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As we near the end of 2020 and face another wave of the pandemic, potential lockdowns, and political unrest, we see how far we still have to go as a society. We offer speakers that reflect this and offer alternative perspectives to inspire action and change.
Matt Sedillo, revolutionary poet and international speaker, has the vantage point of a second-generation Chicano-born in an era of diminishing opportunities and a crumbling economy. His writing and speaking - a fearless and dynamic blend of humor, history, and political theory - is a reflection of those realities.
Read the full newsletter for speaking topics, in-person or specially formatted for remote conferencing, previous engagements, and more about Matt.
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His speaking topics include Race & ethnicity, Politics, History, Chicanx issues, Education,
Public policy, and Creative writing & poetry.
Matt's first poetry collection, Mowing Leaves of Grass (Flowersong Press, 2019), is a poetic answer to Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, with a no-holds barred approach to race, politics, and history. It is currently being taught at Mission College and California State University at Northridge and Monterey Bay.
"Matt Sedillo's poetic work is full of history, struggle, tragedy, anger, joy, despair, possibility and faith in the struggles of working class people to overcome the forces of capitalism and racism. If Patrice Lumumba, Rosa Luxembourg, Emiliano Zapata and Ella Baker were alive today, they would all be reading and sharing Matt Sedillo's work with their comrades in service of organizing the next revolution. He is truly the poet laureate of struggle."
Paul Ortiz, Author of Emancipation Betrayed and Director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
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Past Conference Presentations
5th International Colloquium on Latinos in the United States (Casa De Las Americas)
Havana, 2019 Panel Discussion: Brujuleria y Brujeria: Enwicthing Aztlan
National Association of Chicano Chicano Studies (NACCS)
Albuquerque, 2019 Panel Discussion: Legacies of Colonialism and Disruption of Privilege
National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE)
Indianapolis, 2014: Poetry Workshop: The Personal is Political
Washington Dc, 2015: Poetry Workshop: The Personal is Political
San Francisco, 2016: Poetry Workshop: Self Love and Beauty
Dallas, 2017 Major Workshop: The Mexican American War Never Ended
Portland, 2019 Major Workshop: The Mexican American War Never Ended
UC Students of Color Conference
Riverside, 2018: The Mexican American War Never Ended
Left Coast Forum
Los Angeles, 2017: Opening Ceremony, Poetry Workshop
Left Forum
New York, 2016: Opening Ceremony, Black Box Theater Performance
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University Performances and Workshops
Matt has spoken at over 100 universities, colleges, and high schools. Below is a small sample of the educational institutions he has previously spoken at:
- Antioch College
- Arizona State University
- Azusa Pacific University
- Bard College
- Chapman University
- Claremont McKenna College
- CUNY
- Harvey Mudd College
- Loyola University
- Loyola Marymount University
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Occidental College
- San Diego State University
- Scripps College
- Soka University
- Southern Illinois University
- Temple University
- University of California Davis
- University California Irvine
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of California Merced
- University of California Riverside
- University of California San Diego
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of Cambridge
- University of Florida
- University of New Mexico
- University of Southern California
- University of Sussex
- University of Utah
- University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
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About Matt
Matt Sedillo has been described as the "best political poet in America" as well as "the poet laureate of struggle" by academics, poets, and journalists alike. He has appeared on CSPAN and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He has spoken at Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, at numerous conferences and forums such as the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, and at over a hundred universities and colleges, including the University of Cambridge and Stanford University, among many others. He is the current literary director of the dA Center for the Arts and author of Mowing Leaves of Grass (Flowersong Press, 2019), which is currently being taught at California State University at Northridge and Monterey Bay, as well as at Mission College. His Three Act Poem structure has been taught as capstones of coursework at UCLA and Occidental College. His next poetry collection, City on the Second Floor, will be published January 2021.
"Matt Sedillo is a poet during times of unveiling, when the source of what makes this country and world tick-and fall apart-becomes revealed to millions."
-Luis J. Rodriguez, Los Angeles Poet Laureate and Author of Always Running
"Matt Sedillo is the real thing. A young voice. Ready for the spotlight and dead serious about his art."
-Luis Alberto Urrea, the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Devil's Highway
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