Luis Javier Rodriguez

For a few days last week, I was a Chilango. This is the term used to designate residents of Mexico City. As a Chicano (a Mexican in the United States), I've been removed from my real and mythical root/source of Mexico most of my life (hampered by imposed/supposed borders). However, when I return to Mexico City, the layers of Mexicanness I've had all these years -- including speaking Spanish and even Nahuatl at times -- surfaces again, and I'm home.

I realize that Chicanos continue to embody these layers -- we start with our indigenous roots, with Aztlan and Anahuac, drawing on the genetic memory in our bones. We also take in the long struggle of Mexicans to create a nation, a people, a country, constantly throwing off conquerors, oppressors, thieves, and exploiters (a struggle that continues til this day).

Even though I lived in the US since the age of two, I'm very close and knowledgeable of all these struggles. As a child, my parents inculcated me with Mexican Spanish and stories of our Raramuri (Tarahumara) indigenous roots -- even as the US schools tried to beat the Spanish out of me (they never did) and tried to obliterate our history and our heritage.

I visited Mexico at age 11 as a "pocho" (a bleached out Mexican), a term used to denigrate those Mexicans who ended up in the United States (regardless of the reason). But I struggled to hang on to my Mexicanismo despite the repression and other pressures to turn away from this in the United States.

As an adult, starting in my late 20s, I revisited Mexico to take part in indigenous uprisings in Oaxaca and campesino takeover of lands and Mixteco native struggles against slavery in Baja California. In the late 1990s, I also made it back to my Raramuri roots in Southern Chihuahua, in the Sierra Tarahumara, even sleeping in caves, along with the more than 80,000 traditional Raramuri natives that my mother's family is descended from.

I also carry the layers of living the highly oppressive environment in the United States -- of being in the "belly of the beast," as the saying goes, in dealing with a material-based, immediate-gratification, consumer-oriented, capitalist economic and social realities we have to endure in the most powerful, richest country in the world.

Even now as the US moves toward Empire (the beginning of the end for the "America" as we know it, as has happened to all empires), I continue to draw from the intense struggles for freedom, equality, cooperation that working class people, African Americans, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans (and other people) have tirelessly waged in this country.

I carry it all. And I feel connected to both Mexico and the United States in those aspirations, dreams, and battles of los de abajo -- the people at "the bottom."

I landed in Mexico City from Chicago on Saturday, October 7, only the third time I had ever done so in my much-traveled life, even with family members residing here, including a half-brother I only got to know about ten years ago (he was one of the children my father left behind when he came to the United States in 1956 to stay).

I came as an invited participant to the Sixth Annual Mexico City Book Fair (Feria del Libro), held in the central Zocalo of the city, a contested space with Aztec dancers, tourists, indigenous vendors, Lopez-Orador supporters, Zapatista activists, and striking teachers from Oaxaca (not to mention the break-dancers and other street "shows").

From October 6 until October 15, several tents housing books, music, chairs, and speaker systems will have filled up the Zocalo (the main plaza of this massive city). This is apparently the only public book fair in all of Mexico.

Organized by the city's Secretary of Culture, the book fair is also paying homage to two key cities: Los Angeles and Havana. In the Los Angeles pavilion, Tia Chucha's Bookstore & Cafe has been recreated (after we shipped tons of books). Silverio Pelayo, one of our fantastic hired help, will be here until the end of the book fair to hold down the display and sale of books.

I have been on several panels and readings so far (with a couple more today, October 10). The first one was on Saturday to honor an amazing poetry collection by Natalio Hernandez (published by Conaculta), entitled "Hummingbird of Harmony" (its title, like the rest of the book, is translated into English, Spanish, and Nahuatl, the principal language of indigenous people in the country).

I talked about the importance of taking in all our roots, in particular the fundamental one that unites all Mexicans: the indigenous. And that in LA, many Chicanos, Mexicanos, and Central Americans are reclaiming their traditions, their tongues, and stories. I also got to read a poem in all three tongues. Here's a short sample of the work:

In Tonati

In tonati:
xochitl tlen moyolitia
totlacayotipa
cueponi queman tlanesi;
cochi ipan toyolo
teotlactipa

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El Sol

El Sol:
flor que nace
dentro de nosotros
abre sus petalos
al amanecer;
duerme en nuestro corazon
al anochecher

-----

The Sun

The Sun:
A flower that is born
within us,
it opens its petals
at sunrise;
it sleeps in our heart
at nightfall

Also present were the indigenous writer Mardonio Carballo and Mexican theater actor Luisa Huertas, who read many of the poems in all three languages.

I'm staying at the historical Magestic Hotel bordering the Zocalo (I stayed here during one of my earlier visits). It's a colonial structure with amazing tile work. Now owned by Best Western, it has not lost any Mexicanness. On the 7th floor is a terrace (where the restaurant is located) that overlooks the whole plaza.

Many of the invited participants include some of Cuba's most well known writers, important for opening up a dialogue that is blocked at various levels by the United States government.

From Los Angeles, a "motley" crew of artists, writers, and photographers have arrived, including my good friend, Tom Hayden, and a number of well-known Chicanos (some of whom are not from LA), including Harry Gamboa, Lucha Corpi, Ruben Martinez, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, and Luis Valdez.

A wonderful intra-lingual and multi-voiced performance by Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Ruben Martinez ended the evening for me, held at the historical Museum of Mexico City. I'll comment more on the Feria del Libro and other things "Chilango" in future blog posts.

James Lilly is a world-class wheelchair racer. He has participated in marathons and other races all over the country. He once won the grueling 245-miles or so wheel-chair race in Alaska (the world's most difficult).

