Amsterdam through a Transnational Gaze: A Conversation with transnational author Alejandra Ortiz

Alejandra Ortiz is the author of De Waarheid Zal Me Bevrijden, an autobiographical book in diary format where Ortiz presents the reader with personal life experiences in her native Mexico, the United States, and the Netherlands. At a young age, Ortiz underwent the difficult journey to the north looking for the safe environment that her family and hometown did not provide for her. Later in 2015, she resettled in the Netherlands, supposedly one of Europe’s LGBTQIA+ havens, with the hope of seeking asylum. On the contrary, Ortiz was faced with a severe bureaucratic system and endless interrogations about her and her life. Despite these difficulties, throughout her trajectory, Ortiz has encountered people who have become fundamental to her. She has built a support system not only for herself but also for those around her who face similar situations. She has become an important activist and voice for migrants, refugees, trans people, and other minority groups that are directly affected by these unfair bureaucratic procedures. Although Ortiz has called different cities ‘her home,’ the city of Amsterdam has had a great impact on her life. This presentation displays pictures of places in Amsterdam that have an important meaning for Ortiz. Places that summon memories and diverse feelings and which also remind her of her struggle. Through these pictures and conversation with the author, Ortiz offers the audience the opportunity to see and understand Amsterdam from her transnational gaze. She shares how these places have influenced her identity, her journey, her feelings of belonging and nonbelonging, and herself as a woman, a writer, and as an activist.