thank you. My students are up first. I'm so excited about the poetry and graphic memoirs they've been working on this year in lockdown, even though we were spread out, all working from home. They managed to pull it off, so congratulations guys. Up first is Tititra. Are you, are you ready? Are you here? Yes. Okay. I'll share my screen and open your comic. Go ahead. Jet too, uncle. Bye Tititra. There will always be a harsh symphony of lazy blood. When whooshing through mountain madness into a slimy place. Where birds sleep among thousands of bare feet crinkling into sugary soil. Under rain that chants at raw red boys. Who melt into drooling men. Be yourself. Blow black death. When you fall into the sheets of fire, bear this storm. Thank you to Titra. Next up, we have Matthew, Matthew, are you here? Matthew. Yes. Okay. Matthew and I are taking turns. We're going to switch off pages with this one. I'll start with the front ramen seeds. And go ahead. Matthew. It's all rough pepper, rough like freedom, free like Eric. Free like the time I was three and I didn't want to leave the park. So my mom's pretend to do about me. Free like when you can play video games, but. You can't afford the cars or skins only the cheesy. Test rides and try-ons and recess. I didn't feel like playing, but what have I crashed? And split up in your scaly green heart, scaly with hatred, scaly with faith, faith like a rock, a rock you can crush, crush into powder, powdery rain, powdery sea, powdery with curiosity, curious like a teenager twirling inside her head, munching on monstrous green thoughts. Crunchy like ramen, crunchy like country with rumors, like the one about error 51 in aliens or the one Juliana spread about me being bossy. Rumors that crumble to spiky letters in your mouth. You can taste them yet, but they float between dusty pride and winning future. You can't smell them yet, but they race between oceans and an island of clouds, riding stairs, these. All these eyes running with tears, all these fingers run over keyboard through boxes or your mom's rings. Your generosity begins in the cage. That's some people adore and other people's fear. And with the sort of metal, you could melt into buttons and spoons or forge into swords that opens world. Thank you, Matthew. And last we have is a is Abdullah here. Do we have Abdullah? I was having some tech trouble here. You're here. You made it. Great. Okay. Okay, are you ready? Yeah. Go ahead. Breaking surprised and other fears. First fear hallway fighting. I didn't see it, but I heard it. A woman yelling in the hallway outside our apartment and another woman crying in a child screaming. What if it happened in our neighborhood? Third fear crashes. One time I saw two people crash cars together and then they just drove away. Fourth fear mirrors in the dark. These are scary because I think I see a monster's reflection. Fifth fear drowning in other things having to use the bathroom at night and getting sick and breaking my arm again and getting lost is anyone here and the beach because the ocean's deep and there are sharks. Six fear pigeons. I know that's a weird fear. Every time I go outside and see a pigeon close to me, I squeeze my mom and totally walk past because I'm afraid that they'll poke and bite me. Seventh fear banging. It scares me when someone lets the door go really hard and it makes a really loud sound. Eighth fear cat noises. I don't have a cat, but why does it sound like a cat scratching something? Ninth fear clapping presence. Firecrackers popping off across the street. Tenth fear breaking surprise. Hearing glass shattering outside when I feel calm. It always makes me shiver. Eleventh fear tiny gap when I get a paper cut and see blood leak. This is my fear because I am scared of blood. Twelfth fear, the squeak. When I'm trying to sleep and I hear a loud squeak from my mouse, I ignore it and sometimes forget how to breathe after. This is my fear because I'm afraid it will chew on things we need like books. And a quick scene change here for the second half. Thirteenth fear, the bug bite. This is my fear because I don't want it to get me itchy and the bump might be big. Fourteenth fear, flu shot. When I go to the doctor and get a flu shot, I am very scared because of the sharp pointy end, but after I realize it only hurts a bit. Fifteenth fear, shadows. At night when I'm sleeping, sometimes when it's dark, the shadows of clothes merge into a person. I think that someone broke in when no one actually ever broke in. This is my fear because I'm scared someone will rob us. Sixteenth fear, loud noises like metal pots, gunshots, or dogs barking. If those noises come up randomly, my heart jumps and beats fast. Seventh fear, messes. I heard that if people have messy rooms, it's easy for bugs to come in and hide and for spiders to crawl in your ears. Eighteenth fear, being alone at home. Builders make a lot of noise and the toilet makes this weird sizzling noise that just comes up randomly. Nineteenth fear, dark places. There's this office in my friend's house where it's really dark and has some bugs hiding in it. It's next to the bathroom, so at night when I need to use the bathroom, I always make sure to lock the office door. Twentieth fear, revenge. Be scared the heck out of me. The static sound hurts