Happy Birthday Mark Doty…
One of the sections in today’s Writer’s Almanac brought a smile to my face with its humdrum reporting on the life of writer Mark Doty.
It’s the birthday of poet Mark Doty, born in Maryville, Tennessee (1953), who won the 2008 National Book Award for his collection Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems. His other poetry collections include Bethlehem in Broad Daylight (1991), Sweet Machine (1998), School of the Arts (2005), and Theories and Apparitions (2008).
He’s the only American to ever win the T.S. Eliot Prize for poetry, an award of ten thousand pounds sterling. He’s written several books of prose, including Atlantis (1995) about the death of his partner from AIDS, and — in the past decade — the memoirs Still Life with Oysters and Lemon (2001), Dog Years (2007), and The Art of Description (2010). He teaches at Rutgers University and is married to writer Paul Lisicky.
The emphasis of the last line is, of course, added, solely for the statement’s insignificance. It says, “Oh yeah, and he’s married to Paul.”
I remember reading a column in a gay magazine once in which the columnist stated his ultimate goal in the struggle. He said that when Billy’s mom and Joey’s mom can meet at the grocery store and talk lovingly about their sons budding romance, then all is well in the world. The way the writer’s of the Writer’s Almanac uneventfully added that tidbit of information to Mr. Doty’s entry reminds me of this goal.
When the rest of society can reach the point where Mark being married to Paul is not a big deal, then we will have achieved all that we set out to do.
Filed under: Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, La Cultura, On Writing, The Media (Liberal and otherwise) | Leave a Comment
What would Kinsey say?
Two major things out of the New York Times this past week.
1. For the first time ever in the gazillion polls ever conducted, out of the bajillion views ever expressed–a majority of Americans view gay relationships to be “morally acceptable.” Fifty-two percent view gay couples in a morally-acceptable light; 43 percent in a not-so-acceptable light; and I guess five percent are the way I wish all Americans were–they probably just don’t give a shit!
2. In another first, more straight men, in various age brackets, were more accepting of gay men and gay sex than their female counterparts! Yes…the straight boys–the once tormentors of us all in that hell called adolescence–are now coming around to see us as the fabulous beings we are!
And even more shocking–a lot more of them are classifying themselves as “mostly straight.” Wow. That’s kinda hot.
This new development, this creation of boxes in sexuality, this new label helps me out tremendously! If straight guys can now claim to be straight, for the most part, but with a few dalliances on the side of the fence where the grass is pink, so can I.
If they can have their cake and eat it too, without having to claim bisexuality, then I can too.
I’ve never felt totally gay but never outright bisexual. I mean, it’s easy to love a woman…I just wouldn’t marry one. Well, I guess I wouldn’t marry a guy either but that’s besides the point. Ok, maybe I need a new point. It’s easy to, let’s say, “have fun” with anyone–male or female. It’s a whole other thing to want to spend every waking minute of your life with one– that I reserve for the men.
So, basically, what I’m trying to tell you is that…well…I’m “mostly gay.”
There I said it. Hope you don’t hate me.
********
Read more about this on a post by Michael Jensen on AfterElton.com
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“Make Homosexuals Marry”
OMG….as my friend said when I sent him this link, “LOL! that’s my life on youtube.”
p.s. I hate Mike White for kissing Justin Long!! Lucky homo!
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Tags: Mike White Justin Long Make Homosexuals Marry
When I rang up Juan R. Palomo early one Sunday morning, he had just finished saying goodbye to a few friends that had gone to visit him for the weekend. They were from Houston and were former colleagues of Palomo’s from his days with the Houston Post. They were commemorating the 15 year anniversary of its closing.
Palomo and the Post were and will always be inextricably connected.
The Post was where he got his first major job in journalism, interning with the Post’s Washington bureau while attending Washington University and working the city desk after graduating. It is where he was rehired, against Post policy, after a brief stint with USA Today. And, it was where he made one of the most courageous moves a columnist can make.
In 1991, Palomo had been writing a tri-weekly column for less than a year when he submitted a column that was quickly returned to him by his editors.
