New Yorkers Close-up: Amy Leon
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From Harlem to the Stage: a Road Paved by Words
By Maritza Rico
Images taken from www.amyleon.com
Poet, Singer and Actor, Amy Leon has paved her own way to
artistic autonomy. Ever since the second grade when she participated, and won
recognition, in a New York Time’s poetry contest, Leon has tackled issues about
race, identity and social struggles through her impeccable play on words.
Leon’s road to creative expression was a difficult but
inevitable one, shaped by a tumultuous upbringing, encouragement from
supporters, but most importantly an early developed sensitivity and awareness
of her reality and place in the world.
Leon grew up in Harlem, and lived in several different foster
homes until she was adopted at the age of 13. Her experience in the foster care
system was marked by various forms of abuse and instability, which she wrote
about in the 10th grade in a poem titled “Product of the System”
which Leon considers to be her first “serious” piece of poetry. Leon believes that her circumstances were
always preparing her to become an artist.
“It was difficult but I don't think
I knew just how much it was impacting me,” Leon says about her childhood.
“There's no one moment that made me decide to become an artist, but because of
where I am from, I had no other option.”
Amy Leon has made a career out of
her life experience. She thinks that by celebrating herself as the young,
gifted, woman of color that she is, she will help people similar to her achieve
great things.
“My work focuses a lot on identity,
race, and the brown girl experience because it is all I know,” she says. “When I come to know something else, I will
write about that too.”
Leon has a
natural gift for performing. Her presence on the stage is impossible to ignore.
Big, unruly curly hair, signature blue-colored lip stick, and thrifted vintage
dresses in bold colors contribute to her unapologetic image, an image that she
has curated with time after she was able to afford her own clothes, she says.
“I dress the way I do because
chunky black women are not a part of the fashion narrative and I am doing
everything I can to change that,” she says.
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| Image taken from www.amyleon.com |
Leon’s confidence is transported
into the spotlight, making her performances even more touching and emotive for
the audience. Leon has made a home out of the stage.
She recently shared the stage with
Sabryna Fulton and Rosa Clemente, two women of color known for their advocacy
in social justice issues, at “Portraits: Show up” a New York University event
by the Center for Multicultural Programs. Leon considers this to be on her top
3 favorite performances.
“I couldn't believe who I was
sharing the stage with, and that I was looked to as an artist to fit in with
these incredible women, [Fulton, Clemente] what was I doing on stage with
them?” she says.
“That performance made me realize
how successful I have been with my work. To be associated with social justice,
politics and activism as an artist at this point in my career, fills me with
joy and excitement for my future.”
The poet narrated an extremely
striking incident in her life, a time where she experienced racism first hand
and was appalled by it. While on a trip to Boulder, Colorado for the College
Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, she was walking back after being out with a
group of people. During the walk, some passersby rolled down their car window
and yelled “Nigger!” to Leon and her peers. She recalls being called that word
twice again in the same week.
“I was shocked because I had never
been so plainly addressed with such disrespect,” Leon says. “It got me thinking
about my birth mom and how she will never in her life experience what it is to
be called a nigger.”
“It made me angry, but mostly sad,”
she says.
This experience inspired Leon to
write her favorite poem of her collection, “Learning This Skin,” that was
adapted into a short film directed and produced by Matthew Puccini and Tyler
Rabinowitz and nominated by HBO’s Project Greenlight for the “Most Unique”
award and was part of the Official Selection of the 2015 Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.
Learning this Skin from TM Productions on Vimeo.
“It is definitely important to me
because it was the first time I address the topic of being biracial,” Leon says
about the poem, “and the first time I addressed my relationship with my mother
in the present. I always refer to her in the past, so it was kind of a big deal
for me.”
After self-publishing her first
book, a collection of poems titled “The Water Under the Bridge,” Leon planned a
6-week, 20-show tour around the United Kingdom where she sold her books and
globalized her artistry.
“I performed all over and met the
most incredible people” she says. “My work was very well received.”
Leon believes that the purpose of
her life is to share her story and create an impact on the people who hear it.
“I honestly believe that all of the
things that have happened to me did because I will tell the world of my pain
and somehow find joy in it, and by finding joy in my own life while sharing
these stories of abuse and social and racial inequalities, people are often
moved to find the joy as well,” she says.
“I think that’s my goal with all
this: to help others and myself find the
joy.”
Other videos of Amy Leon:
Special thanks to Amy for being extra lovely and kind in our correspondences, and also thanks to Keith Kloor aka my professor aka my editor.
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