1. Name: Remy Gates aka Steezy aka “who yo bae textin” aka So Yummy
2. Hometown: St. Louis, MO
3. Major: Japanese/ AFR concentration
4. Could you tell us about the conference you attended in Japan this summer? How did you become involved?
I went to Japan as part of the Japan American Student Conference, visiting the cities of Hiroshima, Shimane, Kyoto, and Tokyo. I was part of a group discussing religion, and how it could be used as a tool for peace making. The Japanese department is able to sponsor up to 2 students each year, but I ended up being the only person to go.
5. I also heard you’re working on a book of poetry. What is your work about?
It’s sort of a continuation of a project I did for a Race and Abstraction class I did last year, taught by Dorothy Wang. Loosely I wanted it to be about Blackness as an abstraction, while interacting with interpretations of the digital, space, and new Muslim identity. It also deals with being without [i.e. foreign], a bit of replication, ownership, communication. I think. I try not to really define it, because I want it to truly be about nothing.
6. Do you draw on particular experiences or poets in your writing?
I really was drawing on the Race and Abstraction class, so poets like Janice Lee, Will Alexander, and Tan Lin but also mystics like Lalleshwari. Some of what I see in the works draw a lot on this short love episode I had, being black, and being in Japan.
7. It seems like creativity is an important outlet for you on campus. How do you find time and inspiration with a busy course load stuck in the Purple Bubble?
Yea, I think it’s become pretty important. My only inspiration is really God. I try not to get caught up on everyday things, because they’ll come out anyway whether you want them to or not. Time has to be made, so I try to be in the moment as much as possible when working on stuff.