Paul Broussard had been murdered for being a gay man just days before and the hate crime propelled Palomo to come out in the column he had just handed in. This was six years before even Ellen had the courage to do so.
“Broussard’s death horrified me,” he said. “I’d been coming out for several years to several friends but not to family. His mother couldn’t understand (why someone would murder her son) but I knew it was because of people like me who remain quiet.”
Palomo had written some columns on AIDS and gay issues but most readers thought he was just a “straight man with liberal views.” He knew though, after Broussard’s murder, that he had a special responsibility to speak up. He turned his column in at 5 p.m. Within the hour, his editor had returned it back to him.
“They told me to either change the ending or it wouldn’t run. I argued but then I thought about it,” he said. “It was more important that the column run, it was powerful enough (without my coming out), so I changed the ending.”
He saved a copy of the original column and proceeded to make sure that colleagues knew about what had happened. The Houston Press heard about it and asked if he wanted to talk about it. It was the cover story for the next issue.
He was fired three weeks later, not for being gay, but for talking about the incident to other media. His firing set off a firestorm of protests that were picked up by local news, CNN, the New York Times and even the Today show.
“I was fired Labor Day weekend and it was a slow news cycle so (the media) picked up on it,” he said.
The protests were led by supporters of Palomo’s from the Latino community and by the ‘90s GLBT group Queer Nation, who made sure the story never died. Thirty colleagues of his at the Post left their desks at deadline to pick up signs. Within the week, he was rehired.
That was almost twenty years ago. Palomo now lives and works in Washington, D.C. as a communications advisor for an oil and energy firm. He no longer writes nor does he freelance but he realizes the strides gay people in the newsroom have made.
He credits a lot of that to the work of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, an organization he was very active in as a board member when it first got started.
“NLGJA did a lot to make it safe to be out and gay in the newsroom. It was very, very different then,” he said. “Now, you go to any major newspaper and you can find openly gay and lesbian reporters and they’re treated well. It’s radically different.”
Palomo always liked the idea of writing columns because he was always being accused of writing opinion into his articles—something he does not deny. During his four and a half years as a columnist for the Post, he wrote 450 columns.
“I had 16 inches of space, three times a week. I guarded that piece of real estate very, very closely. Very few people get that opportunity.”
His last column ran over 15 years ago but the state of the actual media since then has not changed, in Palomo’s view.
“There is no liberal media. Editors are still scared shitless of the Religious Right,”
Palomo suggests that young journalists either need to be “very, very good or work very hard at writing and reporting so that they can’t not hire you—if you can, just overwhelm them with your writing.”
“(Editors) are not gonna take a chance on a young Left-leaning, gay, Latino writer so let that form your life as a columnist but don’t look at everything through those glasses.”
During his life as a columnist, Palomo never wanted to be labeled a Latino or gay columnist but as an American writing about everyday issues. He wrote without being afraid of exposing bits of himself, even his flaws, which he feels was something people could relate to and something that kept people interested in what he had to say.
“People want to know how you feel, what’s in your heart,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to take chances, to make a fool of yourself. If you make a fool of yourself, you’ll get over that. People will forget and they will forgive but they won’t forgive you for being boring.”
Filed under: On Writing, The Media (Liberal and otherwise) | 2 Comments
Tags: Juan R. Palomo Houston Post The Gay 90s
I’m not a fan of rap music that is canned for the masses but I am a fan of people that can flow like nobody’s business.
The art form as it began is amazing…and these guys from Arizona do a phenomenal job of laying down the law that is SB1070.
Glad to see people uniting over this law.
Check it…
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Tags: Back to ARizona Rappers Protest SB1070
This was my first foray into the world of Morrissey’s music. In a little middle school dance on the southside of San Antonio. A little gay boy of thirteen, dancing with his girlfriends. This live version above is dated April of ’91 which is around the time of that dance–right before Summer vacation.
I’ll never forget hearing, “I’m sooooo sorry…ah ah oh ah ah oh…I’m so so-rry oh ah oh ah” for the first time.
I will love him forever.
Here’s the original video to the song, a tribute to James Dean.
