Finding a voice with your voice: They show out on stage to show who they are.
It’s part of an annual, free, week-long camp by the group originally called “Chicas Rockeras," now known as Chicxs Rockerxs.
“We're also trying to serve trans youth, non-binary youth. And for it to just be a space that all these youth feel comfortable in and feel that there's kind of like no bounds or labels to the things that they want to express,” Priscilla Hernandez, Chicxs Rockerxs' organizer, instructor and bassist, said.
Hernandez said the group focuses on creating a welcoming space to teach campers new instruments, the power of their voice, and what they say has always been part of Southeast Los Angeles communities
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
"I think we have this idea of punk being kind of like British, white men dominated. But I think that a lot of the great punk pioneers are women, trans women and non-binary people,” she said.
“It's not only music. It's also like a form of expression that is talking about political and racial and just all these issues that are going on right now,” Hernandez added.
The group’s decade of work is now on display at the city of South Gate Museum and Art Gallery.
“Seeing the wall of all of the students, I guess you could say campers, rockers that they uplift and give them so much knowledge. It's amazing to see all of them together,” Jennifer Mejia, Cultural Arts Coordinator for the city of South Gate, said.
For Miles Recio, the exhibit is a trip down memory lane. The former camper is now an organizer and instructor.
"I was going through like my own exploration of my gender, and camp was really just freeing in a way that let me just be myself around people who have never met me, so I could just be anyone who kind of wanted,” Recio said.
And the relationships created at the camp, like the music, are no one-hit wonders.
"I'm actually also in a band with people from camp as well,” Recio said.
The group also teaches self-defense, fashion and how to start thinking about college. It will host their next camp in the summer of 2025.
The exhibit for Chicxs Rockerxs will be on display through Dec. 3, 2024.
Museum hours are Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. It is located at 8680 California Ave., South Gate, CA 90280.
Mejia explains private viewings are available by reaching out to her at jmejia@sogate.org