my ears, so I put my hands over them. Once there's a beehive on the awning of this door by my house in Morocco, my cousin decided to move in. We took a long stick and threw it at the hive. Before we hit it, the owner came out and said, Stop, he told us that he put the hive there because he wanted honey. We apologized and then we rode away on our bikes. One of the bees followed us. I pedaled faster and screamed. My cousin said to stop and not move. I don't know what he told me. The bee landed on me and flew under my shirt. I felt it crawling and I wanted to run or scream. It was like free sack and I was it. Thank you, Abdullah. Okay. And that is it for Reading. Back to you, Mandy. Right on, right on. Let's give it up one more time. Wow. Thank you so much to Robin, to Dechitra, Matthew and Abdullah for sharing. The work is so dynamic and powerful. And the comics were such a pleasure to read. Running over keyboards, I can definitely relate to that. And also I have definitely gotten lost on my way to the bathroom at night. So I feel you. And sizzling toilets are no fun. So a lot of that resonated with me. Absolutely love the visuals and the artwork. So let's give it up one more time for Reading. That's what's up. Next up, I am excited to say are the students from my site, June Jordan School for Equity. Before we begin, let me share a bit about myself. My name is Mandeep Sethi. And I also go by Seti X, which stands for sounds of extraterrestrial intelligence. This is a rare glimpse into the time and space continuum. I've had the opportunity to open up for such artists as prophets of rage, Cypress Hill and public enemy. Recently, I'm honored to be the 2021 J Dilla music technology grantee presented by save the music foundation. We'll be building a state of the art studio at June Jordan School for Equity for all SFUSD ninth through 12th graders to join starting fall 2021. Previously, I had the honor to work within the LA County juvenile detention system, building emotional and cultural bonds with the youth within juvenile halls and facilitating songwriting and beat production workshops that allow students to reflect on their emotional and spiritual process while resonating their stories with the world. I've had the opportunity to tour internationally and you can check me out on CNN's Emmy Award winning show, United Shades of America with W. Kamal Bell. That episode is on YouTube, so check that out. Without further ado, I would like to share the work of my students at June Jordan School for Equity because this is all about the students. So let's get started. This year, we're presenting our volume two of our chat book from June Jordan which is called From the Darkness Comes the Light. The first poem is by young poet named Nevea and it's entitled Next Generation. I'll be reading the poems on behalf of my students this afternoon. The Next Generation. The day the love disappeared, the population shortened because nobody loved enough to create the next generation. The day the love disappeared, the words family and friends had been forgotten because nobody cared to have them. They're all lonely and despair. The day the love disappeared, people couldn't live happy because as the love faded through time, hate grew and it got stronger. It was a real life purge. The day the love disappeared, there was no one left to hear your misery. This once bright, caring world turned into a dark, painful, wary underworld. The Next Generation by Nevea. Next up is Broken Mirror by Bernice. I reflect on the broken mirror hanging on the wall. Every crack on the mirror represents the times I've been hurt but every glue stain between the cracks of each piece of the broken mirror represents the times I have overcome the pain. Broken Mirror by Bernice. The next one is Life Through My Eyes by Frankie. My life through your eyes, you may say it seems so nice. Years of a broken heart and broken home. Try to smile through it all. It doesn't feel so nice. A father's breath smells like whiskey. A mother's heart cold as ice. Life Through My Eyes by Frankie. Next one is It's True by Bernice. Everything you do, you do for us. And everything we do, we do for you. You always tell me to be careful even if I'm on the bus. I know we argue, I know we discuss. You know I love you even though I don't show it enough. But you know it's true. And it will always be us too. You're my hero, yeah, you saved the day. And even though you have your own problems, you always show me the right way. I don't want you to worry. I don't want you to stress. I know that it might seem like this, but with you, my life is not a mess. Because without you, I would only be less. And how you always look so good in that beautiful dress. Just want you to know that I love you and thank you for being you. It's True by Bernice. The next piece is called Home Also by Bernice. White shiny floor that blinds you with the reflection of the sun. The house that rolls out my name. The windows are its clear as water. The smell of fresh baked bread. Walls white as paper curtains. Doors and outlines with a sort of colored lavender. Leading to a beautiful green backyard. Filled with all types of flowers that give you a joyful vibe. And reason to smile as soon as you step out. A white dining room filled with happiness and