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Tags: Morrissey Monday suedehead first song
If you have followed Toni Collette since she made a splash on the big screen in the 1994 indie hit Muriel’s Wedding, you know this headline is taken from a few lines in that movie—but they best describe the character she now plays on the small screen.
That character is Tara and alone, she is someone you’d never think twice about while walking through the neighborhood.
She, however, has dissociative identity disorder and the other personalities inside her head—Buck, the horny, drunk redneck; Alice, the homey housewife; T, the flirty teenager; and Gimme, the animalistic impulse—are what make her mad and raging and end up wreaking havoc on her life and her family.
Showtime’s critically-acclaimed summer hit of 2009 United States of Tara returned in March and its first outing after hiatus has proven that its creator and writer Diablo Cody can carry a series.
We find Tara and her family, in the season premiere episode “Yes,” staring at the audience as they open the door to a clothing-donation bin.
Kate, her daughter, asks, “Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, are you sure they are all gone?”
At the end of the first season, Tara—after punching Kate’s boyfriend, peeing on her father and seducing her son Marshall’s boyfriend, among other things—decided to get back on the medications she had forsaken at the beginning of the season.
“Yeah,” Tara answers, “it’s been three months. I know I’m ready.”
Marshall adds, “Something about this feels creepy and clandestine.”
Max, the patriarch of the family played by the ever-handsome John Corbett answers with, “That’s what we do best, son.”
They proceed to throw all of the clothes worn by the “alters” that had previously taken over Tara’s mind and body into the bin and Tara says goodbye and closes the bin.
A happy family montage ensues, which immediately made me think of the “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” montage from Spiderman 2. The montage is cut short when an ominous gunshot is heard in the distance.
One of the best things about this show is how Tara and Max’ son Marshall is portrayed. He is reserved, geeky and timid, probably somewhere around sixteen and going through the usual anxieties associated with high school but with one extra thing to think about: he’s gay.
Cody’s writing and the acting talents of both Collette and Corbett make it a nonissue as far as family values goes with both parents—when Tara is not “altered”—supporting and encouraging their son to live his life. The emotions and trials that gay teens faced was presented in such a great manner during the first season, I can’t wait to see what they do during this new season.
It seems that Marshall will be getting a lot more screen time considering that the fourth scene of the episode has him meeting other gay kids in his high school. The scene is reminiscent of the lunchroom scene in Mean Girls where Regina George stops Cady Heron and invites her to sit with her group, the Plastics.
Marshall is stopped by Lionel, the gay version of Regina, who says, “Hey Marshall, you obviously belong over here babe, in the fruit bowl, with the rest of us kids. The fruit bowl, the “gayble,”—the gay table—where we all sit.”
It would have been nice to have a “gayble” during my years in high school.
Marshall’s support from his parents was evident throughout the first season and is expressed again when Max takes him to purchase purple carnations to stage a silent protest for gay rights at school. Max even stays to help and encourage him.
This show warms my bitter, gay heart and I would watch it even without the young gay storyline. I would watch it even if I haven’t loved Toni Collette since first watching her as Muriel sixteen years ago.
This season seems like it will be even better than the first season and for the entire family. Tara has to relapse, of course, or there would be no reason for a new season—I know that’s bad for this great family, but it’s great for me and everyone else who has fallen in love with them.
Check out the opening theme to the show…I love the song!
Filed under: Art, La Familia, POP Culture | 1 Comment
Tags: United States of Tara season 2 premiere
A great feeling on Mother’s Day
Q&A from StoryCorps on Vimeo.
Click above to watch a short animation inspired by an interview between a boy and his mom.
This brought a few tears to my eyes! It’s so beautiful and quiet and full of love. And, though I don’t have Asperger’s, I have always felt that I too was born without “social genes.” =)
A great way to usher in Mother’s Day 2010.
I love you, mom!!! =)
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The only way to deal with Mel’s death is to accept it. There is no other way. We all have a certain unbreakable appointment and we are all helpless targets in that regard. Life’s only promise is its final deadline. When Mel, and others who are dear to us, depart, we should at least realize as we shuffle along living our small and persecuted lives, how absolutely ridiculous it is to be afraid of anything or anyone on this unhappy planet. Most people are standardized and unoriginal, which is useful, because it makes the Mels of the world stand out even more.
