DECEMBER 2013 ILLINOIS TENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATS NEWSLETTER: SLAM EDITION COMMUNITY CONNECTION THIRD ANNUAL POETRY & PROSE 2013 LITERARY EDITION OUR 2013 POETRY + PROSE SLAM WINNERS First Prize, Poetry First Prize, Prose Topiltzin Gomez, Waukegan High School, Ulises Acosta, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, “Red Eye Lullaby ” “The Man in the Dark Corner” Second Prize, Poetry Second Prize, Prose Nathali Ibarra, Waukegan High School, Jennifer Cornejo, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, “Above My Head” “Something Lovely Wicked and True” Third Prize, Poetry Third Prize, Prose Alejandro Martinez, Waukegan High School, Josue Pasillas, Waukegan High School, “We Both Reached for the Gun” “A Sunny Summer Day” Honorable Mention, Poetry Honorable Mention, Prose Manuel Gutierrez, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Gilberto Colin, Waukegan High School, Prep, “From Where?” “Fitting In” Honorable Mention, Poetry Honorable Mention, Prose Michelle Hinojosa, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Abrianna Matus, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, Prep, “Dreamers Dilemma” “That Old Nightmare” Honorable Mention, Poetry Honorable Mention, Prose Jenny Nolasco, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, “Dream Catcher” Bianca Uribe, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, “Untitled” Honorable Mention, Poetry Sahely Rivera, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, “Ocean of Dreamers” Slam participants pose with Judge Judy Tepfer 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Winners .............................................................. 2 A View from the Audience, Part 1 .......................................... 4 Award-Winning Entries: A Sunny Summer Day, by Josue Pasillas .................................... 5 Above My Head, by Nathali Ibarra ........................................ 6 Dream Catcher, by Jenny Nolasco ........................................ 7 Dreamers Dilemma, by Michelle Hinojosa .................................. 8 Fitting In, by Gilberto Colin .............................................. 9 From Where?, by Manuel Gutierrez ...................................... 10 Ocean of Dreamers, by Sahely Rivera .................................... 11 Red Eye Lullaby, by Topiltzin Gomez ...................................... 12 Something Lovely Wicked and True, by Jennifer Cornejo ...................... 13 That Old Nightmare, by Abrianna Matus .................................. 14 The Man in the Dark Corner, by Ulises Acosta ............................. 15 Untitled, by Bianca Uribe .............................................. 16 We Both Reached for the Gun, by Alejandro Martinez ....................... 17 Slam Photos ................................................................. 18 Contributors .......................................................... 19 Our Judges, Emcee and Foundress. 20 A View from the Audience, Part 1I ......................................... 21 Acknowledgments. 22 About Tenth Dems/About Community Connection ........................... 23 3 Third Annual Poetry (+Prose) Slam: Young Writers Step Up to the Microphone and Share their Dreams by Daniel J. Berkowitz world a better place were also shared. There were dreams of limitless determination or feelings of restriction, and rumina- “Throughout history dreams have inspired, alarmed and tions on love and desire or the lack thereof. Some shared challenged us to become more than what we are; to act for dreams of fitting in, or of not wanting to at all. One student change; and to make the world a more beautiful place. What shared a story of his proving authority wrong and, more im- are your dreams, where do they come from and where will portant, proving himself right. A real sense of community domi- they take you?” This was the question posed to high school nated the room as students expressed their candid emotions, students from the northern sector of the 10th Congressional desires, dreams, and nightmares. District who gathered for the Tenth Dems Community Con- nection’s Third Annual Poetry (+Prose) Slam and Awards event As the evening progressed, with the encouragement of Emcee on Thursday, May 16, at the Ramada Inn in Waukegan. Lampe, many students who at first had been reticent to read aloud stepped forward with newfound confidence, undoubt- Reaching out to local high schoolers through their teachers, edly stirred by the works of their peers. the Community Connection’s Annual Poetry (+ Prose) contest provides the opportunity for students to submit original works This year’s award winners in the Poetry category included: of poetry and prose and to compete for cash prizes. Contes- Topiltzin Gomez, 1st place for “Red Eye Lullaby;” Nathali Ibarra, tants’ entries are judged without any identifying information so 2nd