Moment for Life: WE, Yollocalli
08/25/20
By Emmanuel Ramirez
Yollolicious (yoh-loh-lish-uhs), adj.
Something that is amazing, outstanding, terrific, wonderful, inspiring, delicious, funny, breathtaking, weave snatching, and litty poppin.
Emmanuel: “Oh My Goodness, that is SO YOLLOLICIOUS!”
Zipporah: “That word will never catch on, Emmanuel. Stop.”
Illustration of Yollocalli by Emmanuel Ramirez.
March, Friday the 13th. 12:00pm. I remember being at my high school cafeteria, enjoying my Friday, because after today, it was finally the weekend. No more school, tests, or homework for the week. But I was most excited to take the bus after school, running in sweaty and late to my favorite place, Yollocalli. Then my entire world came crashing down on me –sitting there in the lunchroom surrounded by cardboard pizza and wannabe cholas que se creen la última Coca-Cola en el desierto– I get a message that read as followed:
“YOLLOCALLI CLASSES ARE CANCELLED FRIDAY 3/13, SATURDAY 3/14,
NEXT WEEK 3/16-3/21 AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! Tell your yollo friends.”
After reading that message, I went the entire rest of my day somehow knowing that would be my last. No, I didn't die, booboo, but I somehow knew that this would be my last day at school. Not only mine, but everyone around me. Our everyday, ordinary schedules to work, eat, sleep and repeat would be no more after today.
Trying to soak up every second I had left in society, I walked through the school halls envisioning that I was in a dramatic black and white music video *insert ‘Moment For Life’ by Nicki Minaj*.
After a few weeks in quarantine without classes, school started back up again. It was definitely an interesting experience, adjusting to learning quadratic formulas and taking AP tests through a screen. Teachers demanding that we have our cameras on, taking half an hour just to get through attendance, and the occasional “why don't you have your uniform on” joke. Haha, que chistosito. -_-
Mi cuarentena (ay wey) has consisted of adopting 7 plants, growing out my hair, an inexorable desire for vinyl shopping, Nicki Minaj on repeat, and audio storytelling, radio, journalism, audio production, meetings, meetings, being Steph’s personal therapist, and more meetings. Damn, I wish there was a job title for all these combined, got me over here gettin carpal tunnel.
My last day of school was May 20, and all that was left to do was wait to hear if Yollocalli was going to continue in the summer or not. Yollo had governed every summer break I had for the last 5 years and this summer was going to be no exception, but con la Rona taking complete control of the world, all my plans were halted and I was devastated. I told myself, “Is my summer gonna be as boring as every other kid’s in my school?! Staying home ALL summer and going downtown every Saturday because that's apparently the only cool thing to them.” I couldn't bear the thought. Thankfully, that was not the case.
Your Story, Your Way! 2018 Class at Lumpen Radio. Photo courtesy of the author.
Roots in Radio
Does it seem odd that a 17 year-old likes audio and radio? ...Nerd. How does one even begin to learn these skills and turn their imagination into an entire yollolicious production? Well, it's all thanks to Yollocalli, a youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art. They provide all types of free art and digital classes for youth, including visual art, screenprinting, photography, and my program, audio-radio production. Here is where my passion for sound began.
I’ve been a part of Yollocalli for almost 6 years now, but at first I couldn’t even enter any of Yollo’s programs at all. Once I turned 12 years old, I was finally old enough to enter only one program: ‘Your Story Your Way’, an audio-storytelling class that was taught by none other than the human banana herself, Stephanie.
I was hesitant at first, but my passion for talking drew me in. I wasn't drawn to journalism. I didn't understand audio production. I never noticed the sounds all around me before. I thought, “This was just a normal room. Boringggg.” But in that class, I was surrounded by all that the world had to offer. I learned how to hear the sound of the AC blasting cool air, the sound through the walls of people talking next door, the faint buzz of cars, pedestrians, and street vendors, all making noise outside, even the tiniest little mosca that would run laps around the room. All while standing in a room. An entire story, unravelling itself right in front of my eyes. A boring room full of endless possibilities.
Fast forward to today, the “Your Story Your Way!” (YSYW) class has expanded in unimaginable ways… RADIO!! Not only has the number of students increased since the first generation of storytellers, but the class grew into a more sophisticated and yollolicious version of itself, where now we know exactly how to produce audio-stories, conduct interviews and create amazing radio shows. Our weekly radio show, Wattz Up!, is produced and aired by seasons, 3 seasons a year to be exact, and since March 2016 we have been sending our radio waves from our Studio Y in Yollocalli to Lumpen Radio’s headquarters. Every week we meet, we brainstorm, we gather in teams, we do radio! We baddddd.
