Exacto. Except it was my adoptive college graduate father that passed the language to me, not my mother. "You don't seem or sound like a Mexican to me" and sundry variations of said theme resound still, as though this is supposed to be some sort of compliment and not a slap to my brown face. Language is currency in America and like other forms we must use it fearlessly.

I love where your headed, carnal. I'm in. Vamonos!

Beautiful writing. As usual. Thank you!

The "progressive" democrats and Kossacks need the disenfranchised to topple their twin electoral party. But they are scared to death that the "great unwashed" (as my father would say) might get too energized and actually take over the movement. (And why shouldn't the ones who need it most take it over?) So the self-appointed leaders must do a delicate accelerate-and-brake action, trying to create a movement, but hold back the momentum.

You rock, Nez!

Also loving the series.

The things you write about language here resonate deeply. This is always interesting for me as a person who is both a writer (and in love with the English language as my main music and tool) and aware of how language is also privilege, armor, and weapon all at once. It is a nuanced thing, but the use of language needs to be intentional, for justice - not to censor/silence artists, but to use words for larger truth. It's a lifelong work.

I think the reason I love your writing is because your language balances unaffected presence, vulnerability, truth-telling, confrontation, beauty, craft, and humor so skillfully. It's not a performance of ego geared to shut someone out, it's a generosity of vision geared to invite people in. Anyway, something like that. : ) Look forward to reading 'The Skin of my Soul.'

so i was reading this post and i really got a hankering to talk a few hours about language...

count me in, too.
this is so friggin' refreshing! got a bunch of new sites to peruse and comment on since coming here in search of a lucid, cogent de-brief w/regard to YK2.

it would be cool if someone would post the sites of the Chitown17 so we could check them out.
remember the Chicago7 -- a raucous bunch. back then, mostly due to the draft and the American War in Vietnam, we were in the streets and it was Life and Death.

in talking to a friend last night who was at the center of the DivineA-Listers, we came to the conclusion that it was a good thing i didn't waste my $$$ on YK2.

here's part of what i think the disconnect is about:
-- lots of the so-called Liberal Bloggers didn't get a political consciousness until year2000 w/ the Election/Selection. they chilled after 9/11, 'cause after all...

then things started to ramp up for them when they realized what BushCo really had in mind. that they see the current USAMilitary Adventure as supreme racism is not in their scope. and when someone calls them on that, their response is always: But we're "nice" people, we're "good" people -- it's just our government that sucks. yeah, right. wash, wash, but the blood doesn't come off.

-- what so many really want is to be noticed and part of the Traditional Media. there is also a lot of we-should-be-making-money-for-our-work chatter as well. i say: what makes you feel entitled to such a thing? they're tied up in knots about that, so, gotta' whittle away at the competition, no? A-Listers = a paycheck. and for the rest of you...rattle the cup.

-- and (to me) most importantly: this netroots "movement" has never known oppression. like, real oppression, not just having a president you don't like. it's a flabby movement, not brave or lean or real or underground or fighting for their lives and those of their families/friends. a lot of it is about comfort and comfort zones and echo chambers.
i think of the Panthers, AIM, LaRaza, the original EarthFirst!, the Grey Panthers, and the great movements that were quickly decimated (sp?) by COINTELPRO. sorry, the vast majority of the YK2 crowd falls way short. that's not to say if you haven't been oppressed you can't join the struggle. all are welcome. it is to say, though, that without that in the gut knowledge of true relentless and endless oppression because of the color of one's skin -- well, just don't tell me you feel my pain, and please don't dimiss it, either.

what the Whiteway Bloggers should do is just say: yeah, we're White and we're proud and we got limits. they just keep diggin bigger holes each time they try to talk about it.

i read better stuff in Harper's, The New Yorker, and the NYReview of Books, so i hope TradMedia sticks around a bit longer.

peace.

I've been thinking about something a lot lately. Is it possible, for those of us who are on the same side fundamentally, to not assume the worst in each other? Would that be a first step toward having a more productive conversation?

It reminds me of this basic lesson I learned a long time ago from a very wise amiga, about how to have a happy marriage. She said both partners should always put the other one first. It means that each person feels loved and lifted up, in an equal kind of way, and it strips away the self-centeredness and defensiveness that can come if you are thinking of yourself first. I know that my husband has my feelings at the top of his list, and I have his at the top of mine. It's an interesting way to approach a relationship, and it has worked amazingly for us.

It's so easy to assume the worst in people. I am totally guilty of this, in these conversations we've been having. And I feel badly about it. I know all the outside crap that factors into it all, so I'm not blaming myself or trying to deny the very real frustrations people are having. I'm just wondering if that's a simple first step we could all try to work on.

Oh, and I forgot to say, Nez, you are so right about the language thing.

I had something happen to me recently, in the multi-racial coalition work I am doing for my job, where I was unaware of the way the language I used, and the way I used it, was affecting the other women of color -- who come from much different experiences than I -- around me. It caused some tension to build up, which was good, because that's how I became aware of it.