Now around 35 years old, James has been in a wheelchair for some 20 years. As a Mexican youth in the streets of the Little Village barrio in Chicago, he gravitated towards gangs and drugs. Kicked out of his home and homeless, he eventually found himself in the middle of a gang-related shoot out. One of his best friends was killed that day; James became paralyzed from the waist down.

I met James through the Japanese American film maker, Izumi Tanaka. More than a year ago, Izumi came to Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural to talk to me about James and the film she was doing on his life. I was very interested. Soon I met James after he came to a talk I did on gang peace at Northwestern University's Law School in Chicago last year.

His spirit was strong, and his presence compelling. Today, he has a family with two young boys. He speaks at schools, conferences, and juvenile facilities.

Earlier this year, Izumi and James came to speak and show a short version of Izumi's film (still in production as I write this) at Tia Chucha's. I also gave them the Luis Rodriguez special tour of South Central and East LA (tours I've done for friends from Italy, Brazil, England, and other places). I showed James and Izumi some of my old stomping grounds in Watts, in Boyle Heights, South San Gabriel, and the City Terrace hills (and to a spot where you can see most of East LA and the downtown skyline).

Last week, James returned the favor. After a wonderful dinner with his wife and boys, James gave me a tour of the Little Village neighborhoods where he lived, participated in gang life, and in Pilsen (another Chicago barrio) where he was shot.

I also visited the outdoors memorial at St. Agnes Church on 27th Street and Central Park where some 90 names have been emblazoned -- names of young people under 25 years who have been killed in these streets since the year 2000.

James survived, but he did more than that. He never gave up on life, on having a wonderful family, and on impacting his community with his talks and with his amazing performances in world-class wheelchair races.

I'm honored to count James as one of my close friends.

I come to Chicago frequently -- using my visits to my old hometown to see my son Ramiro in an Illinois prison facility, two of my grandchildren when I can, and many friends, comrades, and fellow poets and activists.

I lived in Chicago for 15 years, in Humboldt Park, Wicker Park, and Logan Square. Chicago was the birtplace of Tia Chucha Press, which has grown into a bookstore, cafe, performance space, art gallery, and workshop center in LA. It's also where I helped found the Guild Complex, one of the Midwest's leading literary and art institutions, and Youth Struggling for Survival, a youth-adult mentoring/community building organization that is still very active (as a result I have ties and years of work in Pilsen, Little Village, Uptown, Rogers Park, Aurora, and other communities in and around the city). In this capacity, I also helped create the Humboldt Park Teen Reach program in collaboration with BUILD and other youth intervention and prevention organizations.

From October 1-7, I did talks at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Chicago State University (including to students from Hubbard High School), and an all day training at the Omni Youth Services in Buffalo Grove (that involved many youth workers, teachers, counselors, probation officers, and police).

I also had a wonderful visit with Ramiro, who's now at one of the Pontiac prison facilities (an hour and a half outside of Chicago). He's seems healthy, strong, and determined to do well after finishing ten years of his 28 year prison sentence (he can get out in half the time, 14 years, which is his goal).

One important visit was with YSS members and leaders, including Frank Blazquez, his wife Lou, and their children Tanee and Frankie. I was also glad to see YSS members Chris Dino, Chek-it, Mathilda, Alma, and others. Alma is now running the Urban Roots program for the Social Justice School of the new Little Village High School on 31st and Kostner in the Little Village barrio of Chicago (the largest Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, a thriving, active, and vibrant place despite its relative poverty and long-standing gang culture).

The Little Village High School was created two years ago at a cost of $68 million, apparently the costliest school in Chicago history. It resulted from a 19-day hunger strike that Alma and many parents, youth, and leaders carried out in demand of a new school, a new educational process, and real social change.

The school is a marvel to witness. Most of the students are Mexican, although a significant number are African American (about 20 percent). It is divided into four distinct schools. Each school area is divided by a park-like area with small earthen pyramids as homage to the Mexican Aztec and Mayan structures. They have two gyms, a swimming pool (I understand this is the only one in the Chicago school system), dance studios, a full theater, art & technological centers, a growing library, and more. Alma, who has been doing Aztec dance for years, is also conducting the danza classes at the school. There is also an amazing structure in the middle of the school that is built like an old indigenous sun dial, with 19 seconds of every day held in silence in commemoration of the 19 day hunger strike.

I was honored to be given a tour of the school and to know that YSS and some of the leaders I helped mentor were at the heart of the struggle to build the school, and to help sustain its innovative and visionary structure and educational process. It's an example of self-determination, self-realization, and true community responsibility to better the environment -- as unjust and inadequate as it can be -- for everyone in that community. We can all learn from this vital struggle, particularly as a concrete correction to the current sterile school environments that are choking the spirit and educational capacity of teachers and students in many of our schools today.

The following includes email responses to an opinion piece I wrote this month on English Only and the movement to declare English as the National language. It was sent out to various newspapers around the country by the Progressive Media Project (a version of it appeared in the September issue of The Progressive magazine). Newspapers that published the piece include the Dayton Daily News (Ohio), the Monterey Herald (California), the Providence Journal (Rhode Island), the Winona Daily News (Minnesota), among others. My previous blog post featured one of the articles. Following each email, I give my own response.


May I ask you what nationality you are and have you always lived in the United States? I read your article in today's Winona Daily News and I find it very objectionable. I am a citizen, 75 years old, born and raised in America. Now am I to learn 329 languages as you state in your article that are spoken in the United States so I can communicate with them? I read an article by an immigrant (and I don't recall her name, but it was in the Parade magazine that comes in the Sunday papers) that people coming to the US should learn English because if you are in trouble, whether it be medical, law or whatever, if you cannot speak the language how can we help you? Now does not that make sense? I am not against immigration only illegal immigration. My church has sponsored immigrants and the last ones from Bosnia I saw to it that they got to English classes every day so that they could communicate with people, get a job, etc. School districts have to hire extra teachers to teach English because parents refuse to speak English in their homes. This has put a strain on hundreds if not thousands of school districts to tackle this problem. What about health facilities, hospitals? Are they to hire people to speak every language so they can help people? You have to get real and use some common sense which it seems many people do not have any more. There is nothing wrong with speaking your native tongue but English should be also used in the home, etc. I am of Norwegian descent but they learned and had their children learn and use English as the common language. They had the right attitude.

