Day 18: Words as weapons…words as seeds

I used to be an outlaw. What I did was against state law. What I did was punishable by physical beatings, by exclusion from activities and privileges, and by monetary fines. I was not what a person usually pictures as an outlaw—armed with guns or squinting threateningly at innocent victims. I was six years old, eager to learn, and in first grade. I was surrounded by fellow outlaws, also six years old and in first grade. Our crime? We had broken state law and school law by speaking Spanish on school grounds.

For this crime, we were hit with a hard, one-inch thick, wooden paddle, once for every word spoken. It didn’t matter if we had said “Tengo miedo”, “Necesito ir al baño”, or “Quiero mi Mamá.”  It didn’t matter if Spanish was the only language we knew how to speak. It didn’t matter if we were scared or crying or begging for help.  We were automatic little criminals. And we were punished.  Later, they would add other punishments to the paddling – taking away recess, having to stand with our nose to the brick wall while other kids played on the playground, taking away our lunch money, being forced to kneel and ask forgiveness, or write “I will not speak Spanish” 100 times on the board.

Since all of the kids at my school were Mexican-American, and most spoke Spanish at home to speak with their parents, grandparents, and younger siblings, we did not quit speaking Spanish, despite the punishments. We just learned to be more quiet when the teachers got near, and to say nothing at all. We learned that Spanish was a tool, a very powerful one in which we could communicate with our families, barrios and communities, and one which we did not WANT to lose. We learned the power of language.

Unfortunately, we also discovered that languages could be battles, and that words could be weapons.  And too often, words were used against US.

 But change happened. And here I stand, more than six decades later, a State Poet Laureate for the same state in which I was once a six-year-old outlaw.

It was not until the year I graduated from high school that the anti-Spanish law was changed.  And Bilingual Education programs began to be offered to children throughout the U.S. who came to English with the special gift of having another language and another culture. We talked about making bilingualism ADDITIVE instead of subtractive, so that the language we spoke at home PLUS the language we spoke at school could BOTH be nurtured, and create people competent in TWO languages and TWO cultures.  We began to view languages and cultures and diversities of many kinds as GIFTS and specializations to add to our nation.   You would not be surprised to know what I chose to major in once I got to college—SPANISH! The very thing I had been punished and outlawed for became my strength and my special talent. And once I graduated, I kept going!  I worked toward a Masters degree, and then a DOCTORATE.  Having seen what damage language punishment could do, I decided to receive my doctorate in BILINGUAL EDUCATION!  

It took the work of a LOT of people, and the patience and persistence of TONS of folks to make that change happen but it did.  Some folks pushed open doors and others protested. Some risked their jobs to speak out, and some registered voters to vote. Some ran for office. Some got degrees. Others worked so that their children could go to college. But it took hope and it took the courage to believe in a dream. But that is the ONLY way change has ever happened. 

Remember THAT when  you are frustrated at the way things are, or see all the injustices around you. Change is not easy, but it is always possible, if MANY work together to make it happen, and it all starts with the simple actions you do every day.

Today, I am a Laureate and a Professor Emeritus.  I have published more than 40 books and been included in more than 300 anthologies,newspapers, magazines, journals. I have written for college textbooks and pre-K pre-readers. I have written poems, short stories, screenplays, academic articles, historical fiction, historical non-fiction, newspaper articles, novels-in-verse, and television scripts.  I have written words to “illustrate” art books, to plumb the depth of stories in oil portraits, to tie together the narrative in urban photographs, to create a dramatic experience in film and documentary, to give human voice to a sonata or lyrics to a children’s song, to accompany a concert of classical music, and to advertise events. I have not been bound or limited by genre or language. I have written (and published) in Spanish, English, and French, and been translated into German, English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Bengali.

The road has never been easy, but it's always been interesting, and full of the whispers of my ancestors encouraging me. But I used the weapons my people have used for centuries- faith, hope, persistence, hard work, belief in a dream,sweat, collaboration with a community, and the AMAZING AND MAGICAL TOOL-  of words. Because words can be not only a weapon to fight off injustice and dishonesty. Words can be seeds, to plant and nurture dreams of a different kind of world. Whatever kind of world you want to see, use your words and your dreams and your courage to reach that world.

¡Adelante, Latinas! El mundo es tu  mundo!

About the Author

Carmen Tafolla, Author and Poet & Somos Escritoras Guest Author

Today, I am a Laureate and a Professor Emeritus.  I have published more than 40 books and been included in more than 300 anthologies, newspapers, magazines, journals. I have written for college textbooks and pre-K pre-readers. I have written poems, short stories, screenplays, academic articles, historical fiction, historical non-fiction, newspaper articles, novels-in-verse, and television scripts.  I have written words to “illustrate” art books, to plumb the depth

of stories in oil portraits, to tie together the narrative in urban photographs, to create a dramatic experience in film and documentary, to give human voice to a sonata or lyrics to a children’s song, to accompany a concert of classical music, and to advertise events.  I have not been bound or limited by genre or language. I have written (and published) in Spanish, English, and French, and been translated into German, English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Bengali.

The road has never been easy, but its always been interesting, and full of the whispers of my ancestors encouraging me. But I used the weapons my people have used for centuries- faith, hope, persistence, hard work, belief in a dream,sweat, collaboration with a community, and the AMAZING AND MAGICAL TOOL-  of words.  Because words can be not only a weapon to fight off injustice and dishonesty. Words can be seeds, to plant and nurture dreams of a different kind of world. Whatever kind of world you want to see, use your words and your dreams and your courage to reach that world. 

Adelante, Latinas!  

El mundo es tu  mundo!

About the Blog Series

The #LatinaLuminaries Blog Series by Somos Escritoras. The series was created to illuminate the wisdom, experiences, voices, and truths of Latina women and girls and the broader Latinx community. The blog series features writing from escritoras (participants) and writing mentors from Somos Escritoras Latinx Writing Workshop. Published Latina authors, writers, poets, and illustrators who presented at our workshop also contributed to the blog series.