Sound Track for a March

Yesterday I marched with hundreds of thousands for immigration reform and was elated to hear that the health care bill was passed (color me red, to hear the complaints from folks that probably haven't actually READ THE BILL).

Anyway, while my friend Z. and I listened to speaker after speaker at the rally, we talked about how nice it'd be to have some musical interludes between the speeches. Sometimes I'm shallow like that, even when trying to save the world.

So here's my own sound track for immigration reform.

1. "Mojado" Ricardo Arjona e Intocable

The quintessential immigration song. "Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa sin permiso alguno, porque el mojado precisa comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno." A reminder that God has given us citizenship in His Kingdom and that all other kingdoms don't really matter in the long run.

2. "Papeles mojados" Chambao

A look at immigration from a European perspective. Same story, different continents.

3. "Tres veces mojados" Los Tigres del Norte

My students in VA turned me on to this one. A reminder of those who cross more than one border to get here, and who are strangers in multiple countries, despite the common language. It's crazy to me to think of the craziness/bravery of those who travel weeks and months to get here.

4. "Visa para un sueño" Juan Luis Guerra

This one hits close to home because it's about Dominicans trying to leave the DR. Many of them end up taking rafts over to PR, which is just as dangerous as rafts from La Habana to Miami.

5. "Sólo le pido a Dios" done by everyone and their mother, though this particular version is by Tao Rodríguez-Seeger and the guys from Fiel a la Vega

I ask God only for this, that I would not be indifferent to injustice. Amen.

6. "Casas de cartón"

This version is by Javier Álvarez. Injustice, migration, capitalism....

7. "Pobre Juan" Maná

On the telenovela side of dramatic, but about those deaths in the desert.

8. "Si el norte fuera el sur" Ricardo Arjona

The differences (maybe?) between North and South America. "Free" trade, national debt, war, exploitation, etc.

9. "Sangre americana" Bacilos

For those who don't remember that America applies to two continents and the bridge in between. For those who don't remember that the United States is a nation of immigrants, and that the original "Americans" are not of European extraction.

10. "We Are Called" by David Haas

This is a song from my days as a Catholic. The sound quality is pretty much terrible, but the lyrics are here. The chorus pretty much sums it up:

"We are called to act with justice / we are called to love tenderly / we are called to serve one another / to walk humbly with God!"

I will not lie; this song was in my head all day yesterday.

And a bonus song:
"Voces de Sol" Fiel a la Vega

"Entren vestidos de sol, las almas que quieran luchar....Sigue el camino, persíguelo con alma y pasión" Fight the good fight, make your voice heard, and seek your goal with passion. Yes. Amen.



And finally, some verses that came to mind:
Matthew 25:33-40

Leviticus 19:33-34

Happy day

***I started writing this the 22nd of January, and have really struggled to find the words to describe it all. I still think it's inadequate, but I also feel like I can't really hold off on it much longer. So, here it is, on the 28th, with all its imperfections: my attempt to share what I experienced on 20 January 2009.***


We have a new president. I was reading the headlines online today and it struck me that "President" no longer means "George W. Bush"; it means "Barack Obama". Man, I have been waiting for this day for ages, it seems, and it's finally here. It happened, and I'm still trying to get my head around it all.

First of all, we went. A group of about ten of us from Eastern went down to my parents' house and went into the city on Tuesday. I could talk about the logistics of it: the hours of travel, the lines to get on metro, the free buses, and the helpfulness of Metro staff, and I guess I just did, but that's not the point. We saw (albeit on the jumbo-tron) Yo-Yo Ma, Aretha Franklin (and her bow), Beyonce, and Jay-Z, but that is also not the point.
The point isn't, as some wanted to make us believe, that George W. Bush was out of office.

The point, at least for me, is that the city was flooded with people from all over the nation - from all over the WORLD! - to see history being made. As a nation, we have elected a man who is nothing like any other President before him. He is not a Washington insider, not an old white man from a political family, not the easy choice. The poignancy was undeniable as he took the oath of office the day after we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.; the nation's first black President. And there were over a million people there to see it happen. There was a unity in that crowd that I've never before experienced outside of church. There was a sense of hope and this swelling of pride that we, as a nation, might possibly become what we'd always hoped we could be.



This is a dark time in this country, and it has been for a long time, I think. September 11th really rocked our sense of self; our sense of justice and security and all that is right. It turned the country on its head, and I think that as a nation we've been reeling from that for the past seven-plus years. I remember being on my way to Panamá when the war in Iraq started, and going back to Panamá the day of the infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech - let's just say that in the six years since then, my own perception of my country has changed, and our image abroad has, too. I'm not saying that it's exclusively Bush's fault, because I think that there were several issues that led to this phenomenon, but it feels like there might be hope to make the US more like what we'd like her to be. Does that make sense?



