{"id":67719,"date":"2025-11-24T15:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T15:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/67719\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T15:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T15:47:11","slug":"as-long-beach-youth-poet-laureate-ezequiel-correa-exemplifies-cultural-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/67719\/","title":{"rendered":"As Long Beach Youth Poet Laureate, Ezequiel Correa exemplifies cultural pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a dominant artform for thousands of years, poetry has evolved over time into a niche interest \u2014 but not for Ezequiel Correa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The McBride High School senior received the honor of 2025 Long Beach Youth Poet Laureate back in May, the first Mexican-American to receive the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel incredibly proud of my heritage because I\u2019m big on \u2018It takes a village.\u2019 So as an individual, I could be so much but in order to be so much, it takes a lot of pride in where you\u2019re coming from and who you are,\u201d Correa said. \u201cGrowing up, the Mexican-American identity is very strong, but it\u2019s disparate from other identities you may find in the United States. But within that, there\u2019s always a feeling of welcome and prosperity and a lot of coalition buildings.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Correa found his love of poetry from his Ben Franklin Classical Middle School 6th grade English teacher Ms. Morales and his McBridge High School Spanish literature class in his junior year.<\/p>\n

\"\"Long Beach\u2019s 2025 Youth Poet Laureate Ezequiel Correa journals at the top floor of the Teen Lounge at the Billie Jean King Main Library on Nov. 7, 2025. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

The Spanish literature class helped shape his poetry through learning about Latin American poets such as Frida Kahlo<\/a> and Rub\u00e9n Dar\u00edo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I was seeing online was Eurocentric art and you see a lot of Renaissance style so a lot of that wasn\u2019t me and as much as I tried for all to be me, I realized that can never be me,\u201d he said. \u201cI took a Spanish literature class and I realized I had to read so many works for that class, but that\u2019s when I started to realize that my heritage is beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

He describes his genre of poetry as romanticism through Mexican heritage, grounded in a family-centered focus. Correa\u2019s poem \u201cMy Ballad,\u201d<\/a> in particular, showcases sensory descriptions tied to Mexican tradition, evoking nostalgia and pride in the Mexican-American experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the sizzle of tacos on food trucks,<\/p>\n

the scent of frijoles simmering in the home\u2019s heart,<\/p>\n

I am Sunday mass in whitewashed iglesias,<\/p>\n

and the protest chants that fill the streets.<\/p>\n

I am familia\u2014<\/p>\n

thick as mole,<\/p>\n

and twice as sweet\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Excerpt from Ezequiel Correa\u2019s poem \u201cMy Ballad\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, this is all stuff I saw, heard and smelled,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poetry is inherently political. For Correa, this part of his work was largely influenced by his sister, Nancy, and her work in marketing as a social media producer at Univision and as the founder of her non-profit organization Remarkably Us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her non-profit organization provides a safe space for current and former foster youth as well as bridge communications gaps through storytelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Want more local news? <\/p>\n

Sign up for the Signal Tribune\u2019s daily newsletter<\/p>\n

\u201cShe always wanted to uplift culture, specifically Chicano culture, with her work at Univision and she did so in a way that was very poetic,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that ambition to use poetry as a tool from social justice [came a lot] from her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s chaotic political climate, impacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and President Donald Trump\u2019s rhetoric about Mexicans, frustrates Correa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt pisses me off, it\u2019s very ridiculous [and] it\u2019s so unfactual,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so hard because you have all these families who have to come to [this place] to bite the bullet and say, \u2018Lets go to the place that has colonized us and let\u2019s try to build something here\u2019 [and] despite that, we still get discriminated against when Hispanics make [up] much of the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Another way Correa has felt the impacts of the current administration: The cancellation of National Endowment for the Arts grants<\/a>, which sponsors Long Beach\u2019s Youth Poet Laureate Grant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said these cuts have jeopardized the Long Beach Public Library\u2019s ability to fund certain programs, which as of now has thrown the Youth Poet Laureate program into the unknown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel uncertain about the future of formally recognized arts,\u201d Correa said. \u201cIt\u2019s our communities that will be most attacked. Resilient, diverse and inclusive, Long Beach is bound to be the target of artistic suppression \u2014 I am a product of this tense relationship. I\u2019ve taken the stress from this environment and channeled it into the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ezequiel Correa<\/p>\n

With the growing nationalistic rhetoric, the sentiment that only certain people belong here and everyone else is an illegal alien, has only affirmed Correa\u2019s goal to help preserve Mexican culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople aren\u2019t engaged with the fact that this type of isolating mentality hasn\u2019t been, and won\u2019t ever be sustainable,\u201d he said. \u201cAmerica has always survived off of immigrant labor [Bracero program]<\/a> and continues to live off diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old artist said poetry still has the power to unify people. He believes that without poetry, we would fail as a society and lose ourselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Long Beach\u2019s 2025 Youth Poet Laureate Ezequiel Correa and his mother Martina Gallardo pose near a bookshelf at the Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach on Nov. 7, 2025. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can begin to understand each other and with that understanding, that\u2019s when we really start to build unity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s because of our grandiosity and our exclusivity and the nationalism that we are so, but we also are not right? We could start to understand each other through poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long Beach served as a perfect backdrop for a Mexican-American creative \u2014 a place where a teenager can stumble upon galleries, cultural events and public libraries in every part of the city. Correa said these surroundings heavily impacted his journey as a poet.<\/p>\n

Growing up near the Mark Twain Neighborhood Library, Correa was exposed to history and various cultures, including the library\u2019s massive collection of Khmer literature with over 5,000 <\/a>books, CDs and resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt prompts the question, where does all of this love and community come from?\u201d he said. \u201cYou see Black, brown and Asian communities and Long Beach is beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Senior McBride High School student and Long Beach\u2019s 2025 Youth Poet Laureate Ezequiel Correa reads a book at the top floor of the Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach on Nov. 7, 2025. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

His family supports his journey as a poet, which Correa said he\u2019s grateful for,\u00a0since he\u2019s noticed a lot of Latino families who live in the United States don\u2019t receive support for pursuing the arts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martina Gallardo, Correa\u2019s mother, said she saw her son become passionate about addressing discrimination. Even with the violent ICE raids and mass discrimination, she said her son\u2019s poems are a gleam of what his work can bring into the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think having that support from them is a stark reminder of where we can go as Mexican-Americans,\u201d Correa said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to move forward as a family and as one unit. Learning from one another and having that support makes me so grateful and it inspires me to invoke a similar unity among my culture going forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Correa is currently applying for early admission colleges and is driven towards sociology, political service or public service in the future.<\/p>\n

\"SamuelSamuel ChackoPhotojournalist<\/p>\n

Samuel Chacko is an award-winning photojournalist from Long Beach, California. Samuel currently works as a freelance journalist for multiple publications and he is a class of 2025 Cal State Long Beach graduate. Samuel loves watching sports (the Ravens and the Yankees) and taking photos.
Check out more of Samuel\u2019s work here: https:\/\/samuelchacko.com\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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