I wonder if there is meaning behind the all caps of this phrase.. I just noticed that this version of the poem does not mention Aztlán or being the 'golden race.' Why not?

These days, latinos are often referred to as the sleeping giant. So, true.

Love this. This is where the poem starts to feel like he is calling to the reader to stand and continue the fight with or after him.

This resonates with me so deeply. I was never taught of my history or culture, and neither was my mother. We can not even speak Spanish. My great grandmother and grandmother just didn't teach us. It is upsetting, but I am trying. I am taking the time to learn and educate my family in the same shoes as me.

This poem makes me cry

This is why I love Corky Gonzalez. You can feel his anger and disgust through every line he throws at the reader, but then you read something like this and you can feel it is something so sacred to him.

Our food, our clothes

We got to see a bit of this for discussion board 2.

This just reminds of the things I see floating around on Social Media where uneducated and willfully ignorant people take things from our culture and make things like "spa water."

We fought for this country too. Some uneducated individuals do not realize that, or are blind by choice.

This is in reference to Los Niños. It was a group of teenagers who defended the castle of Chapultepec, refusing to give up. One of the boys wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and jumped from the above mentioned tower so the enemy could not take the flag. It is a very sad piece of history but also empowering in a way. More on this can be read here. This is the monument!

I feel like this is a snap at the casta system. The more "pure" your blood was the higher above everyone else you were. I can just feel the attitude here; I am not sure attitude is the right word. Their "pure" blood didn't do much when the revolution came.

Preach.

This reminds me of Oscar Zeta Acosta. The wording is much like the way Acosta writes. Even though most of his 'Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo' made me uncomfortable, I do like how he easily paints pictures with his words.

Juan Diego is the one that had dreams/visions of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Mexican police that was established by former president Benito Juárez. (source)

Is this a nod to the fact Mexicans were on both sides of things?

I implore everyone to take Mexican American history if you can. Here is a YouTube video about Emilio Zapata.

For fun, here is a photo of Pancho Villa, and Zapata. !

He helped overthrow Porfirio Díaz, which some of us read about for our discussion board under 'Module X.' He was definitely a force.

We are still discussing Don Benito Juárez, as he was Zapotec Indian.

The importance of Don Benito Juárez: He extended rights to Mexican people. He is most known for his reform laws in 1859. Which - established the separation of Church and State - expropriated church properties - introduced civil weddings (source)

Can't imagine what Corky would say today.

I feel like this poem needs to be screamed out from somewhere high

I feel like this is the separation of what was oppressed and the 'rebirth' after independence came.

This gives me goosebumps. haha

This is when Spain finally recognized Mexico as being independent. This is now celebrated every September 16th. Viva México!

To translate it says something like, "Death to the Spaniards and life for the Virgin of Guadalupe."

Backfired a bit on the oppressors; when they were forcing religion down people's throats. To be told someone higher than the oppressor loved the oppressed too. I am sure that was very powerful to know.

I wish I could remember how old some of the conquistadors were when they started their conquest, because it really just makes this more horrifying.

Oh, I know this one! Mexico's flag! The gods told them they would come across an eagle eating a serpent while sitting on a cactus, and this would indicate where to build their city. It is now the main plaza in Mexico city.

The gachupín (Spaniard) Cortés.

Despot meaning: one exercising power tyrannically: a person exercising absolute power in a brutal or oppressive way (source)

The last Aztec emperor according to the Britannica.

I'm sorry, but this is very sassy to me. I love it. "Progress," for who?

Criticized and damned to hell if you are not in line with the social 'norm.'

Hunger for what exactly?

Mexican Americans have struggled, and continue to struggle, to fit into American culture. I saw another student mention the scene from 'Selena' where it talks about being too Mexican for America, and not Mexican enough for Mexico Mexicans. This is insanely true! We sit in such a place of struggle in our own identities. Some of us were not even taught our culture at all, like me, and are fighting to find a place to 'belong.'

I have read this poem SO many times, and the intro to this piece is still so heavy. The fact that a lot of la raza can still resonate with this is so upsetting. "Suppressed by manipulation" makes me think about Américo Paredes' "The Country." In there it says, "In the same way he appears to have taken the Mexican's property and then made him out a thief." The portrayal of Mexicans that has manipulated the view of us to a great portion of Americans then and well into today...