Luis H. Valadez

Hello.
My name is Luis Humberto Valadez and I am a poet, musician, and performer from a place called Chicago Heights, IL, a suburb on the far south side of Chicago. I grew up with three siblings and a single mother who worked a lot to keep her children cared for. The parts of the neighborhood we lived in were quite harsh and economically depressed. I graduated from Bloom High School and then went to Columbia College where I study Audio Arts and Poetry. After college, I attended graduate school at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University.
My first book of poetry, "what i'm on," was published in March 2009 by the University of Arizona Press in conjunction with my first album, "wat ahm on (ep)," released by Last Minute Records. In my journeys as a performer, I have been fortunate to share the stage with folks like Saul Williams, Anne Waldman, Thurston Moore, Akilah Oliver, Jello Biafra, and Against Me.
Between here and there I went from wanting to spread pure vitriol on my audience to recompense for the trauma's I've suffered to seeing the commonality in human suffering. I see myself and work as an avenue to increase an understanding of the nature of my being and hope to help others do the same.
I currently work as the AmeriCorps VISTA Supervisor with Chicago Public Schools Educational Support for Students in Temporary Living Situations Program. We work to uphold the rights of students in CPS who are homeless or in a temporary living situation and ensure they receive the educational support services that are entitled to and need to maintain their education(s) despite their precarious living situation. Part of this job is managing an after-school tutoring and arts program that takes place in homeless shelters for school-aged students, Chicago HOPES. You can learn more about us at www.chicagohopes.org. I also give poetry workshops in shelters and in schools.
I write, I perform, and read anywhere they'll have me. Check out my tracks and feel free to let me know what you think. You can drop me a line to book me or just to chat here or at luisvaladez8@yahoo.com.