smiles. Home by Bernice. All right, I hope you're rocking with us. And our students at June Jordan, if you have more poems to share, the next one is called My Dream House by Anonymous. My house has no private property or CCTV because I am not a yuppie with too much money that they didn't earn. My house is peaceful and it inspires a creative mindset. My house does not dehumanize. My house inspires me to progress daily. My house has a recording studio to express creativity and is right next to a patio with couches and books. It is beautiful. My house has a little skate park. I have two pools, one for swimming and the other is to train for skating. I also have a ledge for skating. I have palm trees and I live near the beach in a forest and I built it all with these two hands. My dream house by Anonymous. And some may ask why Anonymous? Some of our students love to share but may not like to attach their name or their image to their poetry but it's all about the work and the poetry. So I give them the opportunity and they take the opportunity to submit without a name which is welcome in our class. All right, we're getting to the last few poems here. The next one is called Freerite by one of my favorite young poets, Tawana. I'm from education without schools. I'm from butt whoopings of love. I'm from sensitive feelings. I'm from the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I'm from Lauren Hill. I'm from Petrero Hill. Freerite by Tawana. All right. And the last two poems that we're going to read here we go. Life through my eyes by Vincent. Life for me is crazy. A lot of people would fold from the issue I've been through. At a young age had to take a man role after Pops died at six. Last time I seen him was behind a glass window telling him that I love him but in my heart, he's still there for me. Locked away from myself, I grew up too fast. Now I feel like I live in a false reality. Wish people were in the same mindset as me. Not a lot of real people left in this world. I wish someone could tell me not to do the bad ish I did but like I said, not a lot of real people left. Life through my eyes by Vincent. Heavy, heavy, speaking truth to power. Last but not least, I am by Naveah. I am more than just a student who learns things they wish they wouldn't. I am more than just a mother's daughter whose heart was ruined by her father. I am more than just a moody teen sits and stares at their little screen. We are the ones we've been waiting for. I don't need saving when I'm my own savior. I'm the hero who fights my own villain. I am by Naveah. Let's give it up one time for all of the beautiful work and the students at June Jordan School for Equity. I can't tell you how much of an honor it has been to work with these students over the last two years and I'm excited to continue working with them next year. June Jordan School for Equity for those who don't know is located in Excelsior District and we serve the southeast portion of San Francisco including Visitation Valley, Excelsior and other parts of that district and it's been a complete honor to be there and to continue the legacy that June Jordan herself put forward with poetry for the people. So it is a complete honor to be a writing corp teaching artist in residence at June Jordan School for Equity and once again let's give it up for the students and their work. I want to end our portion at June Jordan with a couple of words. To the students out there, I'm honored to have worked alongside each and every one of you and I truly appreciate your honesty and as one of my students, Tamrin always says vulnerability is power. So that's the last thing I want to leave you all with. Vulnerability is power. And last but not least, we have one of the most prolific writers and performers in the Bay Area and West Coast as a part of our dynamic team of writer's corp teaching artists and that is none other than Maddie Clifford, aka Mad Lines. Maddie is a writer, musician and educator born and raised in Seattle. Currently based in Oakland, she spent the past 10 years teaching literary arts workshops to local youth. She's taught on college campuses, within lockdown facilities and even as far as way as Uganda, the motherland. She was recently nominated for a Grammy, hello, for her contribution to the song Black Girl Magic by Alphabet Rockers. Her mission is to leave an indelible footprint in a shifting cultural landscape, one in which young people's dreams for peace can take root. We are so excited to have you here, Maddie, and for you to share your work and your students' work. Thank you for all your hard work this year with the students at Woodside. We are excited to hear their stories and so Word Storm 2021, join me in passing the virtual microphone to Maddie. Hey, everybody. How y'all doing? Thank you, Maddie. I'm so appreciative of you. It was great to hear your students' writing. Shout out to us rappers, you know, mastering ceremonies out here. Shout out to Robin and the amazing students at Reading. Every time I hear your comic books, I'm just like completely transformed and transported into like these other worlds. So I'm just every year I'm really excited to hear your writing. So thank you, thank you to everyone. And also thank you to the library. Thank you to San Francisco Arts Commission. It's