Photo by Rosalia Rivera

Caridad De La Luz, whose name translated in English from Spanish means “Charity of Light,� is a slam poet, screenplay writer, actor, hip hop artist and reggaeton artist, and social justice activist. I saw Caridad perform as La Bruja this fall at a human rights forum provided by Breakthrough, an international human rights organization. She’s also married, and the mother of an 8-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl.

Caridad has appeared on HBO’s Russell Simmons’ “Def Poetry Jam.� Is the author of the highly successful one-woman comedy show, “Boogie Rican Blvd.� Was Cuca in Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled� in 2000. And played Lucky in the Sundance-winning 2004 film “Down to the Bone.� She just released her latest CD, “Brujalicious.� It’s all about hip hop, reggaeton, social justice, and good beats.

For non-Spanish speakers, “La Bruja� means “The Witch.� I’ll let her explain. Here’s Caridad…

Why do you call yourself La Bruja?
[Laughs] Everybody asks me. Why do you think I call myself La Bruja? [Laughs]

Well, translated from Spanish it means “The Witch" in English. Is it a play on how you’re a really strong, independent woman, and what many might view as a bitch?
That’s definitely part of it. My parents got married on Halloween. And I was really influenced by a singer named Celina Gonzalez who is Cuban [and was popular] in the 1960s. Also, my real name is Caridad and the patron saint of Cuba is La Caridad del Cobre [Also known as Our Lady of Charity].

[Celina Gonzalez] had these spiritual songs, and whenever she would sing to La Caridad when I was young, I would think she was singing to me. And she had this one song, and in that song she was like “Ayudamé bruja� [“Help me witch�*] and I remember thinking to myself, “Man, could I be like that? Could I be that kind of person? That kind of powerful person that could break evil.� [Laughs] And it stuck with me.

I think being a bruja is a positive thing. I think that we all have a bruja or brujo [male witch] inside of us but we’ve been taught not to believe in our own power. And I would just hope to be a reminder that it exists in all of us until we claim it. It’s just like any muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes.

I’m not a religious person. I’m definitely a spiritual person. I respect religion, but I don’t believe in just one religion. I respect all religions, and I basically take what I feel is the best message out of all of them.

And back in the day women didn’t believe in religion, they were rooted more in the pagan tradition and in nature. So, all of that is what makes me a bruja. [Laughs]

[*In the Santeria religion, and versions of it, a witch is not necessarily a symbol of evil. Santeria, founded in the Caribbean, is a historical religion based on oral tradition that combines elements of Catholicism with the beliefs of the Yoruba and Bantu people in Southern Nigeria, Senegal, and Guinea Coast. Followers of Santeria are also often called witches by non-believers.]

How did you get started in slam poetry? Did you have any role models?
I started at the Nuyorican’s Poets Café’s open mic back in ‘96. But the first Nuyorican poet I had ever heard of was Pedro Pietri. He was my first exposure to Nuyorican poetry; hearing somebody who was completely Puerto Rican and completely American at the same time. He was definitely influential. He saw me performing at the Nuyorican Poets Café one time and we became friends and he became my mentor. He put me in some of his CDs and allowed me to work with him. So, that was really inspiring.

But the first poet I ever met was actually my great-grandmother. She didn’t know how to read or write but she had a memory of gold, and she recited sayings and poems when I was little. She taught me these poems when I was four or five and she would have me recite them at family holidays and stuff. She died when I was ten. And I have been basically writing my own poetry since she died. That’s my mother’s mother’s mother.

How old were you when you performed at the Nuyorican?
[Laughs] Not even 20; college-age. Even though I wasn’t really enrolled in college. I was enrolled at Binghamton the first year, and the rest of the years I was just going to lectures and listening because I couldn’t afford it. [Laughs]

That’s when I realized that I was a minority. I really never got that. You know livin’ in the hood, it’s all good. [Laughs] I had never gone outside of the city. And that was the first time I realized that we were seen as something different. And that we weren’t equal, and there was a system in place to keep us down. And that’s when I became rebellious and used my poetic voice to say something.

I say I’m a poetician now [Laughs] because I’m not really interested in politics or being a politician because I feel like the system is so corrupt. But in order to make change in my community, and reach my people, I do it through poetry.

How did you feel when you first went on stage at the Nuyorican? Do you remember?
I was nervous as hell. [Laughs] But I was so excited and anxious to do it because I had been [performing] around my friends and family. It was a magical experience. There was a lunar eclipse that night and I got a standing ovation. And it was actually a poem that I wrote while I was thinking of this time that I was on the [subway] train. I was getting this poem in my mind in Spanish. My Spanish is not that good, but the poem was really good in Spanish! Everybody loved it. It was called “Ahora y Siempre� [“Now and Forever�]. It was really powerful. And that was it, I was hooked. And then the Nuyorican Poets Café offered me a monthly slot. I started doing a “Brujeria� [“Witchcraft�] series. I would do songs and say poetry. And then before you knew it, I had a huge repertoire of pieces.

