Susana Almanza on the importance of Alma de Mujer September 19, 2009
Here is the latest video from a series I started called, “True Stories from Texas Women.”
Susana Almanza, Co-Director of PODER, talks about the importance of Alma de Mujer Center for Social for Justice Change.
Ancestors, Pray Us Back into this World September 16, 2009
April 22, 2004
Earth Day and PODER’s 13th Anniversary
Ancestors, Pray us Back into this World
Ancestors!
Pray us back into this world.
Hear our cries by grandmother trees
planted alone in the desert
where our toes wither
through cracked sand and cactus thorns.
Let energy change day to night with droughts and
as water rebuilds – destroys
balances
this Earth Mother
with offerings of blessed corn
within spirals of smoke-filled rivers
carrying Indiobeatcurrents
splashing drumbeats against rocks…..
-Listen-
Our water carries history
repeating – repeating – repeating
in the desert of our minds –
thirsting for the TRUTH within visions of
raindrops in the horizon……
PODER is born……………..
after the thunderstorm……..
seeds sprout……………….
Xinachtli gives birth to……
RESISTENCIA
Misty residue heals clouds of electromagnetic smog
That turn brown faces pale with foreign diseases.
Another Blanket.
Another Cover-Up.
Another Lie.
Cocolitzli appears once more.
Ancestors!
Pray us back into this world.
Create a healing circle for the
sick —–minded.
Sprinkle Yerbabuena
over hungry mouths
craving blood.
Let the sun drench the desert
and the moon heal our barrios
as we light FiRe
in
Ceremony
Rejoince
In
Song
&
Dance
Y aunque Coatlique llore,
She still dances with fire as her halo
And a serpent as her shall.
Coatlique baila canciones del pueblo.
Coatlique llora lagrimas de fuego.
Coatlique reza poemas de la verdad.
Coatlique empluma los desplumados de la ciudad.
She knows both sides of the Rio Bravo.
Says
“Look inside its waters and see your
reflection.
Trace your ancestor’s
Face.
Pray for our
Water.
‘date una limpieza of the soul
and don’t forget to water the desert
of your
TRUTH.
Women DO Riot
Feliz 16 de Septiembre!
Women DO Riot
by Erika Gonzalez………in response to Ana Castillo’s poem “Women Don’t Riot” – 1998
Women do riot, in maquilas in Malaysia, Mexico, and even Korea,
they riot in sweatshops in New York and in El Paso
in San Anto Levi’s factories and in East Austin gentrified streets.
Women do revolt
at street light protests – hip hugging children, and while delivering new life –
By the hundreds and thousands, women change
policies into new emancipations
even when scalded by racist practices.
Women do riot in restaurants where they clean and clean
and clean their plates empty, only to find them full of their own reflection
cleaning cleaning and cleaning their hands raw –
Women do run rampant through the streets in search of justice
even when the running must be turned into indigenous dance,
or a silent walk through the park.
In college those who’ve thought it out
find out they haven’t thought at all until
they remember grandmother’s words of wisdom and ditch what the professor said
about woman feminism.
In the streets, women organize
in crucial times, carry signs,
and are not dragged away – they have visions
that passing one more petition might change people’s greedy ways.
Sometimes women organizing may be called uncivilized
by those who see civilization of the darker shades of souls
as dingy, savage, rebelliousness – but
Women are equipped with knowledge passed down
through the generations
speaking unofficial languages of
societal hatred turned inward and
spiritual courage turned outward when we say enough is enough.
Ya Basta!
We women
don’t need to rise up in arms even with our men.
We storm through cities,
with strategic alliances
take over the press, make a unified statement,
not just with our sisters, but also with our brothers and
children and our eternal children’s children.
We may not always
march arm in arm
by the same tongue,
same God, same abandonment, and the
same broken heart,
but the stillness is what makes the heart beat
to the same rhythm
not for one woman or every woman,
but for the sake of us all.
I want to say to those who say women do not riot,
“You obviously have not met my mother. Or the abuelita
down the street whose property taxes sky rocketed after
her rich neighbor moved in, or the woman who has
to clean bloody noses from her 10 year old’s nose, or to the wife
of a man who is dying of cancer, or the young girl who has
asthma living next to an environmentally hazardous power plant.”
And maybe yes, women do not riot, we organize
not in exclusion of the “women only club”
but in respect that
there is a balance between a male and female energy.
The riot is the struggle that tries to bring this balance to nature
not in arms
but in strength
of mind and spirit, words of wisdom
and recogniton that there is still work to be done –
Today it is us. Tomorrow who?
Xicana sign language – this means love September 13, 2009
El amor de mi pecho flota en el mar de mi sangre.
Yo nado en el abismo de la obscuridad.
Alguna vez una luz brillaba dentro de estas aguas.
El tiempo es una guerra contra el sol y la luna
y yo soy soldadera sirena del precuspolo cielo.
Soy estrella guerrillera en la penumbra del horizonte.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The love in my chest floats in the sea of my blood.
I swim in the darkness of the abyss.
There was once a light shining inside these waters.
Time is war between sun and moon
and I am a mermaid soldier in a twilight sky.
I’m a warrior star in the penumbra of a morning horizon.
