Today we’d like to introduce you to Alejandra Ramos Gomez.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Art was my outlet since I was a young girl. I am originally from Juarez, Mexico, a border city with El Paso, Texas. It was very interesting to grow up on the border because you feel as if you are from here but you are also from there. I grew up influenced by both American and Mexican cultures but raised by a Mexican mother and speaking Spanish as my mother tongue.
I started training as a dancer when I was 5 years old but it was not until I was 9 that I discovered my love for spoken word poetry. My hometown is a place known for its violence and drug wars. As a young girl, I was frustrated because I wanted to do something to support my city, and that is where Spoken word came in to save me. I have been writing poetry and performing for more than 15 years but it was not until I came to Dallas four years that I realized how important my art was. During my first year in Dallas, I was too focused on my profession, education and I did not create art.
I came to Dallas to join the organization Teach for America and becoming a teacher was a real challenge. My first-year teaching I was a bilingual PreK teacher and it was a smooth year, but on my second year, I was moved to a fourth-grade classroom (and that is where everything changed). My fourth-grade students had a lot of social-emotional issues and I struggled to connect with them. Most of my students were African American and had never been taught by a Hispanic teacher.
I started having sharing circles with my students and realized that they needed an outlet. Then I thought about bringing spoken word into the classroom, and it was a success! During two years, I worked with the same group of students and organized the first ever school’s bilingual open mic in partnership with The Meet Shop Oak Cliff and Semillitas, a local NGO. The result was beautiful.
After that, I joined several poetry groups in Dallas, including Letra y Musica Dallas, Lost Poets, Mad Swirl, and Voces Writers. I am grateful to have been able to publish in three different anthologies in Mexico, multiple articles in a Chilean online magazine, and most recently my first publication in the US through the Oak Cliff Coalition for the Arts.
Please tell us about your art.
I am a writer and a spoken word poet. I am also a dancer and an overall performer. I write short stories, essays, and poems. I write in Spanish, English, and Zapotec (indigenous language) and many times my poems are bilingual (I combine my mother tongues).
I write to survive. Being an immigrant is difficult, I often feel like I don’t fit in, but when I do my art nothing matters. I write because I want to share my culture and my view on life, I want to inspire others (especially Latina immigrants) to open up about their experiences and challenges.
I write about social issues, including educational inequity, human trafficking, and feminism. Being from a city where we had up to 20 people killed per day taught me that it is important to speak up, regardless of your age and gender.
I write poetry because I want my readers to know that poetry is accessible to all, poetry can be written by any person regardless of their age or gender.
My artwork is unique and real because I write in the same way I think. I write in several languages because that is what happens in my head. I am a linguist and I have always been fascinated by languages, but when I moved to Dallas I realized many of my students were embarrassed to speak their mother tongue. I write in Spanish because I want children to know that being multilingual is a beautiful thing and encourage them to be proud of where they come from.
My art is influenced by the places I have traveled to. I love to travel and I have been to 15 countries so far, I have also had the opportunity to live in Nice, France (8 months), Edmonton, Canada (6 months), and Buenos Argentina (3 months).
As a dancer and actress, I am part of Teatro Flor Candela Theatre Company (a company dedicated to producing art in Spanish). When I dance I am a different person, I dance with my soul and I get rid of expectations. I dance to inspire others to dance out of their comfort zone.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
Coming from a country where artists are often underestimated, I think living in Dallas opens a world of opportunities for us.
It has become harder in the sense that we have to write about more controversial topics, but I think this has also encouraged most of us to keep doing what we do.
Our cities need more public spaces where people can build a community around art. I recently became co-host of Meet Me with Curiosity (a partnership with Klyde Warren Park). Meet Me with Curiosity is a literary revolution supported by educators and authors to promote literacy in our city and make it accessible to all people (regardless of their gender, language, place of origin, age). We want to strengthen our community. We will host a poetry feature & open mic event every first Saturday of the month 5:00-7: 30 pm.
I think it is also very important for artists to find support system through other artists, for example creating more art groups and providing them with outlets and spaces to thrive.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can follow me on Instagram @aramosgomez or my blog (www.alejandraramosgomez.com)
People can support my work by sharing poetry and taking the time to ask me about my poems, I want my readers to connect with my writing and feel comfortable to reach out to me to learn more about what caused me to write.
Voces Writers of OCCA (Oak Cliff Coalition for the Arts). (January 2018) Chapter in book ‘’Voces Writers Chapbook”.
Rotary International Juarez Writers. (March 2017) Chapter in book “Pasos en el Norte”.
I was also recently recognized as a 2018 Millennial To Watch by Dallas Weekly through GoKnow Media.
I am also a TEDxSpeaker (I presented a TEDxKids @ SMU last November): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doJvcOFBzYQ&t=190s
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alejandraramosgomez.com/
- Email: aramosgomez92@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aramosgomez/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naashh
Image Credit: Fernando Trueba
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
