Celebrating Women & Women's Voices: Open Mic Recap!

Apr 1

826LA opened its doors for “Celebrating Women and Women’s Voices of All Ages,” the second event in our open mic series. The room quickly became what we love most: a space where creativity, courage, and community meet.

This time, we partnered with Women Who Submit, a literary arts nonprofit working to make publishing more accessible for women and nonbinary writers. Together, we set out to create something more than an event; we wanted a space where people could celebrate, reflect, and speak honestly about the layered, complicated, and powerful experience of womanhood today.

And wow, did our community show up.

Writers, volunteers, families, and friends gathered shoulder-to-shoulder, alongside members of the Women Who Submit community and 826LA students like Maria, who first heard about the event through our In-Schools Coordinator, Marco, at Manual Arts High School.

Audience members held onto every word of Maria’s as she read her piece:

“I’m proud to be the daughter of immigrant parents.

Having them as my parents made me the girl I am today.

Nowadays, people underestimate women.

But they don't know how women have higher graduation rates than men.

They see the violence we go through day after day.

And the world still looks away.

But we aren’t just defined as bad takes.

We are independent, we are brilliant, we rise, we create, we are leaders.

And we are resilient.”

Before the event, Maria also attended a performance workshop led by Women Who Submit Board member and writer, Traci Kato-Kiriyama. Traci walked Maria and other youth writers through breathing exercises to help make their voices sound louder and stronger. She even taught them positive affirmations like “I am proud to be X” to allow them to build confidence in themselves. Maria’s voice started shy and nervous when she first read her piece, but by the time she took the stage to perform at the open mic, her voice remained powerful and clear.

As in the 826LA fashion, we’re proud to say that this event was attended by many families: one performer even shared a piece dedicated to her daughter, who sat among the audience, speaking to the complexities of motherhood and causing tear-jerking moments among other audience members. We’re so appreciative of our writing community and for young writers like Maria sharing just a little bit of their world with us!