Palabras desde el Corazon de mi Nahui Ollin September 12, 2009
PALABRAS DESDE EL CORAZON DE MI NAHUI OLLIN
EARTH: The TIERRA that birthed me
Dedicated to Abuelita Minerva. May your spirit remain en la milpa.
De maiz naci. De maiz muri.
Deje mi maiz para ti
Porque soy echa de tierra
Y tu eres de mi
De maiz sone. De maiz soy yo.
A la tierra me fui, para que me encontraras.
De maiz naciste tu. De la tierra.
Cuando tu te vayas, estaremos juntas
Y regalemos estas palabras para sembrar una nueva milpa
Echas de nuestra sangre
WATER: Mima’s AGUA
Dedicated to Abuelita Mima
AIR: El AIRE de la Frontera
Dedicated to mi Querido Pueblo: Eagle Pass, TX
El olor de la frontera
is dirt mixed with blood
that the Rio Bravo cannot wash away.
El olor de la frontera
is warm air at sunset
and cedar among maquiladora madness.
Contradictions are alive en la frontera
Cactus flowers bloom
But starving mouths are pricked by the thorns.
El olor de la frontera carries mystery and power
Some cannot explain how a people can survive here
On the edge of four worlds – el Xicano, el Mexicano, el Africano y el Indio
Traveling pa ya y pa ca
It’s an acquired smell
The tortillas, the migas, the border jam traffic, la migra, the tobacco in the air.
The smell of family trees generations deep
Uprooted by construction of a hate wall
The smell of resistance and the smell of fear
is almost a sound in the air that yells fire
from ancient burial grounds of Abuelitos and Abuelitas
whose voice is carried by the wind into our hearts
telling us it’s time to wake up and smell the injustice
And if this wall of hate is still constructed,
Then let us not let them build a wall of hate in ourselves
Because the air is what can free us
Because the water is what can cure us
Because the fire is what can liberate us
Because the tierra is what can unite us
FIRE: Journey of FUEGO
To all of the women who have been made to think that they were not love(d)
Para Ella – You know who you are….
For these hard times
Look within and find your freed mind
Don’t hesitate to rewind
Each time the battle scar opens wide
And then find your spine
Because the world of pain is full of twisted vines
But when you dry your eyes and see the lies
You will feel like you can fly all the way up to the sky
And then you will wonder why you never tried
Because love’s always been in you, but you let it die.
Or it was taken from you, beaten, cheated, discarded, and used
For something that you never accused, or maybe nobody ever cared to fuse
That fire that burned in you, because you didn’t let it show
How somebody can stoop so low, kill your spirit, then go or worse, stay.
Cuando las memorias carcelan, la costumbre mata.
When memories are imprisoned, convenience kills.
Let your thoughts run free, let the memories speak
Don’t worry about sounding weak
Everything you are searching for is within your reach, all you have to do is seek
So for these hard times
Look within and find your freed mind
Don’t hesitate to rewind
Each time the battle scar opens wide
And then find your heart
Use the unfused fire
To start
The journey forward
Looking forward
Looking backwards
Looking forward
Looking backwards
But always con el Corazon al frente
When you free your mente
And when you cross that Puente
That divided your spirit,
Everyone will be able to feel it
Tu Corazon puro
Tu Corazon indigena
Tu Corazon Xicana
Tu Corazon mi Hermana
That’s the most beautiful part of you
Let the light shine through
Let’s cross that Puente together,
Because I am with you
A tu lado
Yo no me rajo
Tu no te rajes
Sale, let’s take this viaje
Relocate Pure Casting Facility from East Austin! Build Affordable Housing September 10, 2009
Protect our Children’s Health!
Relocate Pure Casting!
Build Affordable Housing!
The Pure Casting facility (2110 E. 4th Street) is a polluter of heavy metals and uses hazardous chemicals in our East Austin neighborhood. Pure Casting is located right next to Zavala Elementary School and surrounded by homes.
East Austin needs your support in protecting the health of our children and the residents that live in the area. It is crucial that we let the City Council and Pure Casting know that we will not allow children to be exposed to hazardous chemicals!
The Pure Casting facility is an ideal location to build affordable housing. It is 30,152 sq. ft. of land. The City Council should use the Affordable Housing Bond money ($55 million) to purchase the site. This site abuts to the property owned by the City of Austin (the Brown Building on Chicon & E. 4th Street). Call the Mayor and Council members at 974-2250.
Let’s keep our children safe from harmful chemicals!
-Download letter to email Council Members at PODER website www.poder-texas.org
-Here is the link to the City website where you can email Mayor and City Council Members:
Invincible’s Workshop on Hip Hop Media and Community Displacement September 4, 2009
Invincible blessed us with her workshop: Hip Hop Media and Community Displacement. The workshop was held at the PODER office (www.poder-texas.org) and was given for PODER’s Young Scholars for Justice program, Austin Voices for Educationa and Youth, The Cipher, S.O.U.L. Sessions, Out Youth, and hip hop group The Public Offenders. It was an amazing workshop where we all gathered to share our stories of where we are each from and learn about the parralles of community displacement of people of color in Detroit and in Austin. Mad love to Invincible and all who turned out! We have lots of natuarally talented youth in Austin whose voice speaks with truth, wisdom, and resistance!
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