place for “Above My Head;” and Alejandro Martinez, the judges have no knowledge of a student’s school, age, sex, 3rd place for “We Both Reached for the Gun.” In the Prose race, religion, or any other descriptive trait or characteristic. category, winners were: Ulises Acosta, 1st place for “The Man Following the judging process, all contestants are invited to in the Dark Corner;” Jennifer Cornejo, 2nd place for “Some- attend this Annual Poetry + Prose Slam with the option of thing Lovely Wicked and True;” and Josue Pasillas, 3rd place for publicly reading their own works. “A Sunny Summer Day.” The Audience Choice award went to Gilberto Colin for his prose piece, “Fitting In.” Winners of the contest were announced during the evening. In addition to the awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in both The audience and organizers alike were in awe of the talent the Poetry and Prose categories, this year featured an Audi- displayed by the student readers. Organizer and Community ence Choice award where all in attendance had the chance Connection Executive Director Laura Tomsky commented, to vote for their favorite. Hon. Lauren Beth Gash, Chair of “The level of sophistication and artistic ability displayed by the Tenth Dems, launched the evening. “As Democrats,” she these young people was truly remarkable. I’m glad we were said, “we highly value the arts. I cannot stress enough the able to bring them all together, and we look forward to con- importance of participation in creative expression, especially tinuing this program in the coming years.” at a young age. I hope these students continue to share their gifts in the future.” The contest and slam event was initially pioneered by Com- munity Connection volunteer Elizabeth Bloom Albert in 2011. Kevin Lampe, who served as emcee, grew up in the area, and An accomplished writer in her own right, Elizabeth sought a he quickly put the young contestants at ease with stories of his way to share her love of writing and provide young authors work as an internationally-recognized expert in political, media, with a more public and supportive way to express themselves. and communications strategies. Lampe has consulted with such luminaries as Vice President Joe Biden, Second Lady Dr. We were honored to have this year’s entries reviewed by Jill Biden, Vice President Al Gore, President Bill Clinton, Hotel guest judges Judith M.K. Tepfer, and Patrick Murfin, accom- Rwanda’s Paul Rusesabagina, President Barack Obama, Rosa plished authors who volunteered their time in support of our Parks, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., and Erik Estrada. young writers and this program. Ms. Tepfer has been Editor-in- Chief of East on Central since its inception in 2002. She is also Then students took their turns in front of the microphone and a freelance literary editor and writer, primarily of poetry. Mr. proudly shared their thoughts, hopes, and, yes, dreams through Murfin is a poet, blogger, amateur historian, and social justice their works of poetry and prose. Participants addressed activist living in Crystal Lake, Illinois. His collection of poetry, “dreaming” from numerous perspectives. One student offered We Build Temples in the Heart, was published in 2004. He blogs a vivid description of the coming of a nightmare, while another daily at Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout: An Eclectic Journal of His- reminisced on the easy beauty of younger days. Yet another tory, Opinion, Poetry and General Bloviating. student shared her dream to be an actress and offered an arresting explanation of why she is justified in her desire. A Reprinted from Tenth News, June 2013 edition dream of a storybook wedding and another of making the See additional first-hand impression on page 20 4 vvv A Sunny Summer Day vvv vvv vvv It was a sunny summer day in Waukegan, Illinois. My older brother was playing with his new BB gun vvv in the neighborhood. Suddenly, a police car arrived. The officer threw my brother in the squad car. My vvv vvv mother noticed my brother behind the bars in the windows and ran outside to defend her first-born vvv son. She opened the squad car door and told my brother to get out. The officer took harsh actions. My vvv mother was clearly pregnant, but the officer threw her to the ground and severely beat her without a vvv vvv second thought. My mother cried and asked for help. She was in pain. vvv vvv After the incident, my mother went to her doctor’s office and was told something a mother vvv would never want to hear. The doctor told my mother that she should abort her unborn child because vvv there was a possibility of the child not being born. My parents, as Catholics, made a decision, a tough vvv vvv decision. Abortion was not the decision. They knew the child might have not been born or he might vvv have been born with defects. In the end, that child was born without defects