There are so many things at work, and all intertwining together -- race, gender, class. For instance, I have spent much of my career as the only woman, and the youngest person, in a room of decision makers. When I was an editor of a local paper, I was the only woman in the daily budget meetings, and I often had to be aggressive to get a word in or to make a case. I had to work up to this, because it did not come natural to me. Fast forward to being in a meeting of mostly women of color for politics stuff, and that aggression that I learned bites me in the ass, because that is not the right way to approach things in that setting.

The biggest lesson I have learned lately is to try to be really self aware of all these interplaying dynamics in every situation.

ahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahaha

El Pocho en la Ciudad!

"But you are wrong that you have the antidote. You are right that the Republicans are poison. You are wrong in that the Democrats are currently the cure. You are right in that there is great harm being done by the ignorant and powerful to the righteous and the less powerful. You are wrong in imagining that you are aligned with the less powerful."

Well, That's exactly right Nez. I also have said this for a long time. But I don't have much hope of seeing change anytime soon. Trying to get some perspective about what I think about things I always have to remember that my views are radical and that the US electorate for the most part is not going to act as I would.

But if you have some direction I ought to look in for some hope, I'm ready to listen.

About the Cafe Wakeup: I live out in the jungle in fact, wake up naked, just like you hypothesized you might and the very first thing that has to happen before I get down to any kind of functioning at all is the JAVA.

Without it, I'm just dazed and confused.

what is it with the liberal white blogosphere that they ever got the idea that they were the revolutionary vanguard elite???

hmmph.

anyways, i am glad i read this post all the way through because i had just skimmed it the first time. I appriciate what you are saying about language as well. I think it also has a lot to do with class and street slang which for some reason is considered not academic by definition... I think we have to flip the script and value words that come from the oppressed as much as we value those that come from the ivory tower. we gotta mix it up--"yo, vato is pinche perspicacious!"

p.s. wtf? you were prez of the science club and the creative writing club at the same time? with 24 credits? who are you, nezua? what planet did you come from?--and, no you cannot add that to the quotes about the blog on the side bar :P

This is a classic unapologetic post, nez,

That bit about language is so key. Language is one of the best indicators of inequality and oppression. Something as simple as having a word for underprivileged in the English language but not the word overprivileged makes a big difference. I always struggle with language to describe the world because what is out there is so inadequate. The "third world" the "developing world". I like the term majority world, but it still doesn't describe things well.

An another note, there are indigenous communities in Guatemala that have lost their languages and there's been a concerted effort to relearn them, because of the importance of it for their identity. Think of all the richness we lose in the world when we lose a language.

thanks tgrdug.

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Gracias, Will!

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TheTheriomorph, I appreciate the distinction you draw. And am glad to have you reading along. Thanks for your words and insights.

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thanks, organic mechanic. you know...i think k/o has a list on his blog of all the Chicago 17 (and yes, the nick was thought up at least in mocking reference, as you note. from what i know)

you bring up a lot. i'm not sure i'm equipped or able to hit every point now, but its an interesting idea about the mainstream liberal bloggers lacking oppression. i just think it's hard to imagine being non-white in the USA, and what that means mentally, physically, and every day. and we are all brainwashed to see whiteness as default, and the only real area of importance. the faces, the plights, the take on history. unless you have very good reason to see it otherwise, there is a lot in place reinforcing the white supremacist standard. people argue this only before they have begun looking for the constant referents and signifiers and faces of the Villain and the Hero in most of their movies, and the statistics and well, i guess we are saying the same thing! but yes. it opens up a huge gap. when you can be considered part of the preferred stock vs. the undesirable or tainted by the undesirable (dark) other. That gap cannot really be explained. Sometimes I wonder if light bends on the way from one side to the other, if we are even seeing the same thing....

Anyway, because of the blindspots built in to the dominant culture's lines/frames, real conversation/empathy between sides becomes tough. Agreed.

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Jenifer.... I do not feel I am assuming the worst of anyone. Do you think I am? I'm probably misreading you, I'm sorry. Feel free to be specific. I get mixed up easily. ;)

Yes, I agree about the many factors figuring in to situations. Class, race, etc. And that we should all be self-aware. Good lesson.

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RC: Devotees of the Bean, unite!

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Luisa, you skimmed me? I am hurt. SO hurt, in fact, that I am not going to tell you what planet I am from!

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Great points, Kyledeb.

What's up with using Mexican American instead of Chicano? I guess since much of the post was about the power of language, it made me notice the fact taht you chose Mexican American over Chicano. Were you just in that mood, due to the whole Pocho intro to things? (Not a loaded question, I ask out of curiosity)

hey amanda,

to me, "Chicano" implies political awareness and activism. And I use "Mexican American" more...clinically. More plainly. Just to describe the makeup. I guess I didnt feel in those times I used the word that it made sense to use the more political term. tho i may have to ge back and check. we may just have different feelings about both sets of words. or maybe the words would work better changed up.

what do you think?

wow, nezua, another great post, so much to think about, so many images flashing through the mind - thank you for blasting open the doors of my perception on this.

