‘Everything I write begins in my lived experience’: Carlos Andrés Gómez at the 2025 Welcoming Interactive

As we count down the days to the Welcoming Interactive in Detroit this May, we’re reminded of the energy, learning, and connection that the conference sparks for attendees each year. But this year, the stakes feel even higher.

In a time of uncertainty and division, coming together is more important than ever. The Welcoming Interactive is a space to learn, strategize, and stand in solidarity with our peers as we build stronger, more inclusive places.

Stories are one of the most important ways we connect and build a shared understanding of the future we want to build— which is why we’re thrilled to introduce one of our brilliant plenary speakers.

At lunch on Wednesday, May 21, we’ll hear from Carlos Andrés Gómez, a Colombian American poet, performer, and keynote speaker from New York City.

A star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and Spike Lee’s #1 box office movie Inside Man with Denzel Washington, Carlos is the International Book Award-winning author of several books, including the poetry collection Fractures and the memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood.

Below, Carlos offers reflections as he prepares to share poetry and stories about identity, community, and belonging in America—and why he hopes his performance will leave you on your feet. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Without giving too much away, what can attendees expect to hear from you at the Welcoming Interactive?

Attendees can expect to hear some electrifying poetry, stories, perhaps laugh, cry, be inspired, and, ultimately, stand on their feet and cheer.

How does your personal story influence your work?

Everything I write begins in my lived experience, with so many of my poems being framed through personal narrative. The more I excavate what I have seen and experienced and felt, the easier it is for me to give my audience or reader an entry-point for shared understanding and connection.

So much of my work, as a writer and performer, is about the ways art can be a viscerally immersive, fully embodied experience. My hope, after seeing me perform, is that someone in the audience feels filled up, inspired, heart buoyant, and their spine straightened. My hope, above all, is that we magnify each other’s light through the radical permission art can unlock in the present moment.

What advice do you have for people who want to foster welcoming, equity, and belonging in their communities?

My biggest advice for anyone wanting to foster welcoming, equity, and belonging in any space is to make a habit of wondering: What challenges might people with different social identities and lived experiences than mine encounter here?

For example, when I walk into any building, I make a habit of noticing if there’s a wheelchair-accessibility ramp or functioning elevator. Or, when I see a posted sign that says — Danger! Electric shock risk! — I notice that it’s not written in any other languages. Or when I’m walking through a garage at 4 a.m. on my way to the airport, I imagine how my wife might metabolize the experience differently. Or going through customs and border patrol at the airport with my American passport, or walking past a police officer late at night, or, or, or….

Just make a habit of noticing and being present with how that manifests in the real world around you, and then, finally, critically, do what you can to interrupt, subvert, or challenge what harms and denies access to those more marginalized than you.