Palabra @ The Cheech

Palabra at The Cheech is a series that celebrates the wonderful tradition of floricanto, poesía, and the spoken word. Join them for their open mic poetry series co-hosted by Donato Martinez, featuring poets Missy Fuego, KERM, and Paul S. Flores.

Doors open at 6 PM

Sign-ups begin at 6 PM

Featured Poets 7 – 8 PM

Open Mic 8 – 9 PM

About the Host

Donato Martinez (@donatomartinez1) was born in small pueblo, Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico and immigrated to USA at six years old. He teaches English composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He has also taught classes in Chicano Studies. He has also been a co-coordinator of the Puente Program for 25 years and has presented workshop sessions at both the regional and state level. He has also spoken at many motivational and educational conferences. He hosts and curates many artistic events that feature poetry and music at his campus or in the community. He is also a poet and writes about his barrio upbringing, his community, his culture, and his Chicano identity. He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His full length collection of poetry, Touch the Sky, was published in 2023 by El Martillo Press. He loves the outdoors and is inspired by music and books and other artistic expressions, and his children, Gabriel and Abigail. He was recently recognized as the Distinguished Faculty of the Year at Santa Ana College in 2024. Find Donato on Instagram.

About the Featured Poets

Paul S. Flores is a San Francisco artist of Mexican and Cuban-American descent who has built a national reputation for interview-based theater and bilingual spoken word. He integrates indigenous and Latino healing practices to tell the stories of real people impacted by immigration and systemic inequalities. Flores appeared on Season 3 and 4 of HBO’s Def Poetry. He is the author of the play “PLACAS: The Most Dangerous Tattoo,” and the novel Along the Border Lies. His work has played across the United States and internationally in Cuba, Mexico, and El Salvador. Paul teaches Theater at the University of San Francisco. He produces Paseo Artistico Bilingual Artwalk for Acción Latina in San Francisco’s Mission District. His debut book of poetry We Still Be was published by El Martillo Press and won on the 2024 American Book Award. He lives in San Francisco with his children.

Jonathan Kermah aka KERM is a Ghanaian, Black American writer, super-powered poet, and audio engineer born in Burbank, California and raised in parts of Tennessee and Massachusetts. In just a short period of time, he’s brought his wordplay wizardry and impassioned performances to stages all over LA County. The comic book loving KERM is a shapeshifter and reality warper with the pen, writing from different perspectives, ranging from insects to hip-hop legends, sometimes leaving his audience transformed in the process. His words have been seen in Heard Magazine, The Valley Advocate, as well as the Ringer.com. His recently published book of poetry, Heal My Heroes: a superpowered KERM joint is available now.

Meliza Bañales aka Missy Fuego (she/they) is the author of six books, a Lambda (Lamb-da) Literary Award Finalist, and a Slam Champion. One of the founders of Poetry Slam in the United States since 1996, they are the 2025 Winner of the BlackBerry Peach Spoken & Written Word Contest and the current Los Angeles Erotica Slam Champion. They have served as a Tin House Summer Fellow in YA Fiction, a one-time Los Angeles LGBTQ Center Summer Fellow in Performance, and have had performance exhibitions at The Broad, The Museum of Craft Contemporary, and SOMArts. Their seventh book, You Really Should Be More Considerate: Stories of Young Adulthood is anticipated at the end of 2026. They write for Voyage LA Magazine and cause radical trouble in their hometown of Los Angeles.