Jesse James Johnson is a poet and long-time resident of the Tenderloin. Originally from Texas, he is a product of the Chicano/a Arts Renaissance Movement and heir to a literary tradition that regards poetry as a force for social transformation. He has facilitated creative writing workshops at several sites and for special populations in the Tenderloin including Hospitality House and the SF Drug Users Union. He is twice a Hidden Gems awardee of the Wildflower Institute. A book of his poems, Mine is a Community of Misfits and Outlaws, is scheduled for publication this Fall.