WEBVTT

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So I grew up with an ethos
of resistance all around me.

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Not surprisingly, I turned
into a tenant lawyer.

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And yes, I am indeed
a poet lawyer.

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I know that sounds
like a creature out

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of Greek mythology.

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Has a body of a lawyer
and the head of a poet.

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But indeed, I went to
Northeastern law school

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in Boston.

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And I got a degree there
and I practiced tenant law

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in the Latino community
of greater Boston

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for a number of years.

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I saw and heard a lot
of remarkable things,

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acts of resistance,
which I decided

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to document in my poetry.

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This next poem, which
I just decided to read

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is a very short bilingual poem.

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And it's based on an actual
exchange that took place

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in a courtroom in Boston.

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If you don't know
Spanish, the only thing

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you need to know
to get the poem is

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that there's a mistranslation
smack in the middle.

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And that makes perfect
sense, since for Latinos,

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the legal system
is mostly a series

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of missed translations anyway.

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So here's the poem.

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It's a fine poem.

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All I did was come along
and stick a title on top.

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Lazy poet that I am.

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This is called "Mariano
Explains Yankee

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Colonialism to Judge Collins."

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[LAUGHTER]

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Judge: Does the prisoner
understand his rights?

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Interpreter: ¿Entiende
usted sus derechos?

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Prisoner: ¡Pa'l carajo!

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Interpreter: yes.

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[LAUGHTER]

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That's it.

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[LAUGHTER]

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[APPLAUSE]