Are any of your previous pieces included on “Brujalicious�?
All of it is new. I created those [tracks] recently. Even “Nuyorico,� [I created] when Pedro [Pietri] died. That’s only a year-and-a half to two years now. But I did have two albums before. This is just my first with distribution and actual shrink wrap. [Laughs] My first was actually a cassette tape called “Brujeria� and I had my poems and stuff on it. And then I did this CD called “The Blue.� And I was like burning them in my basement; paying individually to have them done. It was my first major indy, and it was also under my first record label, De La Luz, that I created. I’m so proud of that.

The other thing is I had a lot of friends that got signed onto major [record] deals. They were basically put on a shelf, their work was never heard, and they don’t own [their work]. It’s just really sad, all this talent being pushed to the wayside because of the industry. And I didn’t want to let that happen.

It was considered the harder route. The road less traveled by. But it’s definitely been the most rewarding. I don’t have someone telling me how I should dress, what I should sing about—which women are so subject to in all industries. I’m just sick of that. That’s one of the main reasons why I even did hip hop and reggaeton for that matter. It was because I felt that women were so underrepresented, especially Latinas. There was no positive face. No strong woman. If she wasn’t a sex object, she wasn’t out there. And for a bunch of missions [Laughs] that I’m trying to accomplish. But it’s been great.

You were the host of the Latin Rap Conference in October. Did you bring any of these issues up while you were there?
I did bring up a question when the panels were there, about women and the industry. And they had no answer. They had nothing. I wrote a blog about it in poetic form.

And plus, I was doing a job. I felt like I really couldn’t voice what I was really feeling. So, only through my blog, through my [myspace] page, and through my independent group, could I say what I really felt. But it was very disheartening and an affirmation that there is a lot to be done. But it doesn’t make me feel hopeless or anything. It just makes me feel more. More fire to do it.

Photo by Derek Beres

Do you think misogynist lyrics are really what the audience wants, or is it all they’re used to?
I had a conversation about that—Who’s fault is it? Is it the industry or is it the people?—because I had made a comment about Pitbull and the “Culo� [“Ass�] song. Was it the industry that made him sing the “Culo� song or was it the people who made it a hit? It really goes hand in hand, I think. We’re all at fault. We don’t really want to be conscious of what we’re saying or what we’re doing, which is scary. But I also do believe that there is a huge community that wants the other side. That’s hungry for spiritual food, soul food, that’s in music. It’s just a tug of war. The yin and yang. But if there isn’t anything for them to grasp, or anything for them to have in that direction, then everybody’s going to fall to that one side. But it is all our faults.

They put those nice beats and awful lyrics.
I know. We’re out there shaking to it. [Laughs] Needless to say, it’s not all bad. There’s a time and a place for all of it. It’s just making it the only thing, that’s the real problem. I talk to a lot of men and they’ll be like, “Yo, check my page out, Bruja. What do you think about this?� And I answer back, “It’s cool, but there’s so much tits and ass on this page.� And then they’ll be like, “Oh, that’s fucked up. What about you? You name some of the people that you like, like Snoop Dog.�

I’m not saying not to have tits and ass. But can we show some dick?! [Laughs] I’m trying to make a point! Basically, my point is, can we just have a little balance? That’s all I’m saying. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying, just be fair. And then once I say that, they’re like, “How vulgar! How disgusting of you!� Oh, really? Now you’re offended. Interesting. [Laughs]

The day in the life of.
Exactly! [Laughs] Oh, you’re getting a little taste of it and now you’re having a hard time. Meanwhile, I deal with this every day.

Did you think about all of this when you made “Brujalicious�? “Brujalicious� is really socially conscious. How did you go about making the CD? And did you want to make sure to voice certain messages?
I definitely thought about the messages. “Brujalicious� happened in a whole lot of ways. Certain collaborations were for other people’s projects that they wanted me to be a part of. So, instead of being paid for singing, I just used it on my album. It was kind of like paying dues musically. Like “Brujalicious� is just a musical karma that was put out there that came back. Like “Beso Peligroso� [“Dangerous Kiss�] with Jadakiss and Peligro, that was somebody else’s project all together. Same thing with [“Fuego�/ “Fire�] with B-Real. Since I was on it, I used it on my project.

