For [November’s] Native American Heritage Month, Lyla June Johnston contributed spoken word poems to “Our America: Indigenous and Urban,” an episodic visual journal of Native men and women sharing their modern-day Indigenous experience, presented by ABC Localish Studios.
“I wanted to be a part of ‘Our America: Indigenous and Urban’ because I could tell the producers had done their homework,” Johnston said during a shoot at Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles. “They had consulted with Indigenous peoples.”
“When we were working together, I could tell they had really tried to capture real stories of real people who were not fitting stereotypes of what people think Native people are,” she continued.
Johnston said spoken word is important to Indigenous communities.
“[Spoken word] comes from the heart, and it’s right here, right now, in the moment,” she said.
“You can write words and you can publish them and print them across, but it’s not coming from the throat and the heart and the lungs and the guts of a person,” she said. “Whereas oral history — as it’s being passed down — you’re connecting with that person who’s speaking.”
Click here for more information.
Links:
