MEXICAN AMERICAN SPOKEN WORD ARTIST
WORKSHOPS $300 (PLUS TRAVEL AND LODGING)
* Now Zoom friendly!
These interactive workshops include a short performance and then a presentation by Romero, followed by time for students to write and/or engage in group activities. After time to prepare, students will present their poems or projects to the full group. Live workshops require the use of a projector, projection screen, and computer connection.
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Workshops can be expanded from one session to multiple, with sessions focused on writing, memorization, performance, slam, and/or artist development.
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Student work compiled over the course of a workshop, or series of them, can complied into a book, with copies made available printed on demand.
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Travel and lodging can be handled in two ways: 1) the university makes the arrangements on Romero's behalf (preferred) or, 2) Romero makes the arrangements and is reimbursed with the total check.​
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For booking a workshop, please email: davidaromero@gmail.com
LAST WORDS: GIVING VICTIMS A VOICE AGES: 18+
Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha, Tommy Le, Brisenia Flores, Matthew Shepard, and Islan Nettles. Their names are familiar to lovers of social justice everywhere. Their stories have been carried on long after their tragic ends. Let’s give these victims of hate crimes and police brutality a voice! Participants receive a card with the name and information of a victim. Each story is read aloud. After observing a moment of silence, participants write poems from the perspective of these individuals; often painfully capturing their last moments. This workshop helps participants learn more about people of different races, genders, sexual preferences, and economic backgrounds. *Presentation is often updated to include most recent victims of hate crimes and police brutality.
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Watch a recording of Last Words: Giving Victims a Voice at Sewanee: The University of the South.
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CATEGORIES: POLITICS, CURRENT EVENTS, WRITING, DISCUSSION
ACTIVISM 101 AGES: 16+
As a leader with a variety of student groups: MEChA, UNICEF, USAS (United Students Against
Sweatshops), etc., and as a professional organizer: CALPIRG (California Public Interest Research Group), Environment California, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Coalition, David A. Romero is equipped with the knowledge and experience to help others consolidate and expand their organizations and grassroots political campaigns. In a speech/training filled with humorous anecdotes and insight gathered from years of organizing, Romero provides tips for recruitment, coalition-building, media outreach, and leadership development. Activism 101 culminates in a breakout session where students are divided into groups and tasked with creating mock campaigns (based on real situations at college campuses across the country) that will incorporate the skills presented.
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Watch a recording of Activism 101 at University of Wisconsin-Stout
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CATEGORIES: POLITICS, CAMPUS CLIMATE, GROUP ACTIVITY
THE 4 QUADRANTS OF SUCCESS AGES: 16+
BY POPULAR DEMAND, a workshop on how to plan for success as an emerging artist/entrepreneur! What do you need to do to succeed? Plan for work. How do you plan? Map out these 4 things: branding, products, marketing, and sales for everything you do! This workshop culminates in a breakout session where participants are put into groups and tasked with planning the 4 Quadrants of Success for mock startup companies that they will create on the spot! Romero will then listen to their presentations and reward the group he feels best embodies the 4 Quadrants of Success.
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Watch a recording of The 4 Quadrants of Success at University of California, Irvine
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CATEGORIES: SKILLS, MOTIVATIONAL, GROUP ACTIVITY
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AGES: 16+
In this workshop students learn about various forms of cultural appropriation: from indigenous wear found in Halloween costumes and “race parties,” to the appropriation of black music by white musicians in American music and the appropriation of local cuisines and fashions by international food and fashion conglomerates. As the students learn how to spot appropriation with the help of bell hooks' essay, “Eating the Other,” they are tasked with finding examples of cultural appropriation from various magazines supplied by Romero.
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Watch a recording of Cultural Appropriation at South Dakota State University.
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CATEGORIES: POLITICS, CURRENT EVENTS, GROUP ACTIVITY
BREAKING LATINX STEREOTYPES AGES: 16+
Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. What are the stereotypes surrounding Latinx Americans? Is there any truth to them? How were these stereotypes created? What effect do stereotypes have on how Latinxs are perceived by others and how they perceive themselves? Using his poems as a guide for the conversation, Romero leads students to deconstruct some of these harmful stereotypes; understanding their roles in their personal lives and society at large.
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CATEGORIES: POLITICS, CURRENT EVENTS, DISCUSSION
MIC CONTROL AGES: 16+
In this performance-based workshop incorporating lessons of Hip Hop along with traditional theatre techniques into the performance of spoken word, participants learn an integrated system of performance called microphone control. What are the three elements of microphone control? Control of your equipment, control of your audience, and control of yourself. Participants learn how to master the forces, both internal and external that will help them improve as spoken word artists, compete in slams, and apply those lessons to any performance discipline they choose.
