Changing the Writing Game: the Poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo
As a black Latina woman, it is hard for me to find stories and characters about my background. It is easy to highlight that most books and the literary space are still mainly occupied by white people. In this way, the majority of stories are about the same type of questions. However, the poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo looks like a possible new path.
Elizabeth was an eighth-grade English teacher before being a writer. Having a Dominican family and growing in a Latin community, she always was close to her heritage, even living in the US. The first time she thought about writing was to create stories for her students.
From her work with spoken word to her books, it is not hard to see the empowering effect the poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo creates. She establishes new writing possibilities for black Latina women, inspiring a new generation of poets.
Speak from your heart
"When I began thinking of writing a novel, it made sense to me to want to write for young people, because it felt like there were so few Afro Latinas writing about stories that felt honest and truthful, but also that contained a lot of love and tenderness for other Afro Latinas, for black kids, for Latinx kids.’” Elizabeth Acevedo
It is very inspirational to see how much Acevedo cares about the young ones. The next generation is the future. She knows that she is writing for the future. All of her books, The Poet X; With The Fire on High and Clap When You Land, are for the YA public, and only With The Fire on High is prose. She makes a clear statement: not to see poetry only as an adult subject.
There is a direct connection between her work and the life of young ones. Elizabeth is not afraid to talk about questions related to teenage living that maybe are not easy to deal with, like conflicts with parents or pregnancy. Also adding to this the difficulty to be a black and Latino person in the world.
The poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo connects with so many because she speaks not only about what she lived. She also creates a relationship with her public.
Using the potential of poetry to engage power, Acevedo delivers very relatable characters that suffer the same pain as her readers and overcome those problems. She shows the young ones the possibility to have hope.
Image from Instagram
Creating a new path
Racism is a struggle that the black community needs to face every day. With movements like Black Lives Matter, we are beginning to get a more open conversation about the subject and the barriers we face.
The writing field, like all others, has many problems to fix not only with the black community but with women, LGBT, Asian and other minorities. It is hard for us to not only don't see ourselves in the characters but also don't see others like us creating the stories.
Elizabeth follows the path of other black women poets like Maya Angelou and Audre Lorde. Writing about the experiences of black women in a particular way, she takes distance from stereotyped constructions, presenting unique characters.
In Acevedo's words, she knows that her poetry is directed to a specific audience. However, she also knew that she had readers, as they were the people living in her neighborhood. In this way, she always had that confidence, even with the critics, that someone would appreciate her stories.
The poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo inspires me to conceive a work that extends me. As she opens a new path to black Latino writers, her poetry presents new possibilities creatively. With her all verses novel, she reveals fresh forms to tell stories besides prose and how to do that with excellence.
As I see poetry as a way of escape and retreat, Elizabeth's words show me that it is vital to let our vulnerability be loud and clear in our works.
Writing to black Latino kids, she builds a work that will remain in the community for a long time and inspire these kids to want different things from what others told them to be.
Being a black Latina woman, the work Acevedo creates makes me feel seen and heard. Capturing our culture and traditions, she shows that I matter, and this should be celebrated.
As the world brings new challenges every day, Elizabeth's writing is one of many lights to remember we will overcome those challenges. We will have the courage to speak, to put our stories to the public view, and we will be heard.