really important to, you know, poetry really does save lives and I'm just so happy that we have this moment to be able to celebrate student writing. So I want to start off by showing a video, a short video to give you an idea of who my students are. I made this video a while back, it basically uses all students voices. I hired an actor to play a student. So he's not actually one of my students, but it shows a lot of different parts of San Francisco. All of my students are from San Francisco, but they're incarcerated. So I feel like it's a really great example of their voices and their visions and dreaming of a world in which, you know, creativity is prioritized over punishment. So I would love to show that video if that would be cool. How's that sound? That life is worth living to continue the path that guides us to the end of our journey. Gunshots fly past as the warm body hits the ground and begins to get cold, stuck in shock, heart beating fast before I'm still standing, watching the body. My feet ran the streets as I thought I was at a track meet and scary night that my life could have been over. I realized that life is worth living. I'm a country ironman. My ancestors were given a name and forced to admire it. Forced from their homes into a plantation. They tried to endure and got tired of waiting. Mad and infuriated from the life that they're facing. They tried to run, but couldn't quite make it. They died, but had kids who rose up to greatness. Last name remains, but they still had to face it. I'm a person whose family who came here with nothing. We're forced from the country. The sin is still kept as a slave, but only because I couldn't behave. I'm from the city whose people constantly getting paid. I'm not a statistic. I need to be saved. I'm strong-minded and can still change my ways. A cut, a flaw, a visible memory, like a mark on paper from a permanent marker. Something that shouldn't be there but is. With a skin, it's darker. Healed, but not erased. A mark that should not be. Like a misplaced note and a melody of perfection. A crack in the temple, a flaw on the wall. A jagged line that reminds you you did fall. This beautiful life I live. I want to leave my imprint on everyone I meet. Traces of laughter and bright smiles. I want my soul to shine, not my shelf. I want from my love to be felt, not my hate. I want my touch to be enjoyed, not envy. I strive to be the best, but not better than. I strive to be respected, not hated. Me against the world? That's the anthem I hear my generation sing on a daily. This life is not hard, it's enticing. It's a state of mind. The world complains about all of its flaws, trials and tribulations. 9-11, for example. Yeah, it was a tragic event. But why continue mourning such a negative feeling? On that same day, a little girl had her first kiss. A couple of age 70 celebrated their 50th anniversary. A baby boy took his first steps, and a loving mother gave birth to a newborn healthy baby. Where there's bad, there's always good. I bring the blood. Thank you so much. Just to give you an idea of the students' writing and their talents, all the multiple talents and ideas they have. Now I want to show you the students' writing from this year's publication. I'm really excited about the publication this year because I've actually collaborated with a muralist this year, one of my best friends named Agana. Some of you might know her. She's a great artist. She's a great artist. She's a great artist. And it's going to be an interactive mural. So it's going to be an image that is going to be painted on a wall in San Francisco that people can come and take pictures, make videos. And I'm going to read poetry at that site. So it should be really fun. And I'm excited to share that. So I guess we can go to the slides now if that's cool with y'all. And I'm going to read you the work from this year. And I'm excited to share it with y'all. And I'm excited to share it with y'all. And I feel like I do. I feel like San Francisco is such an artistic city that it's kind of like you have to, you don't have a choice because you're just always inspired by dancers, sculptors, painters, muralists. So here are the poems from this year. It was a hard year for us just like last year was, but at the same time, it was a very difficult year for us. And I'm excited to share it with y'all. So here's the work from this year. And this is an example of some of the works that I've done over the years with visual art. You can go to the next slide. Here we go. What else is new by anonymous. Still waking up at 830 am still eating, jail food. Still sleeping in a cold room. Still hearing the buzzer on the door. Still going to school on the inside. Still wearing other people's draws. Still taking cold showers. Still hearing the door slam behind me. Prosecutors still calling me menace to society. Still using menace to society. Since the 90s. Okay. Next slide. Inherited issues by DH. So I can't show their full names because we want to keep the privacy of young people that are incarcerated in case they get their records clean. Okay. Inherited issues. I have inherited dad's whole face, his face, his mouth, his face, his eyes, his mouth, his mouth. His laugh. Laugh line lips. He told me that he loved me. I have inherited my dad's