From Trauma to Transformation Project Summary

Tia Chucha's "From Trauma to Transformation" (T2T) goal is to help bring change to the national dialogue on prisoners and prisons. We act to amplify the voice, expression, and presentation to the experiences lived by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men and women in the Los Angeles area through writing, poetry, spoken word, oral histories, theater and memoir.  The narrative that “people can’t change” or “once a criminal, always a criminal” must transform to a compassionate narrative that says through the arts - words, story , or song - our community can re-imagine, renew, and regenerate a new life filled with character, decency, and personal authority. Tia Chucha’s T2T program is about providing a space to honor the mostly underappreciated initiatory fire of highly marginalized, and largely de-humanized people behind bars with their true stories of struggle toward redemption, from troubles to triumphs. With this intention in mind, we provide art programs for currently and formerly incarcerated adults and youth in multiple settings, as well as community programs. Since 2018, Tia Chucha’s T2T team’s efforts have been inspired by the guidance of Luis J. Rodriguez. The project launched thanks to the support of the Arts for Justice Fund. For any questions, please contact T2T's Project Coordinator at [email protected].