By Danielle Bettendorf
Living & Arts Editor
Latino poet Martin Espada performed on Nov. 1 in Degenstein Center Theater as a part of the Seavey Reading Series.
Espada opened with a poem that was included in this year’s Common Reading.
Espada emphasized the theme of Puerto Rico in his reading, especially in his first and last poems.
“If there ever was a place in the world that represents resilience, it is Puerto Rico today,” Espada said. “Far from being a place where people are merely victims, far from being a place where people simply make do without electricity because they don’t deserve it, it’s a place where people have struggled and not only survived, but flourished over the centuries.”
Espada’s first poem, titled, “En la Calle San Sebastian,” dealt with the music of Puerto Rico, especially regarding West African slaves. The poem repeats the title every other line in between descriptive images of the street.
Espada continued with poems about Alzheimer’s in his family and cockroaches in his residence before going into his background.
While Espada is currently deep into his poetry career, it is not the only job he has held.
“I also, for many years, lived a double life,” Espada said. “I worked as a poet lawyer: that sounds like a creature out of Greek mythology.”
“I was a supervisor for … a legal servicing program for low-income Spanish-speaking tenants,” Espada explained.
Espada emphasized the racism in his time, saying, “The rest of the population made it very clear that they did not want us there.”
“This ferocious backlash against immigrants today is nothing new,” Espada continued. “I remember it then in the late 80s and early 90s very, very well.”
Espada’s background set the stage for his next poem, “Jumping Off the Mystic Tobin Bridge.”
The poem references Chuck Stuart, a white man who killed his wife in the 80s but falsely accused a black man as the assailant.
It tackles the racism experienced being Latino and the stereotypes that are imposed on Hispanic and Latino people by society.
“I enjoyed [the reading], and being Hispanic, it really touched my heart,” first-year Jordan Roach said. “I felt that he hit a lot of points on immigration and how it’s being viewed by the American eye, thanks to you-know-who.”
Espada continued to speak on the migrant caravan on its way to the border and the racism perpetuated by Donald Trump during his presidency.
“When it came to Mexican immigrants crossing the border and how … they were criminals and rapists,” Espada explained, “It wasn’t too long after that in August of 2015 that two brothers committed the first hate crime in the name of Donald Trump.”
Espada then spoke about the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting before reading “Not for Him the Fiery Lake of the False Prophet,” which details the racism encouraged by the current administration.
Espada continued emphasizing political themes in “Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World,” before which he spoke on gun violence, specifically at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
“This is where it will begin to end,” Espada said. “This is where we will articulate the vision of the world without gun violence … It wasn’t the first time that human beings have articulated this vision.”
Attendees noted the passion Espada espoused when speaking on certain topics.
“I loved how his body movements and his voice changed when he was presenting the poetry at one point, because of how intense he was getting with the Sandy Hook shooting,” first-year Eliza McDonough said. “It actually made be cry.”
Towards the end of his reading, Espada confessed, “I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a young person growing up in this society surrounded by so much hate.”
“I do believe that if we’re going to write political poems addressing that hate you also have to write poems of love,” Espada continued. “We have to write love poems.”