ONE BY ONE, each student came to the mic, accepting the warm embrace of the crowd’s encouragement. Previous worries of speaking vanished on the wind as they shared poetry, spoken word pieces, or thought-provoking revelations.
They were embodying “Off the Streets, Onto Stages,” the motto of Pittsburg High School’s SLAM Club.
Since 2015, the student club has provided opportunities for young people to share their thoughts and feelings about what matters most to them. It began on campus as a safe lunchtime space for students before eventually expanding into field trips to monthly events in San Francisco. However, the monthly commute soon grew to be tedious for the students.
Eventually, the members of the club created a competitive poetry team called The Pittsburg Prodigies. After performing well and becoming finalists in various teen poetry slam competitions, club members decided they were ready for more. In 2023, a few Prodigies alum established the nonprofit “In My Section” (IMS) as an umbrella organization for the competitive poetry team.
Over the past few years, IMS has expanded its focus to encourage Contra Costa County young people to elevate and heal — as well as to improve their respective quality of life — through their creative works. From slam, rap, and poetry to urban arts and hip-hop, the organization hosts a variety of shows for young artists to feel safe in expressing themselves via monthly open mics where everyone is welcome.
“In My Section welcomes anybody, like any culture, any identity,” teen poet Terriana Morgan said during a recent open mic event at the STS Academy (Success Through Self) Teen & Youth Center in Pittsburg. “You’re always getting, you know, introduced to everybody. I just like being in communities that accept you for who you are. It doesn’t even bat an eye at you, no disrespect, no judgment.”
The space to express themselves
At the same event, Gabriel Perez Cone, co-founder of The Pittsburg Prodigies, said there are many young people who want to share their thoughts with others.
“Having these kinds of organizations or programs, our job is to give you guys like that, space for you to express yourself,” said Cone, who also is IMS’s program director. “Especially with the current political turmoil right now, I know a lot of youth students have a lot to say and they probably don’t know how to express it.”
Alongside its monthly open mics, the nonprofit hosts several monthly after-school workshops to help students learn how to express themselves through various art forms; an artist residency; and an annual Prodigies Grand Slam. Through these programs, youth learn how to write poems, compose musical lyrics, learn how to DJ and more.
In My Section has been the recipient of many scholarships and donations. It is with this support that youth are able to travel and participate in different poetry festivals around the country. Two included the Brave New Voices festival in San Francisco this past summer and Passing The Mic Festival at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2025. These opportunities allow the young artists to gain exposure to artists around the country who come from different backgrounds.
“For those writers that are [out] there, continue to write, continue to express your own art. Always speak your own truth,” Cone said. “Your truth is always true to yourself, so don’t let anybody change your mind of that.”
Deisy Silva Rosales is a 10th grader at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg and a CCYJ reporter. This story originally appeared in CCSpin.