The Interview
So Piri tell me, where are you from?
- I was born and bred in New York City, although my father was Cuban and y mother Puerto Rican.
How was your childhood like?
- Well my childhood wasn't like a normal childhood. I had to live through things that were not imaginable for other children. Unfortunately I was involved with drugs and violence causing my imprisonment for seven years.
Why did you started writing and how?
- During I was locked up in jail I started some rehabilitation programs that led me to realize that God created me for a purpose, and I think that my purpose in life is to touch people's hearts through my writing. And that's why I'll keep writing until my death comes.
Tell about that program of yours called "Unity Among Us".
-Well I started that program a few years back and my goal with that program is to stress human dignity in a way that people can start relating themselves to the Earth. I use published and unpublished works from myself and from some colleagues of mine to create a veritable concert of the spoken word. I eventually want to comprehend the world as well as to make the people understand the importance of our dignity and the humanity.
How did you overcame those tragic moments when you were adolescent?
- That's a pretty good question there… After all the heart-rendering moments that I lived through there was something that gave me the opportunity to express all my feelings, and that was "Down These Mean Streets". I thought that by writing this, I could liberate myself from all those bad things in the past. Fortunately I did overcame those negative things in my life and moved on. This work of mine was about the struggle and the problems with my identity when I was a kid and also the effect that racism have on our children an me being a Latino and a colored person. That's when "Unity Among Us" was born.
One last thing, how would you like to be remembered?
-That's the toughest one of all! I want to be remembered as someone who wanted a change. And that change being something that could be achieved. I want that racism ended for once and for all, I want that every person in this world has the same opportunities no matter the color, nationality, or race. Every person must be treated as a human being, all equal in the presence of God.
- I was born and bred in New York City, although my father was Cuban and y mother Puerto Rican.
How was your childhood like?
- Well my childhood wasn't like a normal childhood. I had to live through things that were not imaginable for other children. Unfortunately I was involved with drugs and violence causing my imprisonment for seven years.
Why did you started writing and how?
- During I was locked up in jail I started some rehabilitation programs that led me to realize that God created me for a purpose, and I think that my purpose in life is to touch people's hearts through my writing. And that's why I'll keep writing until my death comes.
Tell about that program of yours called "Unity Among Us".
-Well I started that program a few years back and my goal with that program is to stress human dignity in a way that people can start relating themselves to the Earth. I use published and unpublished works from myself and from some colleagues of mine to create a veritable concert of the spoken word. I eventually want to comprehend the world as well as to make the people understand the importance of our dignity and the humanity.
How did you overcame those tragic moments when you were adolescent?
- That's a pretty good question there… After all the heart-rendering moments that I lived through there was something that gave me the opportunity to express all my feelings, and that was "Down These Mean Streets". I thought that by writing this, I could liberate myself from all those bad things in the past. Fortunately I did overcame those negative things in my life and moved on. This work of mine was about the struggle and the problems with my identity when I was a kid and also the effect that racism have on our children an me being a Latino and a colored person. That's when "Unity Among Us" was born.
One last thing, how would you like to be remembered?
-That's the toughest one of all! I want to be remembered as someone who wanted a change. And that change being something that could be achieved. I want that racism ended for once and for all, I want that every person in this world has the same opportunities no matter the color, nationality, or race. Every person must be treated as a human being, all equal in the presence of God.