Author Piri Thomas

Author Piri Thomas

Author Piri Thomas
lectures at John Carroll

Piri Thomas, whose autobiography, "Down These Mean Streets," has been a popular classic for three decades, met with students, faculty and administrators at noon and gave a lecture with readings from his works in the evening.  Dr. Shirley Seaton, Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs, said her office arranged for Senor Thomas' appearance at the urging of fellow Puerto Rican Rafael Pacheco, a Systems Administrator in Information Services at the university.

To hear each segment, click on the image of the speakers. (Caution: In certain readings, the language "of the streets" may be considered offensive by some listeners.)

Piri Thomas: Lecture and readings from his works (27 min., 13 sec.) Closing remarks (1:15)

Questions & Answers

1. You're Puerto Rican and Cuban, but do you think of yourself more as Puerto Rican? (6:35) 2. In the reading of your poetry, you display a strong emphasis on musicality and rhythm, moving your right hand as though you're playing an instrument as you read your poem! (1:16)
3. I'm a teacher of young children and I use a textbook with your story about "The Quarter" in it and the children really react to it! For those of us who teach in the ghetto, do you have any advice? It's a hard job! (8:16) 4. What do you see through your poet's eyes of race in this country? (3:57)
5. Could you comment about the advantage of being bilingual? (2:24) 6. Being raised in the barrio, and having dark skin, do you find you're discriminated against twice? (21 sec.)
7. Were you shy about reading your poetry in public at first? (3:50) 8. When I discussed your autobiography with a student, we found we both missed one of the characters, "Brewster," after he disappeared. Did you ever bring him back? (1:24)
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