Gloria Anzaldia Borderlands La Frontera The New Mestiza Srp THIRD So) ou At Brie How to Tame a Wild Tongue we're going to have to contol he denis says, pulling out al the metal fom my ‘mouth, Siver its plop and take Int the basa. My mouth is ‘motherlod. your tongue? ‘The dentist ie clening out my soot. get a whl of the stench when Tsp, "Tea e4p that tooth ye, you're sll drainage say, We're going to have 10 do Something about your tongue T hear the anger rising in his ‘ole My tongue keeps pushing ou the wads of coton, pushing back the dll the lng thin needles “T've never sea anything 28 song oF as stubborn’ he says. And think, how do you ame 1 wld tongue, ain Keo be que, how do you beidle and side 1 How do you rake ie dowa? / so yt bigs pope of it angage kets an wa™ (SUE Goa it 1 remember being caught speaking Spanish at recest—that was good for thre ks on the knuckes witha sharp flee. 1 emember being sent wo the corner ofthe classroom fo “talkog back" tothe Anglo teacher when all wa trying todo was tell het how to pronounce my name. “Ifyou want tobe Amerie, speak ‘American’ If you dot ike i, go back to Mexico where You belong: want you to speak English, Pa"balar buen taba nes que saber hablar el inglés bien. Qué vale toda tu educacin stoz ow toTane + WH Tonge How wTame a Wd Tongue todavia bablas igiée com wn ‘accen:” my mother would ‘mortied that I spoke Hglsh ike a Mexican. At Pan American University, andl Chicano students were requied tote two speech classes. Tele purpose: to get sid of our accents ‘Atacks on one's form of expression with the inten to cen sor area volition of the estAmendment. Anglo om cara de fnocente nos arvancé la lengua, Wid tongues exn't be ned, they can oaly be eu out. in boca cerada no entran moscas “les don't enter & closed months saying kept hearing when Iwas acid. Sor hnabladora was to be & gossip and ltr, 0 talk t00 much, ‘Muchacbitas bien eradas, welt bred gis doa't answer back. Ee tuna falta de respeto to talkback to one’s mother of fathee. 1 remember one ofthe sins Fd rete to the pees inthe confession box the few times I went conesion: talking back tomy mot ct bablar pa’ rd, epelar Hoccona,repelona, cfemons bi Inga big mouth, questioning, exrying tes are al signs of being ‘mat crlada. tary eltre they at all words tht ate derogatory ‘applied to women—ve never heard them applied 1 men, ‘The Mest tne I heard two women, 4 Puerto Rican and 2 Cuba, say the word “nosomas Iwas shocked. I had po known the word existed, Chcanas te nortror whether we'e male ot female. We are robbed of our female being by the masculine plural Language isa male discourse. ‘And our tongues have become fry the wilderness has “ried out our tongues and ‘we have forgotten speech, Irena Kiephise? [ven our own people, other Spanth speakers nos quleren poner eandados ela boea They Would bold us back with thee bag of elas de academia. SORRBBRBRBBBEBEBEACESBBEBEECECEECeCeCeaeaeaaeaaagaagcagcen«. (Oyé como lara: el lenguafe de le frontera Quien tine boca se equtvoca, Mexican saying “Focho, cultural taltor, you'r speaking the oppessor's an sage By speaking Enulsh, you're rain the Spanish language” have been accused By vaious Latinos and Latinas, Chicano Spanish s considered by the puis and by most Latinos deficient, ‘Xmutlation of Spanish ‘BUC Chicano Spanish isa border tongue which developed ‘atu. Change, evolucion, enriguecimiento de palabras tiueoas por invencién adopelon have created vatans of Chicano Spanish, wn nuevo Lenguaje. Un longuate ue corre sponde a tn modo de vive Chicano Spanish is not tacorsec, ‘saving language. Fora people who are aether Spanish nor live aa country in ‘whlch Spanish isthe fst language; fora people who lve in & ‘country in which English is the relgaing tongue but who are ot “Anglo; for a people who cannot entirely Kenly with ether tan. ard ormal, Castilian) Spanish oe standard Engi, what ecole I eft o them but o ereate their own language’ Alan ‘guige which they can connec thelr Kent to, one capable of ‘communicating the reales and values true fo themscives—alan- spoage with terms that ae nelter espaol nf igi, but both. We pesca patos, a forked tongue,» variation of two languages. ‘Chicano Spanish sprang out of the Chicanor need olden 4y ourselves as a dinct people. We needed a language with ‘hich we could commanicite with ourscles, acre langue, For some of us, language is a. homeland closer than the ‘Soutnwest—for many Chicanos tody ive in the Midwest and the East. And because We are «complex, heterogencous people, We speak many languages. Some ofthe languages we speak ae: 1. Standard Engl 2 Working cas and shog English 5. Standard Spanish 4, Standard Mestean Spanish 5 6 ‘North Mexian Spanish dialect Chicano Spanish Texas, New Meco, Araona and Calorna ave eptonal variations) 7. Tees 8. Pachuco celled cao)« My home’ tongues are the languages speak with my site and brothers, with ay fiends, They ae the last fire Usted, with and 7 being closes to my hear. From school, the media and fob tuations, Ive picked up standard and working class English From Mamagrande Locha an from reading Spanish and Mexican literature, ve picked up Standard Spanish and Standard Mesian Spanish From lor recién Uegados, Mexican immigrants, and ‘racers, Learned the North Mesian dect. With Mexicans I, ley to speak elther Standard Mexican Spanish or the North Mexican ‘dalect. From my parents and Chicanos living In the Villy | picked up Chicano Texas Spanish, and I speak ie with ny ‘mom, younger brother (Who mastied 2 Mexican and who early ‘mixes Spanish wit Engi, auns and oder slaves. ‘With Chicanas from Mteno Mésico or Arizona I wl speak CCieano Spanish ltl, but often they don’t wndertand what rm saying. With most California Chictae I speak entcey in ‘ngs (less forged), When I fit moved to Sn Francisco, 1 ral off something in Spanish, unintentionally embarrsting them, Often tis only with another Chicta ean that I can ale freely. Words distorted by Kaglsh are Known as angicims or ‘bochlsmos. The pocbo isan anglicized Mexican or American of ‘Metican ofigin who speaks Spanish with an accent characters ‘of Nom Americans and who dots and reconstruct the la fgunge according to the influence of English? Tex Mex, or Spanglish, comes most aturly to te. 1 may switch back