Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Scarlet Gomez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Scarlet thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I started Bachateame, Poet! as a space for my queerness and Dominicanidad to intersect. For the entirety of my adolescence and most of my adulthood, I felt like I did not belong in Dominican spaces. I was too queer and too radical–my ideas were not very welcome. But I knew I wasn’t alone in how I felt. My partner is also Dominican, and we often talk about how strange we feel in rooms where silencing, racism, and racialized sexism is normalized.

I always host a party for my birthday, and after 2 years of organizing, I felt that I had to do something huge for the community. I hosted the first Bachateame, Poet last year at a bar in Harlem. The event was free to attend, save for the Bachata lesson, which was provided by another organization I was working with at the time (they are no longer running). It was a beautiful night of poetry and dance, but something was missing. At the time, I thought it was just the band.

But it wasn’t just that. It was the fact that many people who attended weren’t Dominican themselves, and did not understand the history of Bachata, or the history of the Dominican people. We are a resilient, joyful bunch who have faced repeated forms of colonization. This year I spent a lot of time at CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Library and Archives doing research on the history of Bachata–and this is what was missing. That ancestral connection to our dance, the full understanding of its origins. This year, we are celebrating more than just dance and poetry–we are honoring the dissident voices that stand up for the most marginalized, and turning bitterness into joy and action.

Scarlet, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been writing since I learned how to structure a sentence, but I’ve probably been telling stories since I learned how to draw. I didn’t start sharing my work with the wider community until 2023, when I wrote my first book and realized that in order to sell it, I’d need to tell people about it. From there I was thrusted into the world of event planning/organizing for the poetry community of NYC. This is how Poetry House was born. I focus on uptown poets, especially in the Bronx, since we are the most ignored. Since starting Poetry House, I’ve published three zine anthologies, and am working with Sinister Wisdom on another anthology titled “Archived As: I Said I Love You.”

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I love connecting with others, and seeing my work resonate with folks. Despite being in the poetry community for a while, I don’t often encounter other Dominicans talking about the erasure of important aspects of our history. It’s a little strange, living in New York, where there is such a large population of Dominicans, but it always nice when I hear my people in the crowd, who are suddenly much more invested when they learn where I’m from. I want people to know that we are here, that we can speak up, that we can be loud and take up space and not be sorry about it. We can be queer and radical and still belong.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I have a few: Community can feel inconvenient, but that is the point. Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is having the conversation, but we must have the conversation. You don’t need everyone in your circle to have a solid circle. Alignment feels as easy as biting into your favorite dish, and you never have to force anything to go down. Eat the fear and do it all afraid. You will come out stronger for it in the end.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://scarletgomez.com/
• Instagram: loosetoothpoetry

Image Credits

@thegetbackstory