Luis J. Rodriguez’s response:

Thank you for writing me about my article that appeared in your local newspaper. You wanted to know my nationality. I was born and raised in the United States. I speak perfect English and Spanish (I also know a little bit of Nahuatl, Raramuri, and Navajo). However, it appears you read the wrong article. For example, I did not say that everyone should learn 329 languages. I said that everyone should learn English. It is our common language. It links us. It has much merit even on its own terms. Most immigrants I know, regardless of the country they came from, agree with that. I even cited a survey of Latinos that showed the majority also believe they should learn English. As far as I know, there is no organized movement to change English as our common, unifying language. My problem is with the real, large and growing movement to make English a “national” language, which is linked to having English Only legislation in more than a dozen states. Having English as a common language and having English Only are two different things.

You said there is nothing wrong with “speaking your native tongue, but English should also be used in the home.” Fine. But English Only is the opposite of this – it implies there IS something wrong with speaking another tongue. My point is that we should all speak English (I’ve spent my life learning and writing English as a poet, journalist, fiction writer, and speaker). But, if anyone wants to speak his or her native tongue why not? People all over the world do this. This is not an attitude problem – people are quite adaptable, be they Norwegian or Guatemalan. Most people are willing to learn English. But we should not impose by law, by practice or prejudice any suppression of other languages or cultures. That’s my point. It’s what this country is supposed to be about – not English Only. I have seen how English Only laws actually suppress other languages. These are facts, and I can cite tons of stories of how this works. That’s what I’m against. And that’s common sense.
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You couldn't be more wrong in your assertion that the US shouldn't be concerned about the infiltration of the Spanish language into our culture. You make the case for English only in your own article. You state "Some say the United States is the third-largest Spanish speaking country in the world" This is precisely the point. We are NOT a Spanish language country, we are English speaking. Our country was founded by people who spoke English and were of English descent. Our Constitution doesn't come in two languages, it's ENGLISH only! Anyone who comes here legally is welcome. However once here, you must assimilate into the English-speaking culture of the United States. We are a country of immigrants, LEGAL ones that once here might speak their native tongue at home but outside the home learned English and adapted to the U.S. culture. It doesn't work the other way around. I also don't recall Italian, German and other immigrants demanding their language be used in our schools, their language be used on commercial packaging etc. Illegal immigrants, mainly from Mexico have invaded our country and now demand we adapt to them. This is wrong and if it continues it will eventually cause the complete destruction of the greatest country in the world. I personally will continue to support and work for English only legislation.

Luis J, Rodriguez’s response:

Thank you for writing me about my opinion piece that appeared in your local newspaper. However, I never said people should not use English (please re-read my article). I said English is our common, unifying language. Everyone should learn it. And while this is true, we are also the third largest Spanish-speaking country and have 329 languages, including 150 native languages, in our midst. Why can’t these two realities live side-by-side? It’s not either/or. I value English (I was born and raised in this country). But I also value Spanish (which my parents used as I grew up). I even know a few Native words. This is all good.

For your information, the first bilingual education schools were for German immigrants – they also suffered, as did other non-English speaking people, from attacks by those who wanted to impose English on them. This is wrong. We who are in this country are more than willing to adapt. But don’t devalue or suppress our other tongues and cultures. We are all “America.” Much of what is “American” culture comes from Natives, Africans, Germans, Irish, Jews, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, and Mexicans. We are adapting to a culture that has adapted from other peoples. That’s fine. I’m against laws that want to impose English and a mono-culture.

I also have to say, we are not all a nation of immigrants. I have Raramuri native blood (from my mother’s side), and Nahua, Spanish, and African blood on my father’s side. Native people’s were already here for tens of thousand of years; Africans were brought here as slaves. In fact, what the Mexican “invasion” is about is mostly native peoples on migrant treks they’ve been on for centuries upon centuries. Even Spanish is a foreign tongue to us (although I speak it well). There are 240 natives languages and their variants in Mexico. Many Mexicans coming across are indigenous people like Mixtecos, Yaquis, Huicholes, and Mayans (there are an estimated 2 million Mayans from Mexico and Central America in the US, almost as much as Native Americans). So the word “immigrant” doesn’t quite convey the reality of this situation.

Still, we are free to be united and to be together in this country, and to have a common language, interests, and aims. We don’t need laws to do that. Let’s keep it that way.
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I just read your article "’English Only’ Campaigns Aren't Aimed at Bringing Unity, but Imposing Supremacy." As you say "HOGWASH". Who are you trying to kid? If immigrants want to come to the U.S. so bad, they should be willing to read and write our language, not the other way around. Why should OUR teachers have to learn their language since that would never happen if we immigrated to their country. Americans are paying out BILLIONS for their health care, etc, while our American poor are left behind. I also noticed your name was Rodriguez, so naturally, you obviously feel it is ok if they do not learn our language. It should become a necessity if they plan to stay here. If they do not want to learn our language to be able to speak or write, let them go back to the Country that they came from and then they can speak any language they want. Thank you for letting me vent my feelings and I am sure the feeling of MANY, MANY Americans.

Luis J. Rodriguez’s response:

Thank you for responding to my article in your local newspaper. However, you must have read the wrong article. I stated that everyone should learn to read and write English. I have spent my life making English my practice as a writer of ten books, including poetry, children’s literature, novels, short stories, nonfiction, and more. What I did say, however, is that we should also speak Spanish, Lakota, Filipino, Chinese, or whatever... if that’s one's interest. These other languages should not be suppressed. “English Only” means just that – that only English should be used.

