More than two decades ago, a poet named Martín Espada radically shifted the trajectory of my life when he visited my high school and read from his poetry collection, Imagine the Angels of Bread.
His words broke through the armor and scars of an angry, lost 17 year-old kid and laid bare the transcendent possibilities of a poem.
Perhaps most profound about what Martín Espada’s poetry taught my rabble-rousing younger self was how, as Ocean Vuong stated so beautifully last night (about the power of writing): “to disobey meaningfully, to be disobedient in order to preserve the self.”
Two weeks from today, I will be this year’s Visiting Poet at that high school I attended, Moses Brown School—like Martín Espada was all those years ago—and, hopefully, breaking through to another 17 year-old kid with his head down in the crowd who thinks he’s just a basketball player and not the artist who hides himself in pages and pages of poems he promises he’ll never show to anyone.
[PS: If you’re near Providence, RI & want to attend the event on Friday, April 29th, it’s free & open to the public: https://www.mosesbrown.org/spring-2022-visiting-poet/]
If you watch one thing today, let it be #AreYouListening The Healing of Us, a candid conversation about mental wellness, stigmas surrounding mental health, & the power of therapy. Such a joy to be in conversation with Sasha Merci and @josierosario for Pa’lante! HBO Max.
After a mentally and emotionally tough past week, this is particularly resonant for me.
What does mental health mean to you? What does it look like to really heal?
#AreYouListening is content a series created by @word.agency and directed by @zoiladarton inspired by the iconic show Habla on @HBOMax.
You can watch my teaser HERE
Catch the full conversation here: bit.ly/3pIf4nP
#HBOPartner #PalanteHBOMax
I was recently commissioned to write an original poem highlighting the power of cell research.
This was my first time using poetry in collaboration with science.
The piece I wrote, “Saving our Cells,” spotlights the work of an incredible scientist—Dr. Heather Beasley—whose research studies why Black and Latina women have worse outcomes when diagnosed with breast cancer.
My mom is a survivor, so this one cuts very close to the bone.
You can watch it here (just scroll down for “Saving our Cells”): https://resource.thermofisher.com/page/gibcoloveyourcells/
