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Platica Y Poetics S2E1 w/ Alexandra Gilliam

Episode 1 of season 2 was welcomed with poetic Thai delicacy. My interview with friend and poetic colleague Alexandra Gilliam we explored the emotional gravitas of her poetry collections Femmestuary and Lightsheen. Gilliam shared how the BP oil spill, environmental destruction, and marginalized identities are interwoven to critique societal neglect and environmental desecration. Offering a visceral engagement with ecological and feminist issues, encapsulating her concern for both environmental and bodily autonomy. Her deft balance between personal grief and societal trauma, includes themes of police violence, addiction, and the degradation of Louisiana’s coastline. In "Exile," a poem about the last moments of Michael Brown, she reflected on the responsibility of bringing voice to such a profound moment of vulnerability, illustrating how poetry can bear witness to innocence amid tragedy. Gilliam models how, through love— termed uniquely as "bullet love," through connection and intimacy, motions to a journey through evolving definitions of love and resilience. Her reverence for language as a living entity—a tool for survival, witness, and healing—reflects her approach to poetry as an act of reclamation and endurance, holding space for voices that need to be remembered and honored.

Empower Community Health- MJ Journal

The Resilience Within S2E2 w/ Raíz Infinita - Reframing the Gifts of our Ancestors

In this episode we hear from Raíz Infinitida, poet, artist, educator and community advocate.  We spoke about the experience of loss and how we learn to grieve from our culture and ancestors. The lineage of survival, being tough, and using strength support our families up in challenging environments has led us to be unfamiliar with vulnerability and tenderness. She tells her own family's story of loss of her grandfather, and how his wife and daughters had no option but to be strong. She shares how she uses her art & writing to move into new ways of being for her and her family, which include the experiences of awe, adventure, and beauty.

The Resilience Within S2E1 w/ Aminah Decé - Showing up to Grief

This episode begins Season 2 of The Resilience Within, where we are focusing on the theme of grief, and showing up to the conversation not as experts, but humans who are learning how to deal with loss. Aminah Dece, artist, rapper, poet, and educator tenderly held space in the studio and shared what helped her in her own journey of grief, including "The Grief Recovery Handbook." We sit together in a slow, contemplative way, sharing a space of tenderness and contemplation. This episode is dedicated to JB Averitt, 1974 - 2024.

The Resilience Within Ep. 12 w/ Andrea Vocab Sanderson - Living Your Purpose Publicly

In this episode we have a conversation with San Antonio Poet Laureate Emeritus Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson around  being a poet. artist, and advocate in San Antonio and the ways she chooses to show up in her world. She gives us a glimpse into her journey to become a full-time artist and the creative decisions that come along with that. She shares some of the ways she centers and connects to her Higher Power so that she can best use her voice to advocate for human rights and freedoms.

The Resilience Within Ep. 11 w/ Denise Damijo - Nothing is Wasted

In this episode we hear from Denise Damijo, founder of the Shamanic Group and co-founder of the Sacred Health Council. She shares some of her story around her journey into shamanic work, and how a life-threatening condition caused her to create the council as a way to bring medical and wellness practitioners together to share wisdom and learn from each other. For Denise, her discovery of her purpose has been a lifetime journey that she believes incorporates her life and experiences.

The Resilience Within Ep. 10 w/ Gabi Delarosa Garza - Relating to our Bodies

In this episode we speak with Gabi Delarosa Garza about her powerful experience with death and loss, her coaching practice, and the breakdown of her physical system with autoimmune disease, and her learning how to respond to her body with love and grace.

Platica Y Poetics Ep.12 - M.R. "Chibbi" Orduña

In my platica with M.R. "Chibbi" Orduña, a vibrant, fluid, and unapologetic powerhouse in SanAntonio and the slam poetry world, I experienced firsthand the fierce conviction andtransformative energy that makes them a magnetic force on stage. Known for captivatingaudiences with unapologetic truths, Chibbi’s performances weave personal resilience andchallenge social norms with raw, colorful authenticity. Our conversation explored poetry as apowerful critique of America’s societal and political fractures, where they reflected on the painof ideological division and shed light on the internal contradictions within the Latinx community.Through their work, Chibbi calls out the limitations of America’s polarized political landscape,often overlooking those on the fringes. In "Semi-Automatic Christ," they employ potent religiousand gun violence imagery to confront themes of faith, capitalism, and systemic negligence. ForChibbi, poetry serves as a modern confessional—a space to expose societal hypocrisies and bringhealing through the art of truth-telling.

Platica Y Poetics Ep. 11 Jonathan Fletcher

In Episode 11, I sat down with my writing colleague and dear friend Jonathan Fletcher to exploreeucharistic themes in poetry, focusing on confession as a powerful force. In his debut chapbook“This Is My Body”, we began with the body as a metaphor for desire and transformation—avessel for both spiritual and emotional redemption, shaped by melancholy. Jonathan spokecandidly about how his work balances vulnerability, sacrifice, and salvation, while critiquingpower structures related to masculinity and intimacy. His upcoming collection invites readersinto an intimate space, skillfully balancing the public and private through poetic craft. We delvedinto the intersections of identity, race, and sexuality, discussing how these themes shaped hisperspective as an outsider. Our conversation also drew on John Berger’s ideas on "being seen,"highlighting how visibility becomes a key tension of rebellion and redemption throughout hiswork.

Attainable Housing W/ Jessica Conrad Ep.4 Soap Factory