Singing Up Our Ancestors Teaching Myrlin Hepworth’s “Ritchie Valens”

BY LINDA CHRISTENSEN yrlin Hepworth’s poem “Ritchie Valens” is a Swiss army knife kind of poem, providing mul- tiple functions—mentor text for poetic devices; ...... biographic poem to help students praise family Linda Christensen ([email protected]) is director of the Oregon Writing Project at members, literary characters, or historical fig- Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. ures; tutor text that examines both racial and language dis- She is a Rethinking Schools editor and author M of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up and crimination in the United States; accessible model to launch Teaching for Joy and Justice. students’ own poetry.

RETHINKING SCHOOLS > 39 In the poem, Hepworth tells the And America is still trying I tell them that we are going to watch a story of Valens’ rise to fame, but also to shape you into Hollywood, video clip of Hepworth performing a his brushes with racism because of his still trying to bleach the memory of poem that we will use as a model for our Mexican American heritage. Valens was your skin. own writing. “Hepworth is writing a po- born Richard Steven Valenzuela, but his Wrote a movie and said you never etic biography of a famous singer. You producer at Del-Fi records shortened his spoke Spanish, will also write a poetic biography. In this name to give him “broader appeal”: even though you understood each poem, Hepworth tells the story of Ritchie cariño your mother Valens, who sang ‘La Bamba.’ Notice how Richard Valenzuela, placed into your ears as a child. he tells the story. Think about what pieces they called you Ritchie. The movie chalked your death of his story stand out for you.” (Of course, Said Valenzuela up to superstition and Mexican my introduction varies depending on the was too much for a gringo’s tongue. hoopla. content—politics of language, Jitney, Civ- Said it would taste bad in their il Rights Movement, or personal writing. mouths Yes, Hepworth’s poem has it all. I’ve This introduction is for my juniors.) if they said it, used the poem with freshmen through Then we watch Hepworth’s amaz- so they cut your name in half to seniors (and adults) as a model, but it ing performance of “Ritchie Valens” (see Valens, and you swallowed that taste down, stood tall like a Pachuco Struggling readers often screech to a stop when they and signed that contract see words or phrases in another language. para su familia para su musica.

In eight months, Valens, who was 17, went from playing in local theaters in could be used with younger students as Resources). Students fill the post-poetry his hometown of Pacoima, California, to well. After my junior class studies the silence with a variety of comments: “It’s a playing on Dick Clark’s American Band- politics of language discrimination, they history.” “He talks about the night Valens stand. He wrote his own music and write biographic poems about literary died.” “He uses Spanish.” and historical characters whose native Over the years, I’ve discovered that Took an old folk song tongues had been lost or severed. Af- struggling readers often screech to a stop from Veracruz, ter reading August Wilson’s play Jitney, when they see words or phrases in an- La Bamba, sophomores write poems about people other language. Usually, there is enough Swung that Afro Mexican rhythm they know whose lives have been dis- context in the reading to provide an un-  into rock and roll, “para bailar rupted by gentrification. During a break derstanding of the text. I use Hepworth’s la bamba!” between units, seniors write about peo- poem to teach students how to push ple in their own lives they want to praise. through their hesitancy to engage with Valens is considered the founder of the unfamiliar. “As you read the poem, Chicano Rock. Setting the Mood, Learning the you will come across words in Spanish. Hepworth, who is Mexican Ameri- History We will let the Spanish speakers in our can and Anglo, works as a teaching artist midst help us, but first, I want you to try in Arizona. His poem includes a line un- When I teach the poem, I play Valens’ to figure out what Hepworth means in derscoring the linguistic racism that still signature song, “La Bamba,” and project the line on your own. Guess. Write notes exists 55 years after Valens’ plane tum- his image across a large screen as students in the margin of your poem as you listen bled from the sky into Clear Lake, Iowa: walk in. Most students are familiar with and read. Then we’ll come back and talk the song, and some even sing along and about it.” Sang all Spanish lyrics at a time dance as they move into their seats. “Hey, I distribute copies of the poem and when speaking Spanish I watched that movie with my mom,” ask them to listen again as they read the came with a wooden paddle Trina remembers. “He’s the singer who text, but this time to look for the kinds of punishment. died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly, details Hepworth chooses. “What stands right?” Vince asks. The “La Bamba”’ up- out about the story? What pieces of Va- In a line close to the end of the poem, beat rhythm is a great start to any day. lens’ history does he choose to tell?” Af- Hepworth returns to the same theme: Once students settle into their desks, ter the second reading, students pull out

40 > SUMMER 2014 more details. My juniors, Myrlin Hepworth performing “Ritchie Valens.” fresh from their study of BRUCE MATSUNAGA the politics of language, no- tice the part about shorten- ing Valens’ name and about being paddled for speaking Spanish in school—two com- mon practices used by colo- nialists throughout the world to discourage indigenous peo- ple from using their native lan- guages. Most students also pick up on the “bleach the memory of your skin,” which leads to a discussion about how many art- ists—and people in general— have been forced to try to “become white”— examine—and about essays and nar- assimilate into the dominant culture—in ratives, as well. These are the “raise the order to be “successful.” When students bones” questions necessary to get stu- fail to notice these aspects, I point them dents to read like writers. Instead of read- Again, students can lift that line to fill out out, because when they write their po- ing for information and content, at this more details about their person. In the ems, I want them to remember how Hep- point I want them to read to understand following stanzas, we notice incidents worth handled historical information. the poetic “moves” Hepworth makes to and obstacles that reveal more about When we circle back to the words shape his poem. This, in turn, helps stu- Valens—little details like “playing a gui- in Spanish, students realize that they can dents learn to make those moves them- tar with only two strings” and a neigh- guess the words familia and musica be- selves—to learn from his style, but also bor helping “a left-handed boy playing a cause they look like family and music in to improvise or “lift off” from his poem right-handed guitar.” English. The words they can’t figure out, as a model. I point out the line “At 16 you were signed to Del-Fi Records” and suggest that it is a wonderful hook to tell another Poetry isn’t just about flowers and rainbows and story and use their person’s age as a land- unrequited love. It’s also about history, language, race, mark. And, later in that stanza, we take and resistance. note of Hepworth’s use of repetition:

