By Melissa Alejandrez
San José State’s MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center hosted a women's history poetry workshop at the Student Union on Wednesday night. Special guest speaker and professional writer and poet, Olivia Gatwood walked students through creating poetry.
Gatwood said she was introduced to poetry in high school and was intrigued by it because she was a vocal teenager.
“Poetry has made me understand my life through a lens that makes sense to me, rather than makes sense to the rest of the world,” Gatwood said.
She said poetry allows people to be creative with the way they talk about life and talk about identity.
Gatwood said mental health is essential, and people forget that they can heal emotional wounds through poetry and that she has learned so much about the people around her through poetry.
“I think poetry is made up of tools we have which is an emotional compass,” Gatwood said.
She said poetry has been demonstrated in the educational system as a grade-based assignment, or something that limits imagination and creativity.
Gatwood said this is the reason why a lot of younger people refrain from writing poetry, sharing it, or using it to heal.
She said the poetry workshop's main purpose is to honor Women's History Month and to openly discuss shame associated with womanhood.
“A lot of women are raised to feel shame about their bodies or voice,” Gatwood said.
Gatwood said everyone at the workshop had different perspectives and shared personal hardships.
She said people were shy at first, but by the end of the workshop, people had more courage to speak up.
Jessica Short, full-time staff member and coordinator at the Gender Equity Center said she also writes poetry and was inspired to reach out to Olivia Gatwood.
Short said with the help of Francesa Dolor, the program coordinator of MOSAIC, they were finally able to get Gatwood to come and speak to students. We also thought students would be inspired to read their poetry.
“We wanted to have a speaker to inspire intersectional feminism specifically for this month,” Short said.
She said poetry has helped people artistically explore themselves and build communities at SJSU.
“I think poetry has helped me work (through) traumas (in) my life and difficulties,” Short said. “It has been there for me when I felt I had no other way to express myself.”
Short said she’s seen poetry motivate people and help them find their voice.
“I feel poetry is unique, but it does not band-aid over mental health completely,” she said. “It allows us to have a voice and possibly heal from (things) as many times as necessary.”
Short said when it comes to treating mental health the most common options are medical treatments, but she said poetry being an art form is equally helpful for the same kinds of mental health challenges.
“It can't be solely medicine, or solely a hospital, or certainly a therapist or a counselor,” Short said. “Those are all wonderful (resources) but they can't be the only thing that can heal us.”
Meg Ross, a forensic science and crime scene investigation senior, said she got into poetry after writing poetry in her middle school class.
“I was going through a hard experience in my life and I decided to put my feelings into words, ” Ross said.
Ross said Gatwood represented Women's History Month well because she used symbolic and simple examples of red lipstick and tampons in her poetry reading.
“Anyone can write a poem,” she said. “We had someone who has never written poetry before and was able to express so many words and loved it.”
Francesca Dolor said she feels encouraged to host more multicultural events in the future where people can feel a sense of belonging.
“We are one of the first organizations at SJSU who had to fight to create a space of all different aspects including social justice and cultural identity centers,” Dolor said.
Dolor said the purpose of the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center is to continue the legacy of student activism by providing a space for students to share their different identities and express themselves.
She said that is why events like these are important.
“To me, poetry feels like the truth,” Gatwood said.
