Like the graffiti artists whose work she often spotted next to the Grove Hall library and Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Dorchester native Joselyn Carvalho boldly takes control of her narrative in a new collection of poetry, “A Voice Written Through Graffiti.”
The collection loosely follows Carvalho’s journeys through the Boston Public School system and the corridors of higher education. As she prepares to receive her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling this month and then pursue a PhD, Carvalho has noticed that fewer of her classmates look like her the more she progresses.
The 23-year-old Fields Corner resident takes pride in her background and draws inspiration from graffiti because, she says, it’s a means to “go against the grain and push conversation.
“In the educational field, you’re pushed to your limit sometimes. I was told in Boston Public Schools, ‘You gotta work twice as hard, not only because you’re a woman, but also because you’re a woman of color.’ I’ve seen that come to fruition when I entered higher education,” she says.
As a first-generation child of immigrants from Cape Verde and Puerto Rico, Carvalho always felt that she was straddling different identities. When she joined GrubStreet’s poetry workshops in high school, she found a way to express herself and during a few intense weeks during the summer of her sophomore year, she took to learning about everything from grammar to philosophical lessons.
“Poetry has taught me that healing also isn’t linear. You grow, you stumble, but you always find a way to move forward. For me, it’s being expressive with my poetry.”
The poem “Open Mics” shares Carvalho’s memories of lunchtime when she and her classmates would tap pens on the tabletops, creating their beats. Through her schooling and time at Dorchester and Roxbury’s Teen Empowerment Centers, she found that all forms of art act as vehicles for healing, and she hopes she can provide this through her clinical career and her poetry.
“The collection is a gift, not only to myself, but for someone else to be inspired by and continue forth in those lows and highs,” she said, adding that she hopes others realize they can exist outside the box and own their identity.
For herself, Carvalho found it difficult to establish her multicultural identity amidst her classmates asking questions such as “Which one’s your favorite?” She says her blend of cultures is kept alive through nurturing and traditions, including cooking meals with meticulous steps as a group.
“That resonates a lot with life and how we have to work as a community to expand, let things boil and have difficult conversations to make things stir.”
In the poem “Threads in the Bloodline,” Carvalho explains how immigrants choose which traditions to keep alive and which to let go of. She describes how recipes, music, and dances traveled with her relatives from the islands to Boston. She notes that practicing your traditions, regardless of other’s thoughts, requires bravery and commitment.
Stories that have been are passed down from generation to generation shape the core principles guiding Carvalho’s path. “I’m loosening past experiences that can create new opportunities for the next generation after me,” she said.
Her resilience and persistence led her to become her high school’s valedictorian, and she included her speech as the collection’s final poem. On that day, Carvalho stood in front of the large crowd at the mic and confidently pronounced her full name, proudly claiming all that her name encompasses.
Her full name appears at the end of the collection, which is a nod to how her name accompanies her through life’s chapters.
“A Voice Written Through Graffiti” will be published on May 2 and available for sale at just-Bookish on Dorchester Avenue and through online booksellers.
