Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience
I slow down even more remembering how different it was to go to school at home in Mexico walking on the narrow streets paved with stones among the round hills always green We would gather as we walked Rosa María Elena Lupe and me without even realizing it like flowers will sometimes bloom together in the same patch We arrived happily at our small school where time passed unnoticed We learned numbers and letters addition and subtraction But the best part of each day was our music We practiced our dances and songs proudly having been chosen to perform them in the plaza I wish though that school had taught us more about Mexico and my people Here the teacher talks about the rich ancient civilizations of the country of my birth and I know so little about it Finally the long sidewalk splattered with brown leaves brings me to the door of this new school where my language my sweet Mixtec 10
is a secret language that no one in this school even suspects exists My teacher will greet me in Spanish Buenos días Juana I understand she believes she is speaking my home language trying to make me feel good showing me that she has made the effort to learn a little Spanish I smile at her saying Buenos días Mrs Johnston She reminds me of Sra Sánchez my first teacher in Mexico who on the first day asked me if I spoke Spanish When I said No she answered You’ll learn Here we speak only Spanish Now as then I will struggle through the day while the teacher speaks her own language this new language with all those w’s Only today a surprise awaits me at school Next to the teacher stands a girl her skin the same rich color as mine her hair black long and as straight as mine and her face showing the same surprise as mine 11
a surprise that makes her dark eyes sparkle like black obsidian in the sun Against the echo of cars and motorcycles on the busy street outside we cry out Elena Juanita Mrs Johnston looks at us with surprise Do you know each other We smile in silence No explanations to break the magic of the moment We have learned to smile when we understand that silence is better or when we don’t understand We answer Sí very softly and keep our secret saving the rejoicing for later Recess will come sometime and then we will be able to use our language our sweet Mixtec to share everything that has happened since we said good-bye in our town the town that wakes up every morning with the song of the roosters and the cooing of doves But that will happen later Now smiling to each other is enough 12
Our Indigenous Roots Extraordinary civilizations developed in Mexico Central America and the Andean area of South America long before Europeans knew these places existed The cities of Tenochtitlán present-day Mexico City and Cuzco in present day Peru the magnificent pyramids built by the Mayas and the fortresses of Sacsayhuaman in the Andes demonstrate the richness of these indigenous or native civilizations These self-sustaining and highly developed societies had achieved impressive knowledge of mathematics and astron omy and had created unique architectural wonders and orig inal art stone sculpture clay pottery exquisite weavings and beautiful gold and turquoise jewelry Some of their architec tural and artistic creations remain unsurpassed today After Christopher Columbus sailed to the Caribbean in 1492 many European countries sought to colonize these lands England and France occupied and colonized lands in the north present-day Canada and the northern United States Spain colonized present-day Texas New Mexico Ari zona California Louisiana and Florida as well as Mexico the major Caribbean islands and most of Central and South America Other areas in Central and South America were col onized by France the Netherlands Denmark and Portugal The Caribbean islands were particularly attractive to Euro peans because their climate was ideal for growing sugarcane and spices The original population of the islands disappeared almost 13
