An Ill-iterate Birth

The morning after my birth,
my parents were greeted
not by the front page of The New York Times
as they may have been if they had remained in Queens,
which showcased a photo of
the Pope kissing the foreheads of African children,
another photo of
Atlanta residents in mourning
over the killings of their own boys and girls,
and a lead article about how
the Soviet Defense Minister said
the West was trying to reopen the Cold War.  

Instead,
my parents were greeted
by Colombian newspaper headlines
about hunger strikes
and photographs that would prove
how some now-forgotten dissident
was tortured.

If I was born literate
and read those front pages,
I would not have had high hopes
for my brown-skinned life.

Julián Esteban Torres López (he/him/él) is a multiply neurodivergent, Colombia-born storyteller, audio art scenographer, public scholar, and culture architect with Afro-Euro-Indigenous roots. He explores our being-in-the-world and how we engage and make sense of it. His trauma-informed work examines existential concerns with care and nuance through a decolonial lens. He’s the founder of the social justice storytelling non-profit The Nasiona, and a managing partner at Conscious Thrive Consulting. He’s a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions nominee; a Trilogy Award in Short Fiction finalist; and author of three books. Julián's work appears in numerous publications, and his most recent storytelling albums Sfumato and Hirˌīth(Ē)Ə are available now on all streaming platforms.

Website: jetorreslopez.com

Instagram + Twitter handles: @je_torres_lopez