March 28, 2025
This honor was awarded to our founder, Sailee Charlu, nominated for advancing the Habla Arte and The Lit League mission, honoring exceptional women who have created meaningful impact in the 46th Congressional district.
June 24, 2025
We address the Santa Ana Board of Education, advocating for arts equity, promoting our curriculum, and giving back to our Santa Ana community by offering our free enriching program. We also proposed a resolution to recognize the power of spoken poetry in bridging the language barrier and literacy gaps.
July 22, 2025
In this video, we spoke before the Santa Ana Board of Education, speaking about the unmatched power of spoken poetry and the need for more equitable access to slam poetry curricula in schools. In a fearful world where students experience ICE raids and some of the toughest circumstances, we sought to insight new conversations about art and student empowerment in our city.
August 9, 2025
As a culmination of our 6 month fellowship and $5,000 grant from the Dragon Kim Foundation, we spoke in front of a panel of eager listeners, sharing our future goals to expand our unique spoken poetry curriculum to Title 1 schools across Southern California. As we shared progress and their transformation of our students, we were able to secure support from community leaders and investors.
August 19, 2025
In partnership and the invitation of Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilwoman Jessie Lopez who have supported our Lit League journey, we spoke in front of the Santa Ana City Council to spread awareness, introducing a bill to recognize the power of spoken poetry. As our Councilwoman presented every one of our students with certificates for their bravery and creative expression, we were filled with pride in our artistic journey, paving the path towards artistic education.
October 1, 2025
The Contribution Project- We received a $400 grant from The National Contribution project to continue our community work through The Lit League, supporting more workshops, slams, distribution of self-study workbooks to Title 1 schools, and to start building an app to pair with the workbook to enhance the experience of the curriculum through live video and feedback
November 20, 2025
We discussed the importance of bilingual education as a platform for creative and artistic expression in providing educational equity in the arts, especially in communities with a greater percentage of English Language Learners. Mayor Amezcua supported our Bilingual Initiative in the Arts with a letter of endorsement and advice on how to further our programming in the community.
December 3, 2025
We discussed The Bilingual Education resolution to be approved by OCBE and passed by the board in January, 2026.
Olivia le is a talented youth spoken poet. As a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, she has won state and national poetry competitions and was a finalist for the California Youth Poet Laureate. Her work has been published internationally and she is a 2-year Get Lit Player with Get Lit-Words Ignite. She used spoken word to share about her experiences and raise awareness on social issues.
Dharma Lemon is a writer, teaching artist, and activist from Los Angeles County. She is involved with an organization called Get Lit – Words Ignite. Her work focuses on topics like feminism, body positivity, the environment, and racial injustice. She is known for her passionate writing and activism, having performed alongside celebrity activists and participated in various events, including “Artists for Amazonia”.
Marcus Omari is a critically acclaimed poet, writer, performer, and instructor who teaches poetry programs across Orange County. He’s known for his spoken word performances and has authored several chapbooks. He’s a six-time National Speech and Debate Award winner and has been featured on TV shows like VERSES & FLOW on TV One. He’s also the founder of the Poetic Reform Party.
