Spiritual Warfare

Sunny summer day.

Air conditioned pizza place.

Pop music playing in the background, its waves joining the waves of artificial cold.

Young guy enters.

Sunglasses, flip flops flip flopping.

Orders the two slices of pepperoni and a drink combo.

Takes his cup, fills it with ice- whoops, a little too much, pours some out.

Some orange soda sounds good. Fills it with orange soda, puts the lid on, sticks the straw in.

Sits down.

“Two slices of pepperoni!”

Gets up, takes his plate.

Sits down again.

Bows his head to pray.

It’s a long prayer.

No lips moving, no expression.

There is no way of knowing for sure, but he may be thanking God for the pizza.

For the hands that prepared it.

For his family.

For his friends.

For his country.

For the freedom to pray in public.

In Jesus’ name, amen!

Okay, stop. Let’s dissect for a second.

This is a battlefield.

A spiritual war zone.

Bad words in these circles?

We have all heard it-

The person just back from their trip to “love on” the third world.

Proudly displaying their tans and “ethnic” purses.

“People in other countries are so open to the spiritual world!”

“There was just this feeling of darkness as I was walking through those streets.”

Soon, they might find themselves in the pizza place.

At the mall.

At Disneyland.

Eating, drinking, shopping, playing, consuming.

“It’s just relaxing!”

“God blesses us with so much!”

“This reminds me of my childhood!”

The roots of what they are buying, eating, drinking, taking pictures of-

They are non-existent.

All that exists is the finished product, the final show.

Long, unpaid hours.

Backbreaking labor.

Children deprived of a childhood.

Exploitation?

Landfills spilling over.

Fumes drowning our lungs.

Pigs squealing in agony as they are harvested for their fruits: pepperoni, hot dogs, chorizo.

Century-old trees being chopped away to make chairs and to make room for our burgers, steaks, tacos.

Clean water flushed away everytime we need to piss out our soda, or we put too much ice in our cup.

The raping of the Earth?

None of these things exist.

The truth is deep fried and wrapped to preserve the continuation of luxury, of convenience, of great taste, and of fun.

The truth is drowned out by the lights, by the fireworks, by the good memories.

The truth is covered by a plastic lid so that we won’t spill on our leather seats.

The truth is on the clearance rack, hidden by a bright red tag.

Young guy takes his last bite, throws his trash away into the trash can, bound for the landfill, and drives

home.

Unaware of the war around him.

-the war waged where the other side has no chance of defending itself.

Prayer directed to the “spiritual war” in far off regions.

Failing to see the violence in his own choices.

Blinded by comfort, success, convenience, luxury, “blessing”.

by: Rod

Who will stay?

INTRODUCITON

The situations in which my students live in are ridiculous, yet I am aware of those who live in worst. However, when I see what has been given to them to create this so called “American Dream,” I think to myself the government might as well come to Camden and spit in all of their faces…

PART I

I look at my students and sometimes I get so frustrated with them. Because I believe that we are a people who have survived many things and many things have been fought for in order to secure the liberties (no matter how few) we have today. And even though many of us grow up in conditions that are far from what America has promised I still believe that we have no excuses because worst has been done to those who have come before us. So when I ask my students what they want to be in the future and they say basketball players, football players, or going into the army… or when I hear them say that there is only the league or the Army after they graduate high school…I get so frustrated with them because I think of those who risked there lives to teach each other to read in the dirt…I think of those whose parents have traveled to America in order to better our lives….but I have not figured out a way to show them that there is more out there….that they have more options than what the world is showing them…

And I say to myself what should I tell them… “Do better in school”….”Pay attention in class”… “Make sure you get good grades”….how can I tell them that after I hear the stories of how their schools treat them like inmates, how the teachers suck, and the school board couldn’t care less if the students were learning because test scores get you money not free thinkers…not critical thinkers…not independent thinkers…but students who can bubble in “right” answers…

PART II

Myself and one other girl are the only two black American interns here at this program…

PART III

On Saturday I had the pleasure of going to DC to meet an uncle who I have not seen since I was six years old. Later that day I was introduced to a cousin who I have never met before. After speaking with my cousin for a while he invited me to a Bar-B-Que.

