Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The Municipal Institute of Culture and Arts of Playa del Carmen (IMCAS) presented the book Casi nadie nos conoce (Almost Nobody Knows Us) by Ali Ahmed Benitez Guerra at the Cultural Center Gallery. The event marked the 12th literary presentation of the 2024-2027 municipal administration.
Benitez Guerra, who holds a master’s degree in Pedagogy and works as a university professor, described his work as a “minimal manual of introspection for a distracted world, which is also a critical essay on individualization in the current era.”
The book has already been presented in Yucatan and Queretaro. During the event, the author invited attendees to share their impressions. One participant, a young woman named Lizbeth, commented that the text is “a reflection of the personal. We mask ourselves to be accepted. The path to finding oneself is inward, not outward.”
Benitez Guerra also reflected on the phrase “You can achieve whatever you set your mind to,” noting that in certain circumstances it can cease to be a motivational message, as not everyone faces the same conditions or possesses the same abilities.
“We must take into account inequality of opportunities and barriers. It could be considered part of toxic positivity,” he said. However, he clarified that those who use the expression do not necessarily do so with bad intentions. “I’m not pointing fingers, but this is the discourse that predominates in today’s society,” he added.
“In these times, we have more information available and less understanding of ourselves,” Benitez Guerra concluded.
