holding space for women of color from various backgrounds in the specific city they are from. Highlighting Unity in similar struggles and celebrating our various cultures and ethnic backgrounds with love, respect, and pride.
There will be an open mic in the beginning of the event so as to open the stage for anyone wishing to share their truth following with a list of poets from the bay Area.
Bios of poets
Mama Betty (Berkeley) To her dear friends she is known as A-na-mah 7th daughter of Willie May Mason grand daughter of Tm and Lilly Mason She is mother and supporter to us all here in the poetry community, her circle of friends and She is part of the Aint Right Tribe Crew ( Still Here) She is a life force full of positivity with an open heart and vigorous perseverance welcome mama Betty in all her truth she is all water pisces 24/7 in her warm energy of love
Taneesh Cantos Kaur (San Francisco) is a teaching artist of East Indian descent based in San Francisco, a social justice advocate who uses nature to understand and dismantle systems of mental and physical oppression. Her visual art has been shown in galleries in the Bay and SoCal, and has received praise from the international Luxembourg Art Prize 2022. Their poetry appears in the SF Public Library's Poem of the Day, The Bloom, Great Weather for Media among others, and was long-listed for the 2021 Frontier Poetry OPEN prize. Their poetry full-length collection "Thawing" is forthcoming in 2023. Additionally, their residencies with SF-based Queer Rebel Productions incorporate original poetry and paintings to tell stories through experimental video. Their essays appear on Dictionary.com, with research also in the peer-reviewed journal Discourse Studies. Taneesh has a Master's in linguistics from San Francisco State University, with training abroad in Mexico and Chile. More of her work can be found in English and Spanish at www.TaneeshCantos.com.
Mariana Franco ( Los Angeles, Humboldt County)is a seasoned writer from the age of five. Born in Pacoima, California (home of Richie Valens, Cheech Marin). She is a proud Indigenous (Cucapa)/ Latinx Chicana Chingonx queer BBW. It was in her college days where she began performing her poetry on stage and improv in the college town of Arcata, California at the Arcata town square, Don’s Donut Shop, the Humboldt Polytechnic University Library, bus stops, bar front sidewalks, Jacoby Storehouse (3rd floor), and campus events regarding domestic violence, the prison industrial complex, LGBTQIA Pride events. She is an Alumni from Humboldt Polytechnic University with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing (2008). In 2018/2019 she attended the open mic hosted by Word Humboldt and was a featured poet and hostess for the burlesque cabaret troupe Atomic Cabaret of Humboldt, California in 2019. She has scattered pieces in several anthologies or publications;Mary Ponce Literary Contest, FEMENIL 2000 Humboldt Polytechnic University, Women’s Cultural Center zine The Matrix , “I Love Women” 2010 Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes & Shifts of Los Angeles, “Night 1” Tia Chucha Press, 2016 Los Angeles Poets for Justice: A Document for the People, Los Angeles Poet Society, 2021 Touching Tongues: A Women’ s Erotic Anthology, Read or Green Books Press, 2021
In the time of the pandemic, Miss. Franco has written vigorously and has made her voice more prominent with the assistance of technology and social media outlets. She has created her own open mics inviting artists a space in exposing their talents with additional promotions in healthy cooking alternatives, meditation, curated events (Poerotica Slay December 2020, Ramenoetry November 2020, Walk in your Truth (2021), Author 2 Author 2021, Hoops and Art Open Mic October 2021, Speak Your Truth ( 2021) Forever Poetry Open Mic May 2022,), she is creator and organizer of a series live poetry event called Las Hijas Chingonx De Inmigrantes started in Los Angeles and expanding outward to other cities such as Sacramento, San Francisco, Humboldt County, providing a space presenting all people from all backgrounds in the cities they live in, celebrating themselves and where they come from against being marginalized and unseen. She has worked and collaborated with other content creators, business owners, and collectives (@gracianoenwerem of #coronaverses, @mprompttoo). Additionally, she has published three books: Heart of Fire, chapbook 2021, through Local Gems Poetry Press Family and Other Problems: poetry, 2021, through Not Just Alphabets Press Money Violence Death Y Resistencia Con Besos: poetry 2023, through Cheers Bar Publishing.When not writing, Miss. Franco can always be found taking photographs walking around the cities she chooses to visit and explore, promoting events and shows through her business Prickly Pear Productions & Services. She lives in the Heart of East Los Angeles and is a friend to all fighting and resisting the patriarchal system.