XICANO Steve Garcia

Yo soy Joaquín, 

perdido en un mundo de confusión: 

I am Joaquín, lost in a world of confusion, 

caught up in the whirl of a gringo society, 

confused by the rules, scorned by attitudes, 

suppressed by manipulation, and destroyed by modern society. 

My fathers have lost the economic battle 

and won the struggle of cultural survival. 

And now! I must choose between the paradox of 

victory of the spirit, despite physical hunger, 

or to exist in the grasp of American social neurosis, 

sterilization of the soul and a full stomach. 

Yes, I have come a long way to nowhere, 

unwillingly dragged by that monstrous, technical, 

industrial giant called Progress and Anglo success.... 

I look at myself. 

I watch my brothers. 

I shed tears of sorrow. I sow seeds of hate. 

I withdraw to the safety within the circle of life -- 

MY OWN PEOPLE 

I am Cuauhtémoc, proud and noble, 

leader of men, king of an empire civilized 

beyond the dreams of the gachupín Cortés, 

who also is the blood, the image of myself. 

I am the Maya prince. 

I am Nezahualcóyotl, great leader of the Chichimecas. 

I am the sword and flame of Cortes the despot 

And I am the eagle and serpent of the Aztec civilization. 

I owned the land as far as the eye 

could see under the Crown of Spain, 

and I toiled on my Earth and gave my Indian sweat and blood 

for the Spanish master who ruled with tyranny over man and 

beast and all that he could trample 

But...THE GROUND WAS MINE. 

I was both tyrant and slave. 

As the Christian church took its place in God's name,

to take and use my virgin strength and trusting faith, 

the priests, both good and bad, took-- 

but gave a lasting truth that Spaniard Indian Mestizo

were all God's children. 

And from these words grew men who prayed and fought 

for their own worth as human beings, for that 

GOLDEN MOMENT of FREEDOM. 

I was part in blood and spirit of that courageous village priest 

Hidalgo who in the year eighteen hundred and ten 

rang the bell of independence and gave out that lasting cry-- 

El Grito de Dolores 

"Que mueran los gachupines y que viva la Virgen de Guadalupe...." 

I sentenced him who was me I excommunicated him, my blood. 

I drove him from the pulpit to lead a bloody revolution for him and me.... 

I killed him. 

His head, which is mine and of all those 

who have come this way, 

I placed on that fortress wall 

to wait for independence. Morelos! Matamoros! Guerrero! 

all companeros in the act, STOOD AGAINST THAT WALL OF INFAMY 

to feel the hot gouge of lead which my hands made. 

I died with them ... I lived with them .... I lived to see our country free. 

Free from Spanish rule in eighteen-hundred-twenty-one. 

Mexico was free?? 

The crown was gone but all its parasites remained, 

and ruled, and taught, with gun and flame and mystic power. 

I worked, I sweated, I bled, I prayed, 

and waited silently for life to begin again. 

I fought and died for Don Benito Juarez, guardian of the Constitution. 

I was he on dusty roads on barren land as he protected his archives 

as Moses did his sacraments. 

He held his Mexico in his hand on 

the most desolate and remote ground which was his country. 

And this giant little Zapotec gave not one palm's breadth 

of his country's land to kings or monarchs or presidents of foriegn powers. 

I am Joaquin. 

I rode with Pancho Villa, 

crude and warm, a tornado at full strength, 

nourished and inspired by the passion and the fire of all his earthy people. 

I am Emiliano Zapata. 

"This land, this earth is OURS." 

The villages, the mountains, the streams 

belong to Zapatistas. 

Our life or yours is the only trade for soft brown earth and maize. 

All of which is our reward, 

a creed that formed a constitution 

for all who dare live free! 

"This land is ours . . . 

Father, I give it back to you. 

Mexico must be free. . . ." 

I rid

Are you not the Greatest?

Unity is a must

Speech

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.
But I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.
Today no war has been declared--and however fierce the struggle may be, it may never be declared in the traditional fashion. Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger. And yet no war has been declared, no borders have been crossed by marching troops, no missiles have been fired.
If the press is awaiting a declaration of war before it imposes the self-discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent.
It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions--by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.
Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.
Nevertheless, every democracy recognizes the necessary restraints of national security--and the question remains whether those restraints need to be more strictly observed if we are to oppose this kind of attack as well as outright invasion.
For the facts of the matter are that this nation's foes have openly boasted of acquiring through our newspapers information they would otherwise hire agents to acquire through theft, bribery or espionage; that details of this nation's covert preparations to counter the enemy's covert operations have been available to every newspaper reader, friend and foe alike; tha

Olin Tezcatlipoca: Director of Mexica Movement & Citlalli Anahuac. Campus of University Southern California American Latino Museum. December 6, 2013.