Grand Performances and Proyecto Pastoral present Todos Somos Sagrados (All Are Sacred): An Evening of Flor y Canto with Rey Rodriguez, fellow poets Lorna Dee Cervantes, Aideed Medina, Ceasar K. Avelar, and Janet Gonzalez, with special musical guests Las Chorizeras.
Credit: Jose Ramirez
Lorna Dee Cervantes
Born in San Francisco, raised in San José, Barrio Horseshoe, Lorna Dee Cervantes was a self-taught activist by 15, taught herself how to run her own printing press and was Founding Editor/Publisher of MANGO Publications at 20, and author of the American Book Award winning EMPLUMADA at 24. A XícanIndX poet (Chumash/Purépecha), Cervantes (PhD/ABD, History of Consciousness) was a Professor of English for 20 years at the University of Colorado, Boulder, serving as Director of Creative Writing. Cervantes has held faculty positions at the University of Houston, the University of California, Berkeley, where she has served as a UC Regents Lecturer in the English department, and as a Visiting Writer at Yale, Vassar, and others. Awarded 2 NEA Fellowships, 2 Pushcart Prizes, a Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Award, state arts grants, and numerous awards for 6 books of poetry including her recent, April on Olympia, Cervantes has presented her poetry at 100s of campuses, venues and countries over the past 50 years. Her poems have appeared in 100s of anthologies and publications (Norton, Heath, Penguin, Poetry). Her newest, FIRE: Poems Against Pandemic, is forthcoming from El Martillo Press (2026).
Aideed Medina
Aideed Medina is the current poet laureate of Fresno California, a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, award-winning spoken word artist and playwright, and is the author of 31 Hummingbird: A Suite of Poems (Editorial Xingao, 2023) and Segmented Bodies (Prickly Pear Press, 2024). Her poetry and prose have been featured in many publications, including Fresno State’s Club Austral Literary Magazine, Chicano Writers and Artists Association Journal, La Bloga, Poets Responding, Split This Rock, and Nueva York Poetry Review, among many others, as well as in compositions for the 559 Mural Project and Fresno Grand Opera’s Opera Remix.
Ceasar K. Avelar
Caesar K. Avelar is the second poet laureate of Pomona, CA. As a poet, Caesar is dedicated to the working class. His poems speak the truth not only to people in positions of power but also to the everyday person who views the working class as a stigmatized identity. Caesar is of Central American descent. His mother is an immigrant from Honduras, and his father is from El Salvador. Caesar’s poems tell the stories of workers of color, their families, and the obstacles they face in the United States; not just as workers, but as immigrants living in a country where their existence is commodified. Caesar is the resident poet for Café con Libros Press, a cultural center and bookstore. He runs the Obsidian Tongues open mic, which strives to bring poetry, art, and free expression to the Pomona community.
Janet Gonzalez
Janet Gonzalez is a Mexican-born spoken word artist raised in Chicago and based in Los Angeles. Shaped by her experience as an undocumented immigrant for over two decades, her work explores themes of immigration, identity, resilience, healing, and social justice. Through powerful storytelling and poetry, Janet amplifies voices and experiences that are often overlooked, creating space for dialogue, understanding, and connection. She has performed at institutions including the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and University of Redlands, as well as at community and cultural venues throughout Southern California. Her performances challenge audiences to engage deeply with issues of belonging, equity, and the human experience.
Las Chorizeras
Las Chorizeras es un grupo femenino fundado por la cantautora Nancy Sánchez. Las Chorizeras presentan canciones originales y canciones selectas del cancionero americano y mexicano de una manera fresca, alternativa y regionalmente mexicana. Incorporan instrumentos tradicionales del mariachi, como el guitarrón, la vihuela y el violín, en un estilo de fusión mariachi. La idea de formar un grupo musical femenino surgió en un viaje que Nancy hizo a su ciudad natal, de Toluca, México. Nancy se inspiró en los hermosos lugares y tradiciones de Toluca, incluyendo la gran gastronomía de la ciudad. Una de las tradiciones más notables de Toluca son las famosas recetas con chorizo. De hecho, muchos consideran el chorizo de Toluca el mejor de todo México, y como apodo cariñoso a los toluqueños se les llama “Chorizeras” y “Chorizeros”. Inspirada por este hecho, Nancy decidió llamar a este proyecto Las Chorizeras, como homenaje a su ciudad natal de Toluca México.