I mean, I am not the most patriotic person - wait. That's kind of what I'm trying to say. There has been a narrowing of what it means to be patriotic, and it's not the first time in our history that it's happened. My particular brand of patriotism involves a critical look at our nation, at our shortcomings and sins, and the courage to dream of something better for this country. Something like mercy and justice and inclusion and grace. And standing on that mall in that crush of people, I felt like I wasn't alone in that hope. Standing there, in that crowd of a million plus, I thought: "This is what democracy is about; this is what it feels like to believe that your voice has been heard. This is what it's like to believe that the people of a nation can truly bring change."
I think this is what Barack Obama has been about: about bringing the outsiders in, about opening the lines of dialogue so that it's not just a select few who can say what's what in Washington. I hope and pray that it's something that he can carry through his presidency. He has started a movement that I hope continues.
There's this: as I watched Barack Obama take that oath, I felt, for the first time since I left elementary school, that I really can make it. I felt like this really is the land of opportunity. Here's this man who looks nothing like any president before him, who's been on the outside, who's young and brash and different, and HE MADE IT. This nation chose him. I can't even explain the kind of hope that gives me as a Latina, that someday my children, with all their differences might dream those same big dreams and see them come to pass; that they won't have to assimilate and speak only English and straighten and dye their hair to make it. It makes me feel like this really is MY America, too.



There are some who will say I'm being melodramatic, and maybe I am, but that's what I felt on the Mall on January 20th. There was a sense of unity and hope and pride (in its best form) in the city that day, and it made my heart full. I pray that Barack Obama would lead with that same hope and unity that I felt that day.

¡Sí se puede!

Yes, we can. Yes, we did. People showed up, people voted, and Barack Obama is our president-elect. I watched election coverage and waited for the results. They trickled in, and just when I thought it couldn't possibly be that easy, it turned out that they called the race. Who knew? The polls were pretty much on point. I sat on that couch next to B., wondering which states had tipped the balance, watching the crowd in Grant Park cry and cheer, and I just shook. I shook because I knew I was watching something so much greater than me, greater than B., greater than Barack Obama himself. This is another step in that march towards a more perfect union, towards equality and justice in this nation. This is part of the history of this nation - a point on the broken road - and a step towards the future. It's taken me a while to put my thoughts in order. I mean, of course, I'm thrilled that Obama won because I voted for him, but this goes beyond that.
I feel like I'm standing on the verge of this swell of public participation, like there is this lovely hope visible on the horizon, like I'm part of this unbelievable mobilization to make this nation MY nation. Does that make sense? I'm a part of this. Besides my $25 contribution to the campaign, my attendance at a rally, my Obama t-shirts, and my vote; I am now expected to participate in this change. It's an invitation that resonates with me as I'm studying community development; I mean, this is what I want to do. I want to participate and I want to invite others to do the same. Barack Obama makes me feel like I can do just that - like it's my patriotic duty to do so. This is my nation, my government: by the people, for the people....

And then there's the obvious: this issue of race, of knocking down this barrier, of making me believe that this country can really begin to heal the deepest wounds of race and ethnicity.... This is the idealist in me talking, I'm sure. I don't by any means believe that this proves that race is no longer an issue. I'm too smart and too brown to believe such foolishness; this will not change overnight with Barack Obama, but there's something visionary about it. This is the nation taking the steps necessary in a post-civil rights movement era - an era characterized by a change in demographics. Power is not going to be centralized soley in the hands of the old money, WASP establishment. The outsider has found his way into the White House. It's the kind of thing that brings hope to a fellow outsider.

This is a beautiful thing, the verge of something greater.



Four years ago, a coworker told me that at church they prayed for candidate that they were supporting and also prayed for the opposing candidate. Today, post-election, I remember that story and I pray:

I pray for Barack Obama and his beautiful family. I pray that he will have the grace and humility to create relationships and partnerships that will benefit the nation and the world at large; I pray that he will have the wisdom and discernment to make sound decisions; I pray that he will have the strength and courage to stand by his convictions. I pray that God will keep him and his family safe.

I pray for John McCain. I pray that he will continue to be a man known for working across party lines; that he will continue to be gracious; that he would have the foresight and the vision to keep working for change in Washington. He is a good man, too.

I pray for Bush. I pray for wisdom in these final months of presidency. It struck me today that he can't possibly feel very good about himself in light of record low approval ratings, so I pray for him....

Today's the day!

Go Barack the vote!

Or vote.

Whatever....

Do it.

