About 510 Journal
The latest issue of 510 Journal is a series of poems, prose, and essays written by teens in response to the prompt, what makes the Bay Area feel like home to you? Submissions were fielded by Chapter 510’s inaugural Youth Advisory Board. Written, edited, and published by teens, this issue of 510 Journal showcases the voices of Oakland’s youth around topics of home, belonging, and community.
510 Journal started out as a partnership with the Oakland Public Library’s Youth Poet Laureate Program in 2012, right when Chapter 510 was founded. Each year, until 2020, we commissioned local artist and children’s book author Robert Lui-Trujillo to illustrate a portrait of the Youth Poet Laurette and then created a poster with an excerpt from their winning submission. Thousands of 510 Journals were then printed and distributed to local libraries, schools, community centers, and restaurants.
In 2020, 510 Journal transitioned in to a monthly poem penned by a young writer participating in our programs. Poems were printed as a beautiful letter-pressed card or poster that were available for purchase in our store and sent via email to our community.
Read the latest issue of 510 journal below! Click into each to read poetry written by Oakland youth.
2015 oakland youth poet laureate— “malicious maniacs” by Tova Ricardo
you've got more menace on your mind
than what reads on the fine print.
searching children you classify
as malicious maniacs,
first and foremost before you ask their name.
2014 oakland youth poet laureate—“naked” by Sophie Elkin
I'm naked
you can see every ridged dent in my thighs
dark blue veins slither slowly like snakes beneath milk
white translucent rivers
my belly
I'm naked
2013 oakland youth poet laureate—“57” by Obasi Davis
Restlessly propelled bus tour through poverty's playpen
Inhaling the vile stench of minimum wage and food-stamps
An unholy concoction
of $8/hr in a $960 cramped studio apartment
fed by cal fresh's moldy
government cheese
2013 oakland youth poet laureate—“HANDS” by Olivia Hoffman
you had big hands
big hands that draped over mine and wrapped around my hips
and fingertips rough and callused tracing ribcages
you were a man. not a boy but a man
2012 oakland youth poet laureate—“TIL DEATH” by Stephanie Yun
Like wind caressing wayward leaves, he grasps my hands
fearful of letting them return to the earth.
At minimum, my boyfriend
must remind me once every two weeks
that I can't make love to him buried beneath flowerbeds
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