I think everyone is already using English to speak to each other, and are more than willing to learn English if they don’t. We don’t need Congress to make laws for this – or any states to impose “English Only.” I have seen how this tends to devalue and suppress other languages and cultures (I cited one example in my article; I can give you hundreds more). When I first went to school, speaking only Spanish, I was swatted and otherwise punished. While this may no longer be the case in most schools, English Only schools today force people to speak English, or else (instead of helping them learn and accept English as part of their new life, without having to give up any other language to obtain it).

And if you have issues with billions of dollars for health care for the undocumented, maybe you can focus on the insurance companies, the health industry, and their cronies in the government who have made health care so costly for most people. Immigrants aren’t responsible for that. Health care for people without documents makes sense since any unwanted illnesses and diseases they get hurts all of us. If you’re concerned about the poor, fight for all the poor – with or without papers. The reason most people migrate to this country is that they are poor people to begin with. Taking up the interests of the poor, across borders, regardless of nationality, would help ALL the poor.
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I read an article by Luis J. Rodriguez in the 1 Sep edition of the Dayton Daily News. Mr. Rodriquez states that what unites us as a country is not the language that we speak but the ideals we hold dear and that ‘English Only’ campaigns are designed not to bring unity but to suppress other languages. Later, he clearly contradicts himself by saying that the ability to speak Spanish is becoming a necessity in today’s America and that we all might as well face up to it. If having a single common language is not necessary to unite us as a country, then why is it a necessity for me to speak Spanish as well as English? In fact, this statement by Mr. Rodriquez is precisely the reason for ‘English Only’ campaigns. He does not make a similar statement about Japanese, Chinese, German and all the other languages that are quite commonly spoken in many areas throughout the United States. In fact, Mr. Rodriquez’s position is the one that would appear to suppress all other languages, except Spanish, elevating it to the same level of usage as English. Could he envision this as merely an interim goal? I agree that people should be allowed to learn and speak socially in whatever language they prefer and the more languages a person is able to learn and speak, the better off they will be. However, for a society to administratively function in a reasonable manner, as a minimum the United States clearly needs a single common language for conducting its essential business activities, including all aspects of our Federal, State and Local governments, our court systems, our insurance and health care systems, our financial institutions, licensing bureaus, contracting, energy, utilities, etc. That language has always been English. If the use of Spanish is allowed to achieve a legally preferable or acceptable status (equal right) in conducting these activities, they will become confusing, overlapping, more time consuming, perhaps dangerous and in some cases inoperable. This is in addition to the added expense of developing documents and performing tasks in duplication. This would certainly suppress rather than elevate all the other languages. Even without such legal status, it appears the current ability of many people to speak only Spanish when conducting or involved in such activities is already having this undesirable and expensive impact. Surely, this creates wedges of misunderstanding between us rather than uniting us. Perhaps the time to revisit the choice of English as the single common uniting language of the United States is when the majority of United States citizens speak Spanish socially as their first language and it makes sense to change the official language from English to Spanish, and the way things are heading, that may not be too far off. Still, the Chinese segment of our population is also growing rapidly, so who knows who may be in the majority in the future.

Luis J. Rodriguez’s response:

Thank you for your letter. I appreciate your effort to convey your thoughts. However, I have to clarify a few points. English IS our unifying language. It’s the common language we all must know and share. However, this is not what this country is about – it’s peripheral to the real value of being here. What unites us, all of us, people of all races, colors, religions, and creeds, is the promise that everyone will be taken into account, that people can express themselves freely (with all the responsibilities this entails), and that access to whatever is needed to live full and complete lives will be available (and not subject to poverty, race, or immigrant status). It’s that promise that brings so many to these shores. We should celebrate this. This is not something we should horde, or only allow for a select few. However, for many places in this country, this promise is being betrayed. English Only is one of those detrimental things that we should move away from – in the more than two dozen states that have English Only laws, languages, cultures, and “otherness” tend to be suppressed. That’s wrong. English Only means just that – only English.

We should have a common language – English is it. But we should also be able to speak any other language if we so choose. I’m not saying that anyone should learn any other language—I did not say that Spanish at this time should be given equal status to English. Yet it would be helpful and quite smart (many Americans are already doing this) to learn Spanish, but it should not be made law or mandatory. In fact some Americans are learning Mandarin as well. There’s even a charter school in a predominantly Mexican LA community that teaches English, Spanish, Nahuatl (linked to the Aztecs), and Mandarin. Nothing wrong with that. That’s my point. Everyone should learn English. And if you want, pick up a Chinese dialect. Why not? But that’s a choice. English is fine, but why do we need laws to suppress other tongues?
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First of all, your article refers to "the hysteria over Spanish-speaking people in the U.S." This is a ridiculous way to start the article. Due to the nature of my profession I encounter many people from all over the country on a daily basis and have not met a single person has a problem with anyone speaking their native language. That is not the reason for the idea of designating English as our country's official language. It is a problem when English-speaking children are falling behind in their education because schools must cater to demands that everything be presented in many native languages as well as English. Why should a non-English speaking citizen be permitted to take to take a written driving test in a language other English? Aren't most street and traffic signs using English? If I immigrated to France I would expect to learn French and learn it fast. The same goes for any country I visit. If there is a language barrier I know it is due to the fact that I did not properly prepare for my trip. No one I have come across seems to object to native languages being spoken, but a working knowledge of English should be a requirement for citizenship to this country. Therefore you comment the "English Only" campaigns are designed not to bring unity but to suppress other languages..." is inaccurate. And your view that "if we end up with an official language, we may have to reconsider names like Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota..." is inane and has nothing to do with the issue. You state that the ability to speak Spanish is becoming a necessity in today's America. Well, that precisely the reason we need an official language (and that does not mean that additional languages cannot be used in the private sector as I see that as a business decision). Will your opinion change years down the road when we have welcomed more Indian immigrants to this country? Or how would you feel if you lived in a predominantly Chinese neighborhood and your grandchildren had to kill time while public grade school teachers provided much needed language to non-English-speaking students? Finally, your mention of the incident at the airport book stand was ridiculous. A population should not be judged on this observation. This to me was just another example of inflammatory and inaccurate statements in your piece. Gee...it's funny to imagine if my great grandparents and the surrounding community of other German immigrants decided they needn't learn English. What an interesting part of Ohio it would be. But you know what? They and their children did learn English. And spoke their dialect of German at social occasions. And the community to this day still has a unique German-American atmosphere is intensely proud of their Germanic heritage.

