Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice (Camino del Sol)

On April 20, 2010, nine Latino students chained themselves to the main doors of the Arizona State Capitol in an act of civil disobedience to protest Arizona’s SB 1070. Moved by the students’ actions, that same day Francisco X. Alarcón responded by writing a poem in Spanish and English titled “Para Los Nueve del Capitolio/ For the Capitol Nine,” which he dedicated to the students. The students replied to the poem with a collective online message. To share with the world what was taking place, Alarcón then created a Facebook page called “Poets Responding to SB 1070” and posted the poem, launching a powerful and dynamic forum for social justice. Since then, more than three thousand original contributions by poets and artists from around the globe have been posted to the page. Poetry of Resistance offers a selection of these works, addressing a wide variety of themes, including racial profiling, xenophobia, cultural misunderstanding, violence against refugees, shared identity, and much more. Contributors include distinguished poets such as Francisco Aragón, Devreaux Baker, Sarah Browning, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Susan Deer Cloud, Sharon Dubiago, Martín Espada, Genny Lim, Pam Uschuk, and Alma Luz Villanueva. Bringing together more than eighty writers, the anthology powerfully articulates the need for change and the primacy of basic human rights. Each poem shows the heartfelt dedication these writers and artists have to justice in a world that has become larger than borders. Poetry of Resistance is a poetic call for tolerance, reflection, reconciliation, and healing. The Book Is A Timely Response Via Verse To The Current Political Climate Of Arizona, Though What It Ultimately Argues Is That These Injustices Have Always Been Taking Place: Sb 1070 Is Simply Its Most Recent Manifestation--provided By Publisher. Foreword : They Carry Butterflies In Their Hands / Juan Felipe Herrera -- Introduction / Francisco X. Alarcón And Odilia Galván Rodríguez -- Para Los Nueve Del Capitolio = For The Capitol Nine / Invocation / Borderless Compassion / Francisco X. Alarcón -- Portions / Joann Anglin -- Poem With A Phrase Of Isherwood / Francisco Aragón -- End Of An Affair / Cathy Arellano -- Nestorius Niños Y Niñas = Our Children / Jorge Tetl Argueta -- Tattoo Sb 1070 / Adrián Arias -- Looking Through Chain Link At Mcallen Station / Víctor Ávila -- La Regla De Los Ladrones = The Law Of Thieves / Avotcja -- Reasonable Suspicion : The Conqueror's Dream / Devreaux Baker -- Lightning On A Black Night Over The Chuska Mountains / Kristopher Barney -- Slaughters And Shifts And Migrations : Arizona / Virginia Barrett -- Listen Child / Esmeralda Bernal -- The Flag Of Touch / Sarah Browning -- Border Ghost Of Sonora / Awakening At Night / Carmen Calatáyud --^ Hoy Mujeres Y Hombres = Today Women And Men / Xánath Caraza -- On The Border, We Dream / Héctor Carbajal -- Niño Traga Fuegos / Elizabeth Cazessús -- Olmecan Eyes / Lorna Dee Cervantes -- Del Puente Al Arco / Ana Chig -- Reconsider The Lilies = Considerad De Nuevo Las Azucenas / Jabez W. Churchill -- The New West / Antoinette Nora Claypoole -- Sonnet For Police Officers Charged With Enforcing Sb 1070 / Karen S. Córdova -- To Be A Pocha Or Not To Be / Iris De Anda -- Capitol Poetry / Nephtalí De León -- Your America, My Turtle Island / Susan Deer Cloud -- Before The World Wakes / Two Missing Men, One White, One Brown, One Rich, One Not / So Rich / Elena Díaz Björquist -- There Is A Fence Around My Heart / James Downs -- A Ceremony For Reclaiming Language / Qwo-li Driskill -- Border / Sharon Doubiago -- Border Crossing / Sharon Elliot -- La Voz Del Inmigrante = Immigrant Voices / Mario Ángel Escobar -- Isabel's Corrido / Martín Espada --^ Giving Voice / Border Inquest Blues / Collecting Thoughts From The Universe Odilia Galván Rodríguez -- Immigrant