Do it Scared: The Poet’s Cauldron

In this special episode, Josh speaks to Bruja The Villain, founder of The Poet’s Cauldron. Bruja discusses how arts & culture have changed in Worcester, the importance of having space to create art, and what inspired her to start The Poet’s Cauldron, a monthly evening of culture, music, visual, and literary arts in Worcester.

Public Hearing is a podcast from Action! by Design where we explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing Massachusetts' gateway cities as they work to create more equitable, liberated, and sustainable communities. Follow us on Twitter @PublicHearingMA to keep up to date on all things Public Hearing!

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Transcript

Joshua Croke (00:01):

Hello, Worcester and the world. You’re listening to Public Hearing on WICN 90.5 fm, Worcester's only NPR affiliate station, or wherever you get your podcasts. I am your host Joshua Croke. And on behalf of the Public Hearing team, we are really excited to be back with another new episode after a bit of a break, as we're working to bring you an all new season of Public Hearing focused on closing the digital divide and ensuring everyone in our communities has reliable access to the internet, devices and resources to learn how to effectively use these tools to access everything from healthcare, to education, to job opportunities. In our upcoming seasons, we're ex excited to be expanding the focus of our show, while Worcester is still the driving force behind why we're here, which is to share information and opportunities to make our home city more equitable, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Joshua Croke (00:51):

We know there are a lot of similar challenges in communities across Massachusetts as well as the whole country, and people are doing some really impactful work to address issues related to housing, transportation, job access, healthcare, and more. Things that might influence our own action here in the heart of the Commonwealth. So get ready for new seasons of Public Hearing where we'll be expanding our focus and sh sharing stories across Massachusetts Gateway Cities, cities that share a similar history to Worcester like Lowell, Springfield, Pittsfield, New Bedford, the list goes on. We're also talking with folks nationwide about innovative and impactful efforts as addressing community challenges in ways that center equity, justice and joy. So, tune in, hit that follow button wherever you listen to podcasts and help us spread the word. You can learn more about the show at publichearing.co. All right, now I am really excited to dive into today's show.

Joshua Croke (01:43):

We are here with Bruja The Villain, founder of the Poet’s Cauldron. Bruja, welcome to Public Hearing. Thank you so much for being here. I always like to start with guests and ask to share a little bit about you, what you feel is relevant for listeners to know. This could be your social location, your experience, the roles that you've held, anything that really drives you as, as a, the fantastic human you are, and you are artist, agitator, activist. The list goes on. So, um, I will let you, in your own words, share with our listeners a little bit more about you.

Bruja The Villain (02:17):

What's up? Um, yes. Um, I am Bruja the Villain and this is a little intimidating, <laugh>.

Joshua Croke (02:26):

You've got this 

Bruja The Villain (02:27):

All of a sudden, like you said a lot. You said a lot. I am honored to be here. Thank you very much. Um, so if anybody can see me right now, this will be hilarious. Cause I'm literally shaking and I think I'm sweating. But, um, yeah, we could talk about a lot of things. We could talk about the Poet’s Cauldron, we could talk about how I started my career. Um, yeah, I have an extensive career. I'm kind of an old lady, um, been around the way. Uh, I've dipped in all kinds of genres of art and music. And, um, I don't think this is the end. I think there's gonna be a lot more to see. Um, but I, I am originally from Puerto Rico. I was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Uh, my family's from all over the northwest side of the island. Um, and, uh, we have direct lineage to the Taínos of the island, which, uh, is a really remarkable thing to learn about yourself.

Bruja The Villain (03:24):

Um, also, I am a Perez and they say that all the Perez's on the island are actually cousins, so <laugh>. So I have a really big family. Um, unfortunately I don't know them all very well, but that's okay. Um, in 1983, I ended up moving here with my grandmother. She legally adopted me. I was not raised by my biological family, um, or my biological parents. Um, I do know them, but I don't know them well. Um, and, uh, I'd say that, uh, when I first started, I was about four years old and we were still living in Jersey City, New Jersey, and we didn't have much. We lived in a very poor neighborhood. Um, actually went to Public School Number Two. And, um, if anybody who was a fan of Hey Arnold out there, I, Hey, Arnold was my life. It's true thing. I did go to Public School.