humor, like saying something stupid instead of confronting a problem. I keep going back to the same drug called the street life. I try to stop before I overdose. I don't want my kids to inherit the same life I live. And go to the next slide. Trying to speak Spanish, as I say. How to do time by TK. Don't fold, don't speak. They'll try and flip the script. And the halls is just khakis and a sweater, ain't no drip. Keep your head up, don't break, pray for forgiveness. Don't believe what they say. God is your witness. You just a number, they see straight through you. Judge reads your file, sees the bad, like he always knew you. Next slide. Losing my dad by AG. I woke up to the taste of saliva and banging on the door. Hands up. That's how they took my dad. While mom ran across the hallway, I watched all our belongings snatch from the closet, the couch and the fridge, a bunch of yelling and ice agents screaming, get on the ground, hands over your head. I can still smell the scent of broken wood and dust crowding my bedroom. My heart was racing fast as I hit the floor. Is that why my father being taken still feels like a bullet wound? Next slide. Then versus now by IB. I used to be open, but in the past, I'm still holding. But to the past, I'm still holding. I was a little girl who didn't scream, stuck in a bad dream, like a child hanging from a window. I can't let go completely. Words filled with hope, but still I can barely cope. Next slide. So these are some more images, some examples of other publications I've done. I think I have collaborated with a total of six different artists over the years, visual artists, so it's always fun. This was Tristan Cunningham, shout out. Next slide. How to do hair by MS. Learn to braid, practice over under, like crocheting a blanket, hair like fabric, different textures, braid tight with fingertips, part like geometry. My head is a canvas ready to be created, looking for a stain that won't blow me away, burgundy, first, deep condition, like making sure a plant has the right nutrients. Next, style it. I like let my crimped hair flow in waves. Oops, can't see. It's a little bit, I'll go to the slides if I can find them. It's a little bit hard to see for some reason. So just give me a sec. I'm gonna go to the slides because I'm actually reading them from the, okay, I'm gonna start how to do hair again. My head is a canvas ready to be created, looking for a stain that won't blow me away, burgundy, first, deep condition, like making sure a plant has the right nutrients. Next, style it. I let my crimped hair flow in waves or I allow the heat to touch my hair, make it straight, uncooked spaghetti. Now I should feel accomplished. I'm getting to the finish line. I look and feel amazing. Next slide. This one's called Realizations by SR. Millions on tanks, firearms and drones while the people are cold without homes. All they have is hope. The government says nope, while the dope says yep. They become dependent like an infant is to his mother like our lungs are for air, like our stomachs ache for food. My opposition is thinking twice, the streets are my life. In the game like dice, it's a gamble in the hood and the life ain't nice. Shots in the night, it gets crazy. Living a lie lately, America ain't great. It's really manly. Next slide. Ooh, this is one of my hair, like Jesus. Some people are generic. They need to stop playing loss as God. They need to start praying. When I came, come home, little baby starts slaying. My presence is a gift. So it's Christmas when I come around packing like the Green Bay. This head deserves a crown. My locks go crazy too. Watch me shake them like Jesus. That's the Bay Area for you. Next slide. This one, it was fun. We did rhetorical questions. Do I look like I'm playing by anonymous? Scrunched up faced like I just ate sour lemon. Body tensed, fists clenched, palm sweaty. Demons in my head. I wanna see red, but I'm finna black out. Popping pills, but they ain't working. I lost my dog. I can't seem to numb that kind of pain. Next slide. I love how every time they write, it like gives you a window into their experiences and to be able to see people for who they really are instead of just the way they're reacting to the trauma they've survived. These are two other examples of site publications. The one on the left is from last year when I worked with Tana Tucker. The one on the right is by Azimana Maganaya. Sorry, I said his name wrong. And I worked with him, I think it was 2018, I believe. I kind of lost track. I worked with so many different people. Okay, the fire by R.C. I am the fire. I get hot if somebody messes with mines. My love, my loyalty. I spread my kindness like a forest fire. I stay cooking. If I start something, I'ma finish it. I am the fire. I start my own movement and share it with others. I burn negativity like you ain't gonna be nothing. My fire brings light to the dark. My fire changes the way people look at things. I am the fire. You're safe around me. You won't get cold. We'll make the best of any situation. If I want something, I keep working till I get it. I am the passion and the fire. I can relate to that. I think that one was actually Zodiac signs. They actually love doing poems about Zodiac signs. So it must have been a fire sign, like a Sagittarius