WEBVTT

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Anyway.

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That poem, by the way,
came from the banned book.

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The book that was banned
right here in Tucson.

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I've been waiting for
years to come back

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here and read that poem to an
audience in Tucson, Arizona.

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So thank you for being here.

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[LAUGHTER]

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[APPLAUSE]

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See, I actually think
this is a funny book.

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Allow me to illustrate
my thesis further.

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So this next poem is also
from the prohibited volume.

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And I should say,
at the same time

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I was practicing law in Boston.

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I was also practicing poetry.

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And I began doing readings
in high schools and prisons.

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Discovered they had an
awful lot in common.

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And at some places
I went, people

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were quite familiar
with what I had to say.

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In other places, not so much.

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In some places, in
fact, they'd never

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seen a Puerto Rican before
and they had expectations.

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Call them stereotypes,
if you will.

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Concerning what I was
supposed to look like,

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what I was supposed
to sound like,

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how tall I was supposed
to be, whether or not

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I was supposed to
speak with an accent,

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and especially, what I
was supposed to wear.

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So naturally a poem
came out of it.

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This poem was based on
an actual conversation

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I had with a teacher the night
before I visited a school

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in the suburbs of Boston.

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And I won't say
which suburb it was.

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Needham.

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[LAUGHTER]

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This is called "My
Native Costume."

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[LAUGHTER]

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When you come to
visit, said a teacher

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from the suburban
school, don't forget

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to wear your native costume.

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[LAUGHTER]

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But I'm a lawyer, I said.

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My native costume
is a pinstripe suit.

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You know, the teacher said,
a Puerto Rican costume.

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Like a guayabera, the shirt?

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I said, but it's February.

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The children want to
see a native costume,

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the teacher said.

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So I went to the
suburban school,

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embroidered guayabera, a short
sleeve shirt over a turtleneck.

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And said, look kids,
cultural adaptation.

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[LAUGHTER]

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