>>> THE MASSACHUSETTS POETRY FESTIVAL WAS HELD LAST WEEK AND
AMONG THE HEADLINERS WAS FORMER BOSTON TENANT LAWYER TURNED
ACCLAIMED POET MARTIN ESPADA. A RESIDENT OF WESTERN MASS AND A
PROFESSOR AT YOU MASS AMHERST HE'S PUBLISHED OVER 20 BOOKS.
HIS RECENT COLLECTION IS "FLOATERS" AND INCLUDES POETS
ABOUT SONGS OF LOVE AS WELL AS TACKLING THE DIFFICULT ISSUE OF
RACE AND PROTEST. I SPOKE WITH ESPADA RECENTLY TO
LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS WORK AND THE BOOK.
>> I HAD FOR A LONG TIME LIVED THIS DOUBLE LIFE AS POET LAWYER.
POET ALWAYS CAME FIRST, BY THE WAY.
AND I NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A POSITION OPEN IN THE ENGLISH
DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST.
AND I BEGAN TEACHING AT UMASS AMHERST IN THE FALL OF 1993, AND
I HAVE BEEN THERE EVER SINCE. NOW, DOES MY LIFE AS A LEGAL
SERVICES LAWYER INFLUENCE MY WORK AS A POET?
ABSOLUTELY. THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IS
ADVOCACY. ADVOCACY, SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF
OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
I DID THAT AS A LAWYER IN CHELSEA DISTRICT COURT WITH MY
CLIENTS, WHO CAME FROM PUERTO RICO OR THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
OR GUATEMALA. AND I DO IT AS A POET.
AND I AM DOING IT WITH THIS NEW BOOK CALLED "FLOATERS."
>> YOU HAVE PUBLISHED MORE THAN 20 BOOKS AS A POET, EDITOR,
ESSAYIST, TRANSLATOR AND AS YOU MENTIONED YOUR CURRENT
POPULATION IS CALLED "FLOATERS." WHAT IS THE MEANINGS BEHIND THE
TITLE? >> THE TITLE COMES FROM A TERM
"USED BY CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE BORDER PATROL TO DESCRIBE THOSE
WHO DROWN CROSSING OVER. THE
BORDER. IN PARTICULAR THE TITLEM
DEALS WITH A FATHER AND DAUGHTER.
THEY DROWNED IN THIS SPARKED OUTRAGE AND GRIEF BUT IT ALSO
SPARKED TRUTHERRISM. AND THERE WAS A POST, AN
ANONYMOUS POST ON THE PAGE OF THE 1015 BORDER PROTOCOL
ALLEGING THAT THE PHOTO WAS A FAKE.
TRUTHERISM. SOME POEMS BEGIN AS AN ARGUMENT.
THIS POEM BEGAN WITH AN ARGUMENT BOTH WITH THAT FACEBOOK POST
REALLYING THAT THIS PHILADELPHIA WAS A FAKE AND AN ARGUMENT WITH
THE SURE, THE WORD "FLOATERS." POETS, OF COURSE, HAVE TO BE
ATTUNED TO LANGUAGE AND ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS ABUSED IN
THE SERVICE OF POWER. >> NOW, IN A REVIEW OF FLOATERS
BY THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW IT SAYS THAT INSTEAD OF BEING
OVERWHELMED BY THE DELUSIONAL PAST OF AMERICANIST NARRATIVES,
YOU FACE ITS UGLY TRUTHS AND REQUIRE READERS TO DO SO, TOO.
DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT ASSESSMENT?
AND IF SO, WHAT ARE SOME OF THESE UGLY TRUTHS THAT READERS
WILL UNCOVER IN THIS BOOK? >> THE UGLY TRUTH IS THAT WE DO
NOT LIVE UP TO OUR HIGH IDEALS. THE UGLY TRUTH IS THAT MILLIONS
OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY LIVE WITH RACISM, NOT AS AN
ABSTRACTION OR DEBATABLE POLITICAL PHENOMENON BUT AS A
LIVED REALITY. AND CONCRETE TERMS, THAT
DIMINISH THEM OR EVEN DESTROY THEM.
AND SO WE SEE THIS IN POEM AFTER
POEM, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT, TOO, THAT IT'S NOT
MERELY A CATALOG OF VICTIMIZATION.
AND THAT I DO WHATEVER I CAN AS A POET TO CHRONICLE RESISTANCE
AS WELL. >> AND I WANT TO ALSO NOTE THAT
YOU HAVE BEEN VERY VOCAL THROUGH YOUR POETRY RESPONDING TO MANY
OF THE POLICIES AND CONTROVERSIES OF THE FORMER
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. AND ONE OF YOUR POEMS TITLED
"NOT FOR HIM," THE FIERY LAKE OF THE FALSE PROPHET, TOUCHED ABOUT
A HATE CRIME HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS SHORTLY AFTER
FORMER TRUMP ANNOUNCED HIS RUN FOR OFFICE.
WITH THE NEW ADMINISTRATION IN OFFICE AND A NATIONAL RECKONING
ON RACIAL JUSTICE, WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE?
>> I HOPE TO SEE SOMETHING BETTER.
I HOPE TO SEE THE RHETORIC MATCH THE REALITY.
OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE MANY PROGRESSIVE INITIATIVES PUT
FORWARD NOW BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION.
IT CERTAIN IS A BIG STEP FORWARD FROM THE MONSTROSITY THAT
PROCEEDED IT, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
AND, YES, DONALD TRUMP, EVEN IN THE SPEECH WE ANNOUNCED HIS
CANDIDACY, CALLED MEXICAN MIGRANTS CRIMINALS AND RAPISTS
AND THAT WAS THE, IN TURN, THE CATALYST FOR THE HATE CRIME
COMMITTED IN BOSTON BY TWO BROTHERS FROM SOUTH BOSTON
AGAINST A HOMELESS MEXICAN IMMIGRANT SLEEPING OUTSIDE A
STATION ON THE RED LINE.
AS FAR AS THE PRESENT DAY IS CONCERNED, THE ONE AREA WHERE I
THINK WE ARE STILL SEEING A GLARING CONTRADICTION IS IN
TERMS OF OUR TREATMENT OF MIGRANTS AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER.
THERE IS A CONTINUATION OF TRUMP POLICIES RATHER THAN A
CONTRADICTION OF TRUMP POLICIES IN CERTAIN AREAS, PARTICULARLY
THE FAILURE TO LIFT THE PROHIBITEDDIONS OF TITLE 42, THE
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY MEASURE, WHICH IS EFFECTIVELY SHUTTING
DOWN MIGRATION AT THE SOUTHERN BOARD, BUT ESPECIALLY
APPLICATION FOR ASYLUM. AND ASYLUM, OF COURSE, IS A
HUMAN RIGHT. >> YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COLLECTION
AS REFLECTING ON THE PRESENT IN THE LIGHT OF THE PAST.
IN DOING SO, DO YOU SO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?
OR DO YOU TAKE MORE OF A PESSIMISTIC OUTLOOK ON LOOKING
AHEAD? >> DO I SEE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?
CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN GIVE IN TO DESPAIR.
I THINK WE HAVE TO LOOK IN THE COLLECTIVE MIRROR AND ASK
OURSELVES ONE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: WHO ARE WE?
WHO ARE WE AS A NATION? WHO ARE WE AS A COMMUNITY?
WHO ARE WE AS INDIVIDUALS? AND CAN WE FIND IT IN OURSELVES
TO EXERCISE THAT EMPATHY WHICH GOES HAND IN HAND WITH DEMOCRACY
WHEN IT IS TRULY DEMOCRACY?