I am not white,

but lightly caramel,

I am not brown,

but lightly washed out,

I was born into a world of confusion,

If you are not white,

you are not right,

If you are not brown,

you are drowned out,

I scream out to my cultura,

Wanting festivities,

Elotes y chile’,

I want mi lengua tan linda!

Lost in translation,

We are the forgotten,

The beaten,

The raped…..

“They’ve” ruined our cultura,

Ideals y lengua.

They want us out,

Yet we are the glue 

of the lost!

Stand together.

Unite.

Fight are “WE”,

Warriors of Mexicas,

Indias y Mestizos.

We are the Brown,

The caramel,

The light eyes of “them”,

Take us back to our

Roots,

Our cultura,

Keep us strong,

United,

Strong are WE.

Strong is he,

Strong is she,

STRONG ARE WE!

Dedicated to my Grandma (Helen Atencio (Moralez) who is closer to Native blood than I. A native of Colorado. She was a true warrior. A fighter. But also a true example of a women who lost her culture. She was born to parents who spoke Spanish, but in the early 1900s, she was not allowed to speak it as she would have been scorned. Her family was already living in Colorado when it was Mexico. During the Mexican American War, her father was very light skinned and they were able to stay in their homeland after Mexico lost to the Americans. I remember her telling me this story when I asked her why “we didn’t speak Spanish”. Her father couldn’t speak Spanish, so he wouldn’t be kicked out, hence my Grandmother never knew the language. My mother obviously was not taught the language and then comes me, not being taught the language or culture. 

It’s truly a sad story that is still happening today.