I believe in Los Angeles and maybe even the entire west coast in itself lacks something that I saw a lot in NYC and DC. It was this sense of community within the Middle and Upper Middle Class Black Americans.

The Bar-B-Que was filled with people my cousin had went to grad school with at Cornell and people he attended Morehouse with and people who worked on the Capitol Hill and people who have accomplished receiving their Masters and Doctorial Degrees and people who worked with him…in a nutshell they represented most of the up and coming prominent African-Americans, 1^st,2^nd,3^rd,4^th, and 5^th generation Black Americans in DC and the surrounding area.

It was something that I had never experienced before and felt truly empowered by it…

The city of Camden is predominantly made up of Black Americans with descendents from Haiti and other Caribbean countries along with those whose ancestors were slaves in America…

PART IV

After I left the Bar-B-Que….I sat for a very long time…I picked up the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed that same day. I read the Introduction to the Anniversary Edition written by Donaldo Macedo and he writes about a conversation he had with a personal friend of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 60s. The man who is identified as African American confesses to not going back to the ‘community’ in over twenty years. Donaldo writes something that I have been thinking about for a while now…He writes “having achieved great personal success and having moved to a middle-class reality, this African American gentleman began to experience a distance from other African Americans who remain abandoned in the ghettos.”

When I read that I thought of what I experienced at the Bar-B-Que…and then I thought about Camden….and how many of the volunteers are not Black…all of the churches we have gone to in order to raise money have been predominately white churches…

And I am not one to draw conclusions…I know there are many factors being who Urban Promise reaches out to that may affect who volunteers and who donates….but say the least I wonder how many of those who I met at the Bar-B-Que would be willing to move back…to help those neighborhoods that some of them left behind in order to move into Suburbia….

PART V

On Mondays’ and Fridays’ we have “Bible Buddies”. During this time we just hang out with a group of kids. One of my Bible Buddies is Lenny he is a Black Puerto Rican. Lenny is about to go to the 8^th grade and is probably the most respectful person I have ever met. So we were talking about what he wanted to do…he quickly answered with “Anything that will get me out of Camden, this city is wack.” I asked him why wouldn’t he stay to help change it. Lenny said what I think a lot of people in the ghettos believe…or would also say…and was actually my response for a very long time… “it isn’t my problem…I’m leaving…someone else can fix it”….

So I say all of that to say that it will be very interesting to see as the Black middle class continues to grow if they will turn back to help those who are still in the ghettos…It will be very interesting to see if they will rebuild there neighborhoods or escape them…

And then again are they suppose to?….why should they sacrifice and stay “behind”? Isn’t the goal of growing up in the “inner city” is to get out of it?

CONCLUSION

But if they leave…who will fight for those who couldn’t leave?

Grace&Freedom♥

Weddings, Virginity, and Patriarchy

Last weekend I had the opportunity to be a part of my good friends wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony filled with even more beautiful people. However, though I was trying my hardest to be happy for my two friends, I was disgusted by just how patriarchal this tradition is.

Though most of you reading this have probably already experienced similar moments of epiphany, I will cite two common examples of how the traditional wedding ceremony perpetuates patriarchy.

1. The pastor asks, “Who gives this woman, to be married to this man?” The bride’s father responds, “Her mother and I.”

2. After the bride and groom kiss the pastor declares, “I now present to you Mr. & Mrs. (Groom’s first and last name).”

Both of these traditional components of a marriage ceremony support the idea that woman are property that is traded between households. No one gives the man to be married, nor does a bride ever brand her husband with the name of her mother.

As I was standing at this wedding, reflecting on all the weddings I have attended I thought to myself, would my wedding be any different? YES! If I truly believe that patriarchy is oppressive, I cannot consciously act in a way that perpetuates it.

So if I marry, this is what my wedding will look like.

