CORRALES, New Mexico, - Baltazar Acevedo y Arispe, Jr., Ph.D., is a Native Tejano from Tahoka and a regular columnist for the Guardian.
Acevedo resides in Waco, Texas and Corrales, New Mexico. He conducts research, writes and speaks as well as writing “organic poetry” about the Chicano experience. He presently works on community development projects to expand the quality of the lives of disenfranchised citizens in Waco, Texas.
On occasion, Acevedo teaches at a post-secondary educational institution in Central Texas. He has penned a poem for the Guardian. Here it is:
No Creo en Fronteras
I do not believe in Fronteras
Have no use for borders
Boundaries drawn by fire and blood
Barriers that inhibit La Gente
Impeding their abrazos across water and sand
Across a space that has become
no man’s land
I do not believe in Fronteras
In the small-minded limitations that guide
Los Gordo Latinos to serve the agenda of
Los Gringos
These of limited vision only see their piece of the pie
I do not believe in Fronteras
Or the boundaries that our educational system sets
To prepare our students for a world that
Does not mend
And puts them on a tunnel without a light at the end
I do not believe in Fronteras
Set by higher education institutions
Entrapping the young minds of our
Students, preparing them
For obsolete jobs
In a vicious cycle of continuous Debt restitution
I do not believe in Fronteras
Or the Latino Gringo politicians who advocate for the poor
Camouflaged as sheep as they denigrate La Raza
Licking the soles of the disenfranchisers who
Fill their Tazas
I do not believe in Fronteras
Made of deep pocket leaders who support the get rich schemers
Who frack and deplete our water as they Destroy the soil rather than nurture
The land on which we migrantes toil
I do not believe in Fronteras
Or laws enforced by thugs and sheriffs and minutemen
Who believe that this is their America and won’t
Share the dream
Which in reality is nothing more than a scheme
I do not believe in Fronteras
Set by misguided leaders apparently born
Without mothers
Whose agenda is to devalue a woman’s labor
They will rather gain the favor of the rich who are too many
Whose greed is to savor every penny
I do not believe in Fronteras
The fence being built along el Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
To keep us from coming to reclaim our land
As La Bamba del Rebelde is played by the band
I do not believe in Fronteras
I do believe in the background music for the La Revoluccion
Los Lobos as we rock to “Good Morning Aztlan” and
“Yo Soy Mexico Americano”
Aqui vienen los Chicanos
I do not believe in Fronteras
Like the Border Patrol checkpoints at Falfurrias and Sarita
You dare ask me if I am an American Citizen
Yo soy el Hijo de Apaches, Cortina, Zapata, Gloria
Cesar, Corkey, Villa y Jovita
Yo soy Mexico Americano and I need no stinking documents
I do not believe in Fronteras
I do believe in the revolution of the mind
I do believe in the revolution against wars of oppression
I do believe in the revolution of the soul
I do believe in the revolution of our voices and our words
I do believe in the revolution of the hungry
I do believe in the revolution of the homeless
I do believe in a revolution against illiteracy
I do believe in a revolution of the poor
I do believe in a revolution against the vultures that disguise themselves as wealthy bankers
I do believe in a revolution by abused mujeres and niños against their oppressors
I do believe in a revolution against machos
I do believe in a revolution against those that would deny us the vote
I do believe in a revolution against los Vendidos
I do believe in a revolution by La Raza against Latinos and Hi-Spanics
I do believe that we can share America.
