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# Letting go of the past
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/letting-go-of-the-past/
- Published: 2004-05-01T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:57:04.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

An award-winning playwright is putting her talents to use for a local nonprofit. Playwright and master trainer Akuyoe Graham will launch a creative writing workshop series on behalf of the Spirit Awakening Foundation at 5601 W. Slauson Blvd., #237, in Culver City.

Graham is offering the workshop as a fundraiser for SAF, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 that is rooted in the healing power of discovering one’s true identity.

The organization has helped close to 1,300 at-risk youth, including some from Santa Monica High School, in schools, juvenile camps and halls, and crime-ridden areas in Los Angeles to release negative expectations and find a higher purpose.

The workshop is based on “Spirit Awakening,” Graham’s acclaimed play about the spiritual journey that released her from the chains of the past, including experiences with sexual abuse and racism as an African immigrant in London and New York.

The SAF writing-life-skills program evolved as she witnessed first-hand even the most hardened offenders transform when they rewrote their story in the voice of productive, positive citizens instead of victims or burdens to society.

Graham was inspired to create and lead the 12-hour workshop after she received hundreds of letters and calls from people who said her play gave them the courage to let go of the conflicts and pain that come from sublimating one’s true identity.

The workshop is May 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and May 16 from noon to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $350 per person. For information, contact Susan at (310) 338- 0529 or

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 1, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050104.pdf?ref=smdp.com)