Sonia Guiñansaca
“Newark is a city in New Jersey that has a big population of Ecuadorians. During my immigrant organizing and working on deportation cases I remember the lack of aid for indigenous migrants who were in detention centers. Often not being able to speak Spanish many of these indigenous folks could not get the proper legal support. As someone who is Kañari from Ecuador, I am drawn to the Kichwa word "mashi" which translates to friend. I am holding Noemi Álvarez Quillay death in mind, a 12 year old indigenous girl from Ecuador who hanged herself when she was caught at the border. I am thinking about all the unaccompanied minors in detention centers across the country. I wonder what a world would look like if there were no borders, no detention centers. Maybe in that world we would hear Welcome friend, Welcome mashi as they make their way into this country with their freedom still intact, reuniting with their loved ones, and greeted tenderly into our communities.”
BIO
Sonia Guiñansaca is an international award-winning poet, cultural organizer, and social justice activist. Born in Ecuador, they migrated to the U.S at the age of 5 to reunite with their parents in NYC. They emerged as a national leader in the migrant artistic and political communities where they coordinated and participated in groundbreaking civil disobedience actions. Guiñansaca co-founded some of the largest undocumented organizations in the US, including some of the first artistic projects by and for undocumented writers and artists. Guiñansaca has worked for over a decade in both policy and cultural efforts, building equitable infrastructures for migrant artists. As a writer and performer, they create narrative poems and essays on migration, queerness, and nostalgia, often collaborating with filmmakers and visual artists. In 2016 they self published their chapbook Nostalgia and Borders, and #PapiFemme is their forthcoming chapbook. They have been awarded residencies and fellowships from the Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation, Poetry Foundation, British Council, and Hemispheric Institute for Performance & Politics. Guiñansaca has performed at the Met, NYC Public Theater, and Lehmann Maupin Gallery and has been featured on PEN America, Interview Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Teen Vogue, Diva Magazine UK, and PBS to name a few. A National Advisory Board Member of the Laundromat Project in NYC. Their migration and cultural equity work has also taken them to London and Mexico City to advise on migrant policy and arts programming. Guiñansaca is currently consulting for national social justice organizations, cultural institutions, and foundations on artists convening, cultural activations, and civic engagement.
