Biography

Carlos Andrés Gómez - A Poet's Voice By Sarah Higginbotham, Brass Magazine February 2007 Carlos Andrés Gómez has a way with words. He's been called a prophet, praised for his powerful message on and off stage. The 25-year-old award-winning poet and actor has made it to the National Poetry Slam Championships twice, performed on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and grabbed a leading role in Spike Lee's blockbuster, Inside Man. If you haven't heard this "spoken-word" artist on Telemundo or the MTV-U-sponsored Fight Apathy Tour, you might have heard of him: His performances generated over $40,000 to fight HIV/AIDS. Straight from the mouth of this former social worker and teacher comes a message about speaking up, making a living as a modern-day poet and helping others.
1. Prophet: One gifted with more than ordinary moral insight; especially: an inspired poet. He stands luminescent under the spotlight, eyes glowing. His hands whip left and right. The audience holds their breath as words flip off the stage, potent in their honesty and raw emotion. On stage or off, Carlos tells it like it is. In the world of poetry slams, where energetic poetry performances are scored Olympic-style by audience members, Carlos learned to drop verse as entertaining as any Top Forty rapper. On the slam stages he found a platform to talk about issues he cared about, making us re-think our views on HIV/AIDS, violence, racism and poverty. "Often times the greatest writing is putting down on paper what you know you shouldn't write," Carlos says. "The greatest writers, the greatest painters, the greatest artists, are the ones that are putting down the last thing in the world that you should put down." He's self-published a CD. He's in Hollywood. He's a far cry from your English class, textbook poet.	CARLOS ANDRÉS GÓMEZ, an award-winning poet and actor from New York City, has been described as "raw and intense...a rebel Don Juan with a sensitive edge" by Underrated Magazine (U.S.) and was called "a must-see" and given five stars (out of five) by Hairline Magazine (U.K.). A former social worker and public school teacher, he has performed at over 100 colleges and universities and toured across North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. He is the 2006 Toronto International Poetry Slam Champion and a two-time National Poetry Slam Finalist, as a member of the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café's Slam Team that finished 2nd and with the NYC/louderARTS Slam Team that finished 3rd in the U.S. He co-stars in Spike Lee's number one box office smash hit film that was selected as one of AFI's 10 Most Outstanding Motion Pictures of 2006, "INSIDE MAN" (Universal Pictures), with a lead role alongside Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, and Clive Owen (www.insideman.net). Most recently, he appears on the sixth season of HBO's "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry." http://www.hbo.com/defpoetry/episodes/season6/episode03.html GÓMEZ won a Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award for his starring role in the groundbreaking "Respect Yourself" television spots, for which he was also a writer, and appears on the third season of the popular Showtime series "The L Word." His first full-length CD, "Carlos Andrés Gómez: Live from New York,” was unanimously chosen as the winner of the 2006 L.A. Music Award for Spoken Word Album of the Year. He has been showcased on the mun2 show "Vivo," appeared on Telemundo's "Así Está El Mundo," been a spotlight on MyNetworkTV/Sí TV's "LatiNation," and was just profiled in his own episode of "Hollywood Life," an online show out of Japan -- all coming on the heels of him gracing the cover of the February 2007 issue of Brass Magazine. A much sought-after performer in the international spotlight, he was one of the headline acts on the MTV-U sponsored Fight Apathy National Tour and did a month-long run of his critically acclaimed one-man play, "MAN UP," at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
2. Prophet: An effective or leading spokesman for a cause, doctrine, or group. Like his poetry, there are no frills to Carlos. He laughs off the extravagant things reporters write about him. One day poet Martín Espada read at his high school, back when Carlos was more likely to be yelling on the basketball court than climbing the stairs to a stage. He started writing everywhere and anywhere he could - on scraps of paper, cardboard cup containers, and even his arm. After working at a camp for children infected with HIV/AIDS, he had felt compelled to put his words to work. With a long-time friend, he created a tour that fused music with poetry and called it The Excelano Project. Touring in Canada, the Caribbean, Africa and the U.S. during 2002 and 2003, they raised $40,000 to fight the disease. Carlos took that same energy with him after college, working with New York City students as a part-time teacher. He counseled and provided services for the poor, homeless, and sick as a full-time social worker in Central Harlem and the Bronx.	Martín Espada, High School Teacher that inspired Carlos
His social work and his performances stayed in sync, each effort inspiring the other. He self-published three books and his own CD. He shared the stage and opened for musicians and poets like Immortal Technique, Saul Williams, Reel Big Fish, and Wyclef Jean. Carlos had something to say and he said it well. People took notice. On a random night in New York City, Carlos did a friend a favor by filling in the roster of a poetry slam at the last minute. That same night the scouting director for Spike Lee's soon-to-be hit, *Inside Man* was attempting to exit a crowded venue. Not wanting to be rude as a young man approached the microphone, she waited until he finished. Carlos' performance floored her. A few auditions later, having impressed Spike, among others, the rookie was in wardrobe. He landed the role with zero acting experience. "If you believe what you are saying and if you do something authentically and you always bring your true self and your fullest self to whatever you're doing," he says, "that's when things happen, and that's when things fall into place, and that's when you get lucky."
	3. Prophet: One who foretells future events? Working with director/producer Spike Lee ignited a passion for acting in Carlos. While his role in Inside Man led to a spot on Showtime, a Spanish-speaking role on Telemundo, and a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award, Carlos is taking a step back to learn more about the craft before returning to the big screen. "Whatever I do, I'm going to dare," he says. "I'm going to take the risk, I'm going to take the leap. I'm going to take the jump. And I may fail, but I'll never be afraid to go to those places that most people never want to look at."
Carlos lives and works in NYC and around the World in places like Africa and Scotland.	Carlos spoke at Cornell University on his College tours and can't wait to meet everyone here at Cincinnatus Central.