#mikesonksen

[mikethepoetla]

When atmospheric rivers hit California and damaged parts of the state earlier this year, many people were hearing about these destructive rainstorms for the first time. Not me, however. I learned about them way back in 1997 while studying under Mike Davis at UCLA. Weather was one of countless areas of knowledge Davis explored in his writing decades before the world caught up to him.

#la #letterstomycity #books #letterstoourcity #mikedavis #mikesonksen #mikethepoetla

[mikethepoetla]

While Boulevards like Hollywood, Sunset, and Wilshire get more attention, Los Angeles’ First Street contains an incredible—and dizzyingly complex—history.

#la #letterstomycity #books #mikesonksen #poetry #losangeles #california #community #creativenonfiction

[mikethepoetla]

Visionaries new LP “V” finally available on vinyl. It’s a landmark album. I wrote the liner notes. Here’s a a short excerpt & See below that for instructions on how to purchase. For 25 years the Visionaries have steadily created new worlds in their music. They have done this on a local and international level simultaneously. Heroes of the Los Angeles underground hip hop community, the Visionaries embody the spirit of 21st Century multicultural Los Angeles with the same verisimilitude as Roy Choi’s Kogi truck or the Grammy Award-winning rock band Quetzal. Before breaking down the songs, let’s start with their name. By calling their group the Visionaries they set the tone for their mission to see into the future and manifest a better vision. The Visionaries invite their listeners to join them in creating a new world. #hiphop #losangeles #Letterstomycity #mikesonksen #mikethepoetLA #Poetry Repost from @thevisionaries • “V” Limited Swirl Vinyl • 200 pieces made Online Release Date: Sunday 12.12 Time: 12:00 Noon Pacific Time VISIONARIESHIPHOP.STORE It took almost a year to manufacture, and a lot of $, but it was well worth the wait. We pressed up a very limited 200 pieces of our 5th album "V." Vinyl is part of of history, helped us get into music, and into hip-hop. Our careers flourished with our first vinyl pressings circulating around the world. This is the first time we've done a gatefold cover, and colored vinyl for an album, and most definitely is a special release for the hardcore collectors and Visionaries massive. Congratulations if you get your hands on one of these, and enjoy reading the liner notes and credits, looking at the artwork, while listening to the warm sound of analog. We will save some copies for those coming to the Visionaries Holiday Gathering on 12/23/21 at the Airliner, Los Angeles. #visionarieshiphop #limitededition #vinylcollectors (at Japanese American National Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXXNJpGPbWu/?utm_medium=tumblr

#hiphop #losangeles #letterstomycity #mikesonksen #mikethepoetla #poetry #visionarieshiphop #limitededition #vinylcollectors

[mikethepoetla]

Beyond the Reef

Beyond the reef lies a rocky beach

where locals meet, laugh. surf

and tell stories

lava rocks jut outward

crystal blue clearwater

Sugar cane, tropical rain

falling water & overgrown green

green as green as green can be

40,000 barrels of water

frame quarters

still life with woodpeckers

forget your mainland road manners

frogs louder than tractors

flaming yellow showers of red fire

#poetry #community #mikesonksen #books

[mikethepoetla]

Anyone looking for a gift for an aficionado of #books, #LosAngeles, #urbanism, #creativenonfiction & #Poetry, here’s my book, #LetterstoMyCity This photo captures the book’s spirit. It’s about celebrating the city & the people who make it what it is. #relationships #mikesonksen #community Link in bio #buildthebridge (at The Music Center: Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIGua3jg5TS/?igshid=1g0ot0f5e4uxb

#books #losangeles #urbanism #creativenonfiction #poetry #letterstomycity #relationships #mikesonksen #community #buildthebridge

[mikethepoetla]

Had a ball visiting UCLA yesterday. I grew up on that campus and it provided the space & place I needed to find my world view back in the 90s. I will always be thankful. Yesterday was the first time I Was there in a few years & its Hard to believe I graduated with my B.A. 25 years ago. It’s as beautiful as ever & there were a lot of people milling about on campus. #Letterstomycity #LA #UCLA #mikethepoetLA #mikesonksen (at UCLA Royce Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb4DqsbuNjY/?utm_medium=tumblr

#letterstomycity #la #ucla #mikethepoetla #mikesonksen

[mikethepoetla]

More shots from the Visionaries in-store yesterday at the Beat Junkies Institute of Sound. Key Kool’s 7-year-old daughter was drawing everyone and she was spot on with every composition. She gave me the drawing right after she did it. #Visionaries #visionarieshiphop #mikesonksen #LetterstoMyCity #mikethepoetla (at Beat Junkie Institute of Sound) https://www.instagram.com/p/CX_2p6bPj58/?utm_medium=tumblr

