Writing Remix is kicking off National Poetry Month with poet & educator from Orange County Alexis Jaimes. This episode explores the connection and close affection Alexis has for Santa Ana. He discusses the misrepresentation of Santa Ana and sets the record straight by celebrating and highlighting the depth of its culture, from food to art to its community organizations. Alexis also talks about the how since moving to Fullerton he’s seeing the roots of Santa Ana in his poetry, as well as the vulnerable self-reflective journey addressing family trauma, masculinity, and cycles of abuse in his new forthcoming collection The Seeds We Sow (Daxson Publishing). He talks about balancing his work with a poetics of joy and celebration which leads Dan and Alexis into a conversation about joy as a source of resistance. Alexis shares his poem “On the Car Stereo.”
As an 4th grade teacher, Alexis is doing the hard work, the deep work, and the much-needed work for his students during these unpredictable and violent times. He’s the sort of educator courageously facilitating and mentoring his students through conversations and questions about ICE, deportation, and oppression, while introducing them to literature that they see themselves in, pushing against the misnomer that students don’t want to read.
Continue reading “123. A Joyful Poetry Resistance w/ Alexis Jaimes”
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