San Francisco’s Mission District’s Murals.

To all the great artist from the Mission, thank you for your beautiful murals and thank you for sharing your stories through this murals.

Poetry Explosion at the Española Library 10.25.2012

A past member of five national poetry slam teams (Worcester, Mass. (x2), Washington, D.C., Wilmington, Del. and Albuquerque, N.M.), Rich has published four chapbooks of poetry and for seven years hosted an open reading and slam in Newark, Delaware. Since moving to Albuquerque in March of 2008, Rich has been performing and writing steadily in the Duke City, and is a regular contributor/editor at localpoetsguild.wordpress.com. In 2012 Rich was named to the first inaugural Albuquerque Poet Laureate Selection Committee for a two-year term, and his participation helped to select Hakim Bellamy, the City of Albuquerque’s first official Poet Laureate. Rich’s poems have appeared in Red Fez, Adobe Walls: An Anthology of New Mexico Poetry, Brawler, Carnival, Crack the Spine, Extract(s), Fickle Muses, Grey Sparrow Journal, HyperText, Lyre Lyre, Neon, The Rag, The Malpais Review, Clutching at Straws, Shot Glass Journal, Missive, Mutant Root, Poydras Review, quarter after, Sparkbright, The Mas Tequila Review, The Yellow Ham, Borderline, 200NewMexicoPoe ms,The Legendary and The Nervous Breakdown. In January of 2012, Rich appeared on the album, “Dylan – Philadelphia pays tribute to a Legend”, an album featuring various Philadelphia artists performing covers of Dylan songs to benefit Amnesty International and the End Hunger Network; Rich’s contribution to the album was a spoken-word rendition of Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages”. Hear some of his poems at richboucher.ban dcamp.com

Photos by Campana de Esperanza Fotography

Poem: Alcatraz: Sacred Journey with images of Alcatraz Island

As my Love and I prepare for our trip to Oakland and San Francisco I recall my past journeys to the Bay area. I have traveled several times to Oakland and visited San Francisco as well.

I’ve been to Alcatraz Island twice. During those to visits to Alcatraz my focus was visiting the prison that housed Al Capone. I have been researching the life of Al Capone for several years. I wrote a research paper on his life in collage.

On Monday October 8, 2012 my Love and I will be going to the Sunrise Ceremony on Alcatraz. We will be seeing and experiencing a different aspect of Alcatraz. Many historical events have happened here, many historical people have walked on it. On Monday my Love and I will be witnessing history being made as Indigenous peoples gather in Ceremonia.

Below are a few images I took during a 2009 trip Amanda and I took to Alcatraz. I also wrote a poem about the journey to Alcatraz. Photos courtesy of Campana de Esperanza Fotorgraphy.

Alcatraz: Sacred Journey

(c) Angelo J. Sandoval 10-4-12

Preparing to embark on a sacred journey
to a place that
once was only recognized
as the Rock,
A federal prison
housing such infamous
criminals such as
Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly
recognized from movies such as,
Murder in the First
and
The Rock.
I now embark on a sacred journey
to the Rock, a place
reclaimed by our indigenous brothers and sisters,
simply known as A.I.M in 1969 and ended in 1971.

I embark on a sacred journey to Alcatraz
to greet the morning sun
celebrating the dawn of a new day
during sacred ceremony
Sunrise service on Alcatraz
bring light to the lies in our history books.
Bringing to light that great nations
existed on this land.
Columbus did not discover America.
Turtle Island, inhabited
by great nations.

I embark on a sacred journey in search
of the spirits of my antepasados
que ya estaben en estas tierras.
Esperando que la ceremonia de la madrugada
mande las almas de los antepasados del Huachin.

I embark on a sacred journey of healing.

Speak, Poet: Voz, Palabra y Sonido October 11, 2012

Meet Manuel!

Manuel is a performance poet who began his career in the poetry slam. He has represented Albuquerque many times on a national level as a member of the Albuquerque poetry slam team. Manuel has appeared on the PBS show, Colores, in “my word is my power.” He was one of the founding members of the poetry troupe The Angry Brown Poets. Manuel Teaches workshops on self expression and poetry in high schools and youth detention centers. He also works with an art therapist to help incarcerated young men express themselves. He is one of the coaches and mentors for the Santa Fe High Poetry Slam team. Manuel is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother’s family is from Barelas. His father’s family is from a small town in Northern New Mexico called Anton Chico, and his father was the lead singer of the band Manny and the Casanovas. He identifies himself as being Chicano.The history, culture, and spirituality of his people are among his inspirations. “I’m proud to be from New Mexico, and to me it’s more than just green chile and desert. It’s seeing the value of famila and respect. It’s the rio grande valley and Santuario de Chimayo. It is feasts, dance, poetry and prayer.” His connection to his culture helps him connect to his students. Manuel Teaches poetry as a means for self expression. Looking within oneself and examining ones roots is the essence of the type of poetry he works with. Emotions, feelings, experiences, and prose in an historical and cultural context is the goal of his workshops. Self esteem, finding something to say, figuring out how to say it eloquently, and letting your voice be heard are just some of the benchmarks in Manuel’s workshop.

Cathy Arellano!

“I’m a Queer Xicana who’s haunted by and obsessed with writing about growing up in my large, working class, Mexican family and the rest of San Francisco’s Mission District community. Next fall, Korima Press will publish a collection of my poetry and prose titled Salvation on 24th Street. Some of my work has been or will be published in Feminist Formations (upcoming), Huizache (upcoming), The Malpaís Review, The Más Tequila Review, Turtle Island to Abya Yala: A Love Anthology of Art and Poetry by Native American and Latina Women, Chicana Lesbians: The Girls Our Mothers Warned Us About, and the blogs La Bloga and Duke City Fix. I teach Developmental English at Central New Mexico Community College. On October 18, I will host CNM Speaks: The Sound of Our Community, a forum for CNM students, staff, and faculty to hear local poets/writers as well as share their own creative work. The event will be held in the library at main campus. Andrea’s Speak, Poet; Adán Baca’s Española Poetry Explosion at the Española Public Library; and Albuquerque’s vibrant writing community inspired me to use poetry to deepen the connections on campus and between on and off campus. Occasionally, I teach Creative Writing in the Chicana and Chicano Studies Program at the University of New Mexico. As much as I love teaching in the classroom, I’m very happy to facilitate groups in the community, such as last spring’s “Fact, Fiction, and Funk: A Writing Workshop for Women of Color” at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. This past July marked five years of living here. I love Burque for allowing me to be a poet again, and I thank the writing community for being open to an outsider.”