—MORRISSEY
France, april 2010.
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Tags: Morrissey death
Ditat Deus, Arizona’s state motto, translates to “God Enriches.”
I propose the next action that the Arizona State Legislature and Governor take is replacing this motto with something more befitting the passage of SB1070, the harshest immigration law in the country.
I find it ironic that a state that claims that God enriches, can look into the eyes of people who have left the only place they knew and traveled from miles away to live a better life, and say they bring nothing to their state. That the roughly 500,000 people have not enriched Arizona in any way and deserve to be unlawfully searched and persecuted.
Or maybe the trouble is that these politicians and the 70 percent of Arizona’s citizens that approve of this measure, according to a recent Rasmussen poll, have never looked past skin color and into the eyes of an immigrant.
There is a saying in Spanish, “Ojos que no ven, corazon que no siente,” that translates to “Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel.” Some have even translated it to mean, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Both can apply to the people who support this law.
I joined a Facebook group called “1 MILLION Strong AGAINST the Arizona Immigration Law SB1070.” People who were in support of the law joined this group as well and were making comments on others posts.
One that struck me was a guy who mentioned a friend from Bosnia being able to complete his naturalization within two years. In other words, his friend did it the legal way. A big sticking point of anti-immigrant persons. I replied that his friend was able to do it so quickly because of where he was from.
I informed him that the average wait for people from Latin American countries is much longer than those from other parts of the world–people from Mexico have to wait 15 years just to get a visa. I reminded him that it was boatloads of Eastern European people who were welcomed with open arms decades ago and the only time that has happened with Latin American countries was with Cuba–and that was because of the Cold War. I told him that because of this I thought the system itself was racist.
There are many legal issues for myself and other Latinos born in the US that I could focus on (like police having the power to stop me and ask for papers at their discretion) but to me the human toll it will have on families and communities of those that had to come here illegally because of an inherently racist system is much more important.
If this law is definitely the spark to a firestorm that will engulf other state legislatures then we will fight those new laws in each state, one battle at a time. For now, we must focus on the people currently in Arizona. Though the new law will not be enacted for 90 days, I believe prayers and support must begin now.
God enriches. If you believe this, then you should know that you will never know how and with whom. It is something that the people of Arizona need to realize and fully accept.
On Saturday, May 1st, the people of Houston are invited to the March for Dignity and Respect for All. The Coalition for Immigration Reform, along with sixteen other organizations, will be marching for “for the rights of migrant workers, for family unity, for an end to all raids, for allowing bi-national same sex couples to stay together, for a just immigration reform that includes the DREAM Act & Uniting American Families Act, for unity amongst ALL communities.”
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Tags: SB1070 Arizona immigration families compassion
The drag queens love Madonna…
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Tags: madonna drag queen tribute mtv
“You gotta give them HOPE…”
Found this on the GLOBAL Facebook page. GLOBAL is UH’s GLBT student group that has grown so much this year.
It’s amazing how much Harvey Milk can still make me feel so much. It’s nice to know that I am not jaded. Thank you Harvey!
Filed under: Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Young Americans | Leave a Comment
Dear Pope: End the Harm
(From OUT.com, just needed to post in its entirety. )
Dear Pope,It’s time for the Catholic Church leadership and Catholic citizens to take stock of their faith and practices. It’s time for a broader apology that includes all the youth the church has abused: sexually, emotionally, and spiritually.
Over the past several years I’ve spent a great deal of time with people who have suffered from the force of religion-based bigotry. It is truly a disgrace. And yet, I know it is also truly something we can and must change.
I’ve found many in our community have put the nightmares of their childhood behind them, and that is more than understandable — sometimes blocking those memories feels like the only way to survive. However, now I am asking you to brave the past for just one moment and think back to some of the worst times you can remember… because today, as you read this, there are still too many kids who are going through the same thing you did. I believe, together, we have the power to help them. And if we are able, how can we not?
