How social media paved the road to poetry for these Latina creatives
Over the decade it took Silver Lake author Yesika Salgado to achieve social media popularity with her writing, the jacaranda trees outside her neighborhood haunt Café Tropical have been witness to the triumphs and challenges that made her the poet she is today. Dropping out of high school, working as a cashier at CVS and falling in and out of love inspired Salgado to write poems that she would share on Instagram, where she has amassed over 170,000 followers. “Up until 2016, I had to work service jobs,” said Salgado, 41. “I worked as a cashier in a parking garage for like 10 years. I knew what it was like to be on your lunch break, eating your life, being tired, your feet sore, and scrolling on your phone just looking for something. I wanted my work to be something that would find those people in the most accessible place: on their phones.” In doing so, Salgado joined a growing community of poets on social media — helping revive an art form which is being …
