We Are Still Here is a visual showcase of first-draft poems from writing workshops in Oakland public school classrooms. This project went through many iterations in its conception, its purpose, and its execution. When I began, I had one goal: I wanted to emphasize that despite stark economic disparities, a lack of educational resources, rampant gentrification, and countless other issues impacting young people in Oakland, my city was and is still a place of beauty before anything else. It is still home. And despite all of the forces trying to push us down and push us out, Oakland’s youth are still here.
The words featured are from writing workshops held in Oakland Technical High School and Skyline High School classrooms, led by 2019 Oakland Vice Youth Poet Laureate Eleanor Wikstrom and myself. The workshops were designed to counteract both the problematically overwhelming narrative of Oakland as a city of danger and violence as well as the necessary but equally overwhelming narrative of gentrification. Gentrification and intercommunity violence are but a segment of what it means to experience and grow up in Oakland, and I sought to find the parts of the narrative that we weren’t talking about. From the mundane to the profound, I wanted to hear what made this city home for my peers. The poems featured were selected from the drafts submitted by students that were willing to have their work included; some asked to be identified by first and last name, some by only their first name, and some asked not to be identified at all. Students were encouraged to write in whatever language felt most natural to them, and to deviate from the writing prompts if they felt inspired. In the end, what we received was a diverse set of stories of home; home in all forms and meanings of the word.
I will be completely transparent when I say that this project’s final form is not how I envisioned it. I had hoped to reach so many more students in so many more classrooms, to exhibit their work in physical spaces throughout Oakland, and to have the chance to develop poems beyond first drafts. Further classroom workshops were interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, and the date I had set to launch was postponed due to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In the end, though, I believe that the tumultuous process of creating We Are Still Here is wholly representative of the reason I wanted to create it in the first place. As I sat with the words and translated them into visual art, I fell in love with the rawness of the first drafts, with the honesty of the words, and with the resilience that brought it to fruition despite so many obstacles. Despite everything from years of institutional violence to an unprecedented global crisis, Oakland is still our home. We are still here.
- Samuel Getachew, 2019 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate
The words featured are from writing workshops held in Oakland Technical High School and Skyline High School classrooms, led by 2019 Oakland Vice Youth Poet Laureate Eleanor Wikstrom and myself. The workshops were designed to counteract both the problematically overwhelming narrative of Oakland as a city of danger and violence as well as the necessary but equally overwhelming narrative of gentrification. Gentrification and intercommunity violence are but a segment of what it means to experience and grow up in Oakland, and I sought to find the parts of the narrative that we weren’t talking about. From the mundane to the profound, I wanted to hear what made this city home for my peers. The poems featured were selected from the drafts submitted by students that were willing to have their work included; some asked to be identified by first and last name, some by only their first name, and some asked not to be identified at all. Students were encouraged to write in whatever language felt most natural to them, and to deviate from the writing prompts if they felt inspired. In the end, what we received was a diverse set of stories of home; home in all forms and meanings of the word.
I will be completely transparent when I say that this project’s final form is not how I envisioned it. I had hoped to reach so many more students in so many more classrooms, to exhibit their work in physical spaces throughout Oakland, and to have the chance to develop poems beyond first drafts. Further classroom workshops were interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, and the date I had set to launch was postponed due to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In the end, though, I believe that the tumultuous process of creating We Are Still Here is wholly representative of the reason I wanted to create it in the first place. As I sat with the words and translated them into visual art, I fell in love with the rawness of the first drafts, with the honesty of the words, and with the resilience that brought it to fruition despite so many obstacles. Despite everything from years of institutional violence to an unprecedented global crisis, Oakland is still our home. We are still here.
- Samuel Getachew, 2019 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate
Acknowledgements:
Thank you to the Oakland Public Library and the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate program for their support throughout every stage of this project. Thank you to Vice Laureate Eleanor Wikstrom for her support in leading workshops and compiling material. Thank you to all of the teachers who offered Eleanor and I their time and classrooms. Thank you to every student who participated in our workshops, and especially to those that entrusted me with their words.
Eleanor led her own workshop series and created an anthology of student writing that can be found here.
Thank you to the Oakland Public Library and the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate program for their support throughout every stage of this project. Thank you to Vice Laureate Eleanor Wikstrom for her support in leading workshops and compiling material. Thank you to all of the teachers who offered Eleanor and I their time and classrooms. Thank you to every student who participated in our workshops, and especially to those that entrusted me with their words.
Eleanor led her own workshop series and created an anthology of student writing that can be found here.