Benjamin Garcia’s Thrown in the Throat

There is not one set manner to express individual values, stories, and feelings especially in literature and Benjamin Garcia surely intends to break these regulations of typical works. Earlier this week in the Corey Union Fireplace Lounge, the English Department shared one of many distinguished voices in literature where Benjamin Garcia shared his groundbreaking take on poetry with his non-fiction, Thrown in the Throat. There, he read his poems which shared non-traditional values to invoke a reaction from queer people of color as well as a furthering his stance on issues often faced in immigrant households, restraints in today’s America and the innerworkings of balance of one’s identity. Although his poetry was meant for a specific audience, all can take something from his humorous yet emotional writings as everyone can relate to a sense of rejection and even opposition to modern society. However, this was not a typical poem read in a high school classroom. Most have a certain perception of what writing must look like but with Garcia’s colorful language, he was able to work with a broader field which although might seem vulgar, he clarifies that is anything but. Garcia genuinely believes that words are just words and if cursing in poetry is incorrect, so is disrespect of another human being based on something that is not controlled. His work is unique and resonates with an audience that does not understand his personal struggles but can promote a deeper human understanding once he leaves. 

Language truly is a principal factor in any writing and even with the tone throughout, Garcia ensures his work is far more complex and emotional than what it may seem with question sharks, to boundaries, egg teeth, the corpus flower and even a taco. Each poem was carefully crafted to bring light to something he questions and while reverting to his own experience, his work flourishes into poetry which is typically not seen. Furthermore, he emphasizes that each experience is unique to each person as are opinions. However, with this his work appealed to me as he discussed his beliefs of his Hispanic family and experiences I could relate to at some points in my life. What was especially intriguing was the manner he weft Spanish into his poetry so effortlessly and in a manner that only annunciated the importance in one language over the other. Although his use of language could be portrayed inappropriate, the introduction to it only proved how much society stops us and corrects the wrong actions. His language only accentuated the meaning of situations that immigrants may face of being colorists and judgmental due to their culture along or even destigmatizes sexual relationships which are taboo today. By bringing awareness to these, we unleash a side of humanity that all think but do not describe outside the comfort of our personal relationships. There he further defines that his poetry is just writing as he pleases, such as creative works should be. Throughout the event, he emphasizes that he is proud that his work truly belongs to him and that he did not hold back in any way whether it be the genre he was to compose to or the topics he discussed as his poetry was released as a non-fiction due to it not falling along the guidelines it needed. However, he further compared this to the manner that genre could fall within or outside of a spectrum such as all people do whether they deny it or not and that even in this “a poem is a series of arranged mistakes” in which one can decide where to take it. He truly did this even granting himself permission to discuss and speak in the manner he did and by the end of it I believe all can say they were pleasantly surprised and swayed by his writing.  

Garcia’s book can be relayed back to the experience of all people as someone in their family had to emigrate to the Americas and experience the experiences he had. Struggling with sexuality, gender, culture or poverty are all grand and common issues in our society and help conform people into their own individual identity. Whether it be relating their culture to a taco as he did or breaking glass ceiling regarding open discussions, every person has faced their individual battles and that is clear. Even in class we can relate stories told through works such as, The Raisin in the Sun, back to his poetry to describe poverty and discrimination in a way one cannot control their identity but is bound to face discrimination. In the previous situation in which the family was in, they could not afford much, and money became the root of their issues which sparked aggression amongst all, Garcia had experienced as well. In the way, his family did not have space, they did not either, where he felt a burden to his family, all in the Younger family had as well. Furthermore, Garcia felt a common internal struggle in balancing his identity while separating it from his life in America which is a common thing among Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, as she struggles to find herself. Overall, we observe that multicultural literature follows us and brings great points of discussion in the understanding of one another and Benjamin Garcia does an amazing job doing so in his though provoking works.