I also agree with organic mechanic about the notion of oppression being alien to the progressive blogosphere (or whatever name you wish to call it). And I think part of the problem is that this is the first time most of these folks (I include myself in their number) have even had a taste of this, just a little taste. It seems overwhelming, so the initial response is "well, we can only focus on so much, so this is what our agenda will be. We can focus on that other stuff at a later time."

But after reading your post and organic mechanic's comment, I begin to see it a different way. That we in the Progressive Blogosphere should do the entire opposite, blast open the doors of our souls to take it all in, stop thinking compassion and understanding are a limited commodity or something that can be prioritized. I read your other post on what Chiquita is doing, and read the linked story, saw the pictures, this is not something that can wait for some mythical future time when "more important" structural changes take place, more "practical" politics set a foundation.

No, it can't work that way. We'll choke our own souls if we try to do it that way. It's not how life is. Trying to hold the door shut on the pain of our brothers and sisters is a futile task.

I'm no politician, not even an activist. I'm a beat poet and a half-assed blogger because I like to write. And I'm a witness as well, to both joy and pain. There is no limit to compassion, to allowing suffering in and witnessing the pain, letting it blast our self-satisfied egos back to hell where they belong.

I very much enjoyed your thoughts on language, and the definitions you posted to. I agree with what you said especially about The Queen's Caca-Phony but would add one thing. When folks get all over intellectual as they are confronted with their own prejudices and dogmas, I think part of that dance is the clumsiness of their own lurching attempt to talk their way out of facing what has been pointed out to them, talking as fast as they can, torrents of words, like a big wall to keep out the pain that would follow confronting the truth -- and I think that ties in with the above, this desire to keep suffering at bay by ignoring it and rationalizing that one can only do so much in the face of so many problems.

Anyway, thanks for this -- I'd apologize for writing so much rambling stuff, but I am instead blaming you because your writing has touched off all this in me.

Beautiful...you bring me hope, esta noche, Nightprowlkitty.

And a small note: I think you are right about the clumsiness, lurching, spilling words sometimes simply being a way of trying to talk an escape out of a hard realization or painful moment. In fact, I know you are. Because it's not always They doing it. :)

This whole idea of coming to Ykos to bring "Diversity."

That was insane. Not kid oakland's Chicago 17 but the idea of "outreach" was offensive to me.

Wonderful stuff, Nezua. The last paragraph is great - not that the other ones weren't of course! Language, assimilation and, of course, the continuation of the journey, this one as well as the lifelong one. I think I'm going to have to take some of this and separate it out, in order to think on it again. Nothing new about that, tho!

Jenifer:

I've been thinking about something a lot lately. Is it possible, for those of us who are on the same side fundamentally, to not assume the worst in each other? Would that be a first step toward having a more productive conversation?

No. (I am meaner than Nezua, lol.) I won't clutter up this post with my reasons why, but will just say... well, that time is long past.

Fantastico amigo, hablan las palabras verdaderas de la corazon de un Pocho que ha descubrido otra vez la identitad de su pueblo!

I'm 4th generation in the USA although, like my homies here, I had ancestors resident in what's now the Southwest (in Arizona) for centuries before the Anglos came in with their guns blazing in the Mexican War.

A few decades ago, the racist precursors to the Minutemen repeatedly beat my grandparents in Arizona whenever they hablaban en español on the school grounds. When the school officials and other "authority figures" found those hated brown-skinned Chicanos or any other Latinos, they instantly took steps to turn us into slavish, English-speaking coconuts, Anglo-wannabes that they could easily ply and manipulate.

So my grandparents discouraged my own parents from speaking Spanish, and my parents refused to teach it to us at all. It was depressing cuz every time I tried to talk to my aunts and uncles and other extended family, we couldn't communicate with each other, even for their birthday parties, since we didn't speak a word of español.

It was only later in school that my brothers and sisters and I all met a Chicano mentor who was proud of his heritage and insisted on our being proud, too. He told us the history the schools wouldn't teach us, about the theft of our homelands in the Mexican War. He taught us Spanish and insist we communicate in it, speaking and writing. Finally we rediscovered our lost heritage. We were Latino again. It's why we're all home-schooling our kids now, so they learn the true history of our people here and not the brainwashing of the public schools, so that they get to conduct lessons and textbooks in Spanish and take pride in its equality with English in our homelands-- as the law dictates-- so they're proud of who they are.

And I'm in total agreement with you on breaking the power monopoly these corrupt two parties have. They act like they're different, when they're both nearly servants of the same White moneyed interests who've hated us for centuries and continue working to keep us down.

El momento ha llegado para un cambio grande. Y son nosotros que estamos tomando el futuro en las manos!

Nez, I was just being general and rambly in that comment, nothing specific to your post, sorry. Your post was beautiful and it got things moving around in my brain. It was more of a general question for all the muy inteligente folks here.

I appreciate Nanette's answer though. Sometimes I think I am way too idealistic about certain things. But the idealism is probably good, too.

Yes, I think you are right. It is all good.

And I know what you mean about being too idealistic sometimes. Trust me.