Bruja The Villain (04:16):

Number Two, I did have a friend that was never allowed to leave their front stoop. Um, it was pretty stereotypical. And, um, so we ended up in Worcester because, um, we lived in a pretty dangerous neighborhood, and I think my mom just got tired of it. And we moved to Worcester because we had family here, and my uncle was in the military. So, um, we pretty much followed him around everywhere. And, uh, but I remember being about four years old and I didn't really have any toys. We were, so we lived in poverty and, um, my mom needed to find a way of en to entertain me. So I remember she had a napkin and a pen, and on the napkin she drew a rooster, right? And I just thought it was the cutest thing in the world. And so I started copying the rooster.

Bruja The Villain (05:09):

And when I copied it and I showed it to her, she was like, oh my gosh. Like, wow, that looks just like mine. Not knowing that she wasn't a very good artist, but, you know, it influenced me to open up this whole new world of art. So the rooster ended up becoming a parrot, and then the parrot ended up becoming a dog. And then there was a cat, and then there was a horse, then there was a unicorn, then there were dragons and dinosaurs. And I just started drawing all these things. And so it was the one thing that she made sure that I kept up with because it kept me out of trouble. It kept me off the street. Um, I would spend hours alone in my bedroom just drawing. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up either. So escaping into a whole other world of making up my own comic books is very much a thing.

Bruja The Villain (06:00):

I think for a lot of people like me, a lot of artists like me, where they just sit alone and create their own comic books. Um, and as I got older, I started dabbing into other things, not just, uh, artwork, but then poetry. Um, I've always been in, uh, well, they call them English as a second language. Um, when I was much younger, they used to call it just bilingual, but I graduate high. I graduated high school all the way, going to English as a second language classes. But I had a knack for writing stories. And I had a few teachers that noticed. And so they would take my poetry and my stories and submit them. So at age 12, I actually published my first poem. Um, it was a poem about my best friend, and she was super embarrassed. We were 12 years old, so of course, you know, um, I, uh, she didn't talk to me for a little while, but that's okay cuz we're still friends.

Bruja The Villain (07:04):

I see her every now and then. And, um, then suddenly, you know, I became a poet and then I became a writer. And for a while, um, I was a young mom. And so for a while I couldn't really pay much attention to the things that I enjoyed the most because I was struggling trying to take care of a child. And then I met my ex-husband, and, uh, he was a musician. He was going to the Boston School of Arts, I think at the time. We were together for a very long time. But he, um, he kind of saved me. He saved me when we met because, um, we were, my parts of my family were gang affiliated. We weren't in gangs, but we were somehow we were involved. Um, and I couldn't get away from that influence, that side. It, it, it keeps following you, you know what I mean?

Bruja The Villain (08:08):

Like, you keep trying to escape that lifestyle, but for some reason it just keeps pulling you back in. And, uh, back in the day, Worcester didn't have anything. Worcester took away the malls. It took away the, um, arcade centers. Um, even the, the parks in the area were all ripped up out of the ground because they were trying to restore them, but still, there was nowhere for kids to go. Um, and so I became really angry because I didn't have anyone I could really engage with and enjoy my time with. And I was always alone because I was this odd artist kid. And, uh, I tried to get attention from this, from City Hall because they were building a $2 million fountain in front of Hanover Theater At the time, it still wasn't Hanover, it was still a movie theater. And it made me very angry because I had nowhere to go.

Bruja The Villain (09:09):

And you keep criminalizing us because we're artists. Um, I had a group of friends who ran in a graffiti crew, and every single one of them got in trouble. Um, I think a lot of them ended up having to do community service. We were punished. It just, it, it didn't seem fair, um, that we are creating these beautiful sceneries, but because of that, you're punishing us. And what you're doing is you're taken away from us. The little that we had in this city, um, all of downtown back then was completely ripped up. There was no sidewalks, there was nothing. So it's like, what did you, what what was gonna happen to us? So a lot of us ended up leaving Worcester or they thought the best way to go would to go into marketing or, you know, have an office job somewhere. There was no future in being an artist in this city.

Bruja The Villain (10:03):

None. Um, unless you were a non, uh, person of color, you know, um, if you were a black brown person, chances are you really weren't gonna be noticed much. They just, you know, there was no place for us here. That's what it felt like. It felt like, um, we were allowed to stay in only certain neighborhoods. So Tacoma, which is Great Brook Valley, you were only allowed to stay there. Piedmont Street, you were only allowed to be in Piedmont Street. You'd be in so much trouble if you went downtown on your skateboard. Nowadays, riding on your skateboard pretty much anywhere is almost okay. Almost. Okay.

Joshua Croke (10:46):

And almost, okay. 

Bruja The Villain (10:47):

Right.