person. My name lives by AB. That's the next one. I am a force of nature. My name lives in the orange afterglow. Remember that orange afterglow last year, this past year? My name lives in the ash-covered cars commuting to work on Tuesday. My name exposes hypocrites like a hole in the ozone. My name. Sometimes I feel overcast. The same thoughts covering my day in gray. Sometimes sunlight breaks some monotonous colors and rain washes the dust from this earth. Sometimes I am a force of nature. A forced for good. Can go to the last slide. This one is by Joshua Mayes, one of the most beautiful pieces he custom created for the students at juvenile hall. Again, I want to thank everybody for making this possible and being able to bring this beautiful poetry and healing to such a difficult space and a difficult time for students. And yeah, I'm just super-juiced. I'm really proud of everybody that has made this happen this year. So shout out to Mandeep. Again, shout out to Robin, Tina, everyone that is part of the Wiktare program. And I'm gonna pass it back to Mandeep. Woo-hoo. Yo, amazing, amazing, amazing. Those, it can't even capture in words the emotions and the spirit I'm feeling right now. Thank you so much, Maddie. Let's give it up for our resident teaching artist, Maddie Clifford. And all of the students at Woodside, the video, the music, the mural, wow. You're taking this Writers' Corp teaching artist residency to a whole new level, whole new level. And we're really inspired. We can't wait to find out more about when you're gonna be reading at the DJ Agana mural, right? Cause she's also a DJ and she's a muralist and we're so excited to just continue this journey together. So thank you, Maddie. And again, thank you to the wonderful and amazing spirits at Woodside. We honor each and every one of you and your stories. It is important to remember that everyone has their own stories. And in the words of June Jordan, we are the ones we have been waiting for. Always remember and keep those who are incarcerated in our hearts and souls because we must free them fast, right? We must free them fast. Thank you so much to Maddie for your dedication to your writing and poetry and for always shining a bright light where it is neat as most. We appreciate you. With that being said, we have reached the end of our reading portion of Wordstorm 2021. Let's give it up one time for all of the artists, the poetry, the music, the videos and the artwork and comics. We hope that you all enjoyed the show and that you resonated with one or more of the poems that were shared. We are here to speak truth to power, all right? And before we end, we would like to open it up for questions and answers. And I'd like to invite my co-host with the most, Pauline from the San Francisco Public Library back on stage to join me for this Q and A session. Thanks, Mandeep. I always tell the young people, they are the one I've been waiting for. Because we done messed it up. No pressure, young kids. I don't have any questions showing up on my end here. Does anybody have anything they'd like to say? Or maybe does Christie have anything from the YouTube side? Yeah, let's wait a couple seconds and see. I don't think we have any questions coming in from YouTube currently. So we'll give it about a few more seconds to see if anybody else comes in with some questions. In the meantime, I'd like to take a moment just to thank the SF Arts Commission and the San Francisco Public Library for hosting us this year. It is always a pleasure to work with both of these amazing organizations. And here we have a question coming in. For Reading students, how do you get motivated to write? What helps you get started? That's a great question. All right, for our Reading students out there, how do you get motivated to write? Anyone want to respond? That's a good question because I have trouble with that too. What about you, Mandeep? I think starting is the hardest part. Starting is the hardest part. That first line is definitely a challenge. Abdullah, I see you talking in the chat. What's up? You want to answer? How do you get started writing? Because you're writing is amazing. Does anyone remember how we started with the comic about the fears? Breaking Surprise? It's hard to think back to the beginning after you've written so much. You forgot how we started. That made me think about this book, Fears of Your Life. Yeah, that was our inspiration. I like thinking about my fears so that I can overcome them. If I don't think about them, then I'll never be able to overcome them. That's real, that's real. It looks like Sophia said we started with a voice recording. So maybe Robin, you can share a little bit about that. Yeah, it's what Maddie brought up. It was a podcast where someone was reading Fears of My Life, the piece that Maddie mentioned. I forgot the name of... Do you remember his name? The name of the author? He was part of Creativity Explored on 16th Street. And we listened to part of his piece about his fears. Nice, nice. It's always great to start off with a recording before writing to hear someone's voice, the tone, the spirit. So thank you for that. We have another question coming in. I'm going to pass to Pauline to share that question if you'd like. Since you are one of the teaching artists, how