SWAMPSCOTT — Local educators, advocates and community members are encouraged to help S.U.R.E (Swampscott Unites, Respects, Embraces) Diversity expand conversations about identity and belonging.
The non-profit organization will be partnering with award-winning poet Enzo Silon Surin to engage with the communities of Swampscott, Lynn, and Nahant with their event “Reclaiming Our Voices: Poetry, Identity and the Power of Community,” which will take place at the Lynn Museum on April 12 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and April 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The event on April 12, according to S.U.R.E Chair Keli Khatib, will be geared toward an adult discussion about the topics, while the April 16 event will be centered on conversations with high-school students.
Based on the themes of Surin’s novel “American Scapegoat,” Surin will reflect on how both storytelling and poetry serve as vital tools to foster empathy, deepen communal understanding, and help bring people together in meaningful ways.
“We’re calling it our ‘expanded conversations,’ and it’s kind of an expansion from our Black History Month events,” Khatib explained. She said Surin’s novel is a collection of poems, and people will be able to pick out portions or lines from the book that speak to them as a launch point for conversations.
“We’re hoping to get groups from Swampscott and Lynn, and before they meet with Enzo, they meet with each other and discuss what the topics mean to them … And then when we all gather, Enzo will lead them in discussion,” Khatib said.
She mentioned how Surin has become a major ally for the organization. “Surin is really into community building, and he fits right in with our S.U.R.E. Diversity model; we’re so lucky to have him,” Khatib added.
“I grew up in Queens, New York, but I was born in Haiti — and when I came to the states and didn’t have a grasp of the English language, I was really looking to any way of expressing myself, and writing was that way because I didn’t have to speak with an accent or anything,” Surin said.
Surin explained he found poetry in junior high school, and ever since, it has become an outlet for expression. “Up until that point, I was really into storytelling, so I got used to people telling stories using all the different poetic devices; I just didn’t know what those were.”
“Poetry is one of those unique genres that offers a voice,” he said. “In many ways, I write with an accent, because poetry allows me to give the stress and the perspectives of where I’m coming from — I’m able to inhabit different backgrounds, different cultures as a way of conveying a story, my goal is to show how connected we are.”
