About Me
"For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives." Audre Lorde
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. -Nelson Mandela
I am the one who doesn't follow directions
I am the one who will sleep when Im dead, hurry up. wait. stop. go.
I am smoggy busy city, overgown greenery
small beach town humidity, slow and seductive
make your straight hair curly
I am a suburban nightmare
nothing trimmed about my lawn
nothing white about my fences.
I am an unrecognized genius
crazy on the verge of brilliance
melancholy lazy day dreamer
work through the night go-getter
hermit inappropriate behavior
and temporary center of attention getter
I am your confidant
I don't tell cause I dont know any better
I am a private anarchist
the teacher who'd rather be a student
but can do better than that guarded liberal professor
I am la niña you want to coddle
misdirected yet collected
an insurgent looking for a better battle.
I am walls coming down while borders go back up.
I am frijoles negros y platanos dont forget la crema
I am a pitchfork crossroads
looking for new years days
full of fresh beginnings.
Maya is a Central American poet-performer, filmmaker, and activist-scholar. A two-spirited humble diva, this renaissance woman has enjoyed organizing events and showcasing artists who investigate and celebrate the intersection of politics, media and art over the past ten years.
She has presented her academic work, performed poetry and theater, as well as given workshops in writing, performance and video production on both coasts and sevaral wonderful places in between.
She is a founding member of Las Manas and has performed as a part of Epicentro Poets, La Peña Popular Theater Ensemble,End-Dependence, and Rainbow Theater in such places as pupuserias, cafes, theaters and ivory towers.
Some of the places she's performed are UC Berkeley, La Peña Cultural Center, Galeria de la Raza, Making Changes Freedom School, SFSU, SJSU, CSUMB, CSULB, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UCLA, IMIX Bookstore, Espresso Mi Cultura, East LA Community College, Teatro Campesino, Mama’s Hot Tamales, Cornell University, Columbia University, Mills College, University of Massachusettes, University of Maryland, Taller Puerto-Riqueño, Luna-Sol Café, CASA 0101, Modern Times, Highways Performance Space, some conferences and that one time at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe open mic.
She has a BA in Latin American and Latino Studies from UCSC, and a Masters in Communications, Radio and Television at SFSU but has learned the most roaming the streets with her students and borrowed cameras teaching video production& media justice. As well as directing ’MADE IN BRAZIL: Dreams at Work, she directed THE LAST WORD about Las Manas, a fierce women of color spoken word crew, and she also associate produced the award winning documentary Reading Between the Rhymes, about the use of hip hop in education. Recently she produced, shot and edited the videos for the live theater show Amor Cubano: In a bottle, a tube and a small packet.
Currently Maya is editing a collection of U.S. central american poetry and is working on her MFA at Mills College.
**Maya is availible for performances, lectures and workshops. Please contact by email: mediamuxerista AT yahoo DOT com for more information.**