“Mi Gatita Negra� [“My Little Black Cat�], which is more sexual—that was kind of my attempt at what the perverted reggaeton crowd really wants to hear. I wanted to make that song because I wanted to make a point that it’s a sexual song that can satisfy the perverse, so to speak, but not strip a child of its innocence. When a child listens to it, it’s just a little cat that wants some milk. And it doesn’t take it anywhere else. But to an adult, it can mean a lot of things. And that was what my intention was.

A lot of my political fans were like, “Oh my God! How could you make a song like that?� And it’s like, what, you don’t have sex? Don’t be in denial either of who you are also. But I didn’t do anything wrong because a child is not hurt by my song.

Do you really think about kids when you write your songs?
I do think about kids because I have two of them. And they have to hear my music. But at the same time, I’m trying to make it in this industry. Which is a really hard balance. I don’t want to shelter them or create something that I cannot share with them because then that’s hypocritical.

So, we have a three-curse rule. I don’t curse more than three times in any song. [Laughs] And they listen to it and they’re like OK, that was two, we’re waiting for the next one. I don’t allow that type of language in this house at all. I don’t talk to them like that. I do it for the art. And I tell them, there’s a time and a place for it, and in that kind of music. And I talk to them about hip hop and street talk, and what’s the difference between street and proper. All of those things. So, there’s always a constant dialogue.

Do they like your music?
Oh, my God, they love it. When my producers send me beats, I’ll play the beats in the car and be like, “Yo, which beat do you like?� And they’ll be like, “This one, Mami. This one.� That’s when I know that it’s a good beat. [Laughs] It makes the kids dance. They’re the best judges. They’re the purest creatures on earth. I live through my children. I live by my children. I teach them what I do. I share my art, my self-expression. I go to their schools and I do workshops in their classes. What I learned and what is working for me, I make sure to share it and teach it.

You do a lot of community events. How do you have the time?
Pure magic. [Laughs] Pure witchcraft. [Laughs] I do love what I do. I love it. I live for it. I really believe in it. I believe in the healing force that it has. That’s what gives me the strength.

How does your family feel about your work?
They’ve very supportive. I live right next door to my parents, thank God. I don’t believe in having strangers baby-sit my kids. So, I’m very lucky in that respect. And when I have to travel and do a late-night show, my kids go next door. And when I come home, I wake up early in the morning and I get them. It’s the village that raises the child. And they still raise me. I’m still a little kid. My grandmother is a few blocks away. We’re all really close. It’s awesome. I love it.

You also act. How did you get into acting? Did you take any classes?
I always acted, since I was little. I always did a little bit of everything. I would create characters. I would imitate people in my family. And that’s how I started acting. [Laughs] I would do impressions.

Yeah, I heard the impression of your abuelita [granny] on the CD. You sound just like my abuelita!
[Laughs] So, it started there. But before doing auditions I created my own characters. That’s really what set me apart and gave me a voice in the acting world. Like with my one-woman show, “Boogie Rican Blvd.,� that was really my first acting gig and it was self-created. And I encourage women all the time to do that, especially women of color, because I know what kinds of roles are out there for us. Crap! So, I always encourage women, if you don’t find that monologue, haven’t read that script that is you, then you should create it. And don’t be afraid to try. Chances are you’re amazing [Laughs] and you don’t even know it. But the only way to even develop it is by trying, and by just doing it.

I was never a professionally trained singer. I just started singing because I felt it. Before you know it, people called me a singer. You just become it by doing it.

Do you ever feel certain pressures from being a star or celebrity?
I don’t feel like a star. I live a humble life. [Laughs] I wash my dishes, I clean clothes—it’s really glamorous. [Laughs] I love the balance. I love that I could be La Bruja by night and people are asking for autographs and taking pictures of me. And then in the day, I’m at Keyfoods buying produce. It’s great. It’s really cool. I’m totally happy with it.

I don’t ever want to be like one of those people who has a servant for everything. Or someone who can’t go out without people following you. I don’t want that. I don’t know, maybe continuing in this [music] world that might happen. But I’ll deal with it when it comes.

What advice do you have for young women who want to get into hip hop or reggaeton?
Try to say something that hasn’t been said. Do it fearlessly. And do it because you love it, not because you want to be famous or because you want to make money. Do it because you really love it. Because if you have an ulterior motive, or another expectation, you’re bound to get your heart broken. Do it because that’s your calling. And do it with integrity. Do it because you know your ancestors are watching. And because the future is watching.

I hope that I can inspire women all over the world to really just find that artist or that bruja in themselves. That good, strong, powerful, genuine person that lives inside of everybody. I hope that I can at least inspire that. Even if you don’t like what I do. If it inspires you to do your own thing, then my job is done.