KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Edyka Chilomé, born Erica Granados – De La Rosa, is a Queer Woman of Color writer, artist, social justice educator, and spiritual activist of diasporic indigenous descent. She is the daughter of Salvadorian and Mexican spiritual, intellectual, and community leaders. Her many years of experience passionately walking and building with women, young people, and communities of color in the U.S. and Latin America have deeply informed her fusion of art, scholarship, and what she defines as her spiritual {art}ivism. Edyka holds a B.A. in social and political philosophy from Loyola University Chicago and an M.A. in Women’s Studies from Texas Women’s University. She has published numerous articles, essays, and poems including a collection of poetry that explores queer mestizaje in the diaspora entitled She Speaks | Poetry, praised by the founder of Democracy Now en Español as “…a must read for those yearning to discover new ways to open up to deep personal and global transformation.” She has been invited to share her spoken word poetry and speak on social justice issues around the country including The Dallas Museum of Art, The Prindle Institute for Ethics, Boston University School of Theology, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women of The United Methodist Church, The Texas Democratic Convention, TEDx, and National Public Radio. Edyka served as a founding co host of DFW’s first poetry radio show The Free Word on Deep Ellum on Air. She also recently collaborated with Cara Mia Theater Company in the production of Yale Drama Award winning script “blu” by Virginia Grise. Edyka was born in Baltimore Maryland and grew up all over the United States. She currently lives in Denton Texas with her partner and her cat and serves as an instructor for Free Minds Dallas at El Centro College, host of the presidential award winning initiative The National Clemente Course for the Humanities.