tad {or rom English to Spanish in the same sentence or in the sme ‘word. With iy sister and ny brother None and with Chicano fefano contemporaies I speak in Tex Mex. rom kids and people my own age I picked up Pachuca -Pacbuco (te language of the 2001 were ira lange of rebel Hoa, both agatnst Standerd Spanish and Standard English I secret langage. Adults of the culture and outsiders cannot “understand ic Ils made up of sang words from both English nd Spanish. uca means girlor woman, wato means guy or dade, bate means no, simn sneuss yes, cbtro is sire, talk is pertqutay, piglonear means petting, que gacho means how ‘etd, ponte dguiia means watch out death ls called la pelona ‘hrodgh lick of practice and nt having others wh can speak ve lost most ofthe Racbuco tongue Chicano Spanish Chicanos, ater 250 yeats of Spanist/Anglo colonization have developed signin derences in the Spanish we speak, We co! lapse two adacent vowels nto a single lable and sometimes shit the stress in cetala woeds such 28 mate/mats cobete/ ‘ete We leave out certain consonants when they appear berween ‘vowel lade/la, mojada/mojao, Chicanos rom South Teas pro- nounced fs n ue Que). Chicanos use areal word tht ae no longer in the Spanish langue, words that have been evolved out. We sy semos, true, Daiga,ansing and natden. We retin the “achat nfalar tht derives from an eater, (he Trench balar othe Germanic bafon which was lst to standard Spanish inthe 16h century), but which ssl found Ia several ‘eplonal dalets such 28 the one spoken In South Texas. Due 19 ‘eograpiy, Chicanos fom the Waly of South Tenas ese cu off linguistically fom other Spanish speakers. We tnd to use words ‘hat the Spann brought over from Medieval Sala. The major ty ofthe Spanish colonizers in Mexico and the Southwest came fom Extremadira—Hernia Cortés was one of them—and Andalucia. Andalucans pronounce ike a snd thet ds end to be absorbed by adcent vowels: srado becomes tran, They brought of lenguaje popular daletosyreionatismos®) ‘Chicanos and other Spanish speakers alo shift toy and -£10.65 We leave out lll sylabes, saying tar for eta, oy for ‘estoy bora for abora (cubanas and puertorrguefios aio leave ‘ut initial Lees of some words) We also leave out the finals ble sich spa for para The nervoclc the Wasi tort, lla, ote, pee repaced by tortia ot forte, ea, botea. We add at addtional syllable st the beginning of certain words: tocar for Toca agasta for gastar Sometines we'll ny Iwate las vaca, ‘othe ties avares sting the ates verb endings forthe ate). ‘We use anglcims, words borrowed from English: bola om boa carpet fom expe, machina de lavarCnstend of lavado- 1 tom washing machine. Tex-Mex agot, created by adding 2 Spanksh sound at the bepining or end of xn Bnglsh word sch 5 cooblar for cook, watchar for wate, parkar for path, and raplar for expe, isthe resul ofthe presses on Span speak fs to adapt to Bog. We don't wse the word eosotos/as of is accompanying vet form, We dot sy claro (to mean yes), fmaginat, oF mea oto + Wis Tongue ‘emoctona, unless we picked up Spanish from Latinas, out of ‘ook, or na clstroom. Other Spanish speaking groups ae going, through the sume, or similar, development in thei Spanish Linguistic Terrorism Destenguadas, Somos foe dst expafiol deficient. We ate your linguistic nightmare, your lngustle aberration, your Tinguste mestizje, the subject of your bura. Because we speak wil tongues of fire we are coltrally cracifed Racial cturly and linguistically somos budrfanos—we speak an orphan tongue, Chicnas who grew up speaking Chicano Spanish have inter alized the belief hat we speak poor Spanish. Its legitimate, « ‘sad language. An bechise we internalize how our language has been uted agains us bythe dominant cltre, we use Ou an ‘nue diferences against cach other. ‘Chicana feminists ofen skirt around each other with ssp clon and hesitation. For the longest ne T coulda figure I ut ‘Then it dawned on me. To be close to another Chicana i ke Tooking into the mieror We are afd of what well se there ‘Pena Shame. Low estimation of tell In childhood we ace tok that our language fe wrong. Repeated atacks on our mative tongue diminish our sense of sel The atacks continue through ‘ou our es. ‘Cleans feel uncomfortable talking in Spanish to Latinas, afeald ofthe censure, Thel guage ws not outlawed in their ‘ouities, They had a whole Metime of being immersed in their fave tongve; generation, centuries in which Spanish was & fe language, aught in school head on radio and TV, and ead Inthe newspaper a person, Chicana or Latina, basa Jow estimation of my tve tongue, the alto has low estimation of me, Often with smestcanas 7 latinas wel speak Boglsh 284 neu language rea among Chicanas we tend to speak Eaglsh at partes or con- erences, Yet, athe same time, we're fad the other wil thik ‘we're agringadas because we don't speak Chicano Spanish. We ‘oppress each other trying to out Chicano each other, vying tobe the “teal” Chlcenas t0 speak lke Chicanos. There is no one ‘Chicano language just ae there Is no-one Chicano experience. A ‘mogoaguat Chicana whose fst language is Bosh or Spanish Is just ar much a Chicana as one wo speaks several viints of, Spanish, A Chicana fom Michigan or Chieago or Dero sus as siuch a Chicana as one fom the Southwest. Chesno Spanish is 5 diverse linguistically a Its cegooaly By the end ofthis century, Spanish speakers wil comprise the biggest mnodty group inthe US, a county where stents {In hgh schools and colleges are encouraged to take French clase ‘et because French is considered more “eultred” But fr Ian. [Boage co remain live ft must be sed By the end ofthis cent. Fy English, and not Spanish, wil be the mother tongue of most. ‘Chicanos and Latinos, $0, i you want to realy hurt me, talk bay about my las ‘eugene ent tein akin to HnguisteWendey—1 am my Tanguage. Unt I can tke pride in my language, 1 ent tke Drlde in mysef. Uni Tean accept 2 legitimate Chicano Texas Spanish, TexMex and all the other languages 1 apeak, 1 cannot accept the legitimacy of myself. Until 1am fee to wete bili ipaly and to rwtch codes without having always to translate, ‘while sil have to speak Eaglsh oe Spanish when I would rather Speak Spanglish, and as long as 1 have to accommodate the English speakers eater than having them accommodate me, ny tongue wil be legitimate wil no longer be made to fel ashamed of existing, wit ‘nave my voice! Tndlan, Spanish, white. Iwill have my serpen’s tongue—my woman's voice, my sexual vole, my poe’ voice. 