1. I refuse to brand the person I marry with my last name.

2. I will not keep friends from my side of the wedding court just because they have a vagina. Traditionally, grooms select groom’s men to represent their ability to protect their bride to be. In contrast, brides select bride’s mates to compliment their beauty. This is an archaic tradition founded in a patriarchal ideology that I cannot support. My side of the court will be the friends and family that I wish to be there to publicly support me in the ceremony.

3. Neither of our families will give us away. If I marry, it will be because another person and I, as autonomous individuals, decided to commit to each other. Not because our families found our union economically, politically, or socially advantageous.

4. In wedding ceremonies, as well as in art, women are commonly portrayed as passive objects of beauty and men as the able actors. One of the clearest manifestations of this is the common phrase, “You may kiss the bride.” Since the man is the actor it therefore falls upon him to complete the necessary action. At my wedding, we will kiss each other.

5. Either both of us wear white or neither of us wears white. Traditionally, the bride’s white dress symbolizes her purity. However, neither purity nor a symbol of purity is required of the groom. Though the reason for this double standard is clear few ever take a moment to think about it. Traditionally a bride’s value is dependent on her beauty. If her virginity has been compromised then it is held that her beauty is as well. Since a groom’s value has been traditionally placed on his strength, his virginity is not a major concern (though more often then not a man’s experienced in sex is held with greater stature) and therefore must not be symbolized in the ceremony. Virginity is a social construct that has been used to oppress women and has no inherent value outside of that which we place on it; there is no physical state of virginity.

6. Any suggestions?


Para la liberación,
Mateo

what it means to "love"

love is all you need.

love is the answer.

god is love.

love god, love people.

love is greater than hate.

love is patient, love is kind . . .

love conquers all.


there are so many little maxims and expressions about love. most people will accept that love is the ultimate goal, that love leads to the right actions and decisions. okay, maybe not most people. but Christians tend to be pretty fond of the concept, and a good majority of the people i run into fit this qualification. and this sort of surprises me, because so many of those people have radically different views than i do. we both start with this abstract ideal of "love" and end up in totally different places.

for example, someone very close to me believes that all people deserve respect. when kids make jokes about undesireable things being "gay" or "fag" jokes, it makes her angry because the kids are not being respectful towards people, people who happen to be gay. she thinks it is very important to view people as people before anything else, and then that all sin is equal, etc. etc. but she voted yes on Prop 8. this whole situation confuses me so much because i constantly am thinking "if only we can get the christians to see the LGBT community as people just like them, things will change, they will understand. only someone who sees the gays as the gathering storm would vote yes on Prop 8." but i'm totally wrong. this woman who believes so strongly in similar ideals as i do - respect for everyone, love towards all - believes that love means not supporting something that is harmful. she thinks homosexuality is harmful. so she feels that out of love, she cannot support validating something that harms people. the same way she would never support legalizing heroine - it is harmful to those who use it.

and all i can do it cry. and pull out my hair. and beg and plead with her to think about what she is saying, think about how much she knows all people deserve love and respect. things that seem to be gaping contradictions to me flow perfectly together for her. there is no arguing, there will be no persuading. she must love people, nothing can change that. and all i can do is cry.

sometimes i think our cause is so valiant. here we are marching for dignity, equality, and respect, waving the banner of love and acceptance for all people. but perception is everything. apparently that is exactly how the other side sees themselves.

in the end, rhetoric is worthless. perhaps experience really is everything. we are not drawn together by being convinced we are wrong, by being told we are hateful. we are drawn together by common experience, and by common humanity. sometimes the horizon seems to bleak.

i cry for the blood of children spilled because of the "love" their parents showed them. i cry, and then cry more because i have never shed tears alone in the dark because no one knows who i am and if they did they would hate me. i cry because i don't know if i even have the capacity to love someone forever, and meanwhile those who have loved and been faithful to each other for decades cannot hold up their lives and teach the young how to love. they cannot show children who grow up in a world of individualism and selfishness and faithlessness what it means to work for something worth working for. rather we hold up examples of celebrities, pop stars, and divorced christian parents, and say good luck kids.

i do not know what it means to really love. but ill spend my whole life trying to find out. sometimes, i think it means just sitting with each other and crying. and i'll be crying my whole life, too.


