Producer & Creative Director: Diane Luby Lane
Director: Gina Belafonte
Media Director: Brandon XIV
Musical Director: Derrick Hodge
Story Editor & Lead Writer: Monique Mitchell

Get Lit – Words Ignite, produced in partnership with the LA Phil, proudly presents If I Awaken in Los Angeles, a powerful multimedia production that blends Spoken Word, music, dance, and film to illuminate the diverse and vibrant spirit of the City of Angels.

This immersive performance is a love letter to Los Angeles: its neighborhoods, its struggles, its dreams, and the people who live and love here. Through the lens of both new and seasoned Spoken Word artists, If I Awaken in Los Angeles explores identity, resilience, and community in a city which pulses with contradiction: a city of stars and sirens, of deep-rooted struggle and soaring dreams.

The cast features a powerhouse ensemble of youth poets alongside renowned performers, forming an intergenerational celebration of Los Angeles. This passionate collective of creatives desire to introduce you to your neighbors– through music, through movement, through poetry! Don’t just listen, feel these words. The voices you hear tonight were cultivated in classrooms, on street corners, and through years of lived experience. Let them move you.

Proceeds from If I Awaken in Los Angeles directly support Get Lit’s mission to ignite student engagement, literacy, and young voices around the globe using the power of Spoken Word, technology, and community.

Letter from the Director

Beloved Community,

I would like to acknowledge the ancestors, those who walked before us, who dreamed us into being, who paved the way for us to gather here tonight in purpose, in presence and in power. I would like to acknowledge the sacred land and unceded territory we are on, that of the Gabrielino Tongva, Gabrielino Kizh, and Fernandeño Tataviam Nations, who are the traditional caretakers of the Los Angeles basin and Southern Channel Islands.

What a time to be alive. What a moment to gather, in the flesh, in the breath, in the heartbeat of a live performance.

Welcome. And thank you for joining us for If I Awaken in Los Angeles. This performance is more than a show, it is a love letter to this city we call home, and to all of you who make it what it is.

At Sankofa.org, we believe in the transformative force of art in the service of justice. Co-founded by Harry Belafonte, Raoul Roach and myself, we are a social justice, impact, production space committed to educating, motivating and activating communities through creative expression and collective action. Our work shines a light on injustice and inspires meaningful change. We have the good fortune to collaborate with some of the most notable and profound artists of our time and tonight is no exception. 

We are honored to stand alongside the artists and visionaries here tonight as one of the evening’s sponsors. To be in this space, in this moment, surrounded by hearts and minds committed to change, that is the work. That is the joy. That is the legacy we carry forward.

In this world that often feels fractured and fast, the arts remind us of our common pulse. Theater, music, poetry, movement, these are ancient tools, technologies of the spirit, capable of opening hearts, breaking down walls, and inviting us to imagine again. To feel deeply. To remember who we are.

We are living through deeply challenging times, as a country and as a community. Across the country, the air feels thick with grief, anger, and uncertainty. Right here in L.A., we’ve been through it, Los Angeles has endured the devastation of wildfires that tore through homes and hearts. We have witnessed the unthinkable: tanks rolling into our parks, into our neighborhoods, snatching up our immigrant brothers, sisters, and siblings, tearing families apart in broad daylight. Immigrant communities, the very lifeblood of this city, are being targeted and criminalized, like we’re not watching. But we are watching. And more importantly, we’re feeling. We’re remembering. We’re resisting. And still, we rise. Still, we gather.

If I Awaken in Los Angeles is a reflection of that spirit. It is a heartbeat, a reminder that Los Angeles isn’t just a place on a map, it’s a living, breathing soul made up of all of us. What we present to you tonight is a weaving of story, music, memory, and movement rooted in the soil of this city’s struggle and resilience. L.A. is a mosaic of Korean barbecue next to Oaxacan mole, Palestinian oud beside Compton bass lines, sari silks brushing up against cowboy boots. Every taco truck, every drum circle, every protest, every mural, every Sunday family BBQ, every block party and backyard jam session, this city is culture stacked on culture, flavor on flavor, story on story. We are as complex as the desert and as fluid as the ocean that holds us. And in that complexity is our beauty.

Live theater holds a kind of alchemy: real people, real time, real emotion. When words are lifted into song, when a line of poetry lands just right, when a body moves across a stage with intention, we are changed. Even if just for a moment. Even if only in the slightest way. But that shift, that tender widening of perspective or softening of the guard, is how transformation begins.

The metaphor lives in the poetry. The message breathes through the music. The healing travels on the wave of performance. And I am deeply honored, truly, to be here in this moment, doing this work, presenting this offering to you.

It brings joy to my soul to contribute to a lineage of artists who dare to speak truth, to dream aloud, and to illuminate the path forward through story. Thank you for meeting us here. Thank you for listening with your whole self.