Yollocalli closing → How the magic stayed alive beyond the rainbow colored walls
In a pandemic like the one we are facing, it's important to realize that we can feel a lot of different emotions and react in many different ways, and that's ok. For some, social distancing has been one of the most emotionally straining and challenging things we have ever gone through. Try adding being a young person that has their entire life in front of them, a puzzle with all the pieces thrown into a mountain of confusion. For others, this pandemic has meant just gaining a pound or two from eating way too many bags of Takis. Either way, we don't realize how much other people that we interact with, have conversations with, even just walk past affect our everyday, until the day they’re gone.
No more daily cycles of simplicity, just complexity. I miss walking up to my loved ones and giving them a big hug and kiss on the cheek. I miss celebrating with groups of people, and being there to hug my friend that's going through a hard time. I miss Fridays and Saturdays at Yollo.
All classes were cancelled from March 13th till further notice. Today, the doors are still locked and Yollocalli remains closed, but not inactive. But how is that possible? Rethinking the unimaginable? How do you teach a painting class, photography class, or radio class, remotely? What about the tools, equipment and resources necessary for the youth creators?
Well, Yollocalli not only kept programming going during the quarantine, but also provided the tools needed to build and create during this time, putting together packages of paints and brushes, cameras, audio equipment and more for all students involved in the programs. All summer classes and programming continued virtually, with instructors teaching groups of 15 to 20 students all through Zoom and Google Meet.
During this time, we need to be compassionate and care for ourselves, understanding that this is a period of development, of healing, of building. And for some of us, that urge to create is what keeps us going everyday.
What YSYW has done for me and my classmates is not just a distraction from what is happening around us, but a chance to harness these hardships, these experiences, this era of our lives, and reinvent ourselves. Now is our time to not hold back and to use our voices, platforms, and passions, to narrate the story that is our future. The rest is up to us now.
Keeping Radio Alive + DIY Home Studio
I've officially been in quarantine for 5 months *insert ‘Save Me’ by Nicki Minaj*.
As with everything else, quarantine disrupted our radio season 13 (ay chihuahua, tengo escalofríos), unexpectedly throwing us out of the studio and off the airwaves. We've faced technical issues and challenges before, nothing we couldn't ever resolve, but never this. There was a bigger issue, something that no one in our radio history had ever had to tackle: a global pandemic.
How do we resolve this? Radio has been seen in history to not only entertain with booty bumpin beats, but also educate and inform. It was our duty to society to hustle and get to doing what we do best. So that's exactly what we did.
Now, don't get it twisted, it was NOT as easy as it sounded. But our entire Wattz Up! production, we did that! We didn't read no ‘radio 101 for beginners’, whachu thought this was? Yes, it was a lil’ bootleg at first, but it was all about trial and error until we got the formula: DIYradio at its finest. Season 13 was not about to flop because this pandemic was stoppin us. Ms. Rona, UR CANCELLED. Bye Felicia.
On March 17, we all met for the first Google meeting since quarantine started, coming to the final consensus that we wanted to continue our radio season.Technology has played a huge part in our development, since we’ve been using free platforms and our home devices. When brainstorming for the upcoming shows and segments, we shared and worked in the same documents, which all ended up being associated with COVID-19 in some way or the other: we covered its effects on mental health, politics, education, and what we can do as individuals to slow down its spread across the country.
Wattz Up!’s first radio show during quarantine was ‘Primary Election, Youth Voting + Rona’, after the primary elections. To air the show live, the hosts connected through Google Meet, as did Stephanie and Charly, who were head in command with da tech headquarters (their living room). Once it was time to go live, our instructors sent our signal to Lumpen Radio’s main computer “The Robot;” on the other end, Logan (el mero mero de Lumpen) was in control of “The Robot.” Don't worry, robots aren't taking over the world just yet–but we were good to go!
Week by week, we found small ways to improve the quality of our show and make it more polished overall, and added remote interviews by using better equipment, organizing our show structure better, and muting ourselves when we were not speaking so you don't hear our mom yelling at us to wash the dishes in the background.