Luis J. Rodriguez’s response:

Thank you for writing me about my article that appeared in your local newspaper. First, I have to point out that the hysteria is real; it’s not just my opinion. There are people punishing other people for speaking Spanish, yelling at them, and even passing laws that outlaw this (that’s what English Only laws do). There are now cities forcing landlords to get rid of long-time residents (mostly hard-working and law-abiding) to leave if they don’t have proper immigration documents, and where English is imposed in all public offices. There are people protesting schools with signs saying “Learn English or get the hell out!” (By the way, many of those signs were misspelled, like the one that called non-English people “morans” instead of morons.)

For years before bilingual education and civil rights laws that allowed for an acceptance of other languages, people were swatted or otherwise punished for not speaking English, including many native languages that came from this land. I know – when I first went to school in LA speaking only Spanish that’s what happened to me. Non-English speaking kids fell behind in their education because of this – in fact, bilingual education (and dual-language classes) have proven to help non-English speaking students with English and all other subjects. I can cite facts to prove this (it’s not true that having schools present things in other languages hurts their education).

I also said that English is our common language and everyone should learn it. I even cited a recent survey of Latino immigrants that showed the majority were more than willing to learn English. There is no organized or active movement against English in this country. What I’m against is the movement for English Only that suppresses other languages. And if you immigrated to France, you’d have to learn French, of course, but also English (and maybe another language or two). Most people in Europe speak more than one language, in particular English (I go to Europe and other countries on a regular basis, and this is generally the case). We happen to be one country, supposedly highly developed, where speaking more than one language is a growing problem. People in Mexico, Japan, and other countries have English courses as part of any major educational program.

And to address another of your points: I’ve lived in predominantly Chinese language schools in the East San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles (with the largest number of Asian people in the United States) and it never was a problem being among them. They were learning English and speaking Chinese. I knew English and also spoke Spanish. It seemed to work fine. Once the imposition of one language over others happens, however, that’s when the problems arise.

As for the anecdote at the airport, I didn’t make this up. It’s not a judgment against anyone but narrow-minded bigots. This should be brought out and seen for what it is. It’s not against “white” people or others who are not bigots (most “whites” I know aren’t). That statement is not ridiculous or inaccurate – that incident actually happened and it’s indicative of what we have to struggle against.

Finally, what you said about the German population in your part of Ohio is fine. I’m fighting for the same thing for Mexicans, Natives, and other peoples. Yes, learn English (it’s already happening – I’ve lived in immigrant communities for 52 years, believe me). But we should also maintain aspects of our cultures, languages, expressions, and aspirations if we want to. In time, these aspects have shaped and re-shaped what this country is about – which is not a monolith, nor should it be. We can have the common things, particularly our ideals and interests, and still have our differences. We can unite on the essential things, and be free to do what we want around the non-essential things. That’s my point (by the way, if English Only means what it says, Minnesota, Chicago, and other place names like Los Angeles would have to change—English Only laws only allow English in publicly- funded institutions. Again, that’s my point: Keep English as our common and mutually shared language AND stop any efforts to make English the only allowable language in our schools, courts, and government bodies).

The following opinion piece appeared in various publications around the country through the Progressive Media Project, including the Providence Journal, Monterey Herald, Dayton Daily News, the Winona Daily News,among others. I've included the one that was posted by the Providence Journal. My next post will include some of the emails I received, and my responses to these.

Luis J. Rodriguez: Celebrate U.S. Spanish-speaking
Friday, September 1, 2006

THE HYSTERIA over Spanish-speaking people in the United States must stop. Already more than two dozen states have variants of "English-Only" laws. In one such state, North Carolina, I visited a classroom where a teacher had to sneak Spanish words onto a chalkboard so that her mostly Spanish-speaking students could learn. A student served as lookout to make sure no administrator happened by.

What's going on here?

Okay, I'll try to be generous. Some fear that today's immigrants don't want to learn English, or that American culture will be watered down and eventually destroyed, or that other tongues and cultures will break up what unites us as a nation.

Hogwash. (Not the Queen's English, I'm afraid.)

First of all, where are the hordes opposing English to warrant any of this?

From living in predominantly Spanish-speaking communities all my life, I can testify that most immigrants want to learn English.

My own family arrived from Mexico in the mid-1950s. In a generation, English became the dominant idiom, which is generally true for most Mexicans and other non-English-speaking people in this country. Latino immigrants are more likely to insist on English than native-born Latinos, according to surveys by the Pew Hispanic Center. And close to 60 percent of Latinos questioned say immigrants should learn English to stay in this country. Learning English is apparently not the problem.

Nor is diluting the culture -- unless, by culture, people exclude all the contributions made by people who didn't learn English as their first language. America is made up of many tongues, many heritages, many voices. The organic coming together of cultures and languages is what America is all about, and we don't need laws to do this, thank you very much.