1 ‘wll overcome the wadton of sence. My Angers move against your palm ke women everywhere, we speak in code “=Melanie Kaye/Kantrowits? “Vistas” corridos, y comida: My Native Tongue In the 1960, 1 read my fest Cheano novel. It was Gib of _nigr by John Ree, a gay Texan, son of a Scotts father and a Mexican mother. Por days I walked around in stunned amaze: ‘ent thit a Chicano could wite and could got published. When Tread [Am Joaquin’ C was surprised to see a bling book by BPREEEEERERERERERERELARARALALEREREEE EEE EE ES‘Chleano in print, When I saw poetry writen lnTexex forthe fs time, a feling of pure joy flashed uvough me. 1 fel ike we realy existed a8 a people. In 1971, when T started teaching High School English to Chicano studeats, [uled to aupplement the quite texts with works by Chicanos, only tobe reprimanded nd forbidden to do so bythe principal. He claimed that ¥ was ‘upposed to teach “American and English tera. At the risk Of belog fred, T swore my stdents to secrecy and sipped in ‘Chicano short stories, poems, a play. In graduate school, while ‘wotking toward a PRD, {had to “argue” with one advisor ater the other, semester ater semester, before Twas allowed to make (Chicano lneratute an ates of fous ‘ven before I read books by Chicanos or Mexleans, ¢ wat the Mexican movies I saw at the divein—the Thursday night special of $10 a crload—that gave me a seme of beionglog. “Faomonos a las vistas” my mother would eall Out and Weel all—grandmother, brothers, ster and cousins—squeeze lato the car Weld woif down cheese and bologna white bread stnd- ‘wiches whlle watching Pedro Infante in melodramatic tear er ke Nosotrs os pobres, the first real” Mexican movie hat ‘was aot an imitation of European moves). remember seeing Cuando foe bile ge van and sormising tat ll Mexican movies played up the tove 4 mother fas for her children and. what Uogeatefl sons and daughters sutler whea they are not devoted to their mothers, I remember the singlogiype “westers" of Jonge Negrete and Miguel Aceves Meja, Whea watching Mexican, ‘movies, I fet 2 sense of homecoming 28 weil as alienation People who were t amount to something didn't go to Mexican tovie, or ballet or tune tei adios to Boer, rancheria, and condo ese "The whole time I was growing up, there was norteio mosle sometines called North Mexican border music, of Tex Mex ‘musi, of Chicano muse, or cantina bat) must. 1 ew up Us {ening to confuntos, three of fouspece bands made up of folk ‘musilans plying guitar, bajo sexto, drums and button accor ion, which Chicanos had borrowed from the German lmm- irate who had come to Central Texas'and Mexico to fm and bull brewerles. Ia the Rlo Grande Vale, Steve jordan and Lisle Joe Hernindez were popular, and lao Jiménez was the aor dion king, The sys ofTex Mex musi ate those of the polka, ko adapted from the Germans, wo in turn had borrowed the polka fom the Caeche and Rois. T remember the hot, sultry evealngs whes eorridor=songs of love and deith onthe Texas Mexican borderiands-reverberat 4 ou of cheap ampliers from the lace cantinas and wated in though fy bedroom window. CCorridos first became widely used along the South Texas’ Mexican border dusing the exly conflict between Chicanos and Anglos. The corridos are usally about Mexiean heroes who do ‘allant deeds aginst the Anglo oppressors. Pancho Vil's song, "La cucaracha; is the most famous one. Corrdos of Join E Keanedy and his death are sll very popular inthe Valley. Oder Chicanos remember Iya Mendoza, one of the great bordet Corrido singers who was caled la Gloria de Tejas Het El tango nero sung doing the Great Depression, made her a singer of the people. The eterpresent corridas narrated one hundred years of border history, bringing news of events as wells ene {aining. These folk musicians and folk songs are our eet eta mythmakers, 2nd they nade our ard lves sem bearable {grew up feling ambivalent about our misc, Country ‘western and foceandoll had more satus, Inthe 506 and 608, forthe slightly educated and agringado Chicanos, there existed 4 sease of shime a being caught listening to our music. Yet | couldn't stop my fet from thumping tothe musi, could not ‘op humming the words, noe hie fom myself the extlaation Tete when I heard i "Tere are more subtle ways that we internalize Keatifcs ‘on, especialy inthe forms of images and emotions. For me food and ceria smell are ed vo my iden, to my homeland ‘Woodsmoke curing upto an immense bse sky; woodsmoke per- fuming my grandmother's clothes, her ski. The seach of cow manure and te yellow patches onthe ground; the crack ofa 22 ‘fle and the reek of corte. Homemade white cheese sizing pan, meting inside a folded tori My sister Hd hot, spy ‘emudo,cble colorado making it deep ted peces of para 200 ‘hominy lating ontop. My beer Cartobasbeculg fajita a the backyard. Even now and 3,000 sles away, Tcan sce my ‘other spleing the ground bee, pork and venison with ie, MY ‘mouth states at the thought of the hot steaming tamales 1 ‘would be eating iT were home,How toTane al Tonge ‘Ste preguntas a mi mamd, “Qué erest™ “Idgnuy isthe essential core of who ‘we ae as inlvduals, the conscious ‘experience ofthe si inside” “alan? Nosotros Jos Chicanos stra the forderlands, On one side ‘of us, we ate constantly exposed to the Spanish ofthe Mexicans, ‘on the other side we ear the Anglos incessant clamoring so that ‘we forget our language. Among ouseves we don't say nosotros Ios americanos, 0 nosotros Ios expafioles, 0 nosotros lo bis ‘panos We sy nosotros tos mextcanos (by mexicanas we 60 0h ‘ean cizeas of Mexico; we do not mean a national ident, but 4 vac one). We distinguish between mesfeanas del otro lado find mextcanos de ete lado. Deep in ous hearts we believe that being Mexican has nothing todo with which country one lives In. Belg Menican a sat ofoul—not one of mind, not one of ‘lizensip. Neither eagle aor serpent, Dut both And lke the ‘ocean, nether animal respects borers Dime con quien andas yt dir€ quien ers (Fell me who your fiends are and 1 tell you who