On Being A Chicano de Aztlán @Peta_de_Aztlan
Let us use the power of 'the word' in order to better define and comprehend connected reality. We must learn how to make 'the word' meaningful for us, so that is makes common sense for us, so that is serves us in our lives. It is the sacred right of the corporate slave to define himself in relation to his own liberation, not blindly accept the definitions of the corporate master.
There are different kinds of definitions for a given word. A lexical definition of a word is used in a standard dictionary or profession; a stipulative definition of a word is one we assign a novel meaning to for our own usage, local idiom or slang; and a scientific definition that could be subject to various meanings.
To begin with, I am first and foremost a humane being of the dominant race of human beings, the modern life species known taxonomically as Homo sapiens. There are no separate distinct races of Black, Brown, Yellow or White. Concepts and terms around races of people are social ideas, social inventions and social constructions.
Social racism is conditioned into the whole social system with institutional and further embedded by cultural racism. For many, racism seems to be as natural as breathing. Racism is still utilized by repressive ruling circles to keep the masses divided and conquered along false racial lines. Wars have been fought and people have been killed because of being a member of one social race or another. It will take long generations to weed it out of our collective psyche.
Nevertheless, we are all human beings of the same humane family.
Those of us with a higher level of liberated consciousness are more highly evolved along spiritual pathways. We have become humane, that is, we have true care, concern and loving compassion for all living beings. We are not limited by superficial labels, the classification of categories or the greater or lesser concentration of melanin in our skin color. At birth we are born innocent and ignorant as humane beings. It is objective social conditions that change our self-concept, cultural outlook and world view. Much of what we view as racism is actually a kind of cultural superiority complex.
In relation to my ethnic/racial identity I am a Chicano of Aztlan. Chicano was a popular term first used widely by Chicano activists in the early Chicano Movement of Aztlán in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
I stipulate that a Chicano is a multi-cultural indigenous native and U.S. citizen of Mexican descent. His self-identity is neither fully Mexican nor fully American. He exists in a kaleidoscope of clashing cultures in the USA. A Chicano is of a lost tribe who has been abandoned by his Mother Country of Mexico yet is still not fully accepted into American society. In a way, he is an alienated alien who usually does not immerse himself in Mexican culture nor is he comfortable in only White American culture. It's complicated!
As a Chicano of Aztlán I think of the U.S. southwest as Aztlán in recognition of the ancient name for these lands.
Aztlán (from Nahuatl: Aztlān, pronounced [ˈastɬaːn]) is the mythical ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan".
Some Chicanos consider all of United States as Aztlán. Many Native tribes and Native rights activists refer to North America as Turtle Island.
The ideal here is that we who are of the original indigenous native peoples of these lands have the natural right to call these lands whatever term or terms we choose, not the European conquerors.
Keep in mind the origin of the term 'Americas'. Amerigo Vespucci (March 9, 1454 – February 22, 1512) was an Italian explorer, navigator and cartographer. The Americas are generally believed to have derived their name from the feminized Latin version of his first name.
Who has the natural and historical right to name America if not its original natives? How can descendants of original natives of Aztlán ever be considered foreign illegal aliens in their own homeland? Whether I am a U.S. citizen or not does not matter. If my bloodline is of the original peoples of Aztán I cannot possibly be an illegal foreigner in my homeland! It is my birthright to be here now!
Thus, I use the power of the word to define these lands as Aztán, not America. I use the term 'America' instead of Aztlán in conversation so as not to confuse or lose people, especially decent Americans.
Sometimes I spell America as 'Amerika' with a 'k' in remembrance of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan). Be sure, White racism is still alive and well. We need to be reminded from time to time.
Racism is widespread inside the USA as a social sickness and mental-disorder. To different degrees social racism is still the norm in Amerika on a conscious level, a subtle semi-conscious level or remains deeply hidden on a sub-conscious level. Social racism still exists among all racial/ethnic groups in the USA and clings to no one color, no matter who is President.
Some non-White people because of an inferiority complex want to be or act like White people and are always seeking the acceptance and approval of the great White mind. It is a form of self-hatred to want to be other than what you are by nature.
For the typical American the above is a lot to wrap the mind around. Social racism remains one of the great divisors in Amerika, along with other great divisions, especially one's economic-class status. We are still in a class society, class struggle continues, sometimes breaking out into class warfare and we do not yet have liberty and justice for all.
As a Chicano of Aztlán I can relate to the term Latinos to describe La Raza Cosmica ~ all those who consider themselves Chicanos, Mexicans, Hispanics or Native peoples of the Americas. Any social term for such a diverse and multi-faceted people is going to be vague and inadequate. It is what it is.
As humane beings we must embrace all of humanity as all of us being of the same family. At the same time we need to also embrace our cultural differences, those qualities and elements of us that make the promises for America and the world more fascinating.
Our world is changing now more than ever. Times are changing all the time. We must be receptive and welcome new creative changes in our lives and upon our global landscape. There are great changes happening all over the world. The winds of liberation are encircling the entire globe. Today there are great sandstorms for democracy and justice sweeping all across Arabia and North Africa.
No matter what we call ourselves on an individual level, let us remember that we are one family upon one planet we call Mother Earth. Always our basic survival needs must come to the forefront of our revolutionary consciousness: food, clothing, shelter, medical care and quality education. We establish governments to create a central structure to help administer to our needs.
When those man