Crossing / Daniel García -- The Ones Who Live On / La Virgen De Las Calles / Nancy Aidé González -- Mi Bandera = My Flag / Grandchildren Of The United Fruit Company / Sonia Gutiérrez -- Cerrando Herida / Israel Francisco Haros López -- Sand And Bone Desert Spark / Gabriel Hartley -- Juan Mercado / Ralph Haskins -- Kim Ayu (vení Pa'ca) / Claudia D. Hernández -- Where We Belong / In Response To The Man Who Asked, Why Do Your People March Fro Everything? / Andrea Hernández Holm -- Arizona Green (manifesto #1070) / Juan Felipe Herrera -- A Prayer To Santa Cebolla / Mari Herreras -- Our Children Are Not Anchors / Susana De Jesús Huerta -- Grave Song For Immigrant Soldier / Aurora Levins Morales -- The Same Thing / The Remembered / Genny Lim -- The Border Crossed U / Mark Lipman -- Trespasser Shoes / César Love -- Insist And Resist / My Sweet Dream, My Living Nightmare : Adobe Walls / Manuel Lozano -- On Issues Of Aliens And Immigration / Devorah Major -- The Line / John Martínez -- Nunca, Nunca, Nunca : The Corrido Of South Phoenix / Andrea García Mauk -- Arizona Goddam! / Joseph Mcnair -- Rimas Contra Las Cárceles De Papeles / Octaviano Merecias-cuevas -- The Great Wall Of America / James O. Michael -- The Dream That Sleeps With Power : A Sonnet For The Dream Act / Edith Morris-vásquez -- Ancianos / Yasmeen Najmi -- Haiku Poems For Social Justice / Joe Navarro -- Ghost Town : 24 Hours B4 Arizona's Sb 1070 / Gerardo Pacheco Matus -- Outlaw Zone / Melinda Palacio -- Fading Memories / Carlos Parada Ayala -- I Am America / Ramón Piñero -- Reasonable Suspicion / Manuel Ramos -- Who Cares? / Here To Stay / Sin Fronteras = Beyond Borders / Maritza Rivera -- Diluyamos Las Fronteras / Margarita Robleda -- That Indian Man You See On The Hospital Bed / Roberto Cintli Rodríguez -- Lo Prohibido / Renato Rosaldo -- Bratach Bána = White Flags = Banderas Blancas / Gabriel Rosenstock -- If You Leave Your Shoes / Joseph Ross -- Chook Son, Arizona / Abel Salas -- Praise To All The Poets Responding To Sb 107 / Raúl Sánchez -- Denial / Matt Sedillo -- Be Fearless : Choose Love / Nina Serrano -- Desaparecidos / Tom Sheldon -- The Sacred Stone / Seven Ears Of Maize I Do Bring / Hedy García Treviño -- Borders / Tara Evonne Trudell -- Arizona Lamentation / Luis Alberto Urrea -- Stalking The Divine Under A Desert Full Moon / Pam Uschuk -- No Consolation For Lidia / Norma Liliana Valdez -- For A Friend Who Objects To Comparing The Events Leading Up To The Holocaust With What Is Happening Today In Arizona / Richard Vargas -- Emigro / Carlos Vázquez Segura -- Los Desaparecidos / Edward A. Vidaurre -- Breathing While Brown / Alama Luz Villanueva -- Always Here / Rich Villar -- May Day Is Not The Day To Shoot At People Who Work For You / George Wallace -- Sestina For Illegal Widows / Lori A. Williams -- Diaspora / Meg Withers -- We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For / Stephanie Yan -- Why I Feel The Way I Do About Sb 1070 / Andre Yang -- Contributors. Edited By Francisco X. Alarcón And Odilia Galván Rodríguez ; Foreword By Juan Felipe Herrera. Chiefly In English With Several Poems In Spanish; Some Poems In English And Spanish, And One Poem In Irish. Contents Foreword: They Carry Butterflies in Their Hands by Juan Felipe Herrera Introduction by Francisco X. Alarcón and Odilia Galván Rodríguez Francisco X. Alarcón Para los nueve del capitolio / For the Capitol Nine Invocation Borderless Compassion JoAnn Anglin - Portions Francisco Aragón - Poem with a Phrase of Isherwood Cathy Arellano - End of an Affair Jorge Tetl Argueta - Nuestros niños y niñas / Our Children Adrián Arias - Tattoo SB 1070 Víctor Ávila - Looking Through Chain Link at McAllen Station AvotcjaLa regla de los ladrones / The Law of Thieves Devreaux Baker - Reasonable Suspicion — The Conqueror’s Dream Kristopher Barney - Lightning on a Black Night over the Chuska Mountains Virginia Barrett - Slaughters and Shifts