The Power of Poetry in Florence
Investing in arts and culture is increasingly
being recognized as a catalyzing force for community development. Strategies to
boost the visibility of arts and culture can improve the livability of
community and boost economies through job creation, attracting investment,
generating tax revenues, and stimulating local economies. Further, programs
based in arts and culture can help communities grapple with local equity
issues, such as pressures of gentrification and displacement, and explore
questions around the preservation and development of diverse identities.
This
story was developed in partnership with Community Literature Initiative, an
organization working to empower poets of color and those from underserved
communities to have a voice through poetry and performance, and to share their
narratives through published books.
Immigrant Communities in Florence
Florence is a neighborhood in the City of Los
Angeles with a population of 43,591. The neighborhood is located in the South L.A.
region of the County. Approximately 80% of residents in Florence identify as
Hispanic or Latino, and an additional 18% of residents in the neighborhood
identify as Black. Florence is also home to a large and well established
immigrant community. Approximately 40% of the Florence community are first
generation immigrants, and about two thirds of the community’s immigrants
migrated to the U.S. before 2000, meaning that they have been residents here
for over 20 years.
Approximately 70% of Florence residents are
living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, almost double the
countywide average. Income, like other social determinants of health, can impact more than just a household’s
economic status – it can also impact household members’ health. A 2016 study found that men in the highest one percent of
the income distribution in the U.S. can expect to live almost 15 years longer
than their counterparts in the lowest one percent of the income distribution.
For women, the gap is just over 10 years.
Income and health can become intertwined when a
lack of housing stability and affordability takes a mental toll. In Florence, the vast majority of the population are renters, and
70% of renters in the neighborhood are considered “rent burdened,” meaning they
pay more than 30% of their monthly incomes on rent and utilities. Because
mental health can change quickly from month to month or even day to day,
finding a consistent measure at the neighborhood level is often difficult. However,
a 2017 survey by the 500 Cities project can provide a small glimpse into the
mental health of residents in the Florence neighborhood. In the survey, approximately
20% of adults in the community reported that their mental health was “not good”
for at least 14 days out of a single month.
Creative Arts and Health/Well-Being
There is growing evidence that participation
in creative arts programs has numerous benefits for well-being and health for
all age groups. Studies have shown that participating in arts
programs and receiving arts education are associated with improved cognitive,
social, and behavioral outcomes in individuals across the lifespan. Further, the
benefits of art and arts education for early childhood, youth, and adolescence
include an increase in school-readiness skills and improved academic
performance. Art programs promote positive development that facilitates the
adoption of healthy behaviors and show gains for participants in
self-discipline, motivation, as well as empathy and tolerance for others.
Arts education for older adults has also been
shown to improve quality of life and optimize health outcomes. One study, which
looked at the benefits of interactive storytelling interventions amongst
African Americans with hypertension, found that the program produced
significant improvements in blood pressure control for patients. This research suggests that storytelling can be used for health
promotion, particularly for vulnerable populations, and that storytelling may
be adaptable to support other chronic conditions besides hypertension.
Additional studies further confirm that arts engagement for older adults
encourages health-promoting behaviors, helps prevent cognitive decline, and
leads to: improvement in higher overall physical health; fewer doctor visits;
less medication use; fewer instances of falls; and fewer health problems.
Community Literature Initiative
Given the benefits of creative arts and storytelling on community
wellbeing, the Community Literature Initiative (CLI), uses poetry and creative
literature as a catalyst for uplifting South L.A. residents and brings
educational and literary resources to underserved communities in the county.
Founded in 2013 by Hiram Sims, who grew up in South L.A. and attended USC, CLI helps
adults learn how to write poetry and publishes their completed work. Since its
creation, CLI has taught nearly 150 students and published over 85 books of
student work. They also recently opened the Sims Library of Poetry that will
give access to poetry books, host Poetry and Publishing classes, and serve as a
performance venue for residents of Florence.
Many of CLI’s
students are adults without college degrees, and they serve a high percentage
of seniors and first-generation immigrants as well. Their programming
encourages these students to capture stories and words that speak to the
experiences of certain ethnicities, age groups, histories and geographies. For
example, one student wrote poems for her community of elderly El Salvadorian
women, capturing and sharing their stories through the beauty of poetry.
Another finished the program with a children’s book, “Say their Names”, written
for Black children to remember the victims of police brutality.
Working with residents of
Florence and South L.A., Community Literature Initiative has been a springboard for community
members finding their voice. An example of how the program can be a catalyzer is the success of past CLI poetry student, Angela
Aguirre, (aka Millennial Mija), a Chicana-Italian feminist author, speaker, and
teaching artist, who published her first book in 2016 after completing CLI’s poetry
program. The book, “Confessions of a Firework”, spoke to young Latina teens,
encouraging strength and resilience. Ms. Aguirre went on to be the youngest to
be honored as “Ten Women of the Year” by Senator Portantino in 2017.
Conclusion
Creative Art programs - such as the Community Literature Initiative - can
serve in a key role to support efforts to increase opportunities for low-income
and disenfranchised communities. They can improve quality of life for
participants and offer intrinsic benefits that impact communities at large, as
they help promote civic engagement and offer a new, positive vision of the
community that supports them.
Sources
Catterall, J. S., Dumais, S. A., Hampden-Thompson, G. (2012). The arts and achievement in at-risk youth: Findings
from four longitudinal studies (Research Report 55). Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts.
Chetty, R., et al. (2016). The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014. The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Clift S. Creative arts as a
public health resource: moving from practice-based research to evidence-based
practice. Perspectives in Public Health. 2012 May;132(3):120-7. doi:
10.1177/1757913912442269. PMID: 22700576
Houston, Thomas, Jeroan J.
Allison, Marc Sussman, Wendy Horn, Cheryl L. Holt, John Trobaugh, Marible
Salas, Maria Pisu, Yendelela L. Cuffee, Damien Larkin, Sharina D. Person, Bruce
Barton, Catarina I. Kiefe, and Sandral Hullett. “Culturally Appropriate
Storytelling to Improve Blood Pressure.” Annals of Internal Medicine 54, no. 2
(2011): 77–88.
National Endowment for the
Arts . The Arts and Human Development. Washington, DC: National Endowment for
the Arts, 2011