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CATEGORIES: SKILLS, PERFORMANCE, TECHNICAL
BANNED BOOKS AGES: 16+
Students view a copy of the 100 most banned books in America and total the number of books they’ve read from the list. Romero presents a short history of banned books, up to the present: with parents, educators, and officials banning books to restrict student knowledge of race, class, and gender, under the guise of protecting them from “obscenity.” Romero asks students to speak about the banned books they’ve read that have had an impact on them. He asks them to imagine an open library, one where all ideas could be exchanged, and no books would be banned.
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CATEGORIES: POLITICS, LITERATURE, GROUP ACTIVITY, WRITING
MY NAME IS... ALL AGES
Students write about what their names mean and what they mean to them! Students can choose to assert pride in their racial and/or familial identities by writing about their last names or can choose to write about the positive or negative feelings their first names or nicknames inspire. This workshop is based on Romero's "My Name is Romero," a poem inspired by Corky Gonazlez's "I am Joaquin."
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CATEGORIES: FAMILY, PERSONAL, LITERATURE, WRITING
REMIXING THE CLASSICS ALL AGES
William Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Edgar Allan Poe, Corky Gonzalez, and Emily Dickinson. They are some of the greatest poets of all time. Listen as Romero details how some of their seminal works have inspired his poetry. Romero breaks down poems by these greats, explaining not only their meanings, but also giving insight into how the poems are constructed, so that they may be reverse-engineered. He challenges students to write their own versions of these classics. Can they do their poetic heroes justice? Romero guides students to understand that all great writers begin as a confluence of their influences.
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Watch a recording of a virtual workshop for Wartburg College
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CATEGORIES: LITERATURE, CULTURAL STUDIES, PERSONAL, WRITING
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SELF-LOVE AND BEAUTY ALL AGES
Students are given a handout with an outline of a person. On the outside of the drawing they are asked to write down adjectives that other people would use to describe them. On the inside of the outline, they write down adjectives they would use to describe themselves. Students write poems where they contrast these often negative and positive feelings. They examine parts of their body that they might feel uncomfortable with. They learn how to transform these parts that others would make them feel insecure about into features of pride and self-love.
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CATEGORIES: PERSONAL, BODY-IMAGE, WRITING
WRITING: ADDICTION AGES: 16+
As a recovering alcoholic with years of sobriety, Romero tells his story of moving from denial to acceptance and encourages participants to tell their own stories; wherever they are on their own journeys with addiction. Not only for those with a past of substance abuse themselves, this workshop can also help those with friends or family members who have suffered from addiction come to terms with it and gain a better understanding of what they may be going through. This workshop seeks to help participants find root causes for addiction and solutions through writing and discussion.
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CATEGORIES: PERSONAL, THERAPY, WRITING, DISCUSSION
HEARTBREAK POEMS AGES: 16+
In this workshop participants write poems about heartbreak by invoking poignant items or locations as extended metaphors and/or structuring motifs. What not to write: “You broke my heart. I should’ve known from the start. Now, all I can do is cry. Because you lied.” Why is that poem bad? How can you do better? You will hear “Secret Beaches” by David A. Romero and learn how he used the location of the "secret beach" as an extended metaphor and structuring motif. You will reflect on your own stories of heartbreak, choosing a relationship you want to write about.
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CATEGORIES: PERSONAL, LOVE, WRITING
MEMENTOS & METAPHORS: POEMS OF FAMILY & IDENTITY ALL AGES
In this workshop aimed at children and the elderly, participants will have fun writing poems comparing family members to some of their favorite objects. This workshop teaches students to think metaphorically. A red apron could remind us of our mothers just as a pair of work boots could remind us of our fathers. What can these objects tell us about our family and its consensus of race, class and gender?
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CATEGORIES: FAMILY, FUN, WRITING
Having trouble deciding on a workshop?
The 3 most popular are:
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- Last Words: Giving Victims a Voice
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With a social justice focus:
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- Last Words: Giving Victims a Voice
- Breaking Latinx Stereotypes
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With a literary focus:
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With a personal focus:
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With a family-friendly focus:
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- Mementos & Metaphors: Poems of Family and & Identity
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With a professional / entrepreneurial focus:
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- Mic Control
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All workshops are $300 (plus travel and lodging).
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Travel and lodging can be handled in two ways: 1) the university makes the arrangements on Romero's behalf (preferred) or, 2) Romero makes the arrangements and is reimbursed with the total check.
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For booking a workshop, please email: davidaromero@gmail.com
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