Borderlands: La Frontera – the New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa. (Aunt Lute Books, 2D Edition, 1999) the Homeland, Aztlán
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Excerpts from Borderlands: La Frontera – The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa. (Aunt Lute Books, 2d edition, 1999) The Homeland, Aztlán El otro México TheThe other MexicoMexico that wewe have created herehere El otro México que acá hemos construido isis whatwhat alwaysalways hashas beenbeen national territory. el espacio es lo que ha sido ItIt isis the [collective] efforteffort ofof allall ofof ourour brothersbrothers territorio nacional. andand LatinLatin Americans who have known Este es el esfuerzo de todos nuestros hermanos howhow to move forward. y latinoamericanos que han sabido ! progressar —The —The Tigers Tigers of the ofNorth* the North* —Los Tigres del Norte' Aztecs from the North -The Aztecas del norte . compose the largest single tribe or nation of Anishinabeg (Indians) found in the United States today .....orne call themselves Chicanos and see themselves as people whose true homeland is Aztlán I the U.S. Southwesti."2 *Los Tigres del Norte (English: The Tigers of the North) is a norteño-bandnorteño-band ensemble based out of San Wind tugging at my sleeve Jose, California, with origins in Rosa Morada, a feet sinking lino the sand sindicatura in Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico. They are still I stand at the edge where earth touches ocean active recording and performing artists today. active recording and performing artists today. ! where the two overlap ! a gentle coming together NorteñoNorteño,, also musìcamusica norteña, is aa genregenre of MexicanMexican music. The accordion and the bajo sextosexto are at other times and places a violent clash. norteño's most characteristic instruments. The genre isis popular in both Mexico and the UnitedUnited States, Across the border in Mexico especially among the Mexican and Mexican-AmericanMexican-American stark silhouette of houses gutted by waves, community, andand it has become popular in many Latin cliffs crumbling into the sea, American countries as far as Chile and Colombia. silver waves marbled with spume Though originating from rural areas, norteño isis gashing a hole under the border fence. popular in urban as well as rural areas. 24 The Homeland, Milan / El otro México II watchwatch thethe seasea bombardbombard ! Miro el mar atacar thethe fencefence inin BorderBorder FieldField StateState ParkPark ! la cerca en Border Field Park withwith itsits burstsbursts ofof waterwater ! con sus buchones de agua, ! an Easter Sunday resurrection ! of the brown blood in my veins. ! II hearhear thethe crycry ofof the the sea,sea, the breathbreath ofof the the airair ! °Igo el Ilorido del mar; et respiro del aire, ! my heart surges to the beat of the sea. ! In the gray haze of the sun ! the gulls shrill cry of hunger, ! the tangy smell of the sea seeping into me. ! I walk through the hole in the fence ! to the other side. ! Under my fingers I feel the gritty wire ! rusted by 139 years ! of the salty breath of the sea. ! ! Beneath the iron sky ! Mexican children kick their soccer ball across, ! run after it, entering the U.S. ! ! I press my hand to the steel curtain— ! chainlink fence crowned with rolled barbed wire— ! rippling from the sea where Tijuana touches San Diego ! unrolling over mountains ! and plains ! and deserts, ! this "Tortilla Curtain" turning into el río Grande ! flowing down to the flatlands ! of the Magic Valley of South Texas ! its mouth emptying into the Gulf. dividingdividing aa peoplepeople,, a culture or,or, dividing aa towntown,, aa cultureculture ! 1950, mile-long open wound ! dividing a pueblo, a culture, ! running down the length of my body, ! It is breaking me, it is breaking me staking fence rods in my flesh, It is breaking me, it is breaking me ! (splitting)(splitting) (splitting) (splitting) splits me splits me (ripping)(ripping) (ripping) (ripping) me raja me raja (cutting)(cutting) (cutting) (cutting) 25 Yemanja (Yemayá) is an orisha, originally ofof thethe YorubaYoruba religion, who has Tlw Homeland, AzdÁn / otro Mexico become prominent in many Afro-American religions. Yoruba people, from what is now called Yorubaland, broughtbrought Yemaya/Yemoja andand aa hosthost ofof This is my home other deities/energy forces in nature with them when they werewere brought toto this thin edge of the shores of the Americas as captives. She is the ocean, the essence of harbwire. motherhood, and a fiercefierce protector of children.! ! But the skin of the earth is seamless. The YorúbáYorùbá religionreligion comprisescomprises the traditional religious and spiritual The sea cannot be fenced, concepts and practices of the YorúbáYorùbá people. Its homeland is in el mar does not stop at borders. Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region To show the white man what she thought of his that has come to be known as Yorùbáland.Yorúbáland. ! arrogatwe, ! Yema ya blew that wire fence down. An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflectsreflects one of the manifestations of God in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is. And will be again. II amam a stretchedstretched bridgebridge 51) soy un puente tendido from the Yankee world to that of the wetback, from the Yankee world to that of the wetback, del mundo gabacho al del molado, thethe past stretchesstretches meme backwardsbackwards lo pasado me estira pa 'tras and the present stretchesstretches meme forward. MayMay thethe Virgin Mary carecare for meme y h. presente pa' 'delante. Ay ayay ay, I am a Mexican from this side. Que la Virgen de Guadalupe me cuide .4Y ay ay soy mexicana de este lado. ! The U.S.-Mexican border es una herida abierta where the ! TheThe U.S.-Mexican border isis anan openopen Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab ! woundwound wherewhere the Third World grates forms it hemorrhages again, the lifebbiod of two worlds merging ! againstagainst the first and bleeds. to form a third country—a border ctikure. Borders are set up to ! define the places that are safe and unáafe, to distinguish us from ! them. A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep ! edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is in a con- ! stant state of transition, The proliihted and forbidden are its ! **los**los atravesados:atravesados: thethe ones whowho areare caught Inhabitants. Los atraresados live here: the squint-eyed, the per- ! inin the in-between, [the border-dwellers]border-dwellers] verse, the queer, the troublesome, the mongrel, the mulato, the ! half-breed, the half dead; in short, those who cross over, pass ! over, or go through the confines of the 'normal." Gringos in the ! U.S. Southwest consider the inhabitants of the borderlands trans- ! gressors, aliens—whether they w.ssess documents or not, whether they're Chicanos, Indians or Blacks. Do not enter, tres- passers will he raped, maimed, strangled, gassed, shot. The only "legitimate" inhabitants are those in power, the whites and those 26 The Hon:clam', Azilán / otro México “**l"**laa migra”:migra": slang—Immigrationslang—Immigration andand CustomsCustoms EnforcementEnforcement officers.officers. who align themselves with whites. Tension grips the inhabitants OftenOften usedused toto denotedenote anan ImmigrationImmigration raid.raid. of the borderlands like a virus, Ambivalence and unrest reside there and death is no stranger. MyMy auntaunt saying,saying, “No"No corran,corran, don’tdon't run.run. They’llThey'll thinkthink you’reyou're fromfrom thethe In the fields, la migra. My aunt saying, "No corran, otherother sideside.. InIn thethe confusion,confusion, PedroPedro ran,ran, terrifiedterrified ofof being being caught.caught. HeHe don't run. They'll think you're del nun lao." In the confu- couldn’tcouldn't speakspeak English,English, couldn’tcouldn't telltell themthem hehe waswas fifth generationgeneration sion, Pedro ran, terrified of being caught. Ile couldn't speak American.American. WithoutWithout paperspapers—he—he diddid notnot carrycarry hishis birthbirth certificatecertificate toto English, couldn't tell them he was fifth generation American. workwork inin thethe fieldsfields .. LaLa migramigra tooktook himhim awayaway whilewhile wewe watched.watched. TheyThey Sin papeles—he did not carry his birth certificate to work in tooktook him.him. HeHe triedtried toto smilesmile whenwhen hehe lookedlooked backback atat usus toto raiseraise hishis fist.fist. the fields, La ~id took him away while we watched. Se ButBut II sawsaw thethe shameshame pushingpushing hishis headhead down,down, II sawsaw thethe terribleterrible weightweight ofof shameshame hunchhunch hishis shoulders.shoulders. theythey deporteddeported himhim toto GuadalajaraGuadalajara byby lo llevaron. Ile tried to smile when he looked back at us, to plane.plane. The furthestfurthest he’dhe'd everever beenbeen toto MexicoMexico waswas Reynosa,Reynosa, aa smallsmall raise his fist. But 1 saw the shame pushing his head down, borderborder towntown opposite Hidalgo,Hidalgo, Texas, not far fromfrom McAllen. Pedro I saw the terrible weight of shame hunch his shoulders, walkedwalked all thethe wayway toto thethe Valley.Valley. TTheyhey tooktook him—andhim—and he he waswas withoutwithout They deported hint to Guadalajara by plane. The furthest aa penny.penny. HeHe arrivedarrived onon footfoot from Guadalajara.Guadalajara. he'd ever been to Mexico was Reynosa, a small border town opposite Hidalgo, Texas, not far from McAllen, Pedro walked all the way to the Valley. Se to llevaron sin un cen- tavo al