Lana's Project Go Back to Inspired By ... 2024 Project List

Meet Nabila Anandira Nabila has found a community that inspires her in Somerville, Massachusetts where she was raised and where continuing to learn. Currently she is a junior at Tufts University, Nabila is curious about how art can be used as a powerful tool in supporting the collective healing and wellbeing of a community. She is creating her own major that combine Community Health, Studio Art, and Civic Studios. Informally, she is known as the loving Godmother to Pomeranian-Poodle Tully and Shitzu-Yorkie Thor! Experience Nabila Anandira's work Click Me

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Inspired By... An Intergenerational Storytelling Project in Partnership with Everyday Boston Inspired By... is an intergenerational story collecting project that trained young people how to interview elders across the city, then turn what they heard into art. Dairon & Leo Here’s the beginning of a poem Dairon wrote to describe his conversation with Leo: "In Boston's heart, where history's deep, lived a man named Leo, with dreams not cheap. Roxbury raised, on streets so bold, in Massachusetts' cold, his story's told. His words, a river, flowing free, a treasure trove story. With hands on wheel, and heart in motion, he served with pride, the DOT devotion." Read More Read More Deysi & Esperanza Deysi created an art piece to represent her conversations with Esperanza. She shares about her inspiration here: “The word Esperanza translates to hope. The word Esperanza is also the name of the person that this piece is inspired by. Esperanza is a woman who has lived through many changes, and periods of growth. She has lived through many different versions of herself, but one thing always constant is the hope she carries for the next day. Esperanza is a strong and beautiful great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and woman." Read More Debby & Maria Here’s the beginning of a poem Debby wrote to describe her conversation with Maria: "When we roam, change unlocks doors to new bonds, new home "Me vine a este país por mi hijo," Maria softly said, Her sacrifice echoed by many, hearts heavy with fear. Chapters start and end" Read More Wael & Ellie Wael created a video with voice to represent his conversation with Ellie. He shares about his inspiration here: “Much like the autobiography, not only does my video talk about Ellie’s life it also uses flowers as Ellie believed that it would bring some happiness to such a story, and I totally agreed. Moreover I wanted this video to feel personal and something truly highlighting Ellie so that was further reasoning to take motivation from the autobiography.” Read More Nabila & Alice Nabila painted a portrait of Alice to represent Alice's vibrancy and what she learned about her during their conversation. Read More Read More Hannah & Beverly Hannah created a visual poem to represent her conversations with Beverly. This is just one of the pages. Read More Lana & Nick Lana met with Nick and captured his wonderful outlook that he, too, is a work of art. Read More Read More Leem & Barbara Leem wrote a poem to represent her interview with Barbara. Her poem includes a beautiful visual component. Read More Sylvia & Liz Sylvia worked with TUN founder, Liz Santiago to write a memoir about Sylvia's time living at 19 Clifford Street in Roxbury, MA. We share the first chapter for your enjoyment. Read More Read More