#visionaries #visionarieshiphop #mikesonksen #letterstomycity #mikethepoetla

[mikethepoetla]

Come on down to the Beat Junkie Institute of Sound this Sunday the day after Christmas to pick up #Visionaries merch especially the marble colored #vinyl from their new record V. V is their fifth album & first one entirely produced by #DJRhettmatic. The album is fantastic. They will also have hoodies, T-shirts, vintage gear from over the years, previous records & other eclectic products like 12-inch singles etc. from Up Above records. I wrote the liner notes for the new album. They’ve come a long way & their sound captures LA better than just about anybody. #LA #undergroundhiphop #KeyKool #LMNO #WritersBlock #Dannu #LordZen #2mex #LetterstomyCity #mikesonksen #mikethepoetla (at Beat Junkie Institute of Sound) https://www.instagram.com/p/CX4dONuPp8t/?utm_medium=tumblr

#visionaries #vinyl #djrhettmatic #la #undergroundhiphop #keykool #lmno #writersblock #dannu #lordzen #2mex #letterstomycity #mikesonksen #mikethepoetla

[mikethepoetla]

One of the only bright spots of the COVID19 era has been more time to read than ever before. Through the first half of 2021 I was able to read at the same prolific clip I did in 2020. As the world opened back up, I slowed a bit, but was still able to read much more than I could in pre-pandemic times. The list here centers around Los Angeles, Poetry, Music, California History, Cultural Studies, Urbanism, and Architecture, but there are also some selected fiction titles. Arranged below in alphabetical order by author, most of these books came out in 2021, but a few came out in late 2020. (See the end of this essay for a quick tribute to Greg Tate who just passed away as this essay was in its final stages.) Here are 34 titles in honor of the number worn by the iconic Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. (Shaquille O’Neal wore 34 as well.) We start with 2Mex because his name begins with a number and one of his best known songs is “The Return of Fernandomania.” Thx to my editor at LA Taco, Javier CabraL. Repost from @lataco • Our annual list is out. Our selections are centered around Los Ángeles, poetry, music, and more. Here’s our 2021 L.A. TACO book guide. 🌮 📚 Written by @mikethepoetla Link in bio for the full guide! 📚 #bookguide #books #bookstagram #mikesonksen #mikethepoetLA (at Los Angeles Central Library - Downtown Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXjpZEUv-jj/?utm_medium=tumblr

#bookguide #books #bookstagram #mikesonksen #mikethepoetla

[mikethepoetla]

I grew up riding with my dad on many Sunday afternoons taking a drive to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose near Robertson. I always loved that place. I was sad when they closed a decade ago. Now I am a part of a team of people opening Bodhi Bookstore at the Rissho Kosei-Kai Buddhist Center in Boyle Heights. There’s no direct connection to the OG Bodhi Tree but this space is being created in a similar spirit. For our grand opening this Saturday, December 18th at 3pm We will be featuring traci kato-Kiriyama reading from her new book. (See my previous post for info on her epic book.) traci will briefly be in conversation with Emi Motokawa about Dharma before reading a cycle of poems. The stellar scribes Luivette Resto, Allan Aquino, Terry Robinson & F. Douglas Brown will also get down. I am hosting. #tracikatokiriyama #risshokoseikai #navigatingwithoutinstruments #boyleheights #littletokyo #poetry #LA #mikethepoetla #tuesdaynightcafe #mikesonksen (at Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXbfm0QpXVZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

#tracikatokiriyama #risshokoseikai #navigatingwithoutinstruments #boyleheights #littletokyo #poetry #la #mikethepoetla #tuesdaynightcafe #mikesonksen

[mikethepoetla]

Congratulations to Professor Obed Silva from East Los ANGELES College on the publication of his new book, “The Death of My Father the Pope.” It’s a gripping memoir that doesn’t let go all the way through. Obed is equally skilled as a painter & writer. He started the East Los Angeles Writers Society and is really committed to his students. Shout out to the great Fabian Debora also for his hospitality at the Homeboy Art Academy. #ObedSilva #elac #LA #TheDeathodMyFatherthePope #mikesonksen #letterstomycity (at East Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWjG9ExvgsY/?utm_medium=tumblr

#obedsilva #elac #la #thedeathodmyfatherthepope #mikesonksen #letterstomycity

[mikethepoetla]