We enjoy rock 'n' roll, martial arts, cowboys and chewing gum, all with roots outside Anglo culture (e.g., African, Asian, Spanish and American Indian, respectively). Hey, if we end up with an official language, we may have to reconsider place names like Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, California, Florida or San Diego. All of these have Indian or Spanish-language origins.

And if unity is the issue, well, what unites us as a country is not the language that we speak but the ideals that we hold dear: democracy, civil liberties, separation of powers, the self-evident truth that all people are created equal.

The "English-Only" campaigns are designed not to bring unity but to suppress other languages -- particularly Spanish -- and impose the supremacy of English on our tongues.

I, for one, love the English language. I've spent years trying to master it. But I'm also for having Spanish, Japanese, Hmong, Navajo and Nahuatl (still spoken by millions of people in Mexico and Central America) wherever these may apply. The U.S. Census estimates there are 329 languages spoken here, 154 of which are indigenous. Other reports claim the United States is currently the third-largest Spanish-speaking country.

That is not something to be ashamed of or worried about. It's something to celebrate. The ability to speak Spanish is becoming a necessity in today's America. We all might as well face up to that.

Plus, isn't it better to know more than one language? Many other countries put us to shame in this regard.

"English-Only" laws hark back to a time when Spanish-speaking or Indian-speaking children in the Southwest were forbidden to use words other than English (even if they knew no other words). As a result, they were forbidden to speak in this country that reveres free speech.

A friend of mine once told me how she was looking at one of my books while standing near an airport bookstand. Two American males nearby perused the name on the book, whereupon one of them remarked, "That's the problem with bilingual education. They learn a little English and now they want to write books."

Yes, and you know what? I didn't have to lose my Spanish to do so.

Luis J. Rodriguez has written 10 books of poetry, children's literature, fiction, nonfiction and memoir. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project.

After five years, what does the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennslyvania still signify to us in the United States? That's the question being asked all over the country in the next two days. I had an opportunity to discuss this very issue for a roundtable taping of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS-TV.

Although it was taped last Friday, a condensed version of this talk will air on Monday, September 11 on PBS stations nationwide. Please check your local listings and local PBS stations for air times.

I hope my feelings and thoughts were adequately conveyed and not edited too much, although I understand the constraints. It was a lively discussion and I value the chance to be part of any such dialogue. In this country, we need more of these talks -- not just with like-minded people (although this has its merits), but with those we don't agree with.

I'm convinced we in the United States have more in common as far as issues, ideas, and values than not. I'm also convinced that right now, we are extremely divided. Our leaders and policymakers aren't helping -- they are as polarized as never before. We are at war, yet a significant number of people here don't want to be in a war that in effect has made terrorism more cohesive and stronger (and killed tens of thousands of civilians and close to 3,000 of our own troops) without any positive results. We are seeing a widening gap between the most powerful & rich people of the land and the poorest & least empowered. We are rent not just by idealogies, but class (the fundamental division in our land), race, immigrant status, and more.

I hope you all can watch this show and somehow, somewhere, get more involved in the badly-needed dialogues we need to have as a country about terrorism, war, the economy, our visions, our present, and future. I will do what I can to take part in these, and to facilitate these, as much as I can.

To all my blogger friends: I want to report some relatively good developments in regards to Tia Chucha’s Café & Centro Cultural.

Soon after our five-year lease ended on September 1, Tia Chucha's rent doubled. Most any other community-based business would fold under such a hit – something that happens to small businesses every day.

Faced with this prospect, we considered moving the café/bookstore into the much smaller Centro workshop space next door, drastically curtailing our activities and business. We even got the news that the landlords wanted to bring in a high-tech Laundromat service. Of course, I’m thinking this community of mostly working class Latino families needs another Laundromat or 99 cent store or fast food outlet like a heart attack.

As I’ve often stated, there was no bookstores, movie houses, or cultural centers until Tia Chucha's opened its doors in late 2001. This is for an area in the Northeast San Fernando Valley of around 450,000 people (about the size of Oakland). Tia Chucha’s is a breath of fresh air; a need, not a business; a dream of community empowerment, not a profit-driven commercial enterprise.

Over the past five years, we spent tens of thousands of dollars to create this space and to keep it going. Most of this came from my family – with two mortgages and thousands in monthly subsidies.

However, we also received fantastic support from the community; they donated regularly at our request. We also got support for our music, art, writing, theater, film, sculpture workshops and author readings, theater shows, festivals, and musical events from the Liberty Hill Foundation, the LA City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Not Just Us Foundation, The Attias Family Foundation, the Center for Cultural Innovation, Toyota Sales, the Solidago Foundation, Youth Can Service, the Border Book Festival (Denise Chavez and John Randall), Councilman Alex Padilla, and even donations from well-known personalities like Bruce Springsteen, John Densmore of the Doors, Dave Marsh of Rock & Rap Confidential, among other individuals (thank you all).

And over the years, we had some of the best people possible staffing the bookstore, café, and workshop center (thanks to Joaquin, Alicia, Ray, Melissa, Vanessa, Silverio, Mike, Wendy, Yesenia, Carmen, Luz, Esperanza, Yuri, Nani, Marisol, Joe, and Nancy). Many volunteers kept our workshops going, including our board (Angelica Loa, Victor Mendoza, and yours truly) and resident artists like Cuauh Temach Totecayotl (Azteca dancers), Alejandro LaBorde, Juan Pueblo, Cesar Castro and the Son Jarocho workshop, Jovenes Nobles, Young Womyn’s Circle, Hazze Hip Hop Dream Center, Elusive Minds Films, Teatro Chusma, EARTH Theater Company, Tonantzin del Valle Women’s Natural Healing Circle, OmeAcatl and the Mexika/Nahuatl classes, Tres Chingazos Theater Collective, LA Commons, and many more.

