Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice

Description

On April 20, 2010, nine Latino students chained themselves to the main doors of the Arizona State Capitol in an act of civil disobedience to protest Arizona’s SB 1070. Moved by the students’ actions, that same day Francisco X. Alarcón responded by writing a poem in Spanish and English titled “Para Los Nueve del Capitolio/ For the Capitol Nine,” which he dedicated to the students. The students replied to the poem with a collective online message. To share with the world what was taking place, Alarcón then created a Facebook page called “Poets Responding to SB 1070” and posted the poem, launching a powerful and dynamic forum for social justice. Since then, more than three thousand original contributions by poets and artists from around the globe have been posted to the page. Poetry of Resistance offers a selection of these works, addressing a wide variety of themes, including racial profiling, xenophobia, cultural misunderstanding, violence against refugees, shared identity, and much more. Contributors include distinguished poets such as Francisco Aragón, Devreaux Baker, Sarah Browning, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Susan Deer Cloud, Sharon Dubiago, Martín Espada, Genny Lim, Pam Uschuk, and Alma Luz Villanueva. Bringing together more than eighty writers, the anthology powerfully articulates the need for change and the primacy of basic human rights. Each poem shows the heartfelt dedication these writers and artists have to justice in a world that has become larger than borders. Poetry of Resistance is a poetic call for tolerance, reflection, reconciliation, and healing. Contents Foreword: They Carry Butterflies in Their Hands by Juan Felipe Herrera Introduction by Francisco X. Alarcón and Odilia Galván Rodríguez Francisco X. Alarcón Para los nueve del capitolio / For the Capitol Nine Invocation Borderless Compassion JoAnn Anglin - Portions Francisco Aragón - Poem with a Phrase of Isherwood Cathy Arellano - End of an Affair Jorge Tetl Argueta - Nuestros niños y niñas / Our Children Adrián Arias - Tattoo SB 1070 Víctor Ávila - Looking Through Chain Link at McAllen Station AvotcjaLa regla de los ladrones / The Law of Thieves Devreaux Baker - Reasonable Suspicion — The Conqueror’s Dream Kristopher Barney - Lightning on a Black Night over the Chuska Mountains Virginia Barrett - Slaughters and Shifts and Migrations—Arizona Esmeralda Bernal - Listen Child Sarah Browning - The Flag of Touch Carmen Calatayud Border Ghost of Sonora Awakening at Night Xánath Caraza - Hoy mujeres y hombres / Today Women and Men Héctor Carbajal - On the Border, We Dream Elizabeth Cazessús - Niño traga fuegos Lorna Dee Cervantes - Olmecan Eyes Ana Chig - Del puente al arco Jabez W. Churchill- Reconsider the Lilies / Considerad de nuevo las azucenas Antoinette Nora Claypoole - The New West Karen S. Córdova - Sonnet for Police Officers Charged with Enforcing SB 1070 Iris De Anda - To Be a Pocha or Not to Be Nephtalí De León - Capitol Poetry Susan Deer Cloud - Your America, My Turtle Island Elena Díaz Björkquist Before the World Wakes Two Missing Men, One White, One Brown, One Rich, One Not So Rich James Downs - There Is a Fence Around My Heart Qwo-Li Driskill - A Ceremony for Reclaiming Language Sharon Doubiago - Border Sharon Elliot - Border Crossing Mario Ángel Escobar - La voz del inmigrante / Immigrant Voices Martín Espada - Isabel’s Corrido Odilia Galván Rodríguez Giving Voice Border Inquest Blues Collecting Thoughts from the Universe Daniel García Ordaz - Immigrant Crossing Nancy Aidé González The Ones Who Live On La Virgen de las Calles Sonia Gutiérrez Mi bandera / My Flag Grandchildren of the United Fruit Company Israel Francisco Haros López - Cerrando Herida Gabriel Hartley - Sand and Bone Desert Spark Ralph Haskins - Juan Mercado Claudia D. Hernández - Kim ayu (Vení pa’ca) Andrea Hernández Holm Where We Belong In Response to the Man Who Asked, “Why Do Your People March for Everything?” Juan Felipe Herrera - Arizona Green (Manifesto #1070) Mari Herreras - A Prayer to Santa Cebolla Susana de Jesús Huerta - Our Children Are Not Anchors Aurora Levins Morales - Grave Song for Immigrant Soldier Genny Lim The Same Thing The Remembered Mark Lipman - The Border Crossed Us César Love - Trespasser Shoes Manuel Lozano Insist and Resist My Sweet Dream / My Living Nightmare: Adobe Walls Devorah Major - On Issues of Aliens and Immigration John Martínez - The Line Andrea García Mauk - Nunca, Nunca, Nunca: The Corrido of South Phoenix Joseph McNair - Arizona Goddam! Octaviano Merecias-Cuevas - Rimas contra las cárceles de papeles James O. Michael - The Great Wall of America Edith Morris-Vásquez - The Dream That Sleeps with Power: A Sonnet for the Dream Act Yasmeen Najmi - Ancianos Joe Navarro - Haiku Poems for Social Justice Gerardo Pacheco Matus - Ghost Town: 24 Hours B4 Arizona’s SB 1070 Melinda Palacio - Outlaw Zone Carlos Parada Ayala - Fading Memories Ramón Piñero - I Am America Manuel Ramos - Reasonable Suspicion Maritza Rivera Who Cares? Here to Stay Sin fronteras / Beyond Borders Margarita Robleda - Diluyamos las fronteras Roberto Cintli Rodríguez - That Indian Man You See on the Hospital Bed Renato RosaldoLo Prohibido Gabriel Rosenstock - Bratacha Bána / White Flags / Banderas blancas Joseph Ross - If You Leave Your Shoes Abel Salas - Chook Son, Arizona Raúl Sánchez - Praise to All the Poets Responding to SB 1070 Matt Sedillo - Denial Nina Serrano - Be Fearless: Choose Love Tom Sheldon - Desaparecidos Hedy García Treviño The Sacred Stone Seven Ears of Maize I Do Bring Tara Evonne Trudell - Borders Luis Alberto Urrea - Arizona Lamentation Pam Uschuk - Stalking the Divine Under a Desert Full Moon Norma Liliana Valdez - No Consolation for Lidia Richard Vargas - For a Friend Who Objects to Comparing the Events Leading Up to the Holocaust with What Is Happening Today in Arizona Carlos Vázquez Segura - Emigro Edward A. Vidaurre - Los Desaparecidos Alma Luz Villanueva - Breathing While Brown Rich Villar - Always Here George Wallace - May Day Is Not the Day to Shoot at People Who Work for You Lori A. Williams - Sestina for Illegal Widows Meg Withers - Diaspora Stephanie Yan - We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For Andre Yang - Why I Feel the Way I Do About SB 1070 Contributors