long did the teaching artists work with their students? So I'll kick it off. I've been working with these students for this, this is my second year. So we have some returning students who are here for their second year for fall and spring semester. And some students just for one year and some students just for one semester. And during that one semester, they may have only come by once or twice, but it's not about how much time you came for, it's about what you did with your time. And so some students have, they show up maybe even five, 10 minutes and they go right into it, deep into their poetry. And some students have a slower process and like to take time to get inspiration. So it's definitely a mixed bag, but I'll pass it to the next teaching artist. Maybe we'll go to Robin and then Maddie. How long did the teaching artists work with their students? Well, I've been with this group. I have my students, oh, I'm on, I'm... You're on. Am I on? Okay. I have my students for three years for third, fourth and fifth grade. And I've been working at Reading for 18. So I know them pretty well. That's what's up. Thank you for sharing that Robin. I'll pass it to Maddie. How long have you been working with your students? Yeah, that's a really good question and it varies. I've also had the pleasure of having a really deep connection with the site, Woodside, which is the school within San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center for seven years now. It takes time to really establish a relationship with the site, with the teachers, with the counselors, with everybody there. And so that's really helped me be able to... Some students, they've come in and out of Juvenile Hall almost maybe four or five years. So I see them a lot. I'm pretty versed with their struggles with writing, their triumphs with writing. And then kind of like what Mandive said, I'll have random students that I've ever met before that will come in and it'll kind of be like a drop in situation. They might be writing their first poem. They might be writing for the first time, they might be feeling like, oh, I'm actually kind of good at this. Or since I'm a teacher who like Mandive, we both rap, we're definitely allowing them to rap sometimes or write things that they might not necessarily think of as poetry, but is very poetic. So I love doing that with my students. So to answer the short answer to that question would be most of us spend years with our students and it takes time to really establish those connections to make sure they feel safe enough to be vulnerable as Mandive was talking about earlier. Right on, right on. Thank you for that. I really appreciate your insight. We have a couple of other questions coming in. Pauline, what do you say? I see Tina throwing something down here, TAs in calling y'all TAs. What do you love about being a TA? And what is a TA? All right. So TA, we are not teaching assistant, at times we are, we assist ourselves and our students, but TA stands for teaching artists. And so what do I love about being a TA? I would say I love the fact that you can blend your artistry and your ability to be a student and to learn and to share your wisdom and your expertise all in one. So it's really a holistic experience as a teaching artist. You get to bring your full self into the classroom. And I'm gonna pass the microphones if whoever wants to take it, Maddie or Robin. Let's go Robin. You're kind of highlighted, so I was- I muted. What do I love about being a teaching artist? I, well, everything pretty much, but what I love most is watching my students' evolution watching my students' evolution over the course of time there with me, because I have them for three years, which is real, I feel really lucky. And they start out as third graders who are kind of wobbly and finding their voice a little bit. And then by fifth grade, I'm sad to let them go. I wanna keep following them. So that's my favorite piece. Awesome, thank you for sharing that. We'll pass it over to Maddie. Yeah, I would say everything that Robin and Maddie mentioned. And then also I would add that a lot of the time we think of the arts as like this extracurricular thing that's just on the side when we have time. But what I love about being a teaching artist is actually to support the classroom teachers and the school sites with making art and creativity, something that's intrinsic to like all of the disciplines, that it's something that is gonna help students retain information and really care about coming to school and really want to come to school. So I think that's something that a lot of people don't understand about teaching artists and the role that they can potentially play at different school sites, especially with young people that experience trauma or haven't really had a lot of positive experiences and learning environments. That's a hundred percent. I feel that 100%, especially that last statement, feeling comfortable in learning environments, right? For so long, school has been a place where students' ideas or their stories have been suppressed. And that's not a knock on any school in particular, but the way the school system is set up. And so teaching artists allows us to bring the art into the room and put it at the forefront. And we know that art is