Posted on September 24, 2012 by
I am so excited to announce that a new chapter of In the Words of Womyn will be coming soon to the Heart of Texas! Please stay tuned here for more details about the dates and location.
The vision is blooming; the dream is becoming!
Posted on October 2, 2011 by
Sym·bi·o·sis. noun \ˌsim-bē-ˈō-səs,\: a cooperative relationship; an intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms.
In the Words of Womyn = body of womyn writers. Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural = transformative arts space & community center. ITWOW + Tia Chucha’s = symbiosis. 
ITWOW began with an experience…a resounding void of womyn voices on the mic at a weekly open mic event. That experience turned into ideas and vision. Those ideas turned into dialogue. And dialogue turned into action: the creation of a womyn’s writing circle workshop on January 15, 2010.
Since 2010, In the Words of Womyn has held six 10-week workshop sessions connecting with over 60 womyn from all over San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles County. During that time, more womyn are stepping up to the mic each week at open mic; ITWOW showcased five womyn poets at Tia Chucha’s 2011 annual Celebrating Words Festival; in 2011, ITWOW teamed up with singer/songwriter Tapia Corel to create a quarterly event called Womyn’s Words and Music Night showcasing the talents, artistry, strength and beauty of womyn musicians and writers; and ITWOW website has published over 75 poems, stories, and memoir excerpts.
While the vision for ITWOW began as mine, it has become a community vision adopted not only by the many womyn inspired by and empowered by ITWOW, but also by Tia Chucha’s without which this vision never would have had a place to be planted and BLOOM!
I am so thankful to Tia Chucha’s co-founder Trini Rodriguez along with her incredible staff who have enthusiastically supported the ITWOW vision and mission from the very beginning. Tia Chucha’s has lavished gracious hospitality in allowing ITWOW to be held at the Centro weekly and has also created countless opportunities for womyn writers to be inspired, nurtured, and empowered. I have been deeply transformed by the people, the art, the opportunities and the community of Tia Chucha’s–both as a writer and as an individual.
Tia Chucha’s has the incredible opportunity to create a documentary and book highlighting the transformative work accomplished in the Northeast San Fernando Valley through arts programming. Tia Chucha’s is a non-profit independent bookstore and community cultural center. Not only is it the only bookstore for miles…and miles around, but is also one of the only spaces in the area offering FREE workshops and programming in music, art, culture, gardening, healthy living, and much more to kids, youth, and adults.
I’m inviting you to join with In the Words of Womyn to support the incredible work being done through spaces like Tia Chucha’s, where art and minds meet for a change and where Art Transforms Communities. If you, or someone you know, has been inspired and transformed through the presence and programming of Tia Chucha’s, please offer up your gratitude and support by donating. Whatever amount you can give–from your heart to Tia Chucha’s–will be sown into fertile ground and the harvest will indeed be bountiful!
To learn more about Tia Chucha’s and to donate, please go to their website. For those of you who already know and love Tia Chucha’s, check out this video clip and information about the Art Transforms Communities documentary/book project; you can donate there as well.
Thank you friends, family, and community!
With much love and respect,
~Jenuine
Posted on March 9, 2010 by
~Jessie Dawson Wilson
Where there’re no shoes for tiny feet,
My heart cries out;
Where there’s no bread for a child to eat,
My heart cries out;
Where there’s no roof over an old man’s head,
My heart cries out;
Where Mother Earth is the only bed,
My heart cries out;
Where there’re no garments to keep out the cold,
My heart cries out;
Where there’s no peace for a troubled soul,
My heart cries out;
My heart is the cry of 50 million people
In 50 million sad voices made one.
