urbanverbs

Consider this an open letter to Jan Brewer:
Ms. Brewer, your legislation and leading by horrible example will only fuel a fire of people across so many states; you will be sadly mistaken if you think we will go away.  We stand, at the mic, at the border, on each other’s shoulders, in support of each other, in opposition of the decisions that folks like you, continue to make.  We don’t hate you Ms. Brewer; hate is a word that lacks a presence in the vocabulary of those that oppose your hateful and judgmental views. The number of folks that will work to see that your efforts are combated and matched with grace and presence of heart and mind are numerous; this was evident on an Albuquerque night, not so long ago, so Ms. Brewer, here you go.

Where do I begin?  March 4^th was filled with the voices of those speaking in solidarity with young men and women, just a border away – a desert night in distance, a sweaty walk, and loud enough shout into the Sonoran sky.  Librotraficante was the inspiration; a charge to “throw the book at [your] Arizona,” and its recently culturally genocidal, un-ignorable, racially motivated, and just down-right wrong decisions, to remove Ethnic Studies programs from TUSD schools, while at the same time banning a multitude of books.  From Anaya, to Cisneros, Zinn, to Alexie, and the list goes on – our stories, history, and (her)story, are being removed from the shelves of Arizona schools.  One of the night’s performers reminded us “this is nothing new, but I am glad we are talking about it.”  Another said to the crowd, “Remember, Ethnic Studies programs are like tortillas, they are for everyone.”  And so they spoke, the poets, on behalf of everyone that isn’t saying a word – out of fear, out of shock and sadness, out of complacency that our generation (twenty-somethings and teens) often have with political issues… but the truth is – a sold out house at the Outpost performance space on Sunday night, got it!  We get it, and Arizona will soon get a band of poets and authors crossing their border, that they may not want to see, but damn it, they cannot stop it.  It became apparent that our story will not stop – history continues to write itself, as we have brown authors scribe new poems, new tales, new histories; Arizona cannot ban them all. Poets that night stood ten feet tall, the audience roared along with them, and many will hit the road toward AZ in the days and weeks to come.  There are proud people in the Southwest, too many to erase – and we continue to write our way into the folds; Arizona has quite the job on their hands, if they think they will continue to silence the meaningful, for years to come. 

And you, Ms. Brewer, only have so long in your elected position, only have so much time to continue to make those kinds of decisions; and with each one made, we will respond.  Perhaps we cannot change those things inked into law.  And yes, I do carry my ID each time I walk your Tucson streets – but trust, each time I go to a school, I will continue to create writers like myself; like those that exist in your schools, and they one day, will write books too!  So please, continue to be fuel, for a fire that does not burn out of hatred or anger, but a wish and hope for the understanding that our children deserve to know who they are looking at when they stare into a mirror.  Our children need the stories of those that came before them, so that they can march confidently into their futures, but if you take those stories away, we need only write more; or speak them to each other, silence will not be had, and the talking has only just begun.