-abbie cirelli

The Importance of Writing

Why have we allowed writing to become nothing more than an assignment? Do we have nothing to say? To we think that our words our not important enough for others to read them?

I believe that we should take out our pens, pencils, and laptops to just write. Write poetry, short stories, and novels. Express ourselves with incomplete sentences, page long paragraphs, and Spanglish. Whether it be in a private journal or a public blog we need to make the time to just write. We cannot allow our professors and school administrators to control what we write about and when we write it. We need to use our autonomy to express our unique perspectives in our unique voices.

In writing we enter into community without loosing our individuality. With words we can change our realities. With words we can change the world. These are my thoughts; what are yours?

Para la liberación,

Mateo

Question?

I am currently working with a program by the name of UrbanPromise. For the past month I have been living and working in Camden, NJ. You drive through the city and you see little hope…

One of the leaders that I quickly befriended while being in Camden asked me, “If I were to write a dissertation on what you have experienced so far this past month, how would it begin?” I quickly responded with, “We are all products of our environment.”

Even now I see the holes in that statement. With looking at the environment that they live in I feel as if I rob them of opportunities…of dreams by saying that…I set limitations…I judge… that they won’t succeed….

Well my friend said something very encouraging to me. Since I have been here I have been in an awkward position thinking about what I should teach my students and then struggling with who am I to say that I know what they need to know. What he told me made me realize that there are some things I can learn from them but there are also certain things I can expose them to. Not necessarily saying that what I claim to “know” is right but more of opening the door to things that they would not have been exposed to and letting them make their own decisions…

From there I realized that maybe what we are given in life does not always determine where we can go and who we are…

As I continue to think about this I was wondering what your thoughts were. Do you disagree or agree with the statement that I made about people being the product of their environment?

Freedom♥

Kameale

Words of Hate

The article that accompanied this video click here.

I do not understand. How could a person do something like this? How can those who use their rhetoric to dehumanize minorities continue to claim no part in these atrocities?

Words construct our realities! German Arians did not go from accepting their Jewish neighbors to systematically killing them over night. It took months upon months of dehumanization, via rhetoric, before they could justify such an appalling crime against humans. The same was true in Rwanda. It took day, after day of radio broadcasts disrespecting the humanity of the Tutsis before the Hutu mobs could justify chopping them down with machete’s. Hate crimes begin with words.

The FBI has reported a 40% rise in hate crimes against Latina/os since 2003. The FBI also reports that 62% of all hate crimes are targeted at Latina/os. This should be no surprise. As our economy is steadily declining it is becoming more and more acceptable to proclaim hate against Latina/os under the guise of critiquing immigration policy.


Just like in Germany a failing economy is what is being used to justify the verbal dehumanization of Latina/o migrants. In both these images you see these groups depicted unjustly taking the money of the nation for themselves in a time of economic crises. It is also important to note that much Nazi propaganda also depicted Jews as dirty, disease-infected rats.



Posters declaring the United States under “invasion” of Latina/os in effect declare all those who act against these “invaders” patriots. Why then are we surprised when we see that all over the country individuals are committing hate crimes targeting those who share the physical characteristics of the “invaders?”

Dehumanization of Latina/os in not just occurring on the Internet, on T.V., and at protests but also in one on one conversation. Every time a person laughs at a “beaner” joke they are encouraging that the person that made the joke, as well as everyone that heard it, continue to dehumanize Latina/os in their rhetoric. And though some may think that the act of staying silent when such jokes are said shoes disagreement with the joke, they are grossly mistaken. Silence, i.e., neutrality, ensures that the status quo of dehumanization continues. Only speaking out against such words works to end their power to oppress.

