Meet George Sanchez-Tello | Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with George Sanchez-Tello and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi George, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
Discipline is key to the life I’ve made so far; whether it’s writing, reporting, research, editing, music, running, gardening or simply the duty of fatherhood. Show up, be present, put in the time, put in the work and not wait for inspiration is how you do the day to day. The day to day is how you create a career, not just a job.
I think of writing as craft akin to carpentry. The wood doesn’t carve itself. The story doesn’t write itself. You start to write. And return. And keep returning. And eventually something is done. And then you return to edit. At some point – usually deadline – the words have the semblance of a story, whether journalism, non-fiction, fiction, poetry or song. If you’re honest with your work, you’ll always see where you can improve and that becomes part of the next step or project.
As a writer, I also know the story is never my own work, but the work of many. That begins with sources who entrust me with their story. Then the many editors who review and improve my work. Then there are all those in production, including artists and photographers, that add additional depth to a story’s presentation. And now, the folks who publicize and promote my work. And eventually, the readers, listeners and viewers.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a writer. I’ve been a reporter and writer for more than 25 years. I currently write the California Uncovered column for Capital & Main, where I report on race, health and wealth disparity in California. I teach writing at California State University, Northridge – primarily in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, which is the nation’s largest and oldest department of its kind. Periodically, I assist with the legal defense of people facing the death penalty by researching and documenting the individual’s social history. For that work, I am called a mitigation specialist.
A few years ago, when I facilitated the Young Storytellers’ writing workshop at Sacred Heart High School in Lincoln Heights, someone told me community was my superpower. I think I’ve always tried to write about community because growing up I never saw myself in literature or media.
As a writer, I’ve been lucky. I think I’m part of that last generation of reporters that didn’t need a master’s degree in journalism to get into the newsroom. I may be part of the last generation of reporters that worked at places that also had their own printing press. I’ve worked with incredibly supportive editors, writers and photographers. I’ve been lucky that my editors have always encouraged me to be meticulous and brave in my reporting and also be vulnerable and true to myself in my writing.
I’ve learned that no matter what, people value truth and honesty, whether in an investigative project, a short story or a song. When I was a reporting in Salinas, CA, I also wrote and played in a punk band. I wrote about the things I saw. Someone at a show approached me to thank me for my lyrics and asked where I grew up. When I said L.A., they were surprised and told me they thought I was from Salas!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’d begin with coffee at Ground Up Coffee in Montebello, which is owned and operated by my cousin, Daniel Dupuy. He and Ryan created Ground Up with the mission to bring quality, affordable coffee to our neighborhoods instead of having to go elsewhere.
We’d probably hit up Tenampal in Boyle Heights, which is one of the best Chicano kitchens in Los Angeles. What I mean is the menu reflects an eastside native, Leonardo Crespo, who can cook traditional Mexican meals, alongside burgers, fried chicken and tater tots that live up to the nostalgia of school cafeterias and LA’s great neighborhood burger joints. I ate a huarache azul there after running the Hood Half Marathon.
Then swing by Homeboy Industries and Homegirl Café because it’s important to see how love, kindness and compassion is also a successful model for business.
For books and art, depending on where we are: Octavia’s Bookshelf in Altadena, Vroman’s in Pasadena, Espacio 1839 in Boyle Heights or Matilija in El Monte – local spots that really serve community need and interest. Nico is always doing innovative prints that are accessible as t-shirts as well at Espacio.
We’d check out whatever exhibit is at the boathouse at Plaza de La Raza in Lincoln Heights. Plaza is one of the oldest Chicana and Chicano art spaces in Los Angeles, with incredible programming and support that doesn’t get the praise, attention and support it deserves.
I take friends with little people to the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory for free children’s art programming, like Cartoons & Cereal on the last Sunday of each month. Lots of good people at the BHAC: shouts to Carmelita, Ms. Stephanie, Mr. Julian, Jynx, Omar and all the young artists and employees.
See if the South El Monte Art Posse is doing any literature readings, history lectures, art workshops or pick up soccer.
Go over to the Stone Street Garden in City Terrace, learn from Jose and Sara Ramirez and check out their latest art works as well.
During summertime, free shows at MacArthur Park’s Levitt Pavillion or Grand Performances downtown and see what’s happening at the World Stage in Leimert Park.
For Catholic friends, I’d invite them to attend the 9 a.m. mass with us at Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights.
And I’m always inviting folks to run with me, so we’d either run Ascot Hills in El Sereno, a route from City Terrace through East Los, Boyle Heights and maybe even all the way out to Little Tokyo and back.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family – the ancestors, my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, wife and daughters.
Individuals that I have to recognize for their mentorship – in journalism, Julie Reynolds, Claudia Meléndez-Salinas; in music, Francisco González, Scott McDonald, César Castro; in Chicanismo, Yolanda Broyles González, Francisco, Esme, Panchito, Omar Ramirez and Adolfo Guzman-Lopez; in teaching, Yarma Velázquez-Vargas, Jorge Garcia and Richard Corona; in community, Dolores Mission, CSUN, Meztli projects, Burning Pride Sangha and Loyola.
I also want to thank the trees that my wife and I have grown in our yard that give us shade and respite in an otherwise busy and loud neighborhood; my favorite place to sit is under the limbs of the Palestinian Sweet Lime in our backyard. I deeply miss the Palo Verde that used to stand in our front yard.
Punks, jaraneros, poets, emcees, old school reporters, gardeners, taqueros, librarians and bookshop owners; I owe them all.
And my students; I don’t think my students realize how much they teach and impact me.

Website: https://sanchez-tello.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgebsancheztello/

Image Credits
(images provided by Sanchez-Tello).