If I love Nicaragua, I must criticize Nicaragua — Nicaragua, as a society, as a government —  because I care about it. … No healthy patriotism comes from the notion that the things you love are above critique. Where there is injustice, oppression, flawed systems within your society, country, government, religion, family, we must speak out.

“We are trying our best to bring forth every strand of Latinidad and also be able to put the idea of “Latinidad” under a microscope and criticize it and dig up its dirt and try to shut down anti-blackness. We’re starting to come to terms with the fact that Latinx isn’t a race, even if it is a marginalized group heavily targeted by the president. Everything is constantly redefining itself and it’s nice to be a part of the cycle.” 

Keith S. Wilson is a poet, Cave Canem fellow, and video game designer. Keith is originally from California, and spent his teen years and early twenties in Kentucky before settling in Chicago. His debut book Fieldnotes […]

by Timmy Miller & Sarah Gross                 The following conversation is part of an ongoing series called Memories in Exile, in which we interview current and former resident writers […]

  The following conversation is part of an ongoing series called Memories in Exile, in which we interview current and former resident writers who have come to Pittsburgh and lived in exile on Sampsonia Way. The […]