PO POETS Project Writing Workshop with Aetna Street Family Tovaangar / Tatavian lands (LA) - Our SLAM BIO’s

August 25, 2026

NICK

Nickolas Cruz Dariemax (?)

Nick AKA mosh 

Born & raised in Van Nuys, California, 

818 Valley boy W

Head Bangin & MOSHEN III IUA

Trying to figure out what igzacly I struggle with or..

 the truth in that.?

Angel 

My name is Jose but you can call me Angel

Im from heaven but my mom gave birth to me.  

I live wherever I feel like home is

Homeless culture.  Everyone that is invisible to others…

My struggle right now is the city trying to keep us out of sight while I try to create stability while the city takes everything from us  ..all  at the same time

Britney Sanders, Britbrat…

My name is BritBrat 

Im from the Valley and Everywhere 

I am Belizean 

I feel like a bad mom.  I keep getting fuqed over, 

what am i 

doing wrong.  

I keep putting my trust in places …

where it doesn’t belong…

Hard Time aka tiny (povertyskola)

My name is HARD time CUZ TOO MANY times I only made it out alive cuz I held onto or rhyme

I aint from anywhere - neither here nor there -

doorways & the backseats of cars 

in LA, Fresno, Oakland the valley or nowhere 

Might as well b wite 

my heart of Black Brown river, sand & sea, palm trees & sand & love & wind. 

What you can’t see - 

u can’t really tell who is homeless me

…

Holding people who like me want to destroyourselves 

& each other

can’t you see?

Hazel Henriquez

Surviving 5

From Van Nuys “the so called ghetto” 

Salvadorean, with Lenca Roots.  

I was another statistic 

dangerous immigrant child, 

teen mom didn't finish high school, married young, they call me lazy…of five.  

They thought I wouldn’t make it.  

But we indigenous folx are resilient,

thriving in my tiny home, raising amazingly kind children.

Married for 29 to an amazing man coming together

alongside community to build the world we dream of.

Giselle

My mama & daddy named me Giselle; meaning vow or pledge.   

But I like when you call me Gelly. 

NO it’s not spelled with a “J” 

but a G for the GODDESS in me.  

I’m a SoCal native, a valley girl to be exact.  

I have no origins.  

The world is my home, whether these transparent aliens know it or not.  

My ancestors are my guiding light, my moral compass, my way through these slippery roads.  

LooKed down because of my skin.  

Hated for my beauty,  And judged & beaten for my knowledge.  

And they call us savages. 

But I am the strongest.  

I am a GOD/GELLY/GISELLE.  

So I win.. 

I pledge a vow to stay a GOD!!

Paisley

Paisley, my name a gift from my mother.  

Born on the west side – 

so-called “ghetto” side of O’ahu.  

Islanders priced out of the islands.  

Chased the Hollywood dream

Off of student loan schemes.

All hundred thousands of dollaras

and degrees 

But the lie of rent 

and the life of a gentrifier 

was a poison not made for me.

So I sought refuge in an RV.  

Raised by two kids escaping poverty

thru stripping first then thru the military.  

My grandmas Indigenous to the Philippines.  

Grandfathers Greek and English - 

passing on white supremacy, 

abandonment and rape through our bloodlines.  

I live between the worlds of gender perceived.

Are you a boy or a girl?

I live between the worlds of poverty and privilege

Generational poverty and trauma,

Clawing our ways out

Slammed doors and slapped faces.

Learning from an early age

Police only make violence worse.

Martha

Mi nombre es Martha.  

Yo soy de El Salvador y vivo en Van Nuys.  

Mi cultura es muy bonita mis ancestros, son pipiles y lencas y mi gente, es muy Bonita muy AMable, nos gusta Bailan Cumbia, 

nos gustan los colores Encendidos, 

nos gusta mucho salir en las tardecitas a dar la vuelta y comos antojitos.  

Lo más duro para mi vida fue la pérdida de mi nieto, fue terrible.  

Y aun no la supero y ultimate, a mi hermana le dio un derrame cerebral y pensé que iba a morir.

English (Martha ) 

My name is Martha. I'm from El Salvador and I live in Van Nuys. 

My culture is beautiful. 

My ancestors are Pipil and Lenca, 

and my people are very kind and friendly. 

We like to dance Cumbia, we like bright colors,

and we love going out in the late afternoons for a stroll and eating snacks. 

The hardest thing in my life was the loss of my grandson;

it was terrible. I still haven't gotten over it, and then my sister had a stroke, and I thought she was going to die.