I did a hybrid reading last night with a bunch of great writers. I wanna send a Big Thx to @re.arte.la @nervousghostpress @chillsatwillpodcast Jesse Tovar @anotchka & my man @fdouglasbrown who took this shot. Doug read a new poem that had pathos to go & more imagery than Salvador Dali. Shout out also to @kpookdamayor the man who designed this shirt. #LAPoetry #letterstomycity #mikesonksen #mikethepoetLA (at Re/arte) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWSD9MqluXU/?utm_medium=tumblr

#lapoetry #letterstomycity #mikesonksen #mikethepoetla

[mikethepoetla]

“Emotion is the glue that makes history stick.” James W. Loewen #Loewen looks at over 100 monuments across America and this was the first book to call for the removal of Confederate monuments as examples of bad history. #peopleshistory #letterstomycity #mikesonksen (at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTsSIsIPeyC/?utm_medium=tumblr

#loewen #peopleshistory #letterstomycity #mikesonksen

[mikethepoetla]

I’m late with this because it’s been a busy summer but a huge thank you to @visitoceanside for inviting me to Oceanside earlier this summer to do a poem at a city event. We ended up making a short family trip out of it. #mikesonksen #letterstomycity #lettertomycity (at Oceanside, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR-U-atFdjZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

#mikesonksen #letterstomycity #lettertomycity

[mikethepoetla]

My latest essay for @kcet. Peep the excerpt below & check Adrian Younge’s record “The American Negro” on the Jazz is Dead label. Thx to Adrian, Andrew Lojero, Marcus Gray, Loren Oden & Jazmin Hicks. Shout out also to my great editor @kcet Carren Jao. Repost from @adrianyounge • Thank you @kcet for spreading our word to the people. Education is key as we work to eradicate discrimination and bigotry in our country...throughout the world. Race is merely a social construct...it ain’t real. “Younge's broadcast meditates on double consciousness, image versus identity, imperialism, eugenics, manifest destiny, the Transatlantic Slave Trade and race as a social construct. There's a lot to unpack but Younge manages to contextualize it all through the narrative arc. Younge told me in our Zoom conversation, "I wanted to respect the intelligence of the listener." So much science is dropped that those who like doing homework will have a field day looking up the terms and the names behind the titles of the songs. Songs like "James Mincey Jr.," "Margaret Garner," and "George Stinney Jr." Younge's message, however, is accessible for those hungry for truth, especially in the post-George Floyd era of American society. Within the album lies the musical CliffNotes to critical race theory books and writers like W.E.B. Dubois, Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DiAngelo, Howard Zinn, Gerald Horne, Roxane Gay and Mikki Kendall. In the spoken word interlude "Race is a Fallacy," for example, Younge states: "Race is a social construct with no biological truth; a fallacy pioneered by emigrating Europeans, at the dawn of America. Essentially, the colonists pioneered racism to stratify a new class structure, so that people of color could be exploited under the doctrine of manifest destiny...” #mikesonksen #theamericannegro #TAN #invisibleblackness @jazzisdead (at Lodge Room Highland Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNGinV_g_u7/?igshid=14y4eslebr3lj

#mikesonksen #theamericannegro #tan #invisibleblackness

[mikethepoetla]

Bios for the Long Beach Reading

One of my biggest joys is hosting Poetry events. On August 28th I hosted

an event for the Billie Jean King Library in Long Beach.

Here’s the video link: Celebrating Our International City.

From North Long Beach to Cambodia Town, the Wrigley to east 4th Street, Long Beach is a city of neighborhoods. Come to this Long Beach-centric poetry jam with poets from all corners of the international city!

Here are the poets bios in the order that they read:

Aman K. Batra is a Punjabi-American poet from Artesia, CA. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Creative Writing, and is currently obtaining her MFA in poetry at Antioch University. She has toured the nation as a TEDx speaker, a National Poetry Slam finalist, and a member of the 2016 and 2017 Hollywood Slam Team, performing at 100+ colleges, universities, and poetry venues. Aman’s poetry is heavily tied to her commitment as an educator and an activist. Her work has been featured on All Def Poetry, Button Poetry, Vibe, BeSe, The Huffington Post, and the Fight Evil With Poetry Anthology. For more, follow her website: amankbatra.com

F. Douglas Brown is the author of two poetry collections, ICON (Writ Large Press, 2018), and Zero to Three (University of Georgia, 2014), winner of the 2013 Cave Canem Poetry Prize selected by US Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith. He also co-authored with poet Geffrey Davis, Begotten (URB Books, 2016), a chapbook of poetry as part of the Floodgate Poetry Series. Brown, an educator for over 20 years, currently teaches English and African American Poetry at Loyola High School of Los Angeles, an all-boys Jesuit school. He is both a Cave Canem and Kundiman fellow, and was selected by Poets & Writers as one of their ten notable Debut Poets of 2014. His poems have appeared in the Academy of American Poets, The PBS News Hour, The Virginia Quarterly (VQR), Bat City Review, The Chicago Quarterly Review (CQR), The Southern Humanities Review, The Sugar House Review, Cura Magazine, and Muzzle Magazine. He is co-founder and curator of un::fade::able - The Requiem for Sandra Bland, a quarterly reading series examining restorative justice through poetry as a means to address racism.