yousre) ~ Mexiea saying Si le preguntas a mt mand, “ZQué ers? te dirt, “Soy ‘mesicana” My brothers and sister say the same. 1 someimes ‘wll answer “toy mexieana’and a others will ry “79 Chicana ("4oy tejana’ Bot {ented as Raza” before I ever Mentied ‘5 “meslcana” or “Chicana” “Ara culture, we call ourselves Spanish when referring to ‘ourselves a linguistlc group and when copping out. It then tat og our predominant genes, We a 70 80% Indan'We cat ourselves Hispanic!" or SpanisyAmericn or [atin American of Lata when linking ourselves to other Spanish peaking peoples ofthe Western hemisphere and when copping ‘out. We call ourselves Mexican America’ to signify we arene: ther Mexican aor American, bu moce the noua "American than the adjective “Mexican (and when copping 0. How tories We Tongue Chicanos and other people of color sutler economical for fot culating, This voluntary (jet forced) alienation makes for paychologeal conflict, a kind of dl deity —we don't iden. ‘iy withthe AnglosAmerican cutua valves and we don't totally entity with dhe Mexican cultural values We arc a synergy of ‘ro cultures with valous degrees of Mexleaaness or Anglos. have so intralized the borderland conflict that sometimes T feel ike one cancels ou the other and we ate 2ef0, nothing, no (one. neces no Soy nada nt nade Pero basta cuando nolo sy, lose ‘When not copping out when we know we afe more than nothing, we call ourselves Mexican, refering force and ances ‘ty; mestizo when afemiog both our Indian and Spanish Cou we Ihray ever own our Black ances); Chicano when referring to 2 polltcally aware people boen and/or raised in the US; Rasa len eft to Cctos anor hen we re Chicanos om CChictnos didnot know we were a people until 1965 when (Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers unite and JA oaautn was published and la Raza Unida party was formed in Texts. With that recognition, we became a distinct people. Something ‘momentous happened tothe Chicano soul—we became aware of ‘our realty and aequred a name and a language (Chicano Spanisy that reflected that reality Now that we had & name, ome ofthe iagmented pieces began to fill together—wit We were, what we were, how we had evolved. We began to pet slinpses of what we might eventually become Yet the struggle of identities continues, the struggle of bor ‘ers sour reat stl. One day the inner struggle wil ease and ‘tue integration ak place. lathe meantine, tenemos que bac fra tucba.ZQuién etd proteplando los ranchos de mi genie? Qulén estd tratando de cerrar la flsura entre ta india’) eb btanco en muesra sangre? Bl Chica, el Chicano que anda ‘como wn ladvan en su propia casa. os Chcenes, bow paint we seem, how very pet ‘Theres the gue ofthe Inn about us We know how to su. vive When othe ies have ea up her ong, weve Kop bus. We know what ote under the hammer ow ofthe Sominan norteamerlean cre. Bi tore than We cont the Blows we count the day he wesk the yes the centurls the POCO CTC ERETEETRTRRTAATALARE RET ALE TecereeerehSCCCEC SSeS Sees ‘cons until the white lnws and commerce and customs will on fhe deserts they've created, le bleached Humilds yet proud, (jicton yet will, nosotros for mexicanos Chicanos wil walk by Jrecruablng ashes as we go about our business. Stubborn, per ering, impenetrable as stone, yt possessing a mallesblty that fenders us unbreakable, we, the mestizas and mestizos, wil st5 La conciencia de la mestiza ‘Towards a New Consciousness Dabard ef esprine “José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher, envisaged na raza mestiza, una mezcla de razas afines, una raza de color—la 8 primera raza sintsis dal globo. He ealed it a cosmic race, la ‘raza coomica, «ith tace embracing the for majr races of the ‘world? Opposite tothe theory of the pure Ayan, and to the pok Tey of racial purty that white Ameslea practices, his theory sone of Incisivity. At the confluence of two oF more genetic seams, ‘vith chromosomes constanty “crossing over” tis miature of ‘hoes ater than resulting in 2 lferlo being, provides hybrid progeny, a mutable, ore malleable species wth a rich gene ool. rom this rica, Meologial, cultural and bologleal cross palliation, an allen” consciousness In presently ia the mak Inga new mestiza consciousness, una concienca de mujer t {3 conslousness ofthe Bordesands Por la mujer de mit raza | ‘Una fucha de fonteras/ A Struggle of Borders Because 1, a mastiza, continualy walk ou of one culture and into another, because am in all cultures atthe same time, ‘alma entre dos mundor, tres, cuatro, ‘me stmiba la cabeza con lo contradictorla. sty norteada por todas las voces que me bablan ‘imulaneamente RS RRRAARARRRERRRARARLARLRARARALRLELAURLERRARRLRRLA DR.a a conconca de la mates [Tots New Consclousess ‘Te ambivalence ffom the cish of voices results in mental sand emotional states of perplex. Internal se results in ase turgy and indecaveness. The mestiza’s dual or muliple per Sonali is plagued by peycle restiesmess, n'a constant state of mental nepanlism, an Aztec word meaning tom between way, la mestiza Isa product ofthe tans fer ofthe cult and epritul raves of one group to another Being ticltural, monolingsl, lings, or mullingual, speak Inga patos, and In a sate of perpetual wansion, the mestiza faces the diemma of the mixed breed: which collectivity does the daughter of dakskinned mother listen to? 1H choque ds un alma atrapado entre ol mundo del espn yf mundo de ta tenica a veces la deja entllada. ‘Gadd in ane culture, sandwiched etween two cultures, sta lng all thee cultures and their ile systems, a mestiza under. foes a srugpe of flesh, a struggle of borders an Inner wat. ke Ail people, we perceive the version of realty that our culture ‘communicse, Like others having o living in more than one cul ture, we get multiple, often opposing messages. The coming together of two selfconsistent but habitually tncompatile frames of reference! causes un chogue a cultural colon ‘Within os and within la cultura chicana, commoaly held beliefs of the white culture attack common held bells of the Mexican culture, and both attack commonly held belies of the Indigenous culture, Subconscious, we see an atack on our ‘scnes and ou bell aa threat and we attempt o block with x ‘But Ht not enough to stand on the