Joshua Croke (10:48):

You know, like I, I think, you know, as you're telling this story, I'm jumping forward to present day where bike life kids have been criminalized and really, you know, preyed upon by folks in the community of like, get these kids off the street. And, and I am always asking the question like, who are our streets for and who are our communities for? Right? 

Bruja The Villain (11:06):

Right. 

Joshua Croke (11:07):

Are they for people just passing through on their way to work? Or should the kids that live in this neighborhood have the right to the road? And the controlling that? Like if it inconvenience as a driver, cuz they can't go 35 miles an hour in a neighborhood, you know, tough luck, right? And so, you know, and thinking about your, what you're sharing around like, you know, graffiti and street art as an outlet and that being criminalized instead of folks looking at like, wow, look at this creative group of young people that, how do we harness and support that and uplift that? And, you know, instead they do what is unfortunately accepted of oppressive and racist systems, which is criminalize and, you know, exclude from the community and also pathways to, to art, uh, as a career.

Bruja The Villain (11:51):

Yeah. It's tough because you, you see it happening over and over and over and over again. And, but we're still here still trying to change things. And a lot, a lot has changed in Worcester. I see that now. I, I I recognize that, you know, um, but unfortunately something's happening right now where it feels like we're once again going back and we're losing a lot of culture in this city. And

Joshua Croke (12:16):

Under the umbrella of the Worcester Renaissance and for listeners, I'm using air quotes. And I, I both appreciate the intention folks put out into the world by saying renaissance and also have been a huge challenger of talking about that. Um, or like using that term for things that are going on in the city. And I don't know if you feel away about that as well. Bruja,

Bruja The Villain (12:40):

I feel very strongly about some of the things that are going on in this city. I really do. Which is like, part of why I was talking so much about my childhood, because it's still happening. So, you know, uh, Covid hit and then the city also decided, hey, let's build a giant stadium. And one of the ways that they tried to save the city is they pulled in celebrity artists to be involved in the powwow. And that hurt a lot of people's feelings. Let's be honest. They hurt a lot of people's feelings. There's so many artists in this city who were capable of doing that kind of work, but instead they were shunned away, asked to just volunteer instead of participating. And, um, it ended up building walls between us and the city. Something that artists like me have been working so hard to show you, Hey, you know, we are here.

Bruja The Villain (13:35):

We can do this. Give us a chance. Believe in us, because there's art everywhere. You go to the supermarket, there's art everywhere. There's an, there's art on every single bottle, every single bag, everything everywhere. Every street sign is a piece of artwork that's someone somewhere created. But for some reason, society, when they hear the word artist, they think loser. Oh, you don't know how to do anything else. Huh. Which is completely untrue. I myself was an insurance broker and I did a lot of financial work for a lot of people that were broke. And I helped them pull themselves outta, uh, bankruptcy. I've, there's, I'm capable of doing all kinds of things, not just being an artist. But the other problem that I find since Covid and the stadium being built is the amount of destruction that some of the surrounding neighborhoods have gone through.

Bruja The Villain (14:27):

Um, a lot of people have been pushed away. Rents are double. My rent is almost double then what it was, um, a few years ago. It doesn't make any sense to me. My, now my landlord wants to raise my rent another $550. Everyone I talk to, oh, my landlord raised my rent $250 in one year. Normally you would hear 50, maybe a hundred dollars every year that you renew your lease. And then you decide, Hey, I'm gonna move out from here and find cheaper rent. And that, that used to happen. But it's not happening anymore. People are now forced to move in with their families because they can't afford to live alone anymore. You know? And I see the amount of change that my neighborhood has gone through in just a matter of a few years. Um, the city tore down half the trees in our neighborhood, never replanted, not one.

Bruja The Villain (15:22):

Um, I saw families being evicted. I saw furniture being thrown out on the, on the street. Um, right now, for some reason, there are so many people in my neighborhood, there's no room to park anywhere. Um, I'm seeing people that live six houses down the street from me parked at the end of our driveway because there's nowhere else for them to park. It's, it, there's something going on. And it's, it's not just gentrification, of course gentrification is a major problem right now, but it's a societal problem. It's a problem for the government. And I'm, see what I see is that they don't really care about us. What they care more about is money. And to me that's very obvious.

