WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.550 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.550 --> 00:00:02.210 align:middle line:90% Here's one. 00:00:02.210 --> 00:00:10.440 align:middle line:90% 00:00:10.440 --> 00:00:13.800 align:middle line:84% I stopped my car on Gibson Avenue 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.130 align:middle line:84% alongside the T-Bird lounge and asked 00:00:17.130 --> 00:00:22.170 align:middle line:84% two policemen club in a drunk stop please. 00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:27.280 align:middle line:84% I was booked for obstruction of justice. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:34.120 align:middle line:84% In the back seat with the drunk is grimy polyester coat padded 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:40.000 align:middle line:84% with wads of one tads smelling a dog's spittle and trash bins. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:45.370 align:middle line:84% His eyelids cracked open from their concrete numbness. 00:00:45.370 --> 00:00:48.400 align:middle line:84% And his trembling hand reached for an invisible Styrofoam 00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:52.600 align:middle line:84% cup of cold, black coffee on the floor mat. 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:58.450 align:middle line:84% He gummed, thirsty lips for a small postponement, just a sip 00:00:58.450 --> 00:01:02.710 align:middle line:84% he dreamed as we pass liquor stores. 00:01:02.710 --> 00:01:07.490 align:middle line:84% I wondered if his self-imposed execution. 00:01:07.490 --> 00:01:10.400 align:middle line:84% Behind bars, I stand peering down 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:15.560 align:middle line:84% into tears, porters mill leaning on mops and brooms. 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.770 align:middle line:84% Chicano in another cell wore sunglasses 00:01:18.770 --> 00:01:21.980 align:middle line:90% like ancestors war paint. 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:26.840 align:middle line:84% Christ crucified across chest, dragging on left arm twirls 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:31.130 align:middle line:84% through a trellis haze of vines and roses. 00:01:31.130 --> 00:01:35.510 align:middle line:84% Believer of blood duels, faith Earth will crack someday 00:01:35.510 --> 00:01:39.710 align:middle line:84% and Aztec warriors rise to judge the heartless. 00:01:39.710 --> 00:01:42.350 align:middle line:90% 00:01:42.350 --> 00:01:45.590 align:middle line:84% He whistles through branches of bars, 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:50.690 align:middle line:84% hand signing to a friend for that brown powder to fertilize. 00:01:50.690 --> 00:01:56.195 align:middle line:84% Rose vines of his veins to make the roses bloom in winter. 00:01:56.195 --> 00:01:59.790 align:middle line:90% 00:01:59.790 --> 00:02:03.920 align:middle line:84% Tier guard stands in front of my cell. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.850 align:middle line:84% American flag pats to shoulder a big V- brank. 00:02:07.850 --> 00:02:11.180 align:middle line:84% Walkie talkie dangling from wide black leather belt, brass 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:14.370 align:middle line:84% buttons and silver badge painstakingly polished 00:02:14.370 --> 00:02:16.830 align:middle line:90% to impress authority. 00:02:16.830 --> 00:02:21.410 align:middle line:84% Charge has been dropped Barker, come on out of there. 00:02:21.410 --> 00:02:26.420 align:middle line:84% I follow the guard to the end of the tier to a button paneled 00:02:26.420 --> 00:02:29.930 align:middle line:84% cage where a guard sprawls like a fat hoof reading a comic. 00:02:29.930 --> 00:02:32.540 align:middle line:90% 00:02:32.540 --> 00:02:36.710 align:middle line:84% From a dark cell and dungeon as if from the hull of a slave 00:02:36.710 --> 00:02:40.250 align:middle line:84% ship, I emerge into the blinding noon sun 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:45.530 align:middle line:90% that hacksaws 10 sheets of air. 00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:53.200 align:middle line:84% But an unblinking anger fills me. 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:58.360 align:middle line:84% I stare at strange pedestrians returning from lunch 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:03.250 align:middle line:84% and a cut cheeked anger burns my face. 00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:07.480 align:middle line:84% Anger of scorched sands, anger that 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:11.860 align:middle line:84% mumbles world's end over my bones, 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:16.420 align:middle line:84% angered that arbitrary justice feeds 00:03:16.420 --> 00:03:18.740 align:middle line:84% on the healthiest Chicanos Chicanas. 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:22.490 align:middle line:90% 00:03:22.490 --> 00:03:26.780 align:middle line:84% I spend the rest of the afternoon walking 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:30.650 align:middle line:90% familiar streets downtown. 00:03:30.650 --> 00:03:35.750 align:middle line:84% I withdraw and walk in a place inside myself, 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:39.050 align:middle line:84% trudging across fierce red sands of my heart 00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:42.140 align:middle line:84% and through the arroyos sliding down, 00:03:42.140 --> 00:03:44.630 align:middle line:84% turning over small rocks patiently 00:03:44.630 --> 00:03:47.750 align:middle line:84% searching for something to describe me. 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:55.130 align:middle line:84% I am here brown body, blood, bones. 00:03:55.130 --> 00:03:59.420 align:middle line:84% Living at Black Mesa outside of Bourke Elgato. 00:03:59.420 --> 00:04:03.800 align:middle line:84% To them I'm found tagged with a number, 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:09.380 align:middle line:84% photographed cataloged fearless Chicano prone to violence. 00:04:09.380 --> 00:04:15.420 align:middle line:84% Mau Mau warrior I once snickered and aside, outlawed 00:04:15.420 --> 00:04:20.070 align:middle line:84% in their eyes to swing their picks 00:04:20.070 --> 00:04:24.490 align:middle line:90% to be jailed in their jails. 00:04:24.490 --> 00:04:35.090 align:middle line:84% I am here, scared, loving, helpful, brave, 00:04:35.090 --> 00:04:42.590 align:middle line:84% graying hair, meditative brown eyes, kind smile, 00:04:42.590 --> 00:04:46.460 align:middle line:90% eyes burning for equality. 00:04:46.460 --> 00:04:48.610 align:middle line:90% I am here. 00:04:48.610 --> 00:04:57.431 align:middle line:90%