8-year-old Genesis Ulloa will be youngest San Francisco Carnaval grand marshal
SAN FRANCISCO -- An 8-year-old San Francisco poet is sharing her love of her culture through her work and will be featured as a Grand Marshal in this year's Carnaval parade.
Genesis Ulloa is an 8-year-old girl who is wise beyond her years and eager to share her passion with others, that passion, writing poetry. Her work is mostly in Spanish and is filled with names and stories about notable figures, history and about the love of her culture, something she holds near and dear to her heart.
"Sometimes I feel like I only belong over here where I was born, but my parents always tell me that I am from Honduras, too." Genesis said. "It doesn't matter if I was born here because I have the blood of them, and they have the blood of Honduras."
Her love of writing started when her mom gave her a book of poetry so she could become a better reader.
"She told me that it would bring me more benefits in life, and it would improve my learning," Genesis said.
Her mom also gave her a notebook so they could work on poems together. Genesis says her mom is her biggest inspiration,
"That's where my love of poetry started, because she inspired me." she said.
Her parents came to the United States about 15 years ago from Honduras and are grateful the community has embraced her love of poetry. Speaking through an interpreter, they expressed how proud they are of their daughter, and they hope to one day return to Honduras to inspire other children.
Genesis, who was born in San Francisco, has had the opportunity to perform her work around the city, including at City Hall and will also be featured as one of the Grand Marshals in the upcoming Carnaval parade.
"I recited a poem at City Hall, and I am going to wear the exact same dress, it's colorful and it represents everything I like."
The dress is a Latin-inspired dress, covered with bright red, purple and pink flowers. As for her future, she hopes to continue her education.
"The number one thing I want to keep doing is still studying, because studying is the most important thing, and keep writing and when I get older, I can write more poems but in English"
Either way, her words are beautiful in any language.