Joshua Croke (16:12):

And I wanna underscore a couple things that you said there and highlight them for, for listeners. Cuz I, we have a, a pretty diverse audience of folks that listen to this show. And a lot of the things that are happening in the city, a lot of people uplift as like, oh, look at what's happening in Worcester. It's really exciting. And the thing that we really try and shine a light on on this show is like the equity and the, the justice and like building liberated community and what does that actually look like? And in the gentrification conversation, folks I think who are on the side of like supporting like that, um, growth in, in certain ways, like get frustrated when they're like, oh, you can't make everybody happy, right? But what I would ask folks who are listening who might be kind of making that consideration is to think first I want to just like state that I don't think anyone is anti-growth.

Joshua Croke (17:05):

People are anti-displacement. and their anti-erasure. And that is what often comes with negative and very, um, homogenous economic development practices, right? It's saying like, oh, in order to build up this city, we need money from outside of it to make it better. Right? And, and I do not subscribe to that model of economic or community development. I sit very much in the place of economic gardening and community cultivation of like, help, support and bring resources to the people that are here that have been asking for them and who have been doing the work regardless. And that builds thriving, especially artistic and cultural space. And so with the Poet's Cauldron, you know, something that I've observed and, and I want you to share a little bit with listeners who might not be familiar what the Poet's Cauldron is. Um, but I'll preface that with you walk in and you feel the love and care of community in that space, and you see Worcester in that space. Yes. And I want you to kind of go off of that or redirect or just talk a little bit about what the Poet’s Cauldron is and kind of the motivation that brought you to starting this.

Bruja The Villain (18:17):

So because of the amount of culture that I see being lost in the city, um, I was thinking like, what can I do to make things better? Because I see a lot of loss and yes, yes, we're not anti, uh, growth. Growth, yes. We're not anti-growth. We want Worcester to thrive. I've always wanted Worcester to thrive. It's a dream for me to see it the way that it is now. However, um, it's very complicated, uh, situation because you're seeing a lot of people with privilege coming into a neighborhood where there was once a lot of culture and now we feel like we don't belong in our own space. So when I created the Poet’s Cauldron, I did it purely out of fear of loss. Um, I did it because I'm afraid of my own mortality, and I needed to make sure that I somehow kept that part of my culture, that genre of art that is so important to me.

Bruja The Villain (19:30):

I had to make sure that I could somehow preserve it. Um, and so I thought to myself, if I wanted to spend an evening out in the city of Worcester, what do I wanna do? How would I wanna spend it? Who would I wanna spend that time with? And I started, I started writing things down on a piece of paper, and lo and behold, like I was just like, maybe I should start doing poetry again, you know? Um, but where? And, uh, I ended up becoming really good friends with Birgit, and Luis, they're the owners of the White Room in Worcester, 138 Green Street, by the way. And, uh, oh, and by the way, the entrance is in the back, so in case you can't find it. Um, so we were talking and they mentioned that they have that Sundays is like their community day.

Bruja The Villain (20:22):

So we just ended up coming up with an idea, let's do some poetry. And they were like, what should we call it? What do you wanna call it? And I was just like, well, I'm a witch. Soy Bruja The Villain. So like, let's call it the Poet's Cauldron, you know, every good witch needs a nice caldera, you know? So, um, they're like, hmm, you know, know the idea of mixing different things into a pot. Like what would that look like? And for me it looked like jazz music, RnB, soul, hip hop, spoken word, poetry, slam poetry, art everywhere. Almost like, like in the same sense of the four, um, elements of hip hop where we have the mc, the dj, the dancer, the B-Boy, the B-Girl, and the graffiti. So like, because I grew up in not just my Puerto Rican culture, but also in hip hop culture, I was just like, this is what I wanna do.

Bruja The Villain (21:22):

I wanna bring that old soul feeling that we used to have when we used to have these underground parties back in the day. And like, we wouldn't even have bands, but people would just show up with their instruments to just start playing like, like they've been playing together for years. Like, that's the vibe that I wanted. I wanted it to be beautiful. I wanted it to be healing. I wanted it to open you up and make you want to participate. You know, and I wanted it to be a most important, the most important thing to me is I wanted it to be a safe place because I often don't feel safe. And it was really important to me that it beco- it became an all-inclusive, safe place. That's important to me. 

Joshua Croke (22:06):

And, and let me ask you a question on that because I, as a facilitator, my driving motivation is to cultivate authentic and what I say is safe as possible space, recognizing that no space can truly be safe for everyone all the time. So how do we build like brave space where folks are able to show up, feel safety, and when they don't know how to process that with the group. And so I'm thinking about cultivating space and also the, the Poet’s Cauldron was, is has been and is so successful, like there are so many attendees. You have a long, you have a long list of folks that are waiting to get up on that mic. How do you preserve that authentic cultural space that you're building and prevent some of the outside influence that might commodify what is being built?

