‘Documenting Joy’ through humor and art
Growing up Latinx comes with multiple realizations: noticing your parents do not have a fancy signature when signing school papers; having to translate everything, from the menu when ordering at a restaurant to a hospital bill; being dropped off at school earlier than everybody else; and knowing you are your parents’ retirement plan.
Poet and speaker Yosimar Reyes laughed and called this “trauma-bonding.”
Although some may have a hard time understanding this idea, everybody laughed and nodded in agreement with his statement during his “Documenting Joy” workshop at the University of Idaho as part of Latinx Heritage/LGBTQIA+ Month at UI.
Reyes is a queer undocumented immigrant from Guerrero, Mexico, who grew up in California sharing his story through poetry.
After constantly hearing soft sighs and seeing sympathetic faces from people when he told them he is undocumented, he wanted to bring light to the topic by sharing some positive things Latinx people experience.
“We don’t like when people feel sorry for us,” Reyes said. “That’s why I’m interested in how we can bring joy to our community.”
For him, joy has been brought through humor.
“Often times I feel like people view us as poor, and even in our scholarships we’ll make it seem extra,” said Reyes, as he mentioned the challenges undocumented students go through. “I was dehydrated crossing the desert…”
But even through all the jokes, Reyes let students know it was important to take care of their mental health.
Reyes said he has been working on a one-man show that will premiere soon called “Prieto,” about his upbringing being queer, undocumented and “living in the hood.”
What Reyes wasn’t prepared for was his emotions to come all at once. He said he experienced panic attacks as he remembered parts of his childhood while creating the show.
“I don’t get panic attacks; I’m an immigrant,” Reyes said.
He said that although he jokes about trauma-bonding, he knows that it can come out in different ways when it’s least expected and that is something that should be addressed.
The workshop ended with students writing their own story growing up Latinx and comfortably embracing their culture in the best way they could.
Yosimar Reyes spoke later on Thursday afternoon for his keynote, “We are More than Tragic Stories.”
Monica Carrillo can be contacted at mcarrillo@dnews.com.