Tomorrow's the big day. I mentioned Barack Obama here in early March of 2007, which pretty much makes this the longest campaign EVER. That's about a year and a half ago! But this is the last day of that longest political season, and to be quite honest I'm ready for it to get there.
I already cast my absentee ballot, and I know countless others who have done the same. For the rest of you, go out and vote! Y'all know where my sympathies lie, but the important thing is to actually make it to your polling place and vote. Whatever your politics, whatever your issues, take your stand. It does matter; the last few races have been a testament to what a few thousand votes can do.
When I think about all that people have suffered in this country so that they could vote, it makes me feel like voting is not just my privilege, but my responsibility. As a woman, I have to recognize the long battle of the suffragettes who marched and were often arrested to have their voices heard. As a woman of color, I have to look at the struggles of African Americans who were disenfranchised first by slavery and then by Jim Crow laws that prevented them from exercising their legal rights. Theirs was a double struggle, and we should honor that as fellow minorities, by voting. Finally, as a Latina, I feel like it is important for me to vote because so many of my people cannot vote because of immigration issues or citizenship issues (not exactly the same thing). I vote for the millions who came before me who could not. I vote for the millions around me now who still cannot.

Besides, I'm ready for change. ¡Sí se puede!


Here, Ben and I demonstrate a little Democrat/Republican tension; though this is not our actual situation, I would like to say that I still talk to staunch Republicans on a daily basis, and they're not all bad people. ;) There's hope for bipartisan conversation!



Represent! Gotta give it to Obama's marketing team - Puerto Ricans love ANYTHING with our island and our flag on it. I begged for this shirt, folks. That is dedication!

Oh, that Sarah Palin!

Seriously? This woman? The Republicans couldn't find a better candidate for VP for the oldest freakin' presidential candidate EVER?!



Oh, but she's funny, in a not on purpose kind of way.

"Think of this face"

Thank you, Sarah Palin. Ever since you came into my life, SNL has been funny again. Of course, that's all I can really say about that.


PS You want to kick some of that $150000 my way? Not for clothes, just that I've got some bills to pay.... Thanks.

My brain is fried

So I was doing a little preliminary research on the topic I want to pursue for my Urban Politics midterm - the role of Latinos in Philadelphia politics - but I'm having a hard time finding some real data. I mean, in a city that was 8.5% Latino almost 9 years ago (we all know that's gone up) I find it hard to believe that there isn't more information about mobilizing the Latino community (about 75% Puerto Rican, so don't give me the "they can't vote" argument!) to take political action. Hmmm... Just makes me think, is all. I think I'll find info, it'll just take a bit of legwork, and it's a topic I'm interested in, so I'll do what I have to do.

In lighter news, I was sitting here, calmly looking for information, when I felt something tickling my arm. I looked down and there was this huge brown spider just crawling along. I don't normally have a problem with spiders, but I do have an issue with them invading my personal space, and my skin is definitely my personal space. I swept it off, and it fell to the floor, and now I'm a little creeped out by this bold little arachnid just crawlin' around. I don't want to swallow it in my sleep....

Inmigración - Europa y las Américas

"Papeles Mojados" by Chambao
Here we have a song about illegal immigration to Spain. She's saying "What would you do in their shoes?" There's all this injustice, poverty, war, disease.... Wouldn't you risk it, too? Many don't make it, but those who do just want a better life. And across the pond....

"Mojado" by Ricardo Arjona and Intocable
Same story, different continent.

I could throw in "Visa para un sueño" by Juan Luis Guerra and it'd still be the same, with a slightly different geographical focus (DR-PR). The thing is, it sucks to be the stranger in every case. There are valid reasons for this movement of people, and though it can't continue unchecked, closing borders does nothing to resolve the underlying problems (economic and political instability, injustice, poverty, violence, disease, etc.).

Band-aids aren't enough.

Change

What. A. Day.

I will not go into details, but it started well, went downhill once I got home, took me to hell, and now I'm flying because of Barack Obama.

He makes me happy.

Yes, we can!

I was thinking last night of all I've seen in my twenty-five years:
Records, tapes, cds, and mp3s.
The birth of the Internet.
September 11th.
Wars.
Record high gas prices.
Leggings. Twice.
And now THIS: A Democratic primary between a Biracial man and a white woman. And then, my man Obama clinches the number of delegates necessary to win the nomination. Seriously amazing. Even more amazing than the return of the legging. ;)

Anyway, I'm happy about it. Happy birthday to me from the Democratic party!

Primaries

Hoy se vota en Puerto Rico. A todos los boricuas: ¡salgan a votar!

Come on Barack Obama!

Political and disjointed

If you're not into politics, go ahead and skip over this one.
I've been thinking about this for a long time now and last night's primaries in WV kind of compelled me to put this out there.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room for a minute, shall we?

