Overview

Homeboy Art Academy: Youth Anthology Vol. 1 collects poetry written by teens during poetry workshops at Homeboy Art Academy with world-renowned poet Matt Sedillo. These poems detail the poets' love for their neighborhoods, their families, their life-changing experiences at Homeboy Art Academy as well as, themes of love and loss, crime and punishment, and their hopes for their futures. Homeboy Art Academy challenges systems of oppression by centering life experiences and cultural knowledge of impacted communities to inspire transformation and reclaim self-agency. Homeboy Art Academy envisions a future where system impacted communities create and lead a just world. A division of Homeboy Industries (HBI), Homeboy Art Academy (HAA) strives to extend the mission of providing hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated youth and adults, by securing a space in which the Arts can be the central modality to healing and transformation. Homeboy Art Academy challenges systems of oppression by centering life experiences and cultural knowledge of impacted communities to inspire transformation and reclaim self-agency.

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Reviews

""It awakens my heart to see young people utilize the power of the arts for their healing and transformation. I believe this collection can inspire and move your spirit as it does mine. The words you find in here are an indelible testament to the human spirit at any age. Empowered and empowering, the poems and stories of these youth compel you to not turn away. Homeboy Art Academy: Youth Anthology, Vol. 1 is a rich collection of stories told by impacted youth themselves and demonstrates how art heals. Homeboy Art Academy is giving voice and saving lives."" -Jane Fonda, actor, activist, and board member of Homeboy Industries

Author Information

Matt Sedillo has been described as the ""best political poet in America"" as well as ""the poet laureate of the struggle."" His work has drawn comparisons in print to Bertolt Brecht, Roque Dalton, Amiri Baraka, Allen Ginsberg, Carl Sandburg, and various other legends of the past. Sedillo was the recipient of the 2017 Joe Hill Labor Poetry award, a panelist at the 2020 Texas book festival, a participant in the 2012 San Francisco International Poetry Festival, the 2022 Elba Poetry Festival, and the recipient of the 2022 Dante's Laurel. Sedillo has appeared on CSPAN and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Axios, the Associated Press among other publications. Sedillo has spoken at Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, at numerous conferences and forums such as the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, the National Association of Chicana/Chicano Studies, the Left Forum, the US Social Forum, and at over a hundred universities and colleges, including the University of Cambridge, among many others. Matt Sedillo is the author of Mowing Leaves of Grass (FlowerSong Press, 2019) and City on the Second Floor (FlowerSong Press, 2022). Both of which are taught at universities throughout the country. Sedillo is the current literary director of The Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles. Fabian Debora was born in El Paso, Texas and began his career in 1995 as a member of the East Los Angeles Streetscapers. He was mentored by many Chicano artists and muralists, and was introduced to creative expressions of all forms, from graffiti and murals to sketching and fine art painting.Fabian's work has been showcased in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, including Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Brooklyn, and throughout Latin America.Fabian served as a counselor and the Director of Substance Abuses Services & Programming as well as a mentor at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles for a decade. He then moved on to worked as Community Connection Director at Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network, He is also a teaching artist for ACTA Alliance of traditional Arts, bringing arts to adult correctional facilities. He also works in collaboration with Latino Producers Action Network (LPAN) as the Art Director, and is an instructor for community artists and students throughout Boyle Heights, He has now returned to Homeboy Industries as the Executive Director of Homeboy art Academy perusing and developing his vision to continue to serve greater Los Angeles area, and abroad. Barbara Fant holds an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Master of Theology from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. The author of several chapbooks and the co-author of two stage productions, her first poetry collection was Paint, Inside Out (Penmanship Books, 2010). She was awarded the Cora Craig Award for Young Authors, and has been commissioned by over ten national organizations. She has represented Columbus, Ohio in nine National Poetry Slam competitions and placed eighth out of ninety-six poets in the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam. Fant is the recipient of residencies from Idyllwild Arts and Connect Arts. Installations of her work can be found in the Columbus Museum of Art and The Columbus Foundation. A TEDx speaker, Columbus Makes Art Campaign artist, and a 2017 Columbus Alive People to Watch, Fant is the founder of Bloom Barb Fant, LLC. She teaches poetry in correctional institutions and schools, is the Artistic Director for Harmony Project, a teaching artist at Transit Arts, and co-curator of the reading series Paging Columbus.

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