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Poets, singers unite at Freedom Friday
Christine Trang | 6-20-2010 | Comments |
After Damon Turner attended an open microphone night earlier this year, he realized he wanted the same thing for himself and other community members. He wanted a place where people from "different walks of life" could come together and showcase their talents. He received just that when he, along with several of his peers, started Freedom Friday."I want people to come to a space, share in that space, and after the art is done, we can go outside and have a conversation," Turner said. "I don't like racism, I don't like discrimination, I don't like judgmental spirits, so I want to try to build a community with everyone."
Listen to Turner speak about Freedom Friday:
Listen to and look at pictures of Turner's performance:
Some showed up at Mercado La Paloma Friday to sing, while others showed up to rap or read poetry.
For Reina Fukuda, a breakup from a significant other inspired her to write a song and perform the music on her guitar.
"I had a creative block, and I felt like I was being judgmental on my artwork, and I just felt like I needed to release, take a step back, and it just came out," Fukuda said.
How Fukuda got involved in singing and songwriting:
Listen to and look at pictures of Fukuda's performance:
Arturo Quiros, a member of the non-profit organization Street Poets, Inc., first entered a recording booth at age 16. Now, he works with at-risk youth to help them realize their potential.
"We started off visiting detention centers and ended up coming out to different high schools and doing poetry works," Quiros said. "But we have an office today, and we do poetry workshops in the office twice a week."
Listen to Quiros' poetry:
But Cyndi Bendez attended Freedom Friday for another reason. She discussed the Development, Relief and Education for Aliens Minor Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act. The DREAM ACT is the first step to immigration reform, Bendez said.
"I think we will be the best advocates for our families and our parents," Bendez said. "I hope that we can continue this fight, and I know we will, to have real integration and real comprehensive immigration reform for everyone in this country so that there can be a path for people to have lives and be free, because that is a basic human right."
Listen to Bendez describe the DREAM Act:
In the future, Turner said he will not just rely on himself to spread the word about Freedom Friday.
"Instead, I pray that the people who come will share the message and demand Freedom Friday be in more places than just one," Turner said.
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Freedom Friday takes place at the Mercado La Paloma on the first and third Friday of every month. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., but the show does not begin until about 8 p.m.
For more information, please contact Damon Turner at (323) 245-3199.
Tags: damon turner freedom friday mercado la paloma open mic south los angeles
