Carribean Fragoza
Carribean Fragoza is a writer and artist from South El Monte, CA. She has published fiction and poetry in publications such as Palabra Literary Magazine, Emohippus, BOMB Magazine, and Huizache Magazine. Her arts/culture reviews and essays have been published in online national and international magazines such as Letras Libres, Culture Strike, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Tropics of Meta. She is a graduate of UCLA and CalArts' MFA Writing Program. She is founder and co-director of the South El Monte Art Posse (SEMAP), a multi-disciplinary arts collective. SEMAP currently runs a column on KCET Departures about the San Gabriel Valley, called "East of East."
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"It's about saving one or two dollars here and there, but most importantly, about sharing the message and creating dialogue within families about going to college,"
El Monte, as investors and developers are figuring out, is a place of great opportunity. But as city officials are often reminded, it is also a place of great need.
Artist Phung Huynh's El Monte Bus Station mural tells of cross-cultural, Asian and Latino history and the importance of engaging local community with sensitivity and relevance.
Women who practice Zumba in El Monte have developed and embodied a kind of barrio feminist aesthetic that helps them reclaim their bodies and public space.
Rush Street is hardly a destination or scenic route; and yet for me, this street has marked itself upon me, silently engrained its name in phantom scars. It started as an unlikely destination and one day, unexpectedly, it became a landmark.