opposite river bank, shouting question, challenging patriarchal, wie conventions ‘A counterstance locks one into a duel of oppretwor and ‘oppesred; locked in mortal combat, Uke the cop and the erm ia, both ae reduced toa common denominator of violence. Te ‘ounteestance refutes the dominant culture's views and belies, tnd, for thi, is provdly defiant. Al reacton Is mite by, and dependent on, what Is eactingagsnst. Because the counter tance stems from problem with authorigy—outer a8 well as Inner a step towards Uberation from cultural domination, [Buri act «way ofl. At some Point, on Our Way to new consciousness, we wil hae to leave the opposite bank, the split between the to moral combatants somehow healed xo that we acon both shores at once and, at once, see through serpent and censle even. Ot perhaps we will decide to divengage from the ‘ominant culture, write off aogether as lost cause, and ross the border int a wholly new and separate erty. OF we might fo another route, The possiblities are numerous once we decide fo ace and not react. [ATolerance For Ambiguty “These numerous posblties lave fa mestiza floundering in ‘uncharted seas, In perceiving coalicting information and polnts Df view, she is subjected to a swamping of her psyologial bor ers. She bas discovered that she eat hold concepts or ies in Tied boundares, The borders and walls tat are supposed to keep the undesinle ideas owt are entrenched habits and pat terns of behavior, these habit and pattern are the enemy with in Rgity means death. Only by remaining flexible i she able fo stretch the peyhe horizontally and vera. La mestizacon- Stanly has to shit ovt of habla formations, from convergent {hinklng, aaitea reasoning that tends yo use aonalty to Imove toward sage goal (Wester mode), co dvergent thinks ing! charecerzed by movement sway from set patterns and foils and toward a more whole perspective, one that includes father dan excldes "The new meta copes by developing a tolerance for con ‘eadctions tolerie for ambyguty-She leans tobe an Indian in Mekican cute, to be Mexican from an Anglo pont of view. She learns to juggle colores. She has 2 plural pessonality, she ‘operates in a pluie mose—nothing i thrust ou, the good the bad and the vei nothing rejected, nothing abandoned. Not ‘nly does she susttn contractions, she tens the ambivalence Into something le She can be jarred out of amblalence by an intense, and oven painful, emotional event which inverts oF resolves the Imbivatence. Vm not sue exactly how. The work takes place Underground-—riconsciouly 18 work thatthe youl pesforms ‘That fea! point or flcrum, that Juncure where the mestiza sands, s where phenomena tend 0 colle. Is where the por "Slity of uniting al hat is separate occurs, This assembly Is aot fone whete sevefed or separated pleces merely come together Nor sit a balancing of opposing powers. In attempting to work ut t syathesis, the sel has added a thied clement which is{a comcimcia de ta esiea [Toads 2 New Concouiness coment dla mast Towset 4 New Conslousnest {eater than the sum of is severed pats, ‘That thir element ia ‘ew consciousnest—a mestiza consclousness—and though ii 4 source of intense pun, ts energy comes fom continval cre tive motion that keeps breaag down the unitary aspect of ech ‘ew padign. ‘En unas pocascenturas, the ftute wil belong t the mes Hea, Because the fre depends on the hneaking dow of part ‘digms, i depends on the steading of two or more culture. By ‘renting anew mythos—that is, change in the way we percehe realy, the way we see ourselves, and the ways we beliave=ta ‘mestiza creates 2 new consclournes ‘The work of mesiiza consciousness isto break down the subjecrobject dually that keeps her a prisoner and to show in {he flesh and through the images inher Work how daly stray Scended. The answer to the problem between the white ace and the colored, between males and females, es in heling the pit that originates inthe very foundation of our lives, our ele, ‘our languages, our thoughts. A mamive wprooiag of doaltc thinking in the indvidual and collective consciousness Is the beginning of a ong strug, but one thst could, in our best hopes, being ust the end of rape, of violence, of wat a encrucijada | The Crossroads A chicken i being sacrificed at crossroads simple mound of earth smd sine Yor Ea, Yoruba god of indeterminacy, ‘who bleses her cholce of path ‘She begins her journey, Su cuerpo es wna bocacalle. La mestiza has gone fom being the sacrificial goat to becoming the oflciating priestess at the crossroads, [Ass mestiza Ihave no countey, my homeland cast me ot etal countees are mine becuse Tey every woman's tser or Potent lover. (As lesbian Ihave no race, fy own people dl ‘aim me; but Tam all aces because there isthe queer of me in all races) I'am eultreess becruse, as feminist, 1 challenge the collective cultura/teligious male-desived beliefs of Indo- ‘spans and Anglos; yet Iam cltued because tam partipat Ing in the cretion of yet another culture, anew story to explain the world and our participation In new value ystem With mages and symbols that connect us to each other and t0 the planet. Say uamazamstento, am an act of kneadg, of unl Ing and jorning that not only as prodvced both a creature of sirkness and creature of light, Dut alo creature that questions ‘the definitions of ight and dak and gives them new meanings. "We ae the people who lap In the dak, we ae the people ‘on the knees of the gods. In otr ery flesh, (evolution works fut the cash ofclteres. I akes us crazy constantly, but if the ‘enter holds, we've made some kind of evolutionary sep for ‘ward. Nuesra alma ef trabao, the opus, the great alcheleal ‘work: spinal mestzaj, 2 “morphogeness’? an ineviable ‘hfoing. We have become the quickening serpent movement. Indigenous tke corn, like corn, the mestiza isa product of crossresng, designed for preservation under valet of con- ‘dkions. Like an ext of cora—a female seed Seating organ—the ‘mestiza is tenacious, tightly wrapped in the buss of her cute ike emmcls she clings to the cob, wit tlc stalks and song, Dace rot, she holds tghr to the earth—she will survive the croasoads Tavando y romofando el mate on agua de ct despojando el pele. Moliendo, mesteando, amasando,bactendo toras de ‘nasa? She