healing. We know that art is revolutionary. We know that art allows us to put our own stories into our work. And so then we get to figure out who we are and what we are and why we are here, which is essentially what education really is, right? We want that knowledge of self that comes into play. So I really appreciate everyone's answers. And it is an honor to be a teaching artist with the support of the Public Library and the Arts Commission because it also is tough to be a teaching artist. You're basically just going here and there looking for a place to fit in. And so finally, we have a support system to say, hey, here we are. This is the classroom you're gonna work in. This is the students you're gonna work with and let's really invest in the arts. And so I think that makes a big difference into the quality of teaching that can happen. Okay, it looks like we have one last question. And it is for the Reading artists and writers, what Palmer image stood out today and what did you enjoy about the reading today? Anyone wanna take that or answer in the chat if you're shy? Reading students, come on, Reading students, we wanna hear you. Don't be shy. Reading, reading, reading, reading, reading. Maybe one of you who read today. It can even be from your own piece. Hi, Jaden says hi. Jaden says hi. Jaden, what did you enjoy about your reading today or any of the artists today? Or to Chitra, feel free to hop in. Abdullah, we'll give a couple of seconds for them to go ahead and hop. Or even something we didn't read today. Something that, something else we wrote. We, you could talk about, we were also inspired by that Orange Day. They wrote another comic about that. The Orange Day was. Yeah, that was. That Orange Day messed me up. Orange Day will never be forgotten. You guys all being shy, huh? Well, if they're being shy, I wanted to say something. I wanted to say thank you to you three for being brave enough to teach art. And that I, as a children's librarian, something I have always believed is that children pay attention. Children absolutely pay attention. And when you all give them the vehicles to show how they are paying attention. Oh my, does it come out? And look at what we did today here. This, this would, it always blows me away when children share their art. So thank you to all of you for doing what you do. Yes, and thank you to the library because literacy, it's so important. And one of the things I love about poetry is to be able to bring literacy to folks that might have had a lot of challenges and fears around literacy, because it absolutely is about paying attention, about finding your voice, about having moments of success with literacy. So kudos to you. Also, not being able to read and write is a major determining factor in being incarcerated. So everything that y'all are doing, I just love the library, yes. Love the library. Echo that statement, Maddie, for real. I remember growing up as a youth, you know what I'm saying? The library was always that safe place where, you know. It was a place where your parents dropped you off. It's sort of like, maybe sitting you. That's what it still is. But you know, those librarians and those people inside there who kind of guide you the right way and show you something you may not have seen before or even the books displayed out and then you see the artwork with the right moment and it all synchronizes. It's really a big task and we must continue that. You know what I mean? So congratulations to the SF Public Library. I saw the video that it was opening up again and all the people were there and y'all were clapping as I saw that video the other day and I was maybe so happy. And I was like, I haven't been to that one in a long time, so I have to go back there. There were a lot of happy tears that day from the staff and the patrons coming in. Definitely, you could feel it in that video. But with that being said, I'd like to close out my portion. That's all from me, your host. It's been an amazing opportunity to host this Wordstorm 2021. Once again, let's give it up for all of our students, Redding, Woodside, June Jordan, you know, for our teaching artist, Robin Carter, Maddie Clifford and myself. Maddie Pseppy here rocking with you and I'd like to pass the microphone back to Pauline in the SF Public Library. Thank you, Maddie. Thank you, Maddie and thank you, Robin and thank you all of you students for showing your art. Art respects everyone and I just, again, it reflects in our children. And I'm so happy that this happens and it continues to happen and let's keep it happening. Thank you, Wordstorm participants and teaching artists for sharing your talent and stories with us. I can't thank you enough. For more information about what's next for Writers' Core, check out the links in the chat. Also, thank you for joining us today, you out there. If you love today's program, check out our calendar for future virtual events. Yeah, say that five times fast, future virtual events. Woo, we'll also have links in the chat for our current series of events and book lists celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. That's the whole month of May, y'all. That's all for today, folks. Take good care of yourselves, stay safe and we hope to see you at another library event very soon. Thank you.