remember /it didn't start yesterday/it didn’t start with a slap in the face /an insult/a joke/it started long before we tuned in/before we chose to cash in our most valuable possession for some ole bullshit/ before some overpaid tv writers thought themselves oh so clever/before some actor sold out for some shine on prime time/remember/work it ? ay, pleez por favor/ we’ve been working it for more than 500 years/ remember/the story started before west side story/ the story started before fort apache /the story started before archie bunker insults against Puerto Ricans remember/ remember when that cigar smoking fool burned and stomped /the Puerto Rican flag on that ridiculous episode/ of that out of order tv show (I refuse to make more famous by naming) that supposedly got pulled out of syndication/remember/ remember when we picketed the network for days /and El Puerto Rican Embassy / put the episode on trial at the Nuyorican /guilty as charged by the people /remember/ the headline read: racist episode guilty as charged punished by public stoning/ remember/how many loisaida bricks were thrown before the out of order tv broke? (but not broke enough to stop the repeats/ different cho same programa ) still stereotyped/still attacked by images designed to diminish/devalue/debase/in our face/ disgraced by disney/abc/nbc/fox tv/20th century time life whatevah /while some us think/ it’s cute even chic / to call ourselves spics /remember/it didn’t start with no damn jokes/it started when our ancestors were conquered/kidnapped/killed/ held captive / colonized/remember?
and that’s where it continues
2012
y sigue y sigue y sigue
y que sigue la lucha.
punto.
© 2012 Mariposa
Dearest butterfly, beating those wings, be the air soft and wind gentle, or be it harsh and winds wild and tempestuous, those wings carrying us upward, to where we can see more clearly and act on point. Con abrazos ahorita y para todo el año nuevo. MARIAN
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