morena (she/her)“my mama’s tongue is a telegram from her mother decorated with the coqui’s of el campo. so even though her lips can barely stretch themselves around english, her accent is a stubborn compass always pointing her toward home.” Accents: by Denice Frohman Denice Froham is a queer poet of color who uses her platform to elevate the stories and struggles of the LGBT community, as well as the intersection of sexuality and race in regards to identity. Through her poems she beautifully captures the intersectional relationship between her language, lineage, and queerness within her Nuyorican identity. She has performed on national and international stages, including the White House, El Museo del Barrio, The Apollo, El Festival de la Palabra en Puerto Rico, the Lincoln Center, and more. Froham uses her platform to promote social change, awareness, and inclusivity. Additionally, she worked as the former program director for the Philly Youth Poetry Movement, fostering a safe space for young students to develop their own connections with the art form.
Froham currently lives in Philadelphia, where she writes and performs; recently, she was named a 2022 PEW fellow by the PEW Center for Art and Heritage as well. Her newest project, a one-woman show, aims to connect with other lesbian Latinas; its title Esto No Tiene Nombre, meaning ‘this has no name,’ is a way for her to bring her culture into public consciousness and center an oral history that is often neglected. Oral history is especially relevant to Latino communities as this history is only spoken, not written down- its a collection of spoken memories from the past that hold meaning. Therefore, this non-traditional form of history should be given just as much attention as written documentation. She explains the importance of this project by saying, “I know we exist, but I want to be found. Those two things are not necessarily one in the same. I could not name more than three or four latina lesbians that I had ever read. That longing was a really big driving force for wanting to begin this journey”. Through this one-woman show she hopes to allow her lineage and history to be accessible to the next generation of LGBT+ Latinas. Further, she describes how poetry has allowed her a new sense of agency; poetry has become a way for her to fully embrace multiple aspects of her identity proudly. This idea of multiple identities coexisting and interacting with one another is common among queer people of color, and is sometimes described as living in a borderland culture. This notion was coined by Chicana lesbian poets Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga; Denice Frohman was inspired by the work of these pioneers who embraced all aspects of this borderland culture with pride. Frohman recalls reading their anthology, “Speaking in Tongues” in which they ask the question: ‘Who gave us permission to perform the act of writing?’. The very act of writing as a lesbian latina is radical to society; in this way, Frohman is using her poetry in an act of rebellion, a way to embrace her identity and make sure it's seen. Frohman came out in a poem at the Nuyoricans Poets cafe when she was 19 years old, and has continued to use this form of expression to become her authentic self. “As a young person, I had so much inside of me that needed to be declared out loud, and I needed people to hear my song and to be a witness to my truth. Now as an adult, I feel that poetry is inviting me into an unknowing, to questioning the assumptions I've made about myself.” Further, another crucial aspect of her poetry is the community surrounding it; growing up with Nuyorican traditions has pushed her to share her poems in public spaces as she refuses to stay silent about the stories she wishes to be heard. Poetry was found in her everyday life; poetry was connected to music and traditions she grew up with. Both Puerto Rican and diasporic traditions allowed her to draw connections between language, storytelling, and community. She was able to effectively use poetry to express her own cultural pride and the social inequities she faced. Ultimately, Frohman hopes her poems can inspire other young LGBT people of color to share their own stories and voices, contributing to this community of acceptance and inclusivity. Through her poetry Froham is constantly stressing the importance of remembering. Remembering is also an inherently political act; it allows the survival of the important queer Latina history that society is so keen on neglecting. When it comes to cultural remembering, sometimes the stories are simply feelings and not words. Frohman is able to beautifully convey this through her art: how some stories are painful and beautiful simultaneously so they must be remembered, how learning about Puerto Rican history is an act of remembrance and an act of love. While describing how she herself wants to be remembered she said, “That I believed in our language and in our people and in my people; that I believed in us. And hopefully I saved a little bit of that belief for myself, too. And that it mattered. That’s where I want to live—where it matters.” Clearly, Denice Froham is an inspiring lesbian Latina who uses her poetry to encourage the next generation of LGBT youth to share their voices and be proud of their identities. Through her beautiful utilization of Nuyorican traditions within her poems and storytelling, she embodies every aspect of her identity proudly, encouraging others to do the same. Frohman constantly advocates for remembering the lives, stories, and voices of other queer members of the Latino community; therefore, she should be remembered not only as an amazing poet, but also as an incredible woman who inspired the next generation of those also living in the borderlands.
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