Now is the time for the Pope and his faithful to reevaluate their dogma. Below is a letter I hope everyone, Catholic or not, will consider sending to the Pope as well as to local bishops and priests. While it is of course important that Catholics send the letter, it is equally important that all know it is appropriate for them to send it, as well. If non-Catholics stand idly by because they don’t feel they are the right messenger, then they are complicit, and that is yet another tragedy. Please join me in saving gay teens from having to face this harmful force of unacceptance alone.
Dear Pope Benedict XVI, Bishops, and Priests,
Today the Church finds itself once again issuing apologies for misconduct toward a vulnerable group of people.
Years ago the Church issued apologies to Galileo, women, and Jews. There are important lessons in these past apologies, and now is an urgent time to reflect on them. Each mistake was made based on strict adherence to dogma or doctrine that turned out to be misguided or ill-informed. Religion-based bigotry is nothing new.
Today you condemn people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Science and common sense educates us to understand that sexual orientation is a natural part of a human’s being, not a promiscuous choice to go against God’s will. It’s time to let go of the dogma that causes so much emotional pain to so many, be they LGBT or their family and friends. History is on the side of this truth: LGBT people are a normal and productive part of society. They are just as good as anyone else.
Comparing LGBT people to murderers or alcoholics or the host of other bad behaviors that harm society is wrong and evil. Stop perpetuating this hoax. It’s insulting to one’s intelligence.
Every day young LGBT children are emotionally tortured by your words of condemnation. These words hurt children more than you have imagined. This is the root of depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and even suicide for so many gay people. And it comes from the way you treat gay people, not from the fact that they are gay. Consider this fair warning about the spiritual and emotional harm you cause. Now it is up to you to take action. Do not sweep this under the rug like you have the sexual abuse scandals. Do not transfer the problem.
End the harm.
Mitchell Gold is the author of CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma Of Growing Up Gay In America.
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Tags: open letter to Pope OUT Mitchell Gold
From Michael Gerson’s Op-Ed “Tone down the hatefulness in politics” in the WashPost
The most basic test of democracy is not what people do when they win; it is what people do when they lose. Citizens bring their deepest passions to a public debate — convictions they regard as morally self-evident. Yet a war goes on. Abortion remains legal. A feared health-reform law passes. Democracy means the possibility of failure. While no democratic judgment is final — and citizens should continue to work to advance their ideals — respecting the temporary outcome of a democratic process is the definition of political maturity.
The opposite — questioning the legitimacy of a democratic outcome; abusing, demeaning and attempting to silence one’s opponents — is a sign of democratic decline. From the late Roman republic to Weimar Germany, these attitudes have been the prelude to thuggery. Thugs can come with clubs, with bullhorns, with Internet access.
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Tags: civility democracy
Maureen…WTF?
Now…I ususally love Maureen Dowd. Her insights and nuance are great. After Miss Molly passed, she has been the only person I look forward to reading on a regular basis.
She totally sucker punched me today, though.
In a generally great and important NYT Op-Ed today in which she wrote about the next wave of child-abuse scandals rocking the Catholic Church she threw they gay community under the bus.
Now, Miss Maureen is usually the first to stand up for the gay community…not with a flag marching down Pennsylvania Ave but definitely with her brain and her words–striking down weak arguments and blatant lies by the Right. So it was disturbing to see her put into print the following passage in her Op-Ed.
In his book, ‘Goodbye! Good Men,’ author Michael Rose writes that the liberalized rules set up a takeover of seminaries by homosexuals.
Vatican II liberalized rules but left the most outdated one: celibacy. That vow was put in place originally because the church did not want heirs making claims on money and land. But it ended up shrinking the priest pool and producing the wrong kind of candidates — drawing men confused about their sexuality who put our children in harm’s way.
They are two very small paragraphs, located three paragraphs away from the end of the piece, but they still carried so much weight that I forgot what she had mentioned prior to that.
How can she put in a reference to Mr. Rose’s book along with of one of his most controversial (and unjustifiable) statements and not provide some arguments against it. She just writes it, giving it one paragraph (which gives it more emphasis) and moves on.
Then she goes on to write that Vatican II drew “men confused about their sexuality who put our children in harm’s way.” What?