seep the corn in ime, ie swells, softens. With sone taller on metas, she griads the corn, then grinds agin. She reads and moulds the dough, pats the round balls into tortlas, ‘We are the porous rock inthe stone matate squatung onthe ground, We are the rolling pi, of matey agua, a masa harina Somos ef amasti Soma fo molid en el metate ‘Weare the comal aig hot, the hoe tort, dhe huagey mouth ‘We are the coaree rock ‘We ae the grinding motion, the mixed pation, somas ef molcaete ‘Weare the peste, the comin, ajo pitenta TORE RERERERE EERE RE RE RE RE RRR EERE RREEEEEEEEEaaas“ “a conciocla de la mates Toasts x New Consciousness We ae the chile colorado, the green shot that cracks the rock, We wil abide, ‘Hlcamino de la mestiza | The Mestiea Way Cavan deren the sudden contin, the breath ‘ected in andthe ends space, the bows os 4 ols the sky. She deci to go Gown, eens ‘along te roots orcs. Sting trou he Bae se Shakes them wae thre nay muro ie ie touch th et he foreexd, to he one ie ee few bones, fees the es nthe Dut ne She gee trough her buck, keep hex Jounal and sates bok, throws say the mat menage ola heny and they gy nex then the penn fe tert thea She ken ere an opener oat brow pel She pus bons pecs ef ut Duban este feather sake ae recorder the re td sae ack nd she set oto become the comple on er Be stp sto ie freon: Desojand,detganare eit bt a ie here aa ss welght on her back—wich tthe Dgpae fe he ens mother, which the gpg rm he Spates wey Danan fo the anit ‘eo rife dieremating beeen 10 berate, to sigurit, We impuet. she pts hoy tog ae, sows out tee, oot te foes a we a ans omen, hie ben pat o¢ Ugo ote fou noe at stanton os desncuet, embraces age Juke bono enatzda, de a fete agua Tae omc rept with al opp wasn fa ea 4d egos She communes tat rapture dace Sturge She reimerpres tory and, wing nea nein she apes new ms. She adots ew penpecrer eed the datlione, women nd que She stenpien te ee see od inline) for amiga. She wing cine Se fake esl vlneabe to fortgn Way of ecg tnd thang She trends al notions of ay ofthe anlage const She hecomes nual abe to tamara hore es ‘ree, a coyote Into another person. she learns to transform the Small "into the tual Sel Se bace moldeadova de su alma Segin la concepcton que tne de sf misma, ast sed. (Que no se nos olden le hombres "Ti no sives pa nada you're god for nothing. ‘res pra vgia™ “You're nothing but 2 woman” means you are defective, ts ‘opposite isto be un macho. The modern meaning ofthe wort “machismo; as well asthe concept, i actualy aa Anglo laven- ton. For men like my father, being “mtcho" meant being sons {enough to protect and support my mother ands, yet being able to show lov. Today's macho has doubts abou his silty to feed and protect his family. His“machiamo" san adaptation to oppres- sion and poverty and low selesteem. Ris the result of hierarchical male dominance. The Anglo, feling Inadequate tnd Inferior and powerless, displaces or transer thee feelings to the Chicano by shaming him. Ia the Gringo world, the Chictno su fers from excessive humility and settlement, shame of self and slfdeprecation. Around Tatnos he eure frm a sense of language inadequacy and its accompanying dscomrt, ‘with Native American he slfers from racial aanesia which ignores, ‘our common blood, and from gait because the Spanish prt of him took thes land and oppressed them. He has an excessive ‘compensstory hubris when around Mexicans frm the other side. It ovedaysa deep sense of racial shame, ‘The loss ofa sease of dignity and respect in the macho breeds false machismo which leads him to put down women ‘nd even to brualie them. Coensting with is sexe behavior Isa love forthe mother which takes precedence over tht ofall ‘others. Devoted son, macho pig, To wash down the shame of his acts of his very being, and to handle the brute in the mior, he {aks tothe bottle, the snort, the needle, and the i. "Though we understand” the root cases of male hatred and fea, and the subsequent wounding of women, we donot excuse, we do not condone, and we will o longer put wp with i. Fromof LPOGSRAAAALALLLABRLALALLALALALALBLARLALARARLARRARERE ED 1 comcenca dela mestza [Towne New Contcouess the men of our race, we demand the admision/scknowledg meni/dslosue/estimony tht they wound us, violate ut, ate aid of us and of our power. We need them to sty they Wit begin fo eliminate thee haul putdown ways. But more than the words, we demand acts. We sy 10 them We will develop ‘equal power with you and thote who have shamed us es lmperative that mestizas support etch other ia chang: dng the seit elements inthe Mesianadan ile. As long 5 ‘woman is put down, the Indan and the Blak in ll of sis put down. The struggle of the mestiza i above alls feminine. As long los bones think they have to cing maferes and each ‘other tobe men, as long as men are taught tha they ae sper ‘rand therefore culturally favored over la mje as long a tobe 2 ofeja is. thing of derision, there can be no real healing of or payches. Were halfway there—we have such love ofthe Mother, the good mother. The first sep ito uoleaen the puta/rgen ‘dichotomy and to see Coalalopeub-Coaticue In the Mother, Guadalupe Tendemess, a sgn of vulnerability, Is so feared that i Is showered on women with Veta abute and blows, Men, even ‘more than women, are fettered to gender roles, Women least have ad the gusto break out of bondige. Only gay men have hh the courage to expose themselves to the woman nse them and o challenge the curree masculinity, Fve encountered a few Seattered and Isolated geate straight men, the beginnings of & new breed, but they are confused, and entangled with sexe behaviors that dey have not been able to eradeate, We need new masculinity and the new man needs movement “Lmping the males who deviate from the general norm with ‘man, the oppressor, i 2 gross injustice. Asombra pensar que ‘nos bemos quedado en es porn oxcuro donde el mundo encler- ra a las lesblanas. Asombra pensar que hemos, como Jemenisias y lesblanas, carrado nuestros coraxnes a oe bom: ‘bres, a nuestros hermanos los fotos, desberedados y marginales como nosoies. Being the supreme crosses of cures, homer Sexuals hve strong Bonds withthe queer white, Back, Asan, [Naive America, Latino, and with the quer in Tay, Anta sd the rest