Others like Enrique Sanchez, Freddy Chavez, Andres Bustamante, Dan Henrickson, Luis Ochoa, Juan Ochoa, Big Joe Hurt, Alfredo Hidalgo, and others (I can’t name them all, sorry) freely gave of their time and skills to help whenever we needed it.

And my wife Trini put her heart and soul in this space, managing the café/bookstore with lots of love and no pay.

We created this vital cultural space not to make gain for my family or any particular individual, but to fill this community with something beautiful, spiritual, visionary, and engaging. In five years, the community has embraced us, including helping us make a turn financially this year. The rent increase was potentially a terrible setback.

However, the good news is that after several talks with our landlords, we’ve reached an agreement that will keep Tia Chucha’s going – at least until we move into a newer permanent facility in the near future (more on this later).

While we will go ahead and pay the doubled rent, we'll give up the workshop center next door that we also rented (we'll continue many of our workshops at the cafe/bookstore). And the landlords have decided to donate $1,000 a month to our not-for-profit Centro.

I think after the landlords sat down at our space, and after talking heart-to-heart with Trini and myself, they got convinced of the immense value of trying to keep this place here. While they may still bring a Laundromat, they will try to help us stay here until we get a larger place. I have to thank them for opening up their hearts and doing what they can to help – I know the banks that hold their mortgages are putting pressure so they obtain a certain amount of rent per square foot. It’s just the realities of capitalist commerce (this cannot be dismissed out of hand when one is dealing in these situations).

In addition, we are now formally pursuing turning over Tia Chucha's Bookstore & Café (presently owned by a private Limited Liability Company) to the not-for-profit Centro, which has had its 501 (c)3 status for two years now.

And, with the help of the LA City Community Redevelopment Agency, we are in talks to create a new, much larger, space for Tia Chucha’s Cultural Center (with the bookstore and café as a legitimate means for the center to meet its non-profit arts/community mission, goals and objectives) in a new development in Pacoima – where Trini spent her formative years.

More on this later as we continue to negotiate our way through this (or any other possible development).

So while we’ve had many obstacles, and face many more to come, we've learned every defeat or possible defeat has renewal, power, and medicine in it -- the stories, the songs, the poetry, the dance, the performances, and voices can be our beacons to light our way. In the end, it’s authentic, self-energized, and whole communities that we want to see created and sustained as we struggle to make art/poetry/song/dance/theater central to our culture again (with good coffee and tamales on the side).

Tlazhokamati (thank you, in Nahuatl).

I apologize to all my blogger friends for not writing something for more than two weeks. Although I’m busy all the time, I love communicating my thoughts and activities through my blog posts, knowing there is an appreciative and growing readership among you. Thank you all for being out there for me and my work.

My absence was largely due to my participation in two major conferences – The Macondo Writers Workshop in San Antonio from August 6 to August 13. And my annual job as a teacher at the Mosaic Foundation’s Men’s Conference at the Woodlands Camp in Mendocino, CA. from August 14 to August 20.

The Macondo Writers Worshop is a unique, remarkable, and giving community of writers, founded by my friend and fellow poet/story teller Sandra Cisneros. This year it was based at Our Lady of the Lake University, which helped with dorms and meetings rooms (bed & breakfast establishments, hotels, and other spaces were also utilized). This year, I was one of the workshop facilitators (I had eight writers for four days of workshops). I also was the featured reader at the Jump Start Theater’s annual Macondo event that featured a theme of “Suavecito” -- with a lowrider club (thanks to La Familia) and their “ranflas,” aerosol spray art, and lowrider bikes hanging from the ceiling.

A special performance from the resident Jump Start Theater group of my anti-war poems “Nightfall: Poems to Ponder in Times of Uncertainty and War” blew me away – I was practically in tears hearing back my words from the myriad voices involved in the performance. It was also an honor to be accompanied by Chicano actor Jesse Borrego, who read a poem by the late Trinidad Sanchez; Levi Romero of Albuquerque, New Mexico, reading his street/barrio/lowrider poems; and the powerful presence of Sandra Cisneros, reading an excerpt from her recent novel, Caramelo. It was a packed house that later expanded into a party (I danced a good part of the night away, assisted by the knowledge I can enjoy myself without the booze).

I hope to return to Macondo as a teacher, as a participant, or just to write as much as I can. The community is generous and filled with Sandra’s loving spirit and her vision of community engagement through the arts (I also thank Sandra for lending me her friend Reza, originally from Iran and a former Olympic wrestler, for a massage and vital advice on nutrition and exercise – I sure needed this).

I flew from San Antonio to Oakland on August 13, where I hooked up with my compadre Tony Prince – best friend and fellow revolutionary. He is a lawyer, working for a large public employee union. I’m also godfather to his two daughters (he’s godfather to my oldest son, Ramiro). Ramiro still calls him Nino Tony. As usual we talked about life, politics, spirit, writing, change, and almost all topics under the sun. As usual we practically resolved the world’s problems. Unfortunately, we end up going our separate ways, back to the realities in which our ideas and issues must find ground and meaning (or get crushed).

Tony drove me the almost four hours from Berkeley, where he lives, up the coast to Mendocino. For the first time, I found myself showing up early to this men’s gathering – only one other person was there. I have been doing these events for twelve years as a teacher, under the invitation of renowned mythologist and storyteller, Michael Meade, founder and visionary behind Mosaic. The organization is well known for intense soul-work and community building among the disaffected, abandoned, traumatized, and forgotten members of our society. This includes vital interactions with indigenous communities, barrio/ghetto youth, homeless youth, refugees (from Sudan and other countries), and prisoners.

The men’s conference is one of the few renewing touchstones in my life – despite the struggles, teachings, heartaches, rages, and sorrows involved. Last year, we lost two of our participants when their car fell into the Navarro River on their way to the conference (Elegba “Legs” Earl and Joe Ranft: may they rest in peace). There was much work to be done to cleanse and coalesce from this tragedy.