Posted on March 9, 2010 by
~Matriz
asked to voice our knots, display our tangles
present them in beauty, fit for the public
a contradiction, a delicate artful challenge
thus this attempt, holding close the interest of we
bombarded by so much sensation, news of abuse
shooters erupt, thirst blazing, wrinkled with fears
uterus empty of mothering, broken warrior gone wild
loss felling children, uniformed walls, all distant relatives
tired, bones witness the gathering day workers storm
weary, business suits fit to neglect needs
angry, skeletons fed on promises of better tomorrow
self-medicated, sick of bankruptcies, graduation job lies
so the marchers emerge, demanding rights
to knowledge, to health, to be spectators no more
expecting a world to transform, to allow worth in this lifetime
together pounding the pavement, lifting spirits to the sky
listen to the prayer of a nation humbled by mistakes
embrace and brace for changes, expect this once and for all
rely on the wealth of the creative, let it flow into every gap
reject addictions rooted in usurped authority, robbed power
Mother Earth waits for her children to grasp their lesson
that there are natural laws greater than the toys of man
that a well being is measured by dignity beyond its own
that the abundance we seek is already in our midst
so be wise, responsive: there’s only enough time to align
Posted on March 8, 2010 by
~Jenuine
In every community
there spans a chasm wide
between the haves, and the have nots:
those who have Hope. and those who have not
while some would argue that we are defined
by those who have money and those who have not
I tell you this:
I have been stripped of all I own
I have been deprived of what I hold dear
I have lost those I had cherished
and yet
I still possess a vast wealth
upon which no value can be laid
and for which no price can be paid
for
inside me thrives a resilient Hope
it has not be cut down
it cannot be fettered
it shall not be uprooted
so
if we each, who possess such a Hope,
would offer even a portion to those who have none
what a great and glorious transformation would occur—
consider what reconciliation might then resound
envision what futures might then flourish
imagine what dreams might then dawn
for
we must dream, because if we don’t, we will despair
we must remember, because if we don’t, we will not learn
we must write, because if we don’t, we will stay silent
we must listen, because if we don’t, we will forget
we must act, because if we don’t, we will become complacent
we must Hope, because if we don’t, we will whither
so
let us plant Hope lavishly throughout our communities
Hope in the seeds of Knowledge, Art, Culture, and Music
Hope in the seeds of Healing, Restoration, Empathy, and Compassion
Hope in the seeds of Justice, Peace, Vision, and Integrity
for
if we desire to harvest Hope, then it is Hope we must sow
Posted on March 8, 2010 by
~Rosalilia Mendoza
The sun always rises on the east
and sets on the west
Yet it is rare that we follow the truth
but it’s there…
In our surroundings
our community
our people…
Enough is enough
With the two-faced politics…
We don’t need a solution
What we need is a revolution
Teachers were meant to teach
Free and liberate young minds
Yet, they’re laid off time after time
So what of the youth’s future?
Our valley is beautiful and brown
So why continue to tear it down?
With factories in every corner of San Fernando Road
Nuclear plants that fog up the ranches of
Lake View terrace and Sunland’s dew
no wonder we feel blue
when our valley is dying
With the smog, and pollution
I’m not asking for a resolution
But enough is enough
with the two-faced politics…
When our community falls sick,
When you decide between their well-being or profit?
Yes there are clinics that take children,
But why not insurance for our young men and women
Without a job or healthcare?
Enough is enough
with the two-faced politics…
Supporting corporate businesses
Like Best Buy and Lowell’s by Paxton
“It will open more jobs” they say…
Instead of supporting local stores
Growers, vendors, Tamaleros, Taqueros…
What will be of them once these corporate giants open?
Now let’s talk about the unspoken…
Cutting funds from community efforts
And alternative spaces
Or the Cesar Chavez days
Is like cutting our youth’s veins
So enough with the complaints
And begin to wonder why
We see blood on our streets
And people dying in vain
Enough is enough with
Two-faced politics…
Posted on March 7, 2010 by
~Leslie
We pray.
No more raping of the earth.
Feel the wind as it sweeps
across the sand.
Hear the ocean’s roar
Taste it’s salt.
See the mountains
Silent and dignified
Stretching into the sky.
We pray.
No more raping of the children.
Let them bite into a fruit
Race barefoot into the summer’s night.
The miracle began
with their birth.
We pray.
No more raping of women.
Standing as they are
Greeting the day
Keepers of the fire.
Honor them.
We pray.
No more raping of men.
Standing as they are
Greeting the day
Keepers of the fire.
Honor them.
We pray.
No more raping of
the four legged,
the winged creatures,
the swimmers.
We pray
for our political leaders.