A Diva is a Female Version of a Hustler

What is the definition of a Diva?











A lot of people have their own opinion on the characteristics of a DIVA and who they think is a DIVA in the music industry. Luminato collaborated with Regent Park Focus and created a writing workshop for the youth. In the beginning it was both boys and girls who attended the writing group. However, the girls seemed more interested in the whole DIVA topic than the boys. Therefore, it was a writing workshop for young girls. The ladies met up every Tuesday as the Luminato crew explored the music world as they incorporated writing schemes.
Special guests were also part of the workshops.

Jody Rosen is the music critic for Rolling Stone Magazine and the online magazine Slate. His articles on popular music have also appeared in The New York Times. Another special facilitator was Canadian writer Carl Wilson, who is the culture editor at the Globe and Mail, and the author of 'Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste', a book about pop culture and Celine Dion. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times and Slate. Other guest speakers included creative people from the Luminato production including the main Diva leader, Jessica Caplan, who told us all about the hard work and planning that goes into putting a festival together.

We also watched different pop videos from various artists and than had a critical discussion on the messages the music video displayed. There were many debates and discussion as we each critiqued the videos. Our goal was to each write an article on a POP DIVA which will be published in the ‘Catch Da Flava’ magazine. Weeks were spent brainstorming who they wanted to write about. The girls researched and listened to various ‘pop diva’ music on the lap tops Regent Park Focus provided. We were also given examples of previously written articles. This helped a lot because we were able to see the different styles and formats of different writers and journalists. Each week the group of young ladies developed creativity and skills as writers.After the girls finished their draft, we helped edit each others work. We all ended up writing great articles. I wrote about a feature on Canadian r&b and soul Diva, Jully Black. Other girls wrote about, Tamil and British Diva, M.I.A, Bollywood music and crazy Lady Gaga.One of the girls even wrote about a Canadian male Pop Diva phenomenon, Justin Bieber.

The Luminato writing workshop brought all of us Divas closer together. We are going to continue the workshop with the knowledge and skills we learned as a group. I informed the young ladies that writing is an essential trait to have. As you keep writing, your skills will develop and you will be able to write professionally. Perhaps, you might want to write for your school newspaper, start a blog, write for a magazine, write a great resume to get you a job or even become an author of a best-selling novel. In addition, the Luminato writing group also explored the Luminato website and got of sense of how everything comes together for the Luminato Festival. Moreover, we all plan on having a girl night as we hit up the Luminato Festival beginning June 11.

We will have the opportunity to watch the Canadian Diva talents and even go backstage. It will be a very eventful week because we get to watch cultural performances, listen to great talents and experience Canadian music. In addition, as a team we are all putting together a discussion panel for Luminato. This is going to be a unique experience because everyone is going to support each other and develop a great discussion music forum. The young Divas have together developed a definition for the meaning DIVA. A Diva is someone who is strong, confident, creative, powerful, driven and talented.

If you are a writer or interested in writing and having your work published, make sure to join the writing and magazine group at Regent Park Focus for an opportunity to be part of a great learning experience. For further information contact Sarah at Regent Park Focus.

~♥*Michele Peter*♥~

Youth Worker and Summer Program Coordinator.