I had always used and depended on the tools and tech provided at Yollocalli, but under COVID-19, we didn't have that luxury. When programming started in the summer, we were blessed with the generosity of Yollocalli, which provided us with all the audio nerd tech imaginable: headphones, mic stand, fancy mic, juicy cables, and wait for it… CHIPS! NPR IS QUAKINGGGG!
I never felt more powerful than at that moment. I had Yollocalli in my room, in all its magic and glory. We had all been trapped, but now we had the platform and tools to make the youth voice known on the airwaves.
Wattz Up! remote connection. Photo courtesy of the author.
Right before season 13 ended, downtown Chicago burned in an event that would live in history forever, and protests and riots soon spread all over the city. That was not a time to be tame and obedient, but to speak up and act out. Personally, that was one of the hardest shows to make, that challenged my team and I to push our pen and think deeply about the ways of our society. We used our remote radio platform to enhance the voices of those who had been in the frontlines, youth perspectives, and black activists. Season 13 ended with our final show, “Black Lives Matter. Period,” and we all couldn't have been prouder of ourselves.
Quarantine left an imprint on Wattz Up! that allowed us to discover a new realm of possibilities, and I had the honor to work with some of the best people in the game. During this summer internship with Yollocalli, challenges were thrown my way and I was pushed to try new things.
Our summer season 14 opened with the show “Weed the People,'' exploring the topic of cannabis, capturing its many forms and how we can broaden the conversation of weed past ‘thugs and potheads.’ I had the privilege to connect with my father, as part of the storytelling side of the program, and interviewed him about his experience with drug distribution, and how that completely changed his life. That was an opportunity that I don't think I would ever have had with him before.
I treasure every experience and opportunity Yollo gives me, not only for the amazing relationships I’ve made, but because nothing makes me happier. I enjoy writing about my passions, speaking about how I feel, and shaking things up in ways that make adults feel uncomfortable (and that's the goal). As cheesy as it may sound, today's youth are the leaders of the future, and we are not trying to live in a Karen-infested, brainwashed, conformist society. We aspire to create and make more out of our lives, and ain't nobody stoppin us.
Wrap up
Damn idk what to say… shoutout to my mama? I'm sitting here on my bright pink chair, surrounded by white walls drenched in posters, polaroids and Yollocalli propaganda. To the left of my desk I've got bookshelves filled with various varieties of empty journals that I'm waiting for excuses to write in, and in front of me my laptop, which I bought with every last penny saved from my first summer internship with Yollocalli.
Emmanuel Selfie with Plantita Minaj & Nicki Minaj in times of La Rona. Photo courtesy of the author.
For the last 5 months, this has been my world. Trapped in my tiny bubble, but the little investment that is my laptop is my bubble solution that I use to connect to other bubbles across the city. We ain't poppin anytime soon baby, we are liquid steel. Quarantine brought out some of the ugliest demons for several people, and it became one of the biggest setbacks for the modern world. But in this time that I have been locked up in my bubble with nothing but my thoughts, I was able to bounce back and reclaim my time. Had this not happened, I would have never worked so closely with so many role model adults that inspire me everyday, never sat down to have a conversation with my father about his past, and never had this push in my art to think farther outside the box than I ever have, experimenting with this new decade of surprises and confronting failure in the face. But failure was the only thing that kept us going and pushed us to where we are today. What we have done as Youth, in our communities and on Lumpen Radio, is inspiring and astounding. I've always struggled to recognize my successes and to just tell myself:
“Emmy, I am so proud of You.”
I am forever grateful to all the creatives around me that keep a smile on their face every day and continue to hustle, because that's the only way we will ever make it out of this. Supporting our very communities and showing nothing but love to the people around us is all that is necessary, and taking care of yourself is the most important. Never back down from your aspirations, and create a relationship with failure, but never fear it.
“And I will retire with the crown, yes!
No, I'm not lucky, I'm blessed, yes!
Clap for the heavyweight champ, me!
But I couldn't do it all alone, WE!”
–Nicki Minaj
Emmanuel Ramirez is a young storyteller, audio & radio producer, and a Nicki Minaj enthusiast. He has been part of Yollocalli Arts Reach, making audio pieces and radio shows with Your Story, Your Way! since 2015. Ramirez is also a member of the Yollocalli Youth Council cult. His audio work has been featured in the What We Hold audio exhibition in San Francisco and his essay ‘Panda to Panda’ was published in the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook.
Emmanuel Ramirez worked on this piece as part of Yollocalli Arts Reach Journalism, Storytelling and Radio Internship Program.