I was told that I shouldn't cause waves 
drowning would be a horrible death 
for a desperately needed radical 
Us leftists should go down in battle, 
uzi strapped upon our backs. 

I was told that revolution meant registration, 
flyer design, poster painting, gathering the masses 
Us progressives should be revolutionaries 
in their terms 
To be a poet was no good 
One had to die with placard in hand, 
not a pen 

My movement moves in silence 
hidden under the veil of inactivity 
some think I'm unproductive 
measure my activism by hours organizing meetings 
but I have a bigger vision 
There will be no uzis for me 
signs to be painted 

My revolution exists on paper 
I exercise my right to speak for the unspoken for 
I am revolutionary too 
Us writers are also part of the movement 
Or do you think this poem is not political? 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My cultura's not for sale gringa 
when you grab a silver ring from 
an Indio's stand and ask 
"Koo-an-doh Koo-eh-stah" 
in your sorry ass Spanish 

I've seen tourists in Mexican bordertowns 
Winter Texans in Tamaulipas 
Wild college kids on Spring Break 
Buying anything under ten dollars 
Smiling at impoverished children 
then 
Returning to a privileged America 

It's not for sale 
though the sign says 
You get more for your dollar 
Less for your peso 
But 
My culture wasn't devalued. 

I've seen gringos come for miles 
to hear a "real" Mariachi 
enjoy a few bailables 
watch some surviving Indian dances 

But you can't capture us on a cd, 
photograph us and 
make us part of your collective memory 

We have our own 
and in them 
You are still the gringo invaders of Texas 
the treacherous robbers of Aztlan 
the "big brother" of the north 

In my memory 
you are a foreigner to me 
I will not give you our precious things 

My people are not for sale 

I am not a happy jarabe 
a rhythmic son 
a colorful Jalisco dress 
a Chiapas Zapatista 

I am not the most vivid and publicized 
I am not a woman being beaten by police 
I am not a drug lord or president 
I am not a technocrat 
That is not my cultura 
That's the media 

Precious things are sacred and 
your dollar will never buy you 
My memories 
My history 
My place in a community 

My cultura's not for sale gringa 
and neither are my men 
"Dark, indigenous looking Mexicans" 
are for Anthro books and theses papers 
Not for the real world 
Not for your photo album 

You cannot have my songs 
or dances 
or looks 

You cannot buy the sacred stories 
the history of a revolution 
the pride of my cultura 

These are priceless things 
which have been bought with blood of Mexicans 

Mexicans alone 
Not for you gringa 
Not for the tourist 
Not for the journalist 

Just for the Raza 

Those of us who know we own it 
without having to buy it. 

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