Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Ella vino desde oaxaca

On May 14th, 2008 Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez of Oaxaca died in Stockton California picking grapes. I was part of a pilgrimage that went to Sacramento to demand that the laws in the books be enforced. She was the first death, 9 more lives were to be taken by the end of the harvest. I wrote this piece upon the return of the week long pilgrimage, she was 17. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of her death.




Ella vino desde Oaxaca
Un lugar bello donde quien puede escapa
A los campos de Califas donde el Sol
Cobija de los pobres ataca!

Mixteca que trabaja con Purepecha
Y Huichol
Cual sueno Americano?
Aquí la vida es supuestamente mejor,
Pero no
Aquí
Puro sufrimiento, no miento
Lo siento, seguirás afuera por mas
Que estés adentro.

Quien le dirá a su pobre mama;
"Su hija murió en la pizca"
No entiendo
Cada vez que veo la uva
Pienso en esta sociedad
No ciega, sino muda

Los que tienen papeles no sufren
Y creo que por eso no ofrecen ayuda.

Quien es Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez?
Pues, ella se convirtió en martirio
Sin querer.

Que sera nuestro deber?

Dicen muchos que componer esta sociedad
Es imposible
Quien va defender a una clase invisible?
Promesas falsas cuando gritan,
"El pueblo vive
La lucha sigue!"

Hay un ataúd con rumbo a Putla De Guerrero
Su nativo pueblito
Esta es una cruel realidad no pensé
Pudo ser escrito

No creo que supo que dentro de ella
Tenia un pequeñito

Se despidió sin decir un ultimo adios
Símbolo de una gente obrera que algún día
Tendrá su voz.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Smuggled Cultur@

Bienvenidos.
Welcome Goddamit, welcome.


I come from hip hop and punk. This piece has no name but it's known to me as "smuggled Cultura" it was written about 4 or 5 years ago. It was a therapy piece that stuck around. I tend to recite this when it seems appropriate. It's an open letter written through rhyme in several voices and targeted to anyone that may occasionally lack optimism.

"...And there are many like me who will not let you
Take or rape our culture any longer
Rather, expose you for the vultures you are!
And as frightening as this may seem,
We'll nurture and educate on the different forms of
subtle torture you've been known to create and perpetuate."



No one sees me as I drift into this sea of nameless faces
yet the pig forever chases me and those they've deemed inferior races.

Have no identity and feel as if this world is not meant for me,
But that shows how it goes
even for those that oppose
the wrong path
In these wicked places,
where greed erases any traces of kinship or togetherness.
We bless the dollar
as if it were a gift from some ultimate scholar
the broke continue being ignored
and only a few still holler,

"I don't give a FUCK about your holy spirit!
It's a pointless attempt
and no one's around to hear it,
Claim you wanna be free
but I don't see anyone tryin' to go near it!"

That's why I'm like a piece to the puzzle that just won't fit
working on the right hustle and refusing to quit
because i know all too well
believing in your words won't get me shit,
the struggle goes on and it'll probably be infinite.

But, I'm focused, determined and refuse to break
So while the world sleeps, waits it's unknown yet preconceived fate...
my mind stays wide awake!
And there are many like me who will not let you
Take or rape our culture any longer
Rather, expose you for the vultures you are!
And as frightening as this may seem,
We'll nurture and educate on the different forms of
subtle torture you've been known to create and perpetuate,

won't hesitate to call the situation as I see it,
seems to me like you purposely gave me a shitty and limited education
on everything except how to avoid incarceration.

Profound only after smoking a pound, yet
a clear thought can't be found
and when asked to define freedom
not even a heathen
makes a slight or even accidental sound
... Which is why I propose this movement through the underground,
to take an oath and never submit,
And never again get caught slipping' Ignorant,
If anything,
remain
forever
militant.

"I will not let anyone or anything bring our peoples demise
or let foolish lies blind our eyes"
This applies to ANYONE
that tries to antagonize our struggle,
time to decolonize and smuggle
LARGE amounts of CULTUR@
into Americas'
Poverty stricken rubble.