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What is Poetry? Poetry is a type of writing that is hyper-focused on word choices and rhythm, and it often uses rhyme and meter (a set of rules around the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly. Poetry is sometimes meant to be read off a page, so the way words are arranged visually can vary from what looks like a paragraph to what looks like a list to what looks like a pattern or image. Each choice the poet makes about how they place their words on a page can impact the way the reader reads it. So those choices need to be intentional. Sometimes poetry is meant to be recited out loud by the poet. So how the poem is read or performed is as important as how the poem is written. This kind of poetry can often be heard in Poetry Slams. To help get you started, read on to learn more about different kinds of poetry and see how you can start to write your own. You will find several links to read and/or hear various poems and poets, and find links to other helpful resources, as well as some activities to try! Before You Start There are a few concepts to understand before you read on. We have created videos to help you with these concepts. You can pick and choose the videos you want to explore before you start or during your review of the material. Freewrite is currently available. Videos for brainstorming, prompts and creating word banks are coming, Freewrite: In creative writing, we do a lot of free writing. It's a "free" type of writing that gets your creativity flowing. The following video describes what it is in more detail. Example Poems To start, here’s a list of poems to read or experience that will get your creativity flowing before you start writing your own. A couple of questions to ask yourself for further thinking are included after each link. (Important note: There are no right and wrong answers to these questions! They are simply provided to help deepen your thinking about what you are reading and hearing.) : Dance, dance, dance by Princess Moo: (scroll down to where you see the title, dance, dance, dance ). What did you notice about how the words appear on the page? Did anything surprise you? Why do you think some words are italicized? Why do you think the poet chose not to capitalize her sentences? Hearing That   Joe Arroyo Song at Ibiza Nightclub , 2008 by Elizabeth Acevedo: What did you notice about how the words appear on the page? How did that arrangement impact the way you read the poem? If you could speak to the poet, what questions would you ask? Had My Parents Not Been Separated… by Porsha Olayiwola: In this video, we hear the poet read their poem out loud to us. How did it feel to have the poem read to you instead of reading it yourself? I Wonder What Ricky Martin Is Doing Right Now by Anthony Febo: This time we hear and see and hear the poet perform their poem at a Poetry Slam. How did experiencing the poem like this impact you as the audience? What did you notice about the poet’s body language while he was performing? Did it add to or take away from the poem, in your opinion? Queer Brown Planet by Amanda Torres: Even though the poet is writing in what could be considered science fiction, what real life experiences does she share with her audience? Why do you think she chooses to share real life experiences in this way? What impact, if any, does the audience response have on your experience of the poem? Types of Poems There are many different poetry forms with their own rules and styles. With so many forms, it can be a little intimidating especially if you are new to poetry. So, we suggest you begin with these to get a feel for the possibilities: Rhymed Poetry Rhymed poetry uses a “rhyme scheme” to create a specific rhythm and meter in a poem. Rhyme can be defined as “the repetition of similar sounds at the end of a word.” Rhyme scheme can be defined as “the pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line of a poem.” Watch this video to see how this works in action. Haiku Haiku (俳句 pronounced high-koo) is a short three-line poem that usually follows a 5-7-5 syllable structure. Haiku poetry was originally developed by Japanese poets, and is often inspired by nature, a moment of beauty, or a poignant experience. Haikus are meant to be read in one breath to feel the full affect. For more on haiku and some ideas to get you started, click here . Free Verse Free verse is the name given to poetry that doesn’t use any strict meter or rhyme scheme. Because it has no set meter, poems written in free verse can have lines of any length, from a single word to much longer. Most poets writing today write in free verse. For more on free verse, click here . Try writing at least one of each to get you started. If you want to learn more, you will find a list of types of poetry here . Take your time to read through these types of poems. Find which ones you gravitate toward the most. Find examples of these forms written by poets that you like and read, listen, and take notes. Ask yourself why certain poems and poetry styles attract you? Is it about the words? Message? Rhythm? All of the above??? You can learn a lot about yourself as a writer by reading other writers’ work. Now You Try! Read the following prompts. Pick one and freewrite your response. (Remember, the process of freewriting to a prompt or a topic is a good way to get you started.) Think about how you are feeling right now. Are you happy? Bored? Nervous? Excited? Once you are aware of how you are feeling, write about anything at all in your mind for 3 minutes. This is also known as a freewrite. Then, reread your freewrite after the time is up. Circle stand out words or phrases you wrote and arrange them in a way that makes sense to you. Then turn those words into phrases or sentences to create a poem. Pick a specific moment that stood out to you this week. Create a “Word Bank” full of action words, emotions, nouns, and phrases that describe this moment in as much detail as possible. Arrange the words from your Word Bank in a way that makes sense to you. Then flesh out those words into phrases or sentences to create a poem. Write a poem about what your name means. It can be as long or short as you would like, free verse, rhymed, or haiku, but share the history of your name and what it means to you. Use Random Word Generator . Go to the site, type in the number 5 in the number of words box then click on Generate Random Words to get a list of words. Use as many of those words as you can in a poem. You can look up the meaning of any words you might know know at Dictionary.com . Feeling inspired? Here's another site that has 22 poetry prompts to help you write your next great poem! Want more? Here are a Few Poets To Enjoy Find your favorite poets and pay attention to their process, themes, and style. This can help you develop a process and style that works for you. Here are a list of some poets to look into: Natalie Diaz: Natalie Diaz is the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry at Arizona State University. She is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe. Porsha Olayiwola: Black: Writer. Performer. Futurist Marcus Wicker: Marcus Wicker is the author of Silencer, poems that address gun violence and police brutality against African Americans. Adobo-Fish-Sauce : Adobo-Fish-Sauce is an active choice to celebrate in the face of bitterness. It is responding to “Go back to where you come from!” by bringing where they are from right to you. Javier Zamora: Javier Zamora was born in La Herradura, El Salvador in 1990. His work explores how immigration and the civil war have impacted his family. Amanda Torres: Write. Educator. Cultural Organizer Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboa : Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah is a Ghanaian American poet living out the diaspora in Boston (Massachusetts). Elisabet Velasquez: Elisabet Velasquez is a Brooklyn Born Boricua. She is a mother of two. Her poems are an exploration of her life. Eve L. Ewing: Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of education and a writer from Chicago. Button Poetry: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for performance poetry. William Nuʻutupu Giles: William Nuʻutupu Giles is an afakasi Samoan writer and arts educator from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Native American Poetry and Culture: Explore a multitude of Native American Poets. Denice Frohman : Denice Frohman is a poet, performer, and educator from New York City. These are so many wonderful poets out there, so this is only a small list. Go explore then when you are ready to write your own poems, submit them here! Are you ready to submit a poem? Upload your poems here!

An excerpt of Clear Blue Paranoia by Mercedes Garcia "Who's there?" "Please don't hurt me." "I don't want to die!" Angela forced herself to sit up in the nighttime quiet of her bedroom. Her head throbbed from lack of sleep and her heart beat fast from fear of the unknown. She sat up and turned the lamp on, looking around the room as she did so. Her therapist told her to face her fears to prove that they were irrational. With conviction, she jumped out of bed. Before she could talk herself out of it, she opened her bedroom door quickly then closed it again when she didn't see anything. What was that noise? S he asked herself. She walked over to her bedroom window and looked through the thick, black security bars. She could see her back porch and the tidy yard that housed a few aged, tall trees. There was an old green fence, then a jungle-like yard surrounding another house across the way. Angela looked at the decrepit, old house and wished someone would tear it down. It wasn’t helping the night terrors that have plagued her for years. Every time she thought about it, she wondered who could be hiding behind its rotting wood, waiting for the right moment to attack. Angela, you’ve got to get a grip. S he told herself. She turned the lights back off and got into bed, convincing herself that all will be well. But twenty minutes later, she still wasn’t asleep. The tree shadows seemed to be putting on a show and keeping her awake with the choreography. Worse, the more she watched the shadows the more she could follow along. It was as if the trees had something to say and it wasn’t good. God , she thought, what was wrong with her? People had always accused her of being paranoid and tonight it was worse than normal. Five years ago this week, her father died, and it was still difficult to accept. It wasn't just that his death was unexpected, but the fact that she found him made it 100 times worse. His blue, decaying corpse etched into her memory like a cave drawing. Angela would never forget seeing his dead body on the kitchen floor of his lonely little apartment. It had been two weeks since she had heard from him, which was normal. They weren’t exactly close and he had gotten so weird by the time he died that hardly anyone visited him anymore. She had been leaving messages for him for about a week, but he hadn’t been returning her calls. She called the landlord then, went to his apartment and knocked on his front door until the landlord appeared. The landlord opened the door with a master key and as he did so, the strong smell of old trash and rotting food assailed them at the entrance. Angela remembered giving in to the urge to gag. She called out to her father, but there was no answer. As the landlord went off to the bedroom to see if her father was in there, Angela stood transfixed in the small living area of his apartment. The sun was shining through the cracks in the thick velvet curtains, highlighting the specks of dust flying through air. On the coffee table were small replicas of Jesus. There was Jesus with his arms open wide, welcoming visitors. There was Jesus holding a staff and Jesus with two fingers in the air, giving the sign for peace. The randomly placed Jesus figurines somewhat resembled a nativity scene, but Angela knew that they were permanent decorations in her father's home regardless of the season. Angela remembered hearing the landlord walk behind her and into the kitchen. He gasped and came immediately out of the room. "What?" Angela asked him. The landlord tried to get her to leave the apartment with him, but Angela wouldn't go. She broke away from him and ran into the kitchen. Her father was on the floor, with his hand permanently clutching at his heart. His body had a purple hue and flies were circling his head. Angela remembered wanting to turn and run away from the scene, but was mesmerized by her dead father’s eyes. They were both open wide and seemed to say, “I told you so.” If you would like to read the full story, please reach out to us at info@theuntoldnarratives.com

Deysi's Project We sometimes come by earth sometimes by air Our eyes swollen from tears Trying our best to push out our fears We think about family were leaving behind We think about the dreams were trying to find Feeling sorrow, but our minds far from hollow Filled with hope, that's the fuel that runs the globe Esperanza, lo que llena a cada humano -Deysi Go Back to Inspired By ... 2024 Project List

Cuba, Caribbean, History, Indigenous, Leaders, non-fiction Tags: Cuba, Caribbean, History, Indigenous, Leaders, non-fiction