Pueblo Narratives: Introduction & Part 1
by Vilma Ronzón
Introduction to the work and the series:
As a people, as communities, and as individuals, we have ingrained and promoted toxic cultures and rituals such as capitalism and patriarchy. Due to the long-established narratives praising such cultures, we may fail to notice how these practices are and continue to be inherently exclusive and oppressive. It is important that we dig deeper into history and scavenge the earth to find the crevices that are often overlooked. We must dig a little deeper to find something magical: a tradition, an inheritance rooted in resistance. Resistance, manifested through vessels such as poetry, testimonies, and music, are a language that all humans understand. Claribel Alegria. a renowned Central American poet and activist, stated that as people grounded in resistance, our jobs are to inform. Our duty as people surviving and thriving in toxic cultures is to create, to speak, to write, to paint, to scream, to protest, to sing against our oppressors and their poisonous structures.
This series will highlight the Salvadoran Civil War and the conflict that shaped an entire community of people and diaspora. During the Salvadoran Civil War, the United States attempted to silence the Salvadoran pueblo through propaganda that centered the Cold War (East vs. West) conflict. Through this campaign of silence, the U.S. and the Salvadoran regime suppressed the demands of the Salvadoran pueblo, whose battle was centered around fair wages, self-determination, and labor and land reforms (a battle that continues to this day). However, the pueblo was and continues to be a passionate advocate against all that the U.S. stands for: capitalism, imperialism, and intervention.
Pueblo Narratives aims to highlight (Salvadoran) voices who have and continue to oppose the malevolent actions of the U.S. government. These voices are a form of cultural activism that help uplift the histories and herstories of this diverse multi-ethnic community. By centering these narratives, we are able to recognize how these cultural creations are a testament to our inherited resistance against our everyday battles against imperialism and capitalism. We must honor them by remembering their struggle, their fight, their voices.
“I (we) walk in the history of our people” - Chrystos.
Part 1: Poetry = Solidarity
Poetry is
Essentially Rooted in Unity.
Our humanity is reflected in nature. Picture it:
A human being is no different than a tree.
. And like a tree’s roots, we are, all connected, all together
we come from the same earth
We belong to the soil. Through poetry we
Are able to understand, to love, to accept, to sympathize.
What we write, what we read, what we taste
Is poetry. The sensation that evolves
After we find each other in
Verses, is the most beautiful feeling
On
Earth.
We
Can
Use
Words
To
Change
Our
Reality.
Poets have, for long, managed to show love and unity through short and simple verses. During the Salvadoran Civil War, different communities and groups of people from around the world relentlessly supported the anti-capitalist struggle in El Salvador. In the United States there were numerous protests in major cities like Los Angeles and Washington D.C. These demonstrations were not only in support of the rebellion, but also a major uproar against U.S. policies and intervention in the region. The support for the pueblo was immense. Different groups of people worldwide sympathized with the Salvadoran pueblo because in their struggle they also saw themselves and communities fighting the same war with a different name. Many of these folks demonstrated their genuine support in their own way. Like Luis J. Rodriguez stated: “Poetry is a powerful way to movingly and artfully convey ideas and emotions, which in turn is a way to impact and change this world”. Many folks turned to writing, with this idea in mind.
14 Families by Lalo Cervantes
Lalo Cervantes (Mexican poet) wrote “14 Families” in solidarity with El Salvador’s struggle. As one reads through the poem, we can grasp a brief history of El Salvador’s struggle with inequality, capitalism, and greed:
In El Salvador
14 parasites reign over a kingdom of silence
The earth rejects
The touch of their morbid presence 14 pimps who sell to the highest bidder
Without the slightest hesitation
Are quick to sell the sacred purity
of El Salvador to the foreigners of the north
In return for moldy green paper And dreams of decadence.*
Cervantes’ poem truthfully describes El Salvador’s oligarchy as a parasite. History has demonstrated that the rich and powerful in El Salvador have and continue to hold a monopoly over land and resources (a pattern that can be seen almost everywhere in the world). The interesting usage of the word not only reflects this regional history, but it also extends its meaning to the biggest parasite of them all. This parasite has multiplied and over the years it has become hungrier and hungrier for power, control, and resources.
They so(U)ndles(S)ly take (A)dvantage and suck the
Resources (oil, Middle East)
Elections (Worldwide)
Presidents (Salvador Allende),
Water (Honduras)
Language (ENGLISH ONLY)
Traditions
And freedom from anywhere they slither into. It is the same pattern over and over again, each nation, each community, the same people suffering over and over again. The same people becoming more and more powerful. The same war, the same money, the same campaign of imperialism. Cervantes’ poem does not distinctly name the United States as a major influencer in El Salvador’s war, politics, and society. Yet, Central American history and politics have been greatly affected by this “northern neighbor”. Although this poem may have been written many moons ago, its eerie message remains; it is the same message transcending time and borders. Now more than ever, it is important to look for answers elsewhere.
That is the power of poetry. Cervantes’ poem holds so much power because it reflects a very important history. It is a chance for us to explore and breach the limits of writing and what writing means to us and what it can mean for future generations. We just have to listen and dig a little deeper. To finish Luis J. Rodriguez’s quote, “As long as the world needs changing, we’ll need poetry.”
Sources:
*This poem was found on an offprint titled “El Salvador: Canto y Lucha”. It is an offprint from ECOS: A Latin Journal of People’s Culture and Literature, vol. 2, no. 1, Winter 1982. This offprint publication was accessed through The Freedom Archives in San Francisco, California. See: Latin American Collection: Folder, El Salvador. Visit: https://freedomarchives.org/ for more information about The Freedom Archives.