Jonathan Mendoza is a Boston-based activist, spoken word artist, educator and musician. He is a two-time Louder Than A Bomb Massachusetts alumni and is currently a member of slam teams representing Berklee College of Music and The House Slam of the Haley House Bakery and Café in Roxbury. Jonathan was nominated for ‘Best Poet’ and featured on finals stage at the 2015 College Union Poetry Slam International and, as of this past August, is a National Poetry Slam Champion, making him a member of the first team to ever officially represent Boston and thus the first Boston team to ever win the tournament. Jonathan is currently pursuing a self-designed bachelor’s degree—Arts for Social Advocacy—at Berklee College of Music, with the mission of fusing arts and education with social and political activism to support equitable change in marginalized communities.

Sample Poem

I ask how my mother how old my abuela is, and the first thing she asks is

“is everything ok?”and I wish I could ask about my grandmother

without it being reconciled a tragedy.I am so distant from my blood.

it sits in the backseat and cries for hours.I pull over,

and it asks if I still remember it’s there.my blood knows I’m a negligent parent,

but we don’t walk about it.it just sobs into the floor mat.

and I keep driving.all my blood in the backseat.looking something like my 6-year-old self.

before the divorce.before my father moved away.before all my blood split

like a zipper.and my blood is now weeping, now—gasping.

no one knows if we’re almost thereor where we’re going.