Bruja The Villain (23:00):

I am completely transparent. I'm very open about my mistakes on stage, off stage. I think that because I work so hard at truly being myself and realizing that everyone goes through something, everyone has experienced something, everyone has a story that I I I put my personality into the Poet's Cauldron. And so what you see is really components of, of who I am when you come to the show. Um, and I think that's why it is so successful because I know all kinds of people, different races, different backgrounds, you know, different religions. Um, I love learning from people and to me also hosting the Poet’s Cauldron feels like, I don't know, some people describe it as church. For me it feels like school. Like I'm learning, I'm learning as I'm going and I'm learning from my audience while my audience is learning from me. But I think that's why the Poet’s Cauldron is so successful because it really is my personality out, but in visual and in hearing form.

Joshua Croke (24:19):

That's beautiful. Uh, 

Bruja The Villain (24:21):

Thank you. 

Joshua Croke (24:22):

Thank you for sharing that. So for listeners who might be interested in the Poet’s Cauldron, what are the deets?

Bruja The Villain (24:29):

So we are at the White Room every month. Uh, we're, we actually, we're actually there the third Sunday of every month. We feature different artists from all over New England. My goal right now is to get celebrity spoken word artists to come in. So I've already reached out to a few, they have agreed to do the show. I just have to come up with the money. That's it. Um, Ursula Rucker reached out, she said she wants to do the show. I'm trying to get other people to come out, um, like Rudy Francisco and hopefully someday someone is majorists Saul Williams. That would be your dream come true. That's the goal. But we are there the third Sunday, every month at the White Room from six to nine PM Uh, parking is free on Sunday, so you don't have to worry about that. Woo. Thank God, because you know, the stadium is there and Hmm, we don't even have to go into that, but we already know. So, um, yeah. And this month we are featuring Tenille, um, um, Giuliano is gonna be playing our house band that evening and we're gonna have a lot of spoken word artists jumping on during the open mic. I think it's gonna be a spectacular show. I honestly can't wait. Oh, and also we have a featured speaker cuz we have a featured speaker every month. And this month it's John Vo.

Joshua Croke (25:44):

Amazing. So if you were in our last minute here, if you were to give advice to someone who's like, I've always wanted to perform a piece that I've written, but I'm mortified to do it, what would you tell them?

Bruja The Villain (25:56):

Do it anyway. Do it, do it scared. First time I recited poetry, I stood in front of about 250 people. I was scared out of my mind. I was shaking, I was sweating. I mean, and let's be honest, it doesn't matter. I've been doing this over 30 years. I, the first thing I said when I got on this mic tonight was this is in intimidating. I'm kind of scared, <laugh>, you know, like I'm sweating. You are always going to be doing something scared. Just, just do it. There is so much love and support and you'd be surprised when you're a spoken word artist and you make a mistake on stage, you know what the whole audience does. They start clapping and yelling for you and saying things like, we love you. You got this. Like, it's okay. If you, you make a mistake, just do it.

Joshua Croke (26:43):

We might need to make “do it scared” shirts for the Poet’s Cauldron. 

Bruja The Villain (26:48):

Yes! 

Joshua Croke (26:49)

Like a fundraiser, you know, raise some money, make some merch. Well, Bruja, thank you for coming on the show. We've been talking to Bruja The Villain, founder of The Poet’s Cauldron, which is the third Sunday of the month at the White Room. Thank you so much for joining us on Public Hearing. You can follow the Poet's Cauldron on Instagram @thepoetscauldron. Thank you for listening to Public Hearing, our podcast and radio show that airs Wednesdays at 6:00 PM on WICN 90.5 fm Worcester's only NPR affiliate Station and can be heard wherever you listen to podcasts. Our show seeks to amplify stories of community efforts working toward equity, justice, and joy across Worcester, Massachusetts, Gateway Cities and the Nation. I'm your host, Joshua Croke, founder of Action! by Design, a mission-driven consultancy supporting community and economic growth through the transformative power of creative arts, media, and design. Look, learn more about our work, including this show Public Hearing at actionbydesign.co. Our audio producer is Giuliano D’Orazio, who also made our show music. Special thanks to Kellee Kosiorek and Jack Tripp, who also support the production of the show. The work continues, folks. Thanks for listening.