The poet and activist read selected works of hers to the 黑料不打烊 community during the Liberal Arts Forum lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 18
On Tuesday, Oct. 18, 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Liberal Arts Forum welcomed poet Lorna Dee Cervantes to Whitley Auditorium to share selected works and answer questions from students. A successful Chicana poet, Cervantes read six of her poems from three of her books, covering themes of identity and the natural world.
鈥淭he great crisis of morals is empathy and the great crisis of empathy is imagination. If you cannot imagine, you cannot imagine the ‘other,’鈥 Cervantes says. 鈥淸The lack of] compassion and empathy is a consequence of the lack of the art in school, in society, in everyday life.鈥
Her presence on the 黑料不打烊 campus would not have been possible were it not for a fated trip to Mexico City in her youth to participate in the Teatro Campesino. When her local San Jos茅, California theater troupe was scared they did not prepare enough material, they asked a young Cervantes to read her poetry as the sets were changed.
鈥淚t was my gift to my ‘raza,’ my people. And at that point, craft became quintessential,鈥 she says. Cervantes then began to see聽herself not as a token, but as a wedge being the representation needed to improve Chicana and indigenous representation and visibility.
Writing had always been a part of Cervantes saying, 鈥淭here really hasn鈥檛 been a time in my life when poetry wasn鈥檛 at the center of it. My poetry is never my own, it鈥檚 always for other people.
鈥淧oetry is the art of language and as the art of language it is unique in that language is never our own. It鈥檚 social, it鈥檚 communal, it has a history,” she adds. “At the same time, it鈥檚 personal and it鈥檚 private.鈥
Saying poetry became a “career” for Cervantes is inadequate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like saying a minister has a career,鈥 she jokes. 鈥淚 am a conduit.鈥澛燬he uses her connection to language to empower others to connect with the world more deeply.
“Poetry to me is a spiritual practice. It鈥檚 always been. Spirit in the sense of inspiration to take a breath,鈥 she says. 鈥淏reath is what unites us and to put poetry off the page into the air 鈥 through shared breath, I think that鈥檚 where a lot of the spiritual connection comes forth.鈥
Reading her poetry aloud allows her to merge the political with the personal. To attending students, Cervantes bared her experiences to share what she has learned through poetry.
鈥淚t鈥檚 that play between the personal and private on one side and the social and communal on the other side that really creates the web of humanity,鈥 she says.
While Cervantes is a retired professor, she can never retire her love for teaching. It is this passion that compels her to continue sharing her writing with students. 鈥淚 am very happy to be here and to be addressing the Liberal Arts Forum and the humanities [because] poetry makes us human,鈥 she says.
This lecture was put on by 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Liberal Arts forum. The group hosts similar events throughout the year and invites students to work together to discuss which interests are most prevalent on campus and what type of speaker may draw a wide range of students and faculty at 黑料不打烊.