| Central American Soul Spoken word at Espresso Mi Cultura exposes staunch emotions, strong sense of community By Chrissie Castro Over the banging clatter of an espresso machine and the muffled street sounds of Hollywood Boulevard, Dinah Elena Consuegra, a young Salvadore�a, faced a waiting crowd, ready to lay down a few lines. As the first poet featured at "�Y Vos? A Central American Literary Night" at Espresso Mi Cultura Bookstore and Coffee Shop, she stood up, shoulders squared and voice steady. With her first poem, "Throwing up a Dream," she scathingly rejected capitalism, social and economic inequality, poor working conditions, inadequate education and labels. ""I'm throwing up a dream that you have fed me I'm throwing up your Taco-Bell-Hell fast-food paradise I'm throwing up the hate The gringo slogans you have given me and my sisters and brothers Throwing them all up and down your throat And how does it taste?"" The audience - seated between turquoise and fuschia walls - broke into an applause. Meanwhile, people pulled their chairs closer, the line for cappuccino and espresso got shorter and the humdrum of chatting voices fizzled out. Next: Raquel Gutierrez. As if the room was composed a few of her closest friends, she told us that although she was about to slam Valentine's Day, she wanted to make it clear that she had a girlfriend who just couldn't make it that night. After the laughter died down, she began: "I bought 'I love you' for 99 cents." The patron saint of capitalism sends cupid on a mission to bombard man and woman with chocolate cherry dreams of monogamous bliss and eternal happiness. There were other writers, such as the romantic Salvadore�o, Robert Lopez. He recited poetry in Spanish, and though I had a hard time understanding all of his poetry, his movements and speech � more than anything else that night � gave me a sense of what it meant to be Salvadore�o. He said some words slower, he used his hands and his Spanish � in an accent unfamiliar to me - paused off-tempo. When the last reading was over, everyone stood up � some mingled, others waited around to talk to the poets. There was a strong sense of an emerging community at Espresso that night, something I � previously unaware of the Central and South American experience in Los Angeles � strongly felt. |
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