This is a photo of Yesenia Hunter and her partner, James.

Yesi is an artist and community activist in Yakima, Washington. Underneath the threads of capitalist, patriarchal values that drive music industry and popular culture, agents like Yesenia Hunter inspire vibrant communities centered around music, art, love, and positivity. Yesi works as an illustrator, linographer, and program coordinator for Yakima Music en Accion. This year, Yesi is the lead coordinator for the Women Who Rock UNconference that will be held on Saturday, April 23rd in Yakima.

Yesi was recently featured in a podcast on Latino USA Radio. Listen here for an enjoyable and inspiring story about Yakima history:

#1547 – Reservations

“community is what makes us powerful”.

Later on in my time at the conference the area I was in began to die down so I decided to go downstairs and check out what was happening there. I saw many tables and many people interacting with one another. I walked up to the first table that caught my eye and had a conversation with a woman whose name escapes me. She told me that she is involved in radio and it is a way for youth to have a voice. At that time I observed two young girls conducting an interview. The involvement of young females in Women Who Rock is very important. I observed many girls who were not only enjoying themselves but seemed to have confidence in just being them.

– Markayla

When I first arrived at the Women Who Rock conference I encountered a performance of Latin music outside, on a small stage they shared their culture with those around them and I was intrigued by the demonstration. Then I entered the cultural center to find another, different performance. There were women on stage singing and I didn’t quite hear the words but I enjoyed the melody. After they ended they asked for people to come up and to learn the song and to sing with them and I thought this was a great idea. A way for people to take a step further, not just to observe the culture but to be able to interact with it but just in the way you wanted to.

– Markayla

The second workshop I attended at the WWR conference was a workshop to learn how to screen print shirts with a logo. At first I thought the shirts were going to be made with a press because that’s the only way I knew how to put logos on shirts. But when I saw their machine, I was really surprised. The way they made the shirts was they would open their machine and lay down a shirt flat in the middle. Then why would close the machine and on top there was screen with the logo on it. After they poured some black ink and use a squeegee to spread out the ink. They lifted the screen and the logo was on the shirt. I was really surprised how clear and bright the logo was. It looked better then a pressed shirt. One of the ladies at the workshop explained to me you can either buy a screen printing machine or you can make one, it’s really simple. Now if I ever feel like making a shirt, I know I’m going to try and make it using a screen print.

La jente aqui pueden bailar y bailar y no se cansan! Abi jente afuera jugando musica por mucho tiempo. La musica que estaba jugando estaba en espanol, pero toda via via jente que no eran espanos jugando guitarra para todos. Era algo muy buenito, todos se parecian unificados. Es triste que toda la jente no se pueden handar quentos como la jente aqui en este retrato. It didn’t matter if you were white, black, Hispanic, or Asian, everyone dancing and playing music was just trying to have a good time together. I love the picture I posted along with this blog post because it shows a mother and her nina bilando juntos. So everyone involved is making this a growing event that could be an experience passed on from one generation to another.

Que puedemos acer para ayudar a otra jente? Todos somos differentes, y la jente aqui saben eso. La jente aqui quieren que todos se sientan importantes. The Panal speaking right now never keeps their mouths shut, they’re aware of everything that goes on in the world that isnt fair to us people of color. These women are all activist, they want to inspire people to help others who may not know how to get help. There is a women who is originally from Canada who made a strong point about the present. At this very moment there are women and children being raped, used for human trafficing, and beaten, and just because CNN doesn’t tell the world about it, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be aware of it and try to inform others. El Mundo es un lugar cruel, y ay jente que eson muy cruel, pero no toda la jente en este mundo eson crueles. Ay jente como las mujeres aqui que son buena jente y que quieren ayudar a otras persons. These people are all acting out of selflessness and passion for something they believe in.

-Heaven Aguilar

Toda la jente que estaban bilando y cantando estaban muy orgullosos y felizes! Me encanto ver todos tan felizes, aqui en esta region no hay tantas cosas espanoles como en Eastern Washington, eso es de dendo yo soy. Los biales que estaban haciendo me recordaban de las fiestas que antes tienia con mi familia. It was great seeing how genuine everyone is around here, and of course it was awesome seeing so much spanish influence in their performance. The way everyone was signing and dancing together made it feel like I really was experiencing a different culture first hand. Toda la jente que están aquí tienen mucho energía! Everyone was having an awesome time and were just letting everything go as if nothing else but the music mattered. I’m hoping to see more performances like that where people just let loose.

-Heaven Aguilar

After treating themselves with cake, the Women Who Rock (Un)Conference attendees headed upstairs to join in on the ruckus in the front of the stage. Some people were propping up percussion and other instruments. A line of people with guitars and musical voices, a welcoming environment for anyone winning to join. The cypher has begun. What begins with q few beats of percussion, illuminates to a full collage of timbre and cuntrue. There’s a blend of language and cultural influence. There’s strong Latino influenced music, stomping feet, and music that transgresses to dancing bodies. People are encouraged to love forward, most are standing and participating In the musical energy. It’s a community, an exchange of pain and experience through musical next-generation–a cypher empathizing through music.

Johnathan Hill

5pm, here at the Women Who Rock (Un)Conference, the facilitator at the microphone inquires to the audience about their experiences today. The first respondents? A group of children, facing the audience, sitting on the stage. One of the children, identifying as female, announces that she is a 5th time incumbent of the (un)conference. During discussion with the audience, we are moved to conversation about how everyone loved the children’s presence at the (un)conference, how there is no shame for the distruption the children may cause. This distruption is what that WWR (Un)Conference is about. The adult audience of the (un)conference share that WWR is about challenging the mainstream, pushing for the future. The WWR is open and colorful, flexibly and loving. The WWR is a space to share experiences and honoring uniqueness.

Johnathan Hill