Palabras at Latinx with Plants (Jan 2025 edition)

Come enjoy an afternoon with Palabras Literary Salon, a BIPOC-centered literary community event co-hosted with Latinx with Plants, in the open air greenhouse in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.

Our January 2025 edition of Palabras Literary Salon features author Cassandra Lane and the theme “retreat.” From Cassandra: Exploring the collective side of retreat: how stepping back from certain platforms is a way of stepping toward each other, creating a foundation from which artists and writers can rebuild stronger, more grounded networks. It’s a quiet but powerful rebellion—a retreat with the intention to heal, strengthen, and protect our artistic integrity and community. An empowering act for those feeling frustrated or disenfranchised by the social and political landscape, offering a vision of retreat that’s hopeful, intentional, and resilient.

Invited guest readers include Pallavi Dhawan, Benin Lemus, Jose Rios, Henry Medina, Ramy El-Etreby, James Evert Jones, and more to be announced.

• This event is volunteer-run and grassroots-driven.
• Please kindly help us with your early RSVP here to attend and join in the facilitated discussion. Previous events have sold out so please join the waitlist if the RSVPs are full - people do cancel! We are asking for RSVPs for priority entry due to limited capacity in the back greenhouse patio.
• Everyone is welcome. Drop-ins are welcome.
• Your donations help us get a headcount and pay for chair rentals and reception for this outdoor event. If you would like to bring cash donation to our event or send other payment, we gladly appreciate your support. *If you're challenged with limited funds and want to attend, please RSVP and join us.
• Please arrive by 1:45pm as we would like to start at 2pm and finish by 3:30pm to have time for community conversation and reception.
• Please budget for time to get your street parking in the neighborhood.
• Please message us if you would like to reserve seating for disabilities or other needs. There is a small ramp to get to the patio.
• Books are for sale after the event. Please support our authors.

We are glad to have you celebrate with us on Sunday, January 12th at 2pm.

>>> If the "Donate at the Event" tix are sold out, please select the other tix and you can donate as little as $1 to get a tix. This mechanism was created to limit the number of no-shows and so we can get an accurate number for our chair rentals.

More about Palabras Literary Salon

With a mission to create intercultural community building, Palabras is a salon inspired by our elders of civil rights consciousness raising and Maya Angelou's salons in the Harlem Renaissance. Our facilitator, Jen Cheng, brings home-cooking and light snacks to the event as we build bridges by breaking bread together. We sit in a non-heirarchical circle, without a stage. This is not an open-mic. Talk-story and witnessing are ways we can build better understanding of our humanity. More about Palabras on Jen's website: www.jencvoice.com/palabras

More about our featured writer

Cassandra Lane is the author of the memoir We Are Bridges (Feminist Press) and also the editor in chief of magazine. More about Cassandra's full bio on her website.

Community and Healing Through Plants

Latinx with Plants is a woman of color owned business in Boyle Heights whose focus is to celebrate and uplift people of color in the plant world. While the shop began with an Instagram account that was at first dedicated to sharing fun memes, plant inspo, and plant parent goals, our community grew into something we never could have imagined. Our physical shop has been bouncing around Cesar Chavez Avenue for a couple of years, and in June of 2022, we relocated to our largest location yet. We hope that through plant parenthood, people will be able to deepen their connection with nature and the Earth, and tune into the healing that caring for plants can offer us. @latinxwithplants

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Graphic: @JenCvoice

Group photo is from July 2024 edition of Palabras Literary Salon . Cassandra's photo is from her website. Andi's photo is from the Latinx with Plants website.

Host or Publisher Jen Cheng