America: The Land of the Free?

Where is this land of the free and home of the brave?

America who are you?

America what are you?

America, I need to find you.

America, you said…you said, that this is the land of the free and home of the brave.

America, where the fuck are you?

America, I am lucky.

I am blessed.

I am privileged.

But, I stand with those who are not.

I stand with those who suffer, and those that have no other option than to survive day to day.

Yes survive.

Simply, to survive.

To survive this oppression, this xenophobic, sexist, you name it…country.

America, people of color are frightened and scared. Each and EVERY day.

They are targeted.

Their appearance matters.

Why can’t they express their culture? Their identity? Their religion?

I ask you this.

Isn’t America land of the free?

America, you are not land of the free.

Don’t tell me that it ever was.

Remember reading about slaves in history class?

I remember.

I remember the way my teachers briefly went over and never emphasized the way African American slaves suffered.

Remember reading about the 1960’s Civil Rights movement?

I remember.

I remember the name Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks.

They did something good right?

America, why?

Why was it wrong to speak? To protest? To fight for equal rights? Why couldn’t Rosa Parks sit wherever she wanted to on the bus?

America…I am waiting for your answer.

America, they are humans, not animals.

And why do you continue to treat African Americans wrong?

Why do you treat Latinos wrong?

Why do you treat Middle Eastern people wrong?

Above all, why do you treat people that don’t look like you wrong?

America, are you white?

Where is the America that people talk about?

Where is the America that embodies the American Dream?

America, are you fake?

You have never been the America of land of the free or home of the brave.

America, who are you?

America we, as people, try to progress and move forward to achieve equal rights.

Even the University of California Berkeley faced this problem.

Why did you try to curtail Mario Savio from speaking?

The students demanded their rights, it’s in the Constitution.

Do you remember the 1st Amendment?

I do.

It’s the freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech.

Remember that?

SNCC, the Black Panthers, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and so on…enabled and gave me the right to express my voice.

America, where were you?

America, stand in solidarity with us?

We, the people of color.

We as a diverse community demanding our space, the space we deserve.

We contribute to this country, or do we not?

But why oppress us? Why did Mario Savio, Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, to name a few, have to go out of their way to express their discontent towards you?

America, you took the land of Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

It was my people’s land first.

You stripped California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada from Mexico in 1848.

Was that not enough?

We belong here, in the United States.

Don’t you know that we put food on your table?

We pick and cultivate the grapes that make your ‘fine wine.’ We harvest the fruits and vegetables you consume and take for granted.

Don’t you know that we wake up before the sun rises in order to get to work?

We get paid minimum wage and receive no benefits.

We work under unbearable working conditions.

America, don’t you know?

We are humans.

People of color contribute and make up this country!

America do you not agree?

America are you white?

I question you America.

But I am lucky.

I am privileged.

I can speak.

My skin tone isn’t dark despite my Latina roots.

I am a U.S. Citizen.

So I speak for my family, for my friends, for my community, and for this nation.

America, immigrants are not aliens.

Immigrants are humans.

Immigrants are people, like me and you.

Immigrants deserve and continue to demand their rights.

I stand with them, in solidarity.

I, as a human, as a Latina, low-income, first generation student attending the University of California Berkeley am deeply inspired with the Civil Rights Movement.

And America, the movement is not over.

So, here I am.

Lucky because I am a U.S. citizen, because I can speak and demand my rights, because my skin tone is fair, and because I strive to educate myself…

I am here.

But don’t forget.

People of color are strong.

I admire them.

I was lucky and I hope that one day they will receive the rights they deserve.

I stand with them, to demand these rights.

Yes, demand.

As human beings we deserve to have equal rights.

So America, one more time…

Where is this land of the free and home of the brave?

America who are you?

America what are you?

America, I need to find you.

America, you said…you said, that this is the land of the free and home of the brave.

America, where the fuck are you?

(Inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s “America”)