Our Friday Indie Q&A is with Poet and Author Clara Olivo. In this poignantly beautiful interview Clara discusses with us the reflections and struggles with identity as an Afro-Salvadorena living in diaspora. Her story takes us through why poetry became her language of authenticity threaded with strength of community and belonging. Thank you, Clara for taking the time to share with us your powerful truth with your open heart.
Struggle With Identity
Indie: Congratulations on your publication of Y Vos Quien Sos with the inaugural issue for Fingir! Please tell us a little about this piece and why you decided to submit to this publication.
Clara: Thank you so much, it’s really an honor!
Y Vos Quien Sos is a reflection of my struggle with identity as an Afro-Salvadorena living in diaspora. I’ve been learning and exploring the cultural erasure of our African roots in El Salvador. How it operates on a systemic level and how it’s unfolded in my own life. I’ve heard people say that there aren’t any Black people in El Salvador, disregarding the entire history of colonization, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade as well as the incredible influences that make up Salvadoran culture. There’s a lot of people in and out of the diaspora that hold this myth to be true. Growing up, I didn’t understand the complexities of my racial identity. I wasn’t allowed to explore or even inquire about my paternal lineage. There is a lot that is lost in that absence and this piece speaks to that in a way that many can understand.
Fingir felt like the perfect platform to elevate these words and share them with those who need to hear them. Their inaugural issue’s theme, “No olvides las manos que nos dieron de comer” (“Don’t forget the hands that fed us”) called for art that I felt aligned perfectly with what I create, it felt too good to pass up. So I took a shot! I’m so grateful that my words were chosen for publication. It really felt like it was meant to be.
From Fingir’s Website:
Fingir is a publication showcasing artists from the Central American diaspora, whose mission is to highlight issues and topics traditionally considered culturally taboo, and strengthen the intergenerational ties between families and their roots. From the mass displacement of families on account of convoluted wars and political turmoil, emerged First Generation children in countries all over the globe, creating a unique cultural identity existing somewhere between new country and old. The term “fingir” refers to the societal pressures of conforming to an absolute truth, rather than embracing a dichotomy in which both truths coexist simultaneously. Fingir is a space for us to be exactly who we are, dissolving the misconception of a homogenous, singular identity, and reclaiming the right to categorize ourselves the way we choose.
Poetry Language
Indie: I know you write diasporic poetry. What was the impetus for you to begin this creative journey?
Clara: For so long I didn’t have the language to explain and better understand what I was experiencing. I knew that I was different from my siblings and that there was a lot of my history that was withheld from me. I don’t believe it was all intentional and yet it made such an impact on me that I never realized it until Covid came and disrupted everything.
I’ve had time to pause and reflect on the events that have physically brought me to where I am. I’m currently healing from complex trauma and navigating ways to honor my growth throughout this process. Writing poetry has always felt like the most natural way for me to speak my truth and be as authentic as I can be. The more I learned about what it meant to live in diaspora, the more I felt called to explore and expose what that meant for me. I always felt different and alone in many spaces I’ve been in, not being enough of one or the other as they say. Reconnecting with the diaspora helped me remember that I’m not at all alone and am part of something greater.
It’s so much easier with social media bringing you closer to those who share identities with you. 16-year-old me never had this available to her and it leads me to believe that there are others in the diaspora that haven’t found a way to connect yet. I know my situation isn’t unique, I ground myself in this process knowing that there are other people who share some of my experiences as a racialized and multiple-marginalized being. Living in diaspora is a lot, more than I can put into words. But that’s what keeps me on this journey, I want to try and find as many as I can to bring awareness, healing and hope to others that are still finding their way home.
Community & Belonging
Indie: Community attached to identity and our place in the world is crucial for our survival. I would be honored if you spent some time sharing your thoughts with us on this.
Clara: I think a lot of us seek to feel belonging and attach ourselves to what feels familiar. When you know you belong somewhere, there is safety and comfort; you’re set up to thrive. I never felt like I had those things consistently, they were available in the most delicate and precarious ways. I survived by being adaptive and leaning into palatable versions of myself to the point where it became instinctual and (self)destructive. I survived but I didn’t thrive.
As an adult resting from a lifetime of survival, I’m finally able to sit with the difficult questions and examine the story of my life. I’ve realized how necessary it was for me to adapt to the many people around me who may or may not had my best interests at heart.
I didn’t know better then but what I did know was that I didn’t want to be alone and without community I couldn’t survive.
Taking the time to get to know myself has been a difficult process but it’s helping me understand what my needs are and where my strengths truly lie.
“Being in community means being able to lean into those around you and to be able to hold those around you up. When we take the time to learn who we are, we begin to see how we’re connected to the world and how necessary it is for us to embrace a decolonized growth mindset. We’re taught that our rugged individualism is what will get us to the top when in reality we are nothing without each other.”
-Clara Olivo, Poet & Author
Communities to Lean On
Indie: Do you have a list of communities to follow, or sign up for?
Clara: I follow several #CentralAmerican accounts on Instagram that I highly recommend to anyone and everyone:
@CentralAmericanDisruption
@AfroosSV
@CentAmResearch
@CentralAmericanNews
@Cispes_Solidarity
and of course @Fingirca to name a few 🙂
Somewhere Between – A Homecoming
Indie: You’ve shared with us that you will be in Washington D.C. next week performing Y Vos Quien Sos with the Dupont Underground. This is huge! Congratulations! Can you share with us information on this exhibition and the importance of surrounding yourself with Central American diaspora?
Clara: Thank you so much! I’m trying not to freak out because it really is huge, haha!
The exhibition, titled Somewhere Between, will be held at the Dupont Underground from September 3rd-12th. Fingir will be hosting an opening reception on Saturday, 9/4 from 3-5pm where contributors will have an opportunity to connect with the community and with each other.
It’s always so special when I find myself with other Central Americans, it so rarely happens. There’s something powerful about us all coming together to celebrate this knowing that we’ve been looking for each other for so long. For me, it’s almost like a homecoming. Despite everything our homelands have endured and continue to endure, we’re here together to speak and honor our ancestors and our selves. To be in a room together with my kin, to hear their words and speak to our experiences. It’s a sacred and beautiful ceremony that is long overdue.
Clara Olivo, Poet & Author
Publishing Fam
Indie: There are so many people who help us along our creative path. Who would you like to give a shoutout to?
Clara: I have so much gratitude to my incredibly supportive Alegria Publishing fam and the powerhouse behind it, Davina. Their Wednesday night publishing workshop has been an exponential addition to my writing routine and has helped me overcome many fears. They are seriously my biggest inspiration and motivation right now and I just can’t thank them enough.
Follow Clara
Indie: Where can we find you on social media?
Clara: You can mostly find me on instagram on @TheDiasporicConnection which is an extension of my podcast and community project. You can find many of the communities I mentioned above that way too. I also have my personal page @hijademilagro where I share bits of my personal life, my healing journey and of course some behind the scenes action for my upcoming book🙂
Clara Olivo (she/her/ella) is a queer, fat, neurodivergent, Afro-Salvi writer from South Central L.A. She is the creator and host of The Diasporic Connection, a podcast and community project highlighting the triumphs and traumas of living in diaspora. She is currently working on her first book which she describes as a “poetic memoir of diasporic despair and delight”. Clara currently lives in the occupied land of the Duwamish with her partner, doggy and an ever-growing amount of plants.
