Gabriel Ramirez the activist and poet!

Poetry can touch every intersection of our lives if only we allow it. When performed or shared, it becomes part of the tapestry of oral tradition. The Official Black Magazine had the privilege of holding a conversation with artist, educator, and poet Gabriel Ramirez about the ripple effects of sharing language. Ramirez uses his artistry to facilitate healing and bring attention to mental wellness through a poetic lens. He is currently based in Miami, Florida as the recipient for the 2021 Miami Book Fair Poetry & Emerging Writers Fellowship. 

WHAT DO YOU FEEL ARE SOME ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF STORYTELLING? [GR] Honesty, it can take on many forms depending on what’s being written. But I’m also into lies – the imagination exaggerating things to a larger subject or object in the work. Most love poems are full of exaggerations and lies as a means to hyperbolize desire, love and admiration. It’s a means to get the reader’s mind to expand to help them understand the gravitas of what the writer is trying to convey.

HOW DOES SUSPENSION OF BELIEF TIE INTO YOUR WORK? [GR] The reader has to accept the impossible, the hyperbole. In my work, I use imagery more so than metaphor in an almost mythical way. Over the years, I’ve been focused on how communication works and what I seek to convey with my writing & performances. That abstract image is more rare as a way to follow the poem with clarity throughout. The poem always has energy, it maintains your attention.

In some of his early works, Ramirez eulogizes his ancestors through prose. He meditates and flows freely between forlorn and triumphant tones. His poem Fathers? Flowers? Funerals? Moons? illustrates the myriad ways grief and loss touch our lives. Gabriel’s poetry strives to aid his audience in navigating life with a lighter heart and reminding us to always give ourselves the permission and space to feel deeply. “There are many doors the reader can use to enter a poem and I try to make sure the poem is always a wide open door” Ramirez says. 

WHAT ARE YOUR MUSINGS ON DIVERSITY AND EQUITY IN POETIC SPACES? IN ACADEMIC SETTINGS? [GR] There are some spaces that aren’t as equitable as they can be. More intentional efforts are needed to create safer communities for writers of color. Black and Brown folks should never be made to feel like they have a responsibility to silence themselves. In my workshops, I welcome people from all walks of life, but my work will always be centered around community for my people. Our emotions are ancestral, they’re sacred.