This year’s conference was called “Seeking Spirit, Making Soul: The Road of Wounds and Gifts.” The main five teachers in these events were together at once for this one – something we had not done in years. Besides myself, the teachers were Michael Meade, Orland Bishop (community healer and spiritual practitioner), Malidome Some (an initiated West African elder/shaman), and Jack Kornfield (one of the leading American Buddhists, founder of Spirit Rock in the Bay Area). I must say this was a privilege for all of us – working together to deepen the conversations about men’s rage as well as race, class, war, gender conficts, and more.

So much of this week’s efforts involved healing and regeneration. Despite some uncertain, heated, and fractured moments, this year’s group of men (around 100 took part) were wonderfully able to cohere and hold the space, including for three young men who had lost a friend through gang violence a couple of weeks ago; another young man who held his friend as he died from gunshot wounds; and a father whose three-year-old daughter had unexpectedly died in his arms after an illness. Other trauma and life-long pain entered this space, one of a few nationally that adequately and deeply attempts to get to the heart of the matter surrounding these issues. In the end, we left with much song, story, dance, and poetry (I do poetry workshops at these events every year). And we also left with a fierce fellowship of men, filled with substance, myths, ideas, art, ritual, and healing paths.

The event also served to highlight the publication of Michael Meade’s book The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul, published by GreenFire Press, an imprint of the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation. Please order this through the Mosaic website (www.mosaicvoices.org).

I came back home -- back to family, Tia Chucha’s, my writing, and tons of other work (including 1,000 emails) -- ready to engage, fully energized and awakened to the crucially necessary work we must do in community for deep social/spiritual/cultural/personal transformations.

In San Fernando de Apure, a fairly large city in the rural state of Apure in the middle of Venezuela, around 100 people showed up to a uniquely powerful poetry reading sponsored by CENAL (Centro Nacional del Libro—National Center of the Book), a project of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Venezuelan government.

Local poets read, including a cowboy-hat wearing, white dressed 11-year-old girl with dimples (she did a wonderful performance, or “declamación,” of a patriotic poem with guitar accompaniment). Another poet was an 80-year-old man who read his own fantastically-executed work. In addition, two invited poets of the Third World Poetry Festival of Venezuela also took part: Puerto Rico’s Carman Valle and myself, your humble servant.

This was part of a national tour of 28 poets who came from diverse countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceana, the Caribbean, North America, and South America to participate in the festival. Twenty two of Venezuela’s 24 states were included in this “invasion” of poets. I also read in the “llanero” (open plains area of mostly agricultural farming and ranching) state of Guárico. In the state capital of San Juan de Los Morros, Libyan poet Idris Tayeb, who had once been imprisoned for 10 years because of his writings, joined with me. A fantastic Venezuelan poet, Antonio Trujillo, also took part. In addition, we heard from local poets, which is a great thing to do so that the community is vested and connected to the international poetry community.

Although we were late in starting due to technical difficulties (all non-Spanish poems had been translated and were being projected on a screen at the same time a poet read in his or her native language), red-T-shirted youth from the local Cultural Mission stood on each side of us and applauded as Idris, Antonio, and I walked up to the open-air lecture stage. Some people were there since 4:30 PM, although we didn’t start until 7:30 PM (it was supposed to start at 6 PM). The majority in the audience stayed all the way until about 10:30 PM when the whole program finished. Their fortitude and love of language was astounding. I couldn’t believe any people would have the patience to stay this long for poetry (we can learn much about this in the United States).

My festival guide, Robinson Velasco, 26, continued to be a most helpful and trusting companion to have on these trips. We took several buses, first three hours, then four hours, and then a particularly brutal 8-hour ride from San Fernando de Apure to Caracas (with a half-working air conditioner, no restrooms, and tons of babies). We stayed in small cockroach-infested hotel rooms (without hot water in one case) in mosquito-laden territory. But we also met wonderful people, local residents, who showed us around their town, fed us the most wonderful foods (including local versions of “arepas” and “chanapas”), and never failed to have a smile and a kind word.

Back in Caracas (and to our Hilton hotel suites, free meals, and pool), other presentations followed, including an amazing closing event at the Teatro Teresa Carreño featuring North Americans poets from the US and Mexico (including Jack Hirschman, Allison Hedge Cooke, Sam Hamill, Jorge Cocom Pech, Maria Baranda, and, again, yours truly).

We also all took part in media interviews, mostly in the hotel’s lobby, but sometimes outside in the streets of Caracas with food and artisan vendors in the background. We appeared in the pages of newspapers, on the radio, and on national and local TV broadcasts.

Again, in the closing event, some 2,000 people showed up (all the readings were free). Books were sold, including classics books from around the world and Venezuela, and contemporary works of poets in the country and other parts of the world. The revolutionary work of the new Bolivariano government (led by Hugo Chavez Frias) includes the expansion of books, literacy, ideas, and creativity.

I saw many wonderful construction projects, including roads, health care facilities, computer centers, schools, and housing, much of it fueled by oil (Venezuela is one of the world’s largest oil producers). The country’s oil reserves had been used for years by a small elite class of rich people; now it’s being used to feed, clothe, house, and change the culture of the poor in the country. However, for me, one of the most impressive labors of any revolutionary society is that of drawing on the creativity, gifts, talents, passions, energies, and ideas of the people themselves to rebuild, renew, and reinvigorate the whole country.

Poetry then is a revolutionary tool, an armament of positive and healing change, as a language that will help pull the people up from the despairing and debilitating consequences of capitalist-driven poverty, fear, hunger, and ignorance. As one Venezuelan poet said, poetry is not just of those who write it. It belongs to the people. It belongs to the revolution. It belongs to the future.