We must not just speak out against racial slurs; we must also become more vocal of our beliefs surrounding the topic of immigration and U.S. policy. This is where the deepest held racist beliefs are often allowed to fester unchallenged and so it is hear that we must be the most willing to speak up. Immigration policy is not about numbers and charts, it is about families and human lives. In re-humanizing the conversation, we act directly against those that have used the topic to justify them spewing their hate through bullhorns since the founding of this nation.

Para la liberación,

Mateo

The Veil of Equality

The morning after Senator Barack Hussein Obama’s historical victory over Senator John Sidney McCain the New York Times’ headline declared, “Racial barrier falls in heavy turnout.” I wonder what the person that wrote that headline would think of the broadcast posted above? Racial barrier falls? Did they bother to look at the racial demographics of Congress, Universities, or Prisons? As Obama stated in his speech to the NAACP on Thursday, “There’s probably never been less discrimination in America than there is today.” Racial barriers, as well as barriers drawn along gender lines or sexual orientation, are still strong. This headline, along with every other statement alluding to the “end of racism and discrimination” are nothing more than manifestations of the veil of equality we must work to tear town.

This veil has a long history in the United States and around the world. Its purpose is to give the notion of equality, and in doing so protect the oppressive status quo. The truth is that we are far from reaching an era of equality and if we ever wish to achieve it we must take on a new methodology. We have been fooled into accepting the veil as reality. Instead of working to bring true long lasting change, many of us have fallen into the trap of decorating the veil.

Our strategy, like that of the oppressor, has worked to make our peoples content with their condition instead of inspiring them to question it and rise against the unjust society we operate within. Many movement leaders have fought for statues to be built in public spaces, scraps to be given to our starving neighbors, and annual celebrations in honor of heroes such as César Chávez, Martin Luther King Jr., José Martí, and Malcolm X. These “accomplishments” amount to nothing more than distractions, decorations on the veil of equality that covers the realities of our unjust society.

If we truly want to celebrate the lives of our heroes we must do it with daily action to liberate our peoples. We must introduce ourselves to our neighbors; support those in our community who are in need; educate each other in the realities of human history; and empower each other with love, commitment, and knowledge. Instead, we build statues of our leaders in the centers of our communities and wait silently for the day that they will rise again to lead us into salvation. We allow ourselves to be paralyzed by an unending reflection on past accomplishments. They are dead and will never rise again. We must rise to lead our communities. We must act to liberate ourselves and our neighbors.

One example of this is the national movement to establish a federal holiday in honor of César Chávez. I truly respect César and the work he did for his community but i must ask myself, “Would César want us to commit ourselves to such a trivial matter with minority teen pregnancies and drop out rates where they stand?” Looking to the life of action he lived the answer seems to be no.

Let us imagine for a second that a national holiday is declared in honor of César. A day off of school accomplishes nothing. Instead of bringing about change, such an action only gives the perception of change. The struggles of the Latina/o community lie in teen pregnancy rates, unequal education, high dropout rates, high level of representation in the prison system, discriminatory policy, and unjust immigration policy. A national holiday does nothing to solve any of these problems while its pursuit is distracting individuals and their money from working to truly advance our community.

It is of the utmost importance that we consider whether our actions are bringing about change or only giving the perception of change, since such perceptions strengthen the chains we bear. By decorating the instruments of our oppression with flowers, we fail to challenge the injustice that they are the manifestations of, make oppression more bearable, and consequently make it less likely for our people to consider the actions necessary to achieve liberation desirable. We must take on a new methodology. Equality will not be achieved until we rip down the veil of equality and show our peoples the true state of our condition.

Para la liberación,

Mateo

From the diary of an oppressor... "Fuck a Revolution"

Though it has been a year since I came upon this poem I find myself regularly coming back to it. There are so many revolutionaries out there claiming to desire “radical change.” From street corners to coffee shops they claim to be in the struggle for justice. With their fingers pointing out they list off all the restaurants, clothing companies, and governments that are oppressing individuals around the world.