ofthe planet. We come from all colors, all cases, sil races, al me periods. Our roe Is to lnk people with ach fother—the Blacks with Jews widh Indins With Asane with whites with exraterestiais, 1 0 transfer Ideas and inform tion fom one cuitore to another. Colored homosexuals have nore knowledge of ther cutores; have aways been athe fre front although sometimes in the closed of al ibertion struggles in this county, have suflered more injustices and have survived them despite al odd Chicanos need to acknowledge the polit ‘al and artistic contibutions of theie queer, People, listen to ‘what your otra is sayiog. "The medtzo andthe queer exst a this ime and point on the cvoluonry conti for a purpose. We are a blending that, proves that al blood i ntleately woven together, and that we fre spawned ou of sila sous Somos una gente Hay tanticmasfrontoras ‘que dioiden a a gente, ‘pero por cada frontera ‘ext también un puent. “Gina vldes? Divided Loses, Many women and men of color do aot want to have any dealings with white peopl. It takes too mich Time and energy t9 explain to the dowawardly mobile, white middle cars women that is okay for us to Want to own “posses ‘Sons? never having had any nice firitue on ou dt ors or Stowurey like washing machines. Many feet that whites should help thelr own people fid themsciver of race hatred and fear fst. 1, for one, choose toe some of my energy 10 Serve as mediator. I think we need to allow whites be our alls, ‘Through our iterate, a, corridos, and folktales we must share fur history with them so when they se up committees to help Big Mountla Navas or the Chleano farmworkers or los ‘Meaagenses they wou't tur people avay because of their ‘acl fears and ignorances, They wil come to see that they are ‘ot helping us but flowing our lead. Thdividualy, but algo a aca ent, we need 10 vice our needs. We need t 7 to white society: We need you to accept the fact that Chicanos ae diferent, to acknowledge your rejec tion and egation of ws, We need you fo own theft that you Jooked upon ura Jess han human, that you sole our lands, ourra 1 conclencla de a meric Tac a New Conclusness ‘personhood, out selfrespect. We need you o make publ tex tution: 10 say tha, to compensate for your own sense of dfee. LUveness, you steve for power over us, you erie our history an four experience because It makes You feel pully—you'd rather forget your Beuish acts. T sy you've spl yourself rom minor: ty groups, that you disown us, that your dual conscousness splis off pats of yoursel, transferring the "negative" parts onto 1s. (Where there Is persecution of minortes, there is shadow projection. Where theres oleace and wa, there is epresion (of shadow)To say that you ate afraid of, that to put dltance between us, you wear the mask of contempt, Adit that Mexico Is your double, that she exist inthe shadow of ths country, that ‘we are irrevocably led to het. Gringo, acept the doppeleanget In your psyche. By taking back your collective shadow the int ‘cultural split wil heal And finaly tell ws what you need from ws ‘By Your True Faces We Wil Know You ‘am vsbie—see this Indlanface—yet 1am inwisie,1both blind ther with my beak nose and am their blind spot. Butt exis, we exist. They keto thik T have meted in the pot. But ‘have’, we have’. ‘The dominant wie culture is kiling vs slowly with ts igno- ance, By taking away our selfdetermination, it has made us ‘weak and empty. Asa people we have resisted and we hae taken expedient postions, but we hive never been allowed to develop ‘mencumbered—we have never been allowed to be fay our ‘selves, The when power want us peopl of color to barricade ‘urseves behind our separate teal walls o they ean pk us off ‘one at tine with thelr hidden wespons; to they cin Whitewash tnd distort history. Ignorance splis people, cretesprejaices. ‘Amiaformed people isa subjageted people Before the Chicano and the undocumented worker and the Mexican ffom the other sde can come together, before the ‘Chicano ean have nity with Native Americans and other groups, ‘we need to know the history of ther struggle and they eet ‘know ours. ‘Our mothers, ou sisters and brothers, the guys who Fang out on street comers, the children in he playgrounds, each ‘of must know our Indian ineage, our alo mertagl, ous hie tory of resistance URDU RRRD RRR URDUURREE REITER) ‘To the immigrant mexicano and the recent arsvals We must teach out history. The 80 millon mesieanos and the Latinos ftom Cental and Sout Ameriea must know of our stages. Tach one of ws must kaow basi facts about Nictagua, Chile and the ret of Lan Amerie. The Tataost movement (Chicanos, Pesto Ricans, Cubune and other Spanish speaking people work: Ing together to combit racial dscrinnation inthe macketplace) Is ood ut it snot enough. Other than 2 common euture we full have nothing to hold ue together We need to meet on a broader communal ground “The struggle is lance: Chicano, nd, American Ina ‘mojado, mexicano, nymirant Latino, Anglo in power, working hss Anglo, Black. Asian—oor pyches resemble the bordertowns Sind are populated by the same people. The stale has always been inet and is played out inthe ovter eras. Awareness of for situation must come before inaet changes, which In turn ‘ome before changes in sclety. Not happens In the “eal” ‘world unless it fat happens in the images ia ove hea Bl dia de la Chicana wl aot be shamed again [Nor wil I shame nyse 1 am possessed by a vision: that we Chicana and Chicanos have taken back or uncovered our trc faces, ou dgnty and self respect. Ia validation vision. ‘ecing the Chictna anew in ight of er history. 1 see an cxoneraton, 4 scing though the fctions of white supremacy, feing of ourselves In or tue guises and not as the false racial ‘personality that fas Been given to ad that we have ven Surscves. {eck our womans face, ou tue features, the post tive and the negative seen cea, fee of the tainted biases of Ile dominance. 