Pedophiles are not men confused about their sexuality, they are men with an illness–usually stemming from their own sexual abuse as children. Pedophilia is not a “sexuality” on par with gay men and lesbians and bisexuals and any other letter that the GLBT community insists on adding, pedophilia is an illness and Miss Dowd should know better than to include it with the gay community.
I hope this was just an oversight on Miss Dowd’s part, stemming from a passionate defense of her faith. Even then, she is still smart enough to know not to take up the rallying cry of homophobic Christians everywhere.
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Tags: Maureen Down Catholic Church sex abuse scandal gay community
It’s somewhat ridiculous to think that the best movie to touch upon subjects and issues important today in the gay civil rights struggle was first introduced over 30 years ago…but it’s true.
Harvey Fierstein’s ‘Torch Song Trilogy’ not only had the courage to tackle basic issues like homophobia and gay bashing in 1980′s America but to even address tougher issues like gay adoption and gay marriage–and then to tackle them through the eyes of a drag queen. I do not say that because I think drag queens should not be part of our movement but because there are people who feel they should be relegated to the background. It would have been easier for Mr. Fierstein then, and even now, to portray the character of Arnold as a “normal” guy (i.e. not in drag, and not flamboyant).
Mr. Fierstein’s excellent writing and great performance, however, handled each of these subjects so well and gave his character so much pride and dignity and compassion that it would be hard for even the staunchest of gay conservatives to deny him and his movie a place at the top of gay-themed movies and performances.
‘Torch Song Trilogy’ was and still is ahead of its time…and I feel it has yet to be honored for the brilliant film that it is. The fact that this film from 1988 can still speak to us, especially today with the struggle for the recognition and respect of gay families, is reason enough to applaud the work of Mr. Fierstein.
It’s been well over a decade since I first watched this film as a teenager and I remember thinking afterward how no movie can ever touch on so much in such a great way ever again. Now, having reached my 30′s, I still have that same thought.
Filed under: El Cine (movies), Gay Rights, On Writing | Leave a Comment
Tags: Torch Song Trilogy Fierstein gay rights
Happy Birthday Rachel Maddow!!!
I told my friend the other day that I had a total MAN CRUSH on Rachel…but it was all in good fun. Seriously though…this woman has more balls than all the male anchors put together. She’s fierce, intelligent, witty and gorgeous.
What I love most about her though is not that she calls out politicians of both stripes, but that she also calls out her own peers. The best moments in her show, for me, are those in which she asks her fellow journalists if they are doing right by their country. More people in our profession need to be called out for spreading blatant lies, misinformation and plain propoganda.
More “journalists” need to take this profession they chose seriously…yes, as seriously as Rachel. Keeping not only the politicians but also fellow journalists, who are supposed to be our watchdogs, on their toes is the best thing she can do for us right now.
So un CHINGON abrazo y FELIZ CUMPLEANOS a la mas chingona Miss Maddow, con puro respecto.
May she continue to shed light on this age!
p.s. translation of above: a huge hug and happy birthday to the greatest of them all Miss Maddow, with much respect.
p.p.s. There was a little write up of her on the Writer’s Almanac today…check it:
It’s the birthday of Rachel Maddow, who began hosting her own political television show on a Monday night in September 2008 and a week later had the most-watched MSNBC show of the night, with more than 1.8 million viewers. She doubled the audience for the station’s 9 p.m. hour, and a large chunk of her viewers fall in the much-sought-after demographic of 25- to 54-year-olds.
She writes up essays of commentary for her nightly show, talks about news events that she feels haven’t been covered enough (which she calls “Holy Mackerel” stories), announces a “cocktail moment” — a bit of trivia or witticism that can be used to impress friends — and does extensive reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
She went to Stanford, studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (the first openly gay Rhodes Scholar ever chosen), and while writing her graduate dissertation, entitled HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons, she moved out to rural Massachusetts in the hopes of depriving herself of distractions and thereby forcing herself to sit down and write. She worked a number of odd jobs to survive, including, she lists, “waitress, bike messenger, bucket washer at a coffee-bean factory, yard help, landscaping laborer, and handyman.” Before she appeared on MSNBC, she had her own very popular radio program, also called The Rachel Maddow Show. She still doesn’t own a television.
