sussy santana

Todas las Fridas will marched in the PVDFEST Parade Downtown Providence on June 4th,  come join us! Todas las Fridas/All the Fridas is a collective reading of Sussy Santana’s poem Mujer/Woman. The poem is inspired by the iconoclast Frida Kahlo and celebrates the strength of women and sisterhood.   Although Frida lived in pain most of her life, she never stop creating.   Her revolutionary spirit and artistic vision has been and still is an inspiration for millions of people. This will be a call out to women of all ages to honor Frida’s creative spirit by adding your own piece to this poem.   What does being a woman mean to you? I ask that you join me by dressing up as Frida and collectively reading our poem. The readers will stand together to form a column on the street, to represent Frida's fractured spine, and express an act of healing. The first 25 women who sign up for the performance will receive a hand-made, one of a kind, headpiece by ...

2015 MacColl Johnson Fellowship for writers

Performance: Motherland Healing/Curando la Patria

Text by:   Sussy Santana Prints by: Xander Marro

Canciones para abrir las puertas, para que el mundo entre y se siente en mis piernas. Sobre la mecedora te contaré un cuento con final feliz y podrás llorar libremente. Verás mis faltas y yo también lloraré. Las canciones seguiran sonando y un poema encenderá la casa.

Buenos días, la inmensidad es el aderezo de los sueños. Hoy recuerdo mis conversaciones con Pedrin en la oficina de los surrealistas, su insistencia en que los poetas vamos a cambiar el mundo; me regala cuadros que tienen mi cara y que algún día darán miedo a alguien como yo.  ¿Qué hago yo conmigo? Con la guerra que da mi boca y con esa bandera blanca que es mi corazón. El camino es de espadas y flores. Esas palabras que cruzaron la meta para colapsar sobre el silencio de las que quedaron atras. A pesar de todo ya no estoy ansiosa, mis manos acariciaron al sol pero estas cenizas siguen mostrándome el camino.

Come people of the drum, come, come, come Come people of the drum, come Qué se levante la gente que abre el corazón cuando escucha el sonido del tambor! Come people of the drum, come Hear the calling of those who came before, Come people of the drum, come I've been so overwhelmed with all these news I've heard, all I can say is: My heart is open, let's join forces. I know that there is turmoil before our eyes; we have been classified: black, white, religious... There seems to be a reversing of the minds. I'm asking that we RE VERSE, please. Peace stanzas for this Raza, the human race.          Let us see the day when we don't have to be afraid of each other based on what we've heard. Let us undress ourselves of fear, Get rid of these half smiles that have been passed down, let us laugh out loud. Choose love in the midst of chaos.