But you did not have old blue eyes. No, yours were young and brown, like para bailar la bamba, they can un- We travel through the poem, look- brown like the dirt in the San derstand well enough to continue read- ing at information in each stanza. In the Fernando Valley, ing for the gist of the poem. This is also a first stanza, for example, Hepworth has brown like the hands of your tios time for the Spanish speakers in our class a hook: and tias to shine as they translate for us. who worked in the fields for You were the child pennies, Raising the Bones of the Poem of R&B and Jump Blues died inside cantinas with broken Flamenco Guitar and Mariachi. hearts At this point, I’m getting on students’ nerves, but we return to the poem again. This lead, “You were the child,” is a Later we point out the historical ref- “What are Hepworth’s poetic landmarks? great way to open a poem, to introduce erences to the Zoot Suit Riots, to names What do you notice about how he moves the reader to the person. of musicians—Chuck Berry and Bo Did- the poem forward? What are his hooks?” The second stanza tells more about dley—and places that Valens played. Let me pause to say that these are ques- the subject of the poem and what others “Poetry resides in the specific,” I remind tions I ask about almost every poem we said about them: “They called you . . .” the students. “Give us details.”

RETHINKING SCHOOLS > 41 Writing Our Poems Cochiti blood flowed through your into a day of learning for me, too, as veins, I watched students use their smart I tell students, “Ultimately, this is a love Joseph Suina, phones to find historical details for poem, a praise poem, a biographic poem, You were the child of pride and their poems. Baqi writes: so think about who you want to write honor, about.” In my junior class, students start And you grew out of it. Nat, you were the child of rhythm, with a list of people they studied in our destined to alter the course of jazz language unit. In other classes, students Later, she uses Hepworth’s age hook with your classic vocal and piano have written about their family members, to share more of Suina’s story: style. their personal heroes, or people from their cultural/racial background who deserve So you turned 6 and went to school: They called you the King of Jazz, praise. My friend and colleague Gretch- a classroom of white walls and white the kind who held in his heart en Kraig-Turner, who teaches biology at values. the beat of drums inherited Jefferson High School, asked students to You were so far from home that you from his African forefathers. write about scientists they’d studied. forgot yourself, too. We return to the “bones” of the You had to leave your Indian at The King who at 15, poem, and I write some of the landmarks home, dropped school to become they noticed or I’ve pointed out on the You had to forget your language, a jazz pianist full time. board. “When you get stuck, return to Forget Cochiti, forget your Pueblo, You knew your destiny. Hepworth’s poem and notice how he A beating ensued when you moved his poem forward. I’ve listed some remembered. Sydney Broncheau Shimaoka, a questions and leads to get you started”: student in Amy Wright’s junior class “You were the child of . . . ” Shabria Montgomery writes about at Jefferson, explores her musical heri- “They called you . . . ” Molly Craig, made famous in the movie tage by writing about Bruddah Israel “At 16 you . . . ” Rabbit-Proof Fence, who was a mixed- Kamakawiwo’ole, a Hawai’ian singer What did people say about this race Aboriginal child stolen from her and ukulele player: person? family in Australia and placed in a How did the person react? boarding school. Shabria lifts off from Started as just a “kid with a What’s an incident you can tell about Hepworth’s line “You were the child of ukulele” this person? . . .” and creates a repeating line for her to a young Hawai’ian man with Did something happen at a signifi- poem: native dreams cant age? From the most sacred “Ni’ihau” When you think of this person, do You are the daughter of love. Slowly you became a legend, historical events arise? Ripped away from your mother Slowly you became an idol What can we see? Hear? Watch on Forced to leave home. TV? Poems like Myrlin Hepworth’s You are the daughter of the desert. “Ritchie Valens” help students see Student Poems The rabbits running wild that poetry isn’t just about flowers The fence to keep them away. and rainbows and unrequited love. In our language pieces, Bridgette Lang It’s also about history, language, race, wrote about Joe Suina, who is currently You are the daughter of color. and resistance. Poets can use their a professor at the University of Arizona. Light skinned but not light enough voices and their space to sing up the When he was 6, Suina was taken from Still forced to forget your home. past and to remember those who his Cochiti Pueblo, an Indian reserva- have gone before. n tion in New Mexico, to a Native Ameri- Hepworth’s poem encourages stu- can boarding school. Now Bridgette dents to intersect with their own cul- RESOURCES uses Hepworth’s opening line to start her tural, linguistic, and familial interests. Hepworth, Myrlin. “Ritchie Valens.” youtube. poem: Baqi Coles, a sophomore, writes about com/watch?v=AvVulbbm85s. his great, great uncle Nat King Cole, who Hepworth, Myrlin. “Ritchie Valens.” You were the child of a thousand intrigued him, but he knew little about years of heritage, him. My time with Baqi’s class turned

42 > SUMMER 2014