Race matters. It matters a lot and to a lot of people. This is not to say that we can't all get along or that we should segregate or whatever. We can have friends of different races and ethnicities and still be aware of those differences. We'd be lying if we said we weren't.

Mattering and discriminating are two different things, though, and I think both come into play in this long primary season. I think there's this deep fear in some parts of the country, in the hearts of many people of all races and ethnicities that a minority won't "make it" in the White House. Not necessarily that they won't make it IN, but that they won't do a fair job.

I keep hearing comments like this from coworkers here in liberal Northern VA, so I can only imagine what it's like in, say, Podunk, WV (not that I don't like WV - you know - it's wild and wonderful...) where people are a little more conservative.

But here's why I love me some Barack Obama:

I'm a brown woman. Bicultural, bilingual, not quite one thing and not quite the other. I have a sneaking suspicion he GETS that. You have to be black or brown or any shade of off-white to get what it's like to live that. Not that there aren't plenty of wonderful, compassionate, progressive Whites out there, just that they will never know what it's like to walk in another person's skin, in a different shade of skin. And that's okay.

That said, I think it's high time I had someone in government who could see things from a similar perspective. Someone who moves just as easily among mainstream White America as he/she does among minorities; someone who gets the nuances of representing an entire group of people; someone who can inspire us to be a more united and representative nation. There's a part of me, that idealistic part, that still believes in the democratic process and the beauty of representation, and I FEEL that from Barack Obama in a way that I don't feel it from Hilary Clinton.

This is a nation where if you are not White, you will always be an ethnic or racial label FIRST, hence this connection with the racial minority and not with the woman. Maybe I'm crazy, but this is what I'm feeling. I can get behind Obama's politics, I connect to what he's saying, and I know that he knows what life is like on the outside. That's important to me.
I can get behind Clinton's politics to an extent, but I don't connect to her the way I do with Obama. She doesn't get that outsider thing.

And it's the same way when it comes to Washington. Seriously, do I want a nineties flashback, a repeat of the GWB years, or something FRESH? I want a change. Someone who isn't dragging mid-nineties Washington baggage.

I think last night in WV proved that a lot of people aren't willing to look past what they know. Mejor es el diablo conocido - Better to deal with the evil we already know. At the same time, I believe there's a level of racial discrimination at play.... Ultimately, skin is skin. We all know this. But that skin is charged with so much meaning in this country and it's one of those status quo things that people just can't get past.

I pray that this country can come out of these racial and ethnic divides someday. I pray that we'll embrace our differences and forgive eachother for past mistakes. I pray that these elections and the shifting demographics don't serve to revive waves of supressed racial/ethnic issues.

I've been thinking a lot about racial reconciliation, lately, about how necessary it is, about how much I would like to be involved in that type of work.... I swear, I'm not militant. I just won't ignore this. I won't sit back and say that I don't see what I see or feel what I feel.

I've been out with men of other races and ethnic groups and been stared down. I've been called names and insulted. I've borne the burden of my people on my shoulders. I know that collective pain.

Ay, pero mi lindo Jesús, tú que tanto amas a tu pueblo, y a la nación que te ruega por guianza y ayuda, sana estas heridas. Trae una reconciliación, y recuérdanos que tú te manifiestas en la bella diversidad que has creado.

Potomac Tuesday

Eight years ago, on a day like today, I cast my first vote. I was seventeen, and was going to turn eighteen in time for the presidential elections, and was thus qualified to vote in the primaries. I remember going to the polling station with my mom and showing my license, then going into the booth and casting my vote.... I felt like an integral part of the democratic process.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm Latin: I understand corruption in ways that most Americans can't. I don't for a minute believe that the process is without flaw, but I still believe in the importance of participating. I believe in that moment of making a decision and standing for something you agree with. I cast my vote, and I cast my voice. This is what I believe. I believe that this person can represent my interests and the interests of the nation as a whole.
So I voted today, Potomac Tuesday, they called it. It was the day for the DMV's primary (for all those outside the region: D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) and I went, despite the fact that I'm in the process of moving, despite the fact that we were getting some freezing rain, despite the fact that I've lost my voice. I got my little sticker - a badge of honor - and went home feeling like a model citizen.
The funny thing, I remember how excited I was that first time, eight years ago, and I swear, I was just as excited this time around. It's always that exciting for me. It's that democratic process, that being a part of decision making, that I love.
The process and Obama.... ;)
Hope y'all voted....

Sí se puede

This made my day today:



I heart me some Barack Obama....

Mmm... Obama

So besides the fact that I have a serious crush on Barack Obama (the sexiness, people!), this speech is pretty brilliant.
Who else can't wait for 2008?!