“Imagine the Angels of Bread”

“Imagine the Angels of Bread”

ByMartin Espada

* “Martín Espada’s “Imagine the Angels of Bread” is a fascinating combination of the vengeful and the visionary, of anger and compassion, and of reality and dream.
The speaker imagines a worldwide release from oppression, depicting an escape, among other injustices, from inhumane work conditions, tenant evictions, and politically motivated murders.
The poem proceeds by way of a series of near-apocalyptic revolutionary reversals, by inverting long-standing injustices as Espada, on the one hand, imagines those in power themselves suffering for the first time –”squatters evict landlords” –or, conversely, dreams of liberating the poor and the victims of discrimination.”
* Heather Zadra – Book Review Modern American Poetry Society
Imagine the Angels of Bread (Published, Norton, 1996)

Surviving 2nd Language Acquisition . . . and then She Appeared . . .

Surviving 2nd Language Acquisition . . . and then She Appeared . . .

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

Schools to my immigrant uneducated parents were “Temples of Learning” and teachers were “Holy”.
The plan was simple – they would sacrifice and I would attend school.
Their past would not dictate my future.
But what they did not realize was that sometimes classrooms can imprison and oppress.
I was not learning but merely surviving – until she appeared . . .

Separátocide ~ Earning the Name

Separátocide ~ Earning the Name

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

We now have a name for it – Separátocide – The forced separation of children from parent(s) and the caging of children.
The horrific images of traumatized children being separated and imprisoned in cages left many Americans shocked and empty – beyond sorrow.
Citizens began to recognize the politicized fraudulent ideology of the past . . . “solving the immigrant question”.
No, it was not the 1940s but America in the 21st Century.

Trenzas ~ “¡Yo soy!”

Trenzas ~ “¡Yo soy!”

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

Trenzas ~ “¡Yo soy!” came to life during my youth, watching my grandmother brushing and braiding my mother’s hair and my mother passing on the loving strokes to my aunts.
Braiding was a time to ask and answer questions, for storytelling, sharing wisdom and always a time for caring and loving.
There was an intimacy about it all that always finished with besos (kisses), lingering abrazos (hugs), and with a resounding emphatic ¡Cuídate! (Be careful! Remain cautious!)
The “doñas” (elders) knew the reasons why caution needed to be ever present while “panzudos patrones” (fat cat land owners) roamed, seeking entitled desserts.

Every woman wore her trenzas with pride and dignity. There was a sameness and yet singularness as trenzas danced in the wind behind them with a story to tell.
I remember how beautiful they were… especially my mother’s trenzas… how they made me feel safe and loved as they danced behind her.

*Artistry by figurative painter Charissa Cota (Gutiérrez) of Cha Gutiérrez – “Seven Sisters of Sonora”

Fronteras ~ “Dólares cuestan dolores” ~ “América es un país sin alma” ~ Immigrants Humanizing America

Fronteras ~ “Dólares cuestan dolores” ~ “América es un país sin alma” ~ Immigrants Humanizing America

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

Immigration is often thought of as a collective noun.
On the contrary, each immigrant is an individual and comes to America for a plethora of different reasons.
Most often to enhance the quality of their lives and in turn the lives of others.

“Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger — we were strangers once, too. My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.”
~ President Obama, November 20, 2014

Trenzas ~ Weaving a Tapestry of Diasporic LatinX Self-Affirmation

Trenzas ~ Weaving a Tapestry of Diasporic LatinX Self-Affirmation

ByJorge Chinea

“. . . we owe some of the more iconic works of LatinX literature to pioneering emplumados and emplumadas who transformed these oral traditions into written narratives. As Ethnic and Cultural Studies scholars have rightfully observed, much of their literary production can be read as autobiography or as cultural ethnographies.”
– Jorge Chinea
Artistry by: Arlette Lucero – Latina-artist

Life and Literacy ~ Poetry and the Whole Person

Life and Literacy ~ Poetry and the Whole Person

ByRoger Frank

This past year, All Saints Literacy Center piloted a supplemental program called  “Whole Person Literacy” focused on spiritual and cultural literacy based on concepts of knowing, understanding, and self-development. We had monthly activities that were carried out in pairs or in groups. Learners and tutors participating in the program gained knowledge and created meaning individually and socially as they took part in the activities. The needs of the whole person were explored through an alternative lens of literacy.