In terms of politics? I think these characters, their existence kind of feels like a revolutionary resistance in a way. Like [Fati's] Twitter has that "weaponized happiness" [phrase on it], and I feel like that's whatBrown Girls Then in her junior year, at just 16, Vanessa's talent for spoken word caught the attention of Matthew Cuban Hernandez, a top coach for Get Lit, a local group that partners with Kurnick and teachers from almost a hundred schools to promote spoken word poetry. Coaches help poets with their writing and stage presence, then bring them together every April (National Poetry Month) to compete in an intense contest called the Classic Slam. Vanessa soon joined the most elite team known as the Brave New Voices, and has now performed in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and is accepted as one of the six best youth poets in the city of Los Angeles. As such, we spoke to Vanessa about everything from the American Dream to bullying, and how she's managed to conquer both.Teen Vogue: for her first RDMA performance. This comes on the heels of her stunningdebut performance at the iHeartRadio Music AwardsShe'll surely be singing "Make Me (Cry)."ContentView Iframe URL It's no secret that pop culture has long been dominated bywhite, cis, and straight peopleOnly recently has a new generation ofdiverse, critically-acclaimed narrativespaved the way for an industry that isvery