These revolutionaries are quick to critique the actions of others but slow to admit their own involvement in the oppressive system we live in. As Da’ Shade says, “No one is innocent, we all carry the burden of guilt, we oppress each other daily.” These revolutionaries stand on the soapbox of “unity,” yelling through the bullhorn of “change” only to use their words to discredit the struggles of others in an attempt to monopolize their own. As if “the struggle [was] solely theirs” they are quick to mention why they are the only true revolution. Their hypocritical actions undermine whatever truth is buried in their long, eloquent speeches.

What they do not understand is that “we are all connected by our struggle.” All our communities, from the most oppressive to the most marginalized are tied together. Injustice is a venom that poisons the hearts and minds of each individual member of a society. The debate whether its effects are most clearly seen in the environment, racial lines, gender lines, or class divisions should not distract us from working towards a cure.

As we pursue a solution we must not be mislead to believe that there is a simple answer to this complicated situation. We must read our histories honestly. We must not fall into the trap of seeking out scapegoats. Our goal should not be to punish, but to liberate. Change will not come by taking down a white oppressor only to replace them with a brown one. Change will come when we turn our ears to the song of justice and begin to create a new system that brings forth an era of liberation for all.

Why have we internalized the lie that there must always be a winner and a looser? Why do we work to elevate our movements at the expense of others? It is my belief that we have given in to the lies of the vultures. Those within and without us who wish to protect the status quo. These forces, sometimes manifesting themselves in the actions of government officials and other times in our own thoughts must be brought into the light. This is the only way that we can bring forth an honest system, a system that does not dehumanize its members.

To do this we me must analyze our actions, non-actions, rhetoric, and the situations in which we have failed to speak. There lies the most basic manifestations of oppression and it is therefore where we should begin our revolution of liberation. Stand up first to the oppressor within. Once our hearts are free we will never again take upon ourselves the shackles of the oppressor.

-Mateo

Speak.

I was going to start off with maybe

But today I am going to take command of the audience

I’ll stand on my soap box

And keep my ear to the streets

I’ll speak what they whisper when ain’t no body is around

Today I’ll tell you what my children cry about at night

Tears that concrete faces deny them from shedding

because they were taught that respect lingers in others fears

so these are the tears

that keep the grass growing in the grave yards

Because here at 6^th N Ferry

Nobody ever sleeps peacefully

the dead walks with the living

With crack bags and pistols

Waving stacks of dollar bills

To lure the children into thinking dirty money will last

not knowing the pigs will take half

of Your stack or your life

serving 15 to 20 in the grown up Pen at 16

while they go and purchase bigger houses with ur cash

SO YES

Today I am going to take command

Of the crowd

Who I will refer to as The People

Because we have written ourselves into the

Documents that once denied us

so "We The People" means more than what they could have imagined

I will tell The People what We already know

But have been forbidden to speak; to think; to dream up

And from my mouth will escape their words

And we will curse the heavens

For the shit that has been done to us

And ask God where He was when that one girl was shot

Or where He was when momma had to go down to the truck stops

But we will gratefully thank him for his mercy upon us because our sins are countless and

We will thank him for The food that somehow made it to our tables today….

Today we will take command of the crowd

The babies will rise up and speak

in tongues only understand by The People

who have been convinced that Dreams are Illegal in the Ghettos

The babies will speak

Of stories that mimic the lives of

Refugees and veterans, of POW's, citizens of 3rd world countries

They will spit

to the beat Of the gunshot rhythm of the pistols

That they carry in their diapers....

And somehow between babies speaking, me crying, and the people yelling

I figure that we will be rescued

Because if someone sees this they will care

their ears will be convicted to listen and there body to move in a way that will change

our conditions

They will care enough to rescue us from what they put us into

They will care enough...

so we wait.

Freedom♥

--Kameale Terry

I have always been convinced that those who are privileged will never rescue the poor. However, I am also starting to see that sometimes we are taught to wait to be rescued. Such as waiting on the government to give us things, change things for the better. But what I have learned is that once you rely upon those who are ignorant to your experiences and can not understand why drug dealing will beat out starvation on any day, you begin to hope for something that is not fathomable. I believe that The People must rally their selves and not be convinced that a rescuing boat is coming....