MÁS Executive Director Mónica Rojas-Stewart participated as one of the lead artists in La Cocina , an art space created by La Sala in which Latino artists from various disciplines “cooked” different projects together. La Cocina lasted the entire month of August at the Good Arts building on Pioneer Square. As part of the “menu” Rojas-Stewart presented “Me shouted black” , a poem originally by Victoria Santa Cruz, considered the mother of Afro-Peruvian theater and dance, in which processes of racial awareness, self-esteem and empowerment are explored. The “cooks” who supported Rojas’ piece were Fernando Luna (theater), Xavier López (visual arts), Tony Gómez and Rebecca García (Music).

The final product was the result of a creative process between Rojas-Stewart and the dancers Milvia Pacheco (Venezuela), Dora Oliveira (Brazil) and Valentina González (Chile), who weaved their own life story with Santa Cruz’s poem and the told through poetry and movement. “At first, we focused on Victoria’s poem but very soon this process took on another life, the life of the dancers and their own empowering processes,” says Rojas-Stewart. “This experience once again proved the power of art to reflect…and heal.”

The first part of Victoria’s poem recounts the moment when “some voices in the street called me black” and continues “Am I black, I told myself? What is it to be black?” Valentina González tells how when she immigrated to the United States, people began to assume things about her and “label” her. It is there that for the first time she begins to question aspects of her identity. “Latina!” “are you illegal?” “You have passport?” “Do you clean houses?” Valentina shares “they once called me ‘Mercedes!’ That’s not my name”.

The poem then recounts a stage of denial and then rebellion in which she decides not to let them humiliate her “So what? So what? Black, yes, black I am, black, black, black I am.” Dora Oliveira shared anecdotes about the humiliation she experienced due to certain physical characteristics, her struggle to study ballet at the University of Bahia in Brazil, the rejection by her teacher, and how she finished her studies despite the obstacles. She did it to show the world that “I can dance like you… and I can dance like me… because I carry the power of my ancestors… because I carry the heritage of my family. I’m black.”
From this stage of rebellion, Victoria Santa Cruz reaches her empowerment and ends her poem by saying “I finally understood, I no longer go back, I move forward confidently, I move forward and I hope…I already have the key!” Milvia Pacheco wrote

“dance, dance that drum with love and reflection,

raise your eyes to the sound and reveal the smile of your danzón.

You already have the key to your freedom,

and you have found it with your awakening.

That the feet do not tremble with fear

dancing to the rhythm of dignity

that inheritance calls and claims

a just action to achieve equality

Black, black, black wake up!”
Below we share the poem by Victoria Santa Cruz.

“They yelled at me black” (poem by Victoria Santa Cruz)

I was only seven years old
just seven years
What seven years!
It wasn’t even five!
Suddenly some voices in the street
They yelled at me black!

black! black! black! black!
black! black! black!

“Am I black?” I said to myself.
YES!
“What is it to be black?”
black!
I did not know the sad truth that it hid.
black!
And I felt black
black!
as they said
black!
and backed up
black!
as they wanted
black!
And I hate my hair and my thick lips
and look sadly at my roasted meat
and backed up
black!
And I backed off. . .
black! black! black! black!
black! black! Neeegra!
black! black! black! black!
black! black! black! black!

And time passed
and always bitter
I kept carrying my back
my heavy load
And how heavy!…

I straightened my hair,
powder my face,
and between my entrails the same word always resonated

black! black! black! black!
black! black! Neeegra!

Until one day when I went back, I went back and what was going to fall
black! black! black! black!
black! black! black! black!
black! black! black! black!
black! black! black!

And?
And?
black!
Yes
black!
Am
black!
black
black!
I am black
black!
Yes
black!
Am
black!
black
black!
I am black

From now on I don’t want
straighten my hair
I do not want to
And I’m going to laugh at those,
that to avoid -according to them-
that to avoid us some disappointment
They call blacks people of color
And what color!
BLACK
And how nice it sounds!
BLACK
And what rhythm does it have?
BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK
BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK
BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK
BLACK BLACK BLACK

Finally
I finally understood
FINALLY
I don’t go back anymore
FINALLY
And I move forward safely
FINALLY
I advance and wait
FINALLY
And I bless the sky because God wanted
that jet black was my color
And I already understood
FINALLY
I already have the key!

BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK
BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK
BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK
BLACK BLACK

I am black