This performance is a reminder that while we may look different, sound different, dress different, vibe different, come from different homelands, speak in different tongues, and pray in different ways, we are one human family. We are siblings in spirit, neighbors in rhythm. We must learn again to reach toward each other with open arms, with courage, with radical kindness. And right now? We need each other more than ever. We need to show up, speak out, reach across, and hold space, with love, with empathy, with genuine curiosity, with joy, and with compassion. That’s how we get free.

I want to thank the LA Phil for believing in the power of this work and making space for it to live and breathe. For standing with us in the belief that art can move mountains and mend hearts. Thank you for your partnership and belief in the power of this work.

To the amazing artists who have poured their brilliance, their stories, their rhythm and soul into this work, thank you for sharing your genius, your hearts, your insight, your talent, and your joy. You are the lifeblood of what we bring to this audience, the pulse beneath every moment. This piece is alive because of you.

And to Diane Lane and the extraordinary team at Get Lit, your profound generosity, your passion and vision, and deep desire to spark meaningful change that drives to shift culture in real, lasting ways. You have been a guiding light. Thank you for dreaming alongside me. It means the world. I’m so grateful to be on this journey with you.

So tonight, let this be more than a performance. Let it be a reminder of what we’ve survived together and what we can dream together. This is a call, to remember, to listen, to act, to love.

From my heart to yours, thank you for being here.

Peace,
Gina Belafonte
Director, If I Awaken in Los Angeles

Get Involved

Help Get Lit empower youth voices! LA-based, 501C-3 nonprofit Get Lit harnesses the power of Spoken Word, technology, and community, to ignite student engagement, literacy, and young voices around the globe, launching impassioned futures that contribute to a better world. Your tax-deductible gift helps us ignite classrooms everywhere. Donate today!

Is your company looking to fill entry-level positions like Social Media Coordinators, Junior Creatives, Development Coordinators, or Marketing Coordinators? Consider partnering with Get Lit’s Creative Career Lab today. 

Know a superstar talent between the ages of 18-28 who is interested in entering the creative industry? Send them our way! Applications for Creative Career Lab are open and our Year 2 cohort begins August 17th, 2025. 

Interested in joining our board? Contact our Director of Development at jennifer@getlit.org.

To learn more about our organization, our programming, and other opportunities to get involved, please visit getlit.org. 

Thank You

Tonight’s production of If I Awaken in Los Angeles would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Thank you to TMO Productions, Sankofa.org, Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn, Supervisor Hilda Solis, Port of Long Beach, Michael & Andrea Zomber, We Benefit Children, and our Media Partner, Flood Magazine.

Thank you to our Board Members: Delta Wright, Gina Belafonte, Diane Luby Lane, Alexander Trivas, Harriet Aronow, Naveena Ponnusamy, Wendy Posner, Samantha Feld, Phil Angelides, Cynthia M. Ruiz, and Caprice Young. 

Thank you to former United States Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, whose poem “If I Awaken in Los Angeles” was the inspiration for tonight’s show. May we never forget to awaken.

Thank you to our video production team who captured the footage you see on tonight’s screen: Lead Director: Lukas Lane, Lead Cinematographer: Joseph Wise, Second Unit Director: Marco Bizio, and Sound Designer: Jack Weiss. 

Thank you to Sofia D’Annunzio, our Associate Producer who assisted with film, event, & stage production.

Thank you to our Staff, who worked countless hours to bring this project to life. 

Thank you to Mona Recalde of the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians Gabrieleno/Tongva, for consulting us to ensure cultural accuracy. 

Thank you to Mike Sonksen, whose thorough research helped give shape to this show. 

Thank you to our publicist Rachel Falikoff (Let’s Make News PR). 

Thank you to our graphic designer Ty Colter and for.ma studios. 

Thank you to our lawyer, Aron Baumel, and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson + Christopher, LLP. 

Thank you to our generous donors who sponsored free tickets for our youth and non-profit partners.

Thank you to the Fernando Pullum Community Art Center for providing space for our dance ensemble to rehearse, as well as providing us with the youth choir heard tonight. 

Thank you to our dance ensemble: Kosi Williams, Chazaiah Johnson, Natali Micciche, Italia Clark, Brenda Estrada, Analecia Guthrie, Norma Norvelle, Nathanael Smith, and Rachel Tisby.

Thank you to Santos Riboli and San Antonio winery for sponsoring tonight’s prosecco.

And last but certainly not least, thank you to the LA Phil and The Ford for offering us the incredible opportunity to showcase our love letter to Los Angeles under the stars. 

Special Thanks to Betye Saar

“Betye Saar painted stars and moons. A reminder to her descendants: you illuminate rooms.” We offer our unending gratitude to the creative genius of Betye Saar, who will have just turned 99 by the time our show goes up. Her artwork, which she graciously donated to be used as the promotional flyer for If I Awaken in Los Angeles, completely captures the spirit of what this experience was always intended to be: a mystical, vibrant, block party. 

Betye, your devotion to bridging the seen and unseen worlds will continue to inspire us for generations to come. Thank you for being a guiding light and living ancestor of Get Lit - Words Ignite.