David A. Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella. Romero has received honorariums from nearly a hundred colleges and universities in thirty-four different states in the USA and has performed live in Mexico, Italy, and France. Romero's work has been published in literary magazines in the United States, Mexico, England, Scotland, and Canada. Romero has opened for Latin Grammy winning bands Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia. Romero's work has been published in anthologies alongside poets laureates Joy Harjo, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Luis J. Rodriguez, Jack Hirschman, and Tongo Eisen-Martin. Romero has won the Uptown Slam at the historic Green Mill in Chicago; the birthplace of slam poetry. Romero's poetry deals with family, identity, social justice issues, and Latinx culture.
Romero offers a scholarship for high school seniors interested in spoken word and social justice: “The Romero Scholarship for Excellence in Spoken Word.” More here: https://www.davidaromero.com/scholarship Romero has been published in literary magazines: DURA :: Dundee University Review of the Arts, Literary Cultures, The/temz/Review, NōD Magazine, Black Bear Review, North American Review, Ocean State Review, SOMOS EN ESCRITO, Pine Hills Review, Grist – A Journal of The Literary Arts, and Angels Flight • literary west •; in anthologies: Ellos son nosotros. antología de poesía chicana (CCH Naucalpan, 2022), Reimagine America - an anthology for the future (VAGABOND, 2022), Revolutionary Poets Brigade: Los Angeles (VAGABOND, 2014), and Heartfire: Revolutionary Poets Brigade Anthology (Kallatumba Press, 2013); on websites: CounterPunch, Latino Rebels, Pocho.com, La Bloga, Label Me Latina/o, Public Intellectuals, Cultural Daily, and Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic (Stanford University); in newspapers: People's Tribune and Brooklyn & Boyle and have been featured on radio programs on KPFK 90.7 FM (The Pocho Hour of Power and Beautiful Struggle), KPFT 90.1 FM Houston (Nuestra Palabra), and KTEP 88.5 FM El Paso (Words on a Wire). David A. Romero has received honorariums from: Arizona State University, The University of Utah, University of Missouri, Washington State University, The University of Memphis, Loyola University Chicago, University of Central Florida, University of New Hampshire, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hamilton College, Drexel University, USC, UCLA, and more! Romero is a graduate of the University of Southern California, a double major in Film and Philosophy. Romero is the former host of Between the Bars Open Mic at the dba256 Gallery Wine Bar in Pomona, CA. Visit his website, http://www.davidaromero.com/ for more.
"Poetry is the most versatile form of writing there is. There are certain expectations; certainly, but no real constraints in terms of form or content. I love that. It kind of blows my mind. Poems can be short or long, serious or funny, traditional or avant-garde. A poem can be a song, a rap, a greeting card message, a prayer, a personal testimony, a political thesis, or Homer's The Odyssey. Poetry is high and low art and everything in between. I enjoy the artistic freedom that poetry provides. I couldn't stand to write in one form, in one tone, about one, or even a number of subjects, for my whole career. I like to write whatever words I hear in my mind - - the music of them, or to describe whatever visions I see, about whatever is intriguing my intellect, or stirring my heart, in the words that I feel best represent that, at the time. Poetry is the only form of writing that can accommodate that impulse."
"My greatest amount of experience is working with college-aged students, but when it comes to K-12, it's a unique and exciting challenge working with the youngest kids. It's a joy to teach them each and every concept for the first time. If you take nothing for granted with them, if you take the time to break everything you're teaching down into small and fun activities, you'll be surprised how fun it is teaching them. They have such a natural sense of wonder. It's the kind of thing that reminds you how we should be teaching the older students; with the same drive to make everything as simple and engaging as possible to inspire the same amount of wonder into even the most jaded middle school or high school students."
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