and Migrations—Arizona Esmeralda Bernal - Listen Child Sarah Browning - The Flag of Touch Carmen Calatayud Border Ghost of Sonora Awakening at Night Xánath Caraza - Hoy mujeres y hombres / Today Women and Men Héctor Carbajal - On the Border, We Dream Elizabeth Cazessús - Niño traga fuegos Lorna Dee Cervantes - Olmecan Eyes Ana Chig - Del puente al arco Jabez W. Churchill- Reconsider the Lilies / Considerad de nuevo las azucenas Antoinette Nora Claypoole - The New West Karen S. Córdova - Sonnet for Police Officers Charged with Enforcing SB 1070 Iris De Anda - To Be a Pocha or Not to Be Nephtalí De León - Capitol Poetry Susan Deer Cloud - Your America, My Turtle Island Elena Díaz Björkquist Before the World Wakes Two Missing Men, One White, One Brown, One Rich, One Not So Rich James Downs - There Is a Fence Around My Heart Qwo-Li Driskill - A Ceremony for Reclaiming Language Sharon Doubiago - Border Sharon Elliot - Border Crossing Mario Ángel Escobar - La voz del inmigrante / Immigrant Voices Martín Espada - Isabel’s Corrido Odilia Galván Rodríguez Giving Voice Border Inquest Blues Collecting Thoughts from the Universe Daniel García Ordaz - Immigrant Crossing Nancy Aidé González The Ones Who Live On La Virgen de las Calles Sonia Gutiérrez Mi bandera / My Flag Grandchildren of the United Fruit Company Israel Francisco Haros López - Cerrando Herida Gabriel Hartley - Sand and Bone Desert Spark Ralph Haskins - Juan Mercado Claudia D. Hernández - Kim ayu (Vení pa’ca) Andrea Hernández Holm Where We Belong In Response to the Man Who Asked, “Why Do Your People March for Everything?” Juan Felipe Herrera - Arizona Green (Manifesto #1070) Mari Herreras - A Prayer to Santa Cebolla Susana de Jesús Huerta - Our Children Are Not Anchors Aurora Levins Morales - Grave Song for Immigrant Soldier Genny Lim The Same Thing The Remembered Mark Lipman - The Border Crossed Us César Love - Trespasser Shoes Manuel Lozano Insist and Resist My Sweet Dream / My Living Nightmare: Adobe Walls Devorah Major - On Issues of Aliens and Immigration John Martínez - The Line Andrea García Mauk - Nunca, Nunca, Nunca: The Corrido of South Phoenix Joseph McNair - Arizona Goddam! Octaviano Merecias-Cuevas - Rimas contra las cárceles de papeles James O. Michael - The Great Wall of America Edith Morris-Vásquez - The Dream That Sleeps with Power: A Sonnet for the Dream Act Yasmeen Najmi - Ancianos Joe Navarro - Haiku Poems for Social Justice Gerardo Pacheco Matus - Ghost Town: 24 Hours B4 Arizona’s SB 1070 Melinda Palacio - Outlaw Zone Carlos Parada Ayala - Fading Memories Ramón Piñero - I Am America Manuel Ramos - Reasonable Suspicion Maritza Rivera Who Cares? Here to Stay Sin fronteras / Beyond Borders Margarita Robleda - Diluyamos las fronteras Roberto Cintli Rodríguez - That Indian Man You See on the Hospital Bed Renato RosaldoLo Prohibido Gabriel Rosenstock - Bratacha Bána / White Flags / Banderas blancas Joseph Ross - If You Leave Your Shoes Abel Salas - Chook Son, Arizona Raúl Sánchez - Praise to All the Poets Responding to SB 1070 Matt Sedillo - Denial Nina Serrano - Be Fearless: Choose Love Tom Sheldon - Desaparecidos Hedy García Treviño The Sacred Stone Seven Ears of Maize I Do Bring Tara Evonne Trudell - Borders Luis Alberto Urrea - Arizona Lamentation Pam Uschuk - Stalking the Divine Under a Desert Full Moon Norma Liliana Valdez - No Consolation for Lidia Richard Vargas - For a Friend Who Objects to Comparing the Events Leading Up to the Holocaust with What Is Happening Today in Arizona Carlos Vázquez Segura - Emigro Edward A. Vidaurre - Los Desaparecidos Alma Luz Villanueva - Breathing While Brown Rich Villar - Always Here George Wallace - May Day Is Not the Day to Shoot at People Who Work for You Lori A. Williams - Sestina for Illegal Widows Meg Withers - Diaspora Stephanie Yan - We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For Andre Yang - Why I Feel the Way I Do About SB 1070 Contributors