Eris Dyson has always been active in her city and moves at full throttle working for an Americorps program called City Year Cleveland since August of 2003. Recently her first book eZotEris was published, and she had her acting debut this February in the Vagina Monologues. When she's not at work, she's working her first play, music album, or performing her poetry under her stage name Zion Venia. Cool Cleveland spoke with her about urban perceptions, young women's issues, and how Cleveland treats its artists.

Cool Cleveland: You work for a non-profit named City Year that’s dedicated to helping the community, but what exactly does it do?

Eris Dyson: It’s a program that offers young people the chance to figure out what it is they really want to do with their lives by giving them the opportunity to have a weekly check and money for college and also you get thrown into different situations that will help you grow.

What are your opportunities during a daily basis at work?
I plan a Saturday program for High School students, it’s a service learning program that ties the aspects of peace together. It is also a way of learning by doing.

This is your second year at City Year, what motivates you to sacrifice two years of your life to a service organization?
I wake up every morning and I ask myself that question! The reason I came back is I knew I still had a lot of learning and growing to do. It was my chance to learn more about myself and receive more money for college.

What is the relation between you as City Year corps member and you as artist?
Actually, from being a city year corps member I’ve had the chance to receive one hundred dollars from a poem that I wrote about CY, so it’s definitely an inspiration to my writing.

At work, you spend time with high-schoolers from all over the city, east and west, inner city and suburb. What is it like to work in such a mixed city?
I went to a very diverse high school, so I wouldn't expect anything else but diversity. Everything just comes together very easily.

It's refreshing to hear you say so. As segregated as Cleveland is, I think it does very well.
After dealing with things like City Year and high school, it’s going to be a very very difficult transition going from a diverse situation to a situation that is not as diverse anymore, that is predominantly white or predominantly black. We just gotta work on bridging the gap.

The poverty and inequality in Cleveland really is disgusting. I volunteer with the Cleveland Department of Public Health, and when I call it’s always black people’s numbers that are disconnected.
When you have to choose between bills like the hot water or the phone and you know you can go next door to your neighbor’s to stay connected...

Oh, for sure! I’m just waiting for the time that we don’t let people have to make that choice. So, what is your experience in Cleveland as a black woman?
Being a black woman in Cleveland just means I’m probably like every other black woman in America except I recognize there is so much more to me than the average woman. And I’m not going to wear my being a woman as a crutch or being black as a crutch. I’m going to use them as assets to get what I want in life, because I’m special and I’m cute. And furthermore I recognize that I’m an intelligent person that has a lot to give before my time here is done.

How is your art different, being black?
For being black? Last year for the first time I was called a nigger by a white girl; I had never been called a name like that by anyone. So, as far as art goes, I make those types of experiences into something that down the line, I can profit from.

Yes, and when you turn that rude girl who called you names into poetry, that’s certainly bridging the gap - and that’s healing. Speaking of art, what experiences helped you become an artist?
I didn’t have any friends in school. I had very very few friends, so because I didn’t have anybody to talk to I began speaking to my paper. That was my outlet.

Good sides to everything, right. How has working and living in Cleveland led you to your art?
It’s the cold weather, in all honesty.

How so?
Having moments when you can’t go outside because the snow is too high and the wind chill is like, seventeen below zero. It just gives you time to cultivate yourself.

Talk about things that aren’t appreciated enough about Cleveland. Clearly, we should be appreciating this weather more. How well would you say Cleveland treats its artists?
Two degrees above trash...

Ouch. How’s that?
People in Cleveland appreciate everybody else before they appreciate what’s right in front of them. It’s sad that you have to leave and make it somewhere else before you can claim and be proud of being from Cleveland.

You're also very involved in helping other artists get established, what do you do for them?
I help them figure out what it is that their dreams are, and I give them the ability to order their steps systematically so they know which step to take first. I’m not training them in how to be better singers, writers, or dancers or anything, but whatever their dream is, I want to make it come true, only because I’m able to live out my dreams.

What would you tell an artist who wanted to be known, but didn't yet have a name in Cleveland?
It’s going to be hard as hell to get a name in Cleveland. The best thing to do would be to get involved with the community first. That’s the way to promote yourself; by being involved with Cleveland — the community.

Where do you see Cleveland going in the future, and what's coming for our generation?
I don’t see Cleveland being the mecca for artists any time soon, but soon as people start backing what’s right in front of them, that is when we’re gonna see a change.

Do you have any advice to young women in Cleveland?
Do what you know is right! That’s what my mom always told me, and even though you’re not going to do it all the time, try your hardest to do it, because you can be whatever you want to be. As cliché as it sounds, it’s true. Don’t let anyone tell you that your dreams aren’t real, because they are.

What can we do in Cleveland for woman of our generation so that they will have sufficient opportunities?
Create your own! Don’t wait for anybody. There’s not going to be a hand-out; what you want you must take for yourself.

What can you share about your experiences growing up in Cleveland?
Growing up in Cleveland has given me the chance to learn so much about people. This is a city where you find every type of person, from the fast talkers to the country folk. You see them all.

Of all the people you've come across, who inspires you?
The women in my family, they are some of the strongest people I know. Instead of looking toward people in the media, I chose to look them, because they live real lives and have real issues. And they deal with them in respectable and lady-like types of ways: they’re classy.

Care to expand on the "lady-like types of ways?"
We’re not petty and we handle things with dignity, pride, and we stay grounded in our spirituality which takes us that much further.

What have you accomplished recently, and what are your upcoming projects?
I just made poet of the month at the Kamikaze coffee house on Warrensville Center Rd. Also, I am working on my first album and I have a couple of titles for it. One is Eris to the Throne and another’s called Digame Su Vida which means ‘tell me your life’ in Spanish.

Let us know when that’s finished, we'd love to hear it.
from Cool Cleveland contributor Rachel Jacobs RJacobs05@cityyear.org (:divend:)