She’s at work on a book about the military and politics, and it’s being edited by Rachel Klayman, who helped edit then-Senator Barack Obama’s 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope.
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Tags: Happy Birthday Rachel Maddow la mera mera
I entered 9th grade in the fall of 1991. If you ask me now how I ended up in a class called “World Area Studies” for my homeroom and I couldn’t tell you. Maybe it was a “gifted and talented” class that myself and the other GT usuals were enrolled in without notice…either way, it changed my life.
The teacher, Mr. Tim Duda opened our eyes to the struggles taking place throughout the world and in our own back yards. I first learned of recycling through him, of Amnesty International and the WWF (no, not the WWE), Voice for Animals and PETA, PFLAG and gay and lesbian PACs. We attended our first MLK march and planted trees in honor of Earth Day. You may say I was brainwashed by this man, but I only have to point to my fellow classmate Miguel, who turned out nothing like me.
Everything made sense when we began to talk about Latin America. The struggles became real and dangerous and none moreso than when we learned about Archbishop Romero.
The Writer’s Almanac wrote a longer-than-usual piece on the anniversary of Archbishop Romero’s assassination today that reminded me of where this left-leaning brain of mine first began to tick. Almost immediately, I pictured the movie that starred Raul Julia as well as the brutal pictures of people gunned down in El Salvador around that time: six Jesuit priests along with their maid and her daughter, four American church women, soldiers. These images have always stayed in my head.
I thought of them when I would work with people from El Salvador. I wanted to ask them about the war and about those “disappeared” and if they knew anyone that had been…but it seemed wrong and even though it’s been 30 years, it still seemed like not enough time had passed. Will there ever be enough time for those scars to heal?
RIP Archbishop Romero. You are not forgotten. May your counterparts in the US have the courage to begin standing up for the poor and downtrodden in this country soon and not focus solely on abortion and gay marriage. May you serve as an example for many years to come.
Here is a great link for more on this and the US involvement in the atrocitites committed. WARNING: This link contains one of the pictures of assassinated Jesuits mentioned above.
Also, if you ever get the chance: Read In Search of Bernabe by Graciela Limon and published by UH’s own Arte Publico Press in 1993.
It takes you right into the terror that was El Salvador in the 80s.
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Tags: Archbishop Romero El Salvador 1980s assassinations Bernabe Jesuits civil war
“Retriever” by Faith Shearin
<!– (from The Owl Question) –>
My father, in middle age, falls in love with a dog.
He who kicked dogs in anger when I was a child,
who liked his comb always on the same shelf,
who drank martinis to make his mind quiet.
He who worked and worked—his shirts
wrapped in plastic, his heart ironed
like a collar. He who—like so many men—
loved his children but thought the money
he made for them was more important
than the rough tweed of his presence.
The love of my father’s later years is
a Golden Retriever—more red
than yellow—a nervous dog who knows
his work clothes from his casual ones,
can read his creased face, who waits for
him at the front door—her paws crossed
like a child’s arms. She doesn’t berate him
for being late, doesn’t need new shoes
or college. There is no pressure to raise her
right, which is why she chews the furniture,
pees on rugs, barks at strangers who
cross the lawn. She is his responsible soul
broken free. She is the children he couldn’t
come home to made young again.
She is like my mother but never angry,
always devoted. He cooks for his dog—
my father who raised us in restaurants—
and takes her on business trips like
a wife. Sometimes, sitting beside her
in the hair-filled fan he drives to make
her more comfortable, my father’s dog
turns her head to one side as if
thinking and, in this pose, more than
one of us has mistaken her for a person.
We would be jealous if she didn’t make
him so happy—he who never took
more than one trip on his expensive
sailboat, whose Mercedes was wrecked
by a valet. My mother saw him behind
the counter of a now-fallen fast food
restaurant when she was nineteen.
They kissed beside a river where fish
no longer swim. My father who was
always serious has fallen in love with
a dog. What can I do but be happy for him?
“Retriever” by Faith Shearin, from The Owl Question.
© Utah State University Press, 2002.
Filed under: La Familia, On Writing | Leave a Comment