1 seek new images of identity, new belles thout ourselves, out humanity and worth no longer in question, “stamos wfvtond en ia noche de ta Raza, un tempo ena do a trabajo se bace a Jo quiet, en Io osc, dia cuando ‘aceptamos tay como somony para donde samos,y porque ese dia sero dla de le Raza Yo tengo el conpromio de expresarPRPPRUP eae segs ees eat aee eee Tees near errr rere eaeerE era ze a comcenca de ta mstzn [Towards New Consciousness ‘mi vein, ml sentbdad, mt perepclon dela revalidacn dela [ente mexicana mito, estimacton, bonra, precio valde ‘December 2nd wen my i De ito my frit hos, celeb el a dein Chicana Cea On that de le nya ight ny Cotlatnpe candle, burdsge 304 copa, {tle ban pare expantar bar, sweep my hose. On tt lyr are ny tou ne ysl wine to fends anil Sy expresing ry clings. On tat a ae who we ae Sn ty Hooks ow conte and ou as nto: verted il tempersnet. {deny our need, voice tem. 1 Tehnowege that esl andthe env Been wounded. 1 ‘zope the ned fo ake cae fou perontod, of our iat {ein that day ater the spltered and Gown prs of mena nn a war pr ‘On tt ny a, “eal ou people wound we when yo reject os Retin sp 0 seem rei ‘owe no shame. Ivor nate entity you fd wat ‘fear eaed that we ced our pod ope, dst we ned or scepance, We ean loge camouflage or ees, cn Toone lt dcenes td fence prot tod Wee 90 Inne wth To gan look spon you wit conte so fag and be contenprvow of reves. We cn 0 loge Dame Yon, nor down he whe par the mal pat, the patholo Drs te queer pa, the wlseble pa. ee we Ae fresponle with open ams whom our mage Lr wy our ‘nthe mein ay, the Chest the woman Wy” ‘On ht dy Tce or our enc gy 39» people, 2 people witha tent of purpoxe—io belong #04 contibate ming eater tnn or furio On tt dy Lack to recover sea my spel sen nine Rasa elrar ef ‘ada Crcona Hretorno ‘All movements are accomplished i fn the seventh briags return. ‘ching Tanto tempo sin verte casa mia, ‘mi cana, mu bondo mido de la buerta Soledad"? cominca de la mest Towed 4 New Consciousness ‘stand atthe sve, watch the curving wsting serpent serpent nal othe fence where the mouth ofthe Rio Grande ‘mls fo the Gul "uve come back. Tanto dolor me cost ef alejamento, stuade my ejes and lookup. The bone beak of hawk slowiy i ‘ding over me, checking me Ou as potent carson, In is wake ste bra ickring swings, swing sporadically tik fi Tn the distance the expressway and the slough of tlic ke a Heltated sow. The sudden pullin my gut, la era, los aguaceros My Lind, fen soplanao la arena, ef agartijo deaf de un Inopalt. Me acuerda como era antes, Una region desta de alta lanuras, costeras de baja altura, de ecasa Tvl, de ‘Chaparratesformados por mesguites buizaches 1 ook ral fad T can almost see te Spanish fathers who were called “the (Stey of Chiat entr this valley siding their buros, se the ‘sh of elutes commence ‘evra nata This is home, the small owns in the Valley, ‘puebltor with chicken pens and goats picketed to mesquite Ghai, las colons on te other side ofthe tacks, junk cars ln the front yas of hot pink and lavenderrimmed hovses— (Chicano architecture we cll, slEconsciousy,T ave missed fhe TV shows where hosts speak sm half and ball, and where wars at piven in the category ofTex Mex muse, have missed fhe Mexican cemeteries blooming wih ata flowers, the ‘elds of aloe vera and red pepper, rows of sugir cane, of corn Ingo on the stall, the cloud of potvareda in the dt roads behind speeding pickup truck, ef sabor de tamales de rex » ona, Ihave missed fa yeu clorada gnawing the Wooden ate of her sal, the smell of horse flesh from Cat's corrals Fracbo mena ts noche clientes sn aire, noces de interna Jj lechnuzasrxkng hoes in the ght 1st el the old despair when Look atthe unpainted ap- leated, scrap lamer houses consisting moxty of corrugated ay ftvnum, Some ofthe poorer peopl inthe US. lve athe Lower {Ro Grange Vey, sn ald and semiaed ad of gated arin, Intense sunlight and heat, crs groves next to chapatral and ct tus, T walt through the elementary school attended so fo a hae remained segregated unt recently, U emember how the ‘whic teachers aed to punish us for being Mexican AAA ALARALARAAAARARARLALLLBLALARRERERERRRee How 1 love this uagie valley of South Texs, a8 Ricardo Since ells this borderland between the Nueces and the Nis Gnade. This land has survived possession aad lleuse by Be countries: Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Tera, the US, the Confederacy, and the US. again. I ha survived Anglo Mexia blood feuds, imchings, burlngs, apes, pillage Today see the Vale sl struggling to survive. Whether i ‘does of not, it wil never be as remember it, The bordetands depression that was set off by the 1982 peso devaluation in “Mexico resulted in the closure of hundseds of Valley businestes, Many people lost their homes, cars, land. Pior to 1982, US sore owners thrived on ret ales to Mexicans who came across the boner for groceries and cothes and appliances, While goods ‘on the US. se have become 10, 100, 1000 times more expen sve foe Mexican buyers, goods on the Mexlcan side have become 10, 100, 1000 times cheapeeforAmercans, Becavse the Ylley heavily dependent on agrcuture and Mexican eta trade thas the highest unemployment ate slong the ete border glo ‘tts he Valey that has een hardest ht!0 “Ts been a bad yea for cor ny brother, Nune, says. As he tus, T emember my fither scanning the sky for ara that would end the drought, looking up Into the sy. day afer day, ‘while the corn withered on ts stalk. My father hs been dead for 29 years, having worked himself to death The lle span of = Mexican farm abore is 36—he lived tobe 38. It shocks me that {am older than he. 1, too, search the sy for ean Like the ancients, I worship the ruin god and the maize goddess, but ‘unlit my father Ihave recovered their ames. Now fora Ge fatlon one offers aot sterfice af load, but of money. “Farming is in a ad way? my brother says. "Two to three ‘howsand smal and big farmers went bankrupt In this county last yea. Six years ago the price of corn wat $8.00 per unde ‘pounds he goes on. “This eae $3.90 per hunded pounds And, I thnk to myself, afer tang inflation into account, not Planting anything puts you ahead, {walk ou t the back yard, stare a or rosa de mama she wants me to help her prune the rose bushes, dig out the ext et grass that is choking them Mamagrande Ramona tambien ‘enka rosales, Weve every Mexlean grows flowers, If they dont eChoice ou ease ce encarta nce we temove the plats, bare the tiny ren soos tthe in epeetctes eecracete Evccare mete oe ig heanoerasctset “This lind was Mexican once ‘was Indian aways and “and wil be sgn