When he is not teaching, writing or with his children (Isaiah, Olivia, and Simone), he is busy DJing in the greater Los Angeles area. 

Kelsey Bryan-Zwick (she/they) is a queer, disabled, bilingual, poet and a columnist for Los Angeles Poet Society & Lead Collaborating Fellow at The Poetry Lab.  Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net nominated, her forthcoming micro-chapbook, Bone Water (Blanket Sea Press September 2021) and her first full-length, Here Go the Knives (Moon Tide Press February 2022), focus on her decades surviving with scoliosis.

Charles Clayton aka A Kold Piece

Father, Educator, Writer, Poet, Spokenword Artist & Host. He is a graduate of UCLA.  Inspired by the legacy of his father and the future for his sun, AKP, which he is called by many, continues to embrace the unknown, where he finds solace in knowing that the unknown and uncomfortable is where true growth resides.

He’s a published author of the book called "The Weather Report." A book of haiku and what he calls myku. He has also become a well-respected host for his ability to weave his friendly demeanor and humor into his stage time.

Christian Hanz Lozada is the son of an immigrant Filipino and a descendant of the Confederacy. His heart beats with hope and exclusion. He co-authored the poetry book Leave with More Than You Came With from Arroyo Seco Press and the history book Hawaiian in Los Angeles. His poems and stories have appeared in Hawaii Pacific Review (Pushcart Nominee), A&U Magazine, Rigorous Journal, Cultural Weekly, Dryland, among others. Christian has presented at the Autry Museum, the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, Tebot Bach, and Beyond Baroque. He lives in San Pedro, CA and uses his MFA to teach his neighbors’ kids at Los Angeles Harbor College.

D Hideo Maruyama obtained his MFA in Creative Writing from Long Beach State.  He was a part of Aisarema, the nonprofit wing of the shuttered Amerasia Bookstore during 90s to early 2000s.  It produced the Asian Pacific American Arts journal called dIS*orient Journalzine, and he was an editor.  He was included in the anthology Voices of Leimert Park Redux, and he is currently working on a body of poetry, prose and essays to be compiled into a multi-genre text in the literary vein of Jean Toomer’s Cane or Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee.

Kevin Ridgeway is the author of Too Young to Know (Stubborn Mule Press) and nine chapbooks of poetry including Grandma Goes to Rehab (Analog Submission Press, UK). His work can recently be found in Slipstream, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Plainsongs, San Pedro River Review, The Cape Rock, Trailer Park Quarterly, Main Street Rag, Cultural Weekly and The American Journal of Poetry, among others. He lives and writes in Long Beach, CA. 

Shy but Flyy is a singer, writer, poet based in Long Beach California. Shy has hosted open mics such as griot café, calb open mic, roxannes open mic, and first Fridays with never-speak poets. Along with poetry, Shy fronts a blues band and performs weekly. Check out her events at www.shybutflyy.com and check out her book on amazon, “The Meaning Of The Blues”.

Alex Umlas teaches 9th and 10th grade Humanities and is a lecturer at Golden West College. She is currently serving on the 2021 screening committee for the Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Awards and is the author of the poetry collection At the Table of the Unknown (Moon Tide Press).

Michael Langford Whitlow

After his thirty-one year career as a writer and creative director in advertising, Michael Langford Whitlow published two books of poetry: Concrete Fields and Ferris Wheels, while earning a MA in English Literature at California State University, Los Angeles. 

He teaches concept development and creative writing as a tenured professor at California State University, Long Beach. He recently completed his first book of non-fiction titled: “Under My (Black) Skin” -- a memoir written in a collection of essays about growing up as a Black man on the South Side of Chicago. The book is represented by the Kathryn Green Literary Agency in NYC. He lives in Long Beach and Idyllwild, California, but considers home to be wherever he can feel most himself. 

#LongBeach SpokenWord MikeSonksen LetterstoMyCity URBANISM MILLERROOM