GUSTAVO HERNANDEZ
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Gustavo Hernandez is the author of the poetry collections Flower Grand First (Moon Tide Press) and Bachelor (FlowerSong Press).
In January 2024, Hernandez was appointed Poet Laureate of Orange County, California.
He was born in Jalisco, Mexico and was raised in Santa Ana, California, where he still resides.
Why oral histories at LMAC?
Libromobile's goal is to center and cultivate the past, present, and future histories of BIPOC communities in Orange County. As an organization, LMAC encourages community members to document and take charge of their own histories. Oral histories are a method of digital documentation — one that can empower community members to take ownership of their own histories.
What support can LibroMobile provide?
Libromobile can provide technological or other resources, such as: microphones, headphones, laptops
and workshop spaces, like LibroMobile's community space, where one can conduct oral histories.
All of these resources are provided for the community to engage in digital humanities projects, such as the recording and formalizing of oral histories. See the resources below, created by UCI's 2023 and 2024 C-CAP TEACH cohort: an oral history zine, along with an audio-visual guide. These resources can form a step-by-step guide on how to conduct an oral history for our own families and communities, and how someone can check out materials and equipment to use for oral history work.
Why does my story matter?
Through history, BIPOC histories have often been ignored or silenced in the dominant mainstream. With that, BIPOC histories have been forgotten, or at the very least, deemed as unimportant. But what makes community-based archives and oral histories so empowering is that anyone and everyone's story can be important. Everything, even seemingly mundane and everyday things, can be — and is — an important part of our history, and should be remembered. Even when our memories fail, oral history work can leave a legacy, one our families and our communities can benefit from for a long time.
Send us an email, if you have any further questions or concerns.