The Hispanic Studies Department concluded Hispanic Heritage Month on Oct. 16 by inviting college students, high schoolers and poets to share their poetry and experiences.
The event lasted all day and was organized by the Director of the Ph.D. Program in Creative Writing in Spanish Cristina Rivera Garza and her team.
The goal for this event was to build community among Hispanic poets and students in Houston by performing their spoken and written art, said Chair of the Hispanic Studies Department Guillermo De Los Reyes.
“It is very important for us that our youth from high schools in the greater Houston area, in Spanish but also in English who are interested in Hispanic cultures, are doing a dialogue with other cultures to come together and learn more about what we do here at UH,” De Los Reyes said.
The event began with a ceremony where high school students across the Houston Independent School District showcased their poems.
The students submitted their poems months in advance. Then, doctoral students from the Hispanic Studies program selected 61 students to be published in the event’s anthology.
The poems in the anthology primarily focused on themes of adolescent experiences and the challenges of existing between two cultures and societies.
During the ceremony, two members of the rap group The Neighborhood Kids gave a tutorial on how to compose and write music, specifically hip-hop music.
Hispanic students from other universities were also invited to share their poetry.
English and sociology sophomore at the University of Texas Austin Cristina Perez Ruiz was invited to perform her spoken word piece, titled “Comprar el Viento” (To Buy the Wind). She said the goal of the piece was to bring awareness to the gentrification of her home country, Puerto Rico, and how that displaces many of its residents.
“The Puerto Rican and U.S government have set up a system in which Puerto Rico has become unlivable for Puerto Rican residents, but it is a perfect place for rich American foreigners to come in and displace all of us,” Perez Ruiz said. “So it’s me not only educating people about that, but it’s also fighting back and letting the audience know that this land is ours, and we can’t be removed from it that easily.”
Hispanic poets shared their pieces in the afternoon. Distinguished professor Roberto Tejada and sound artist Anthony Almendárez performed a musical poem where Tejada read his poem accompanied by Almendárez’s playing of the trumpet.
“It’s really cool. I just saw them play a trumpet in a different style and I heard some poetry,” said political science sophomore Amanda Ohunyon. “It felt like I was watching a TV show. It was just very immersive and amazing.”
Students shared that this event made them feel less alone and motivated them to socialize.
“It is very easy to feel isolated. It’s very easy to feel like you can’t achieve certain things because there’s not other people that are from where you’re from in those settings achieving the things,” Perez Ruiz said. “So when you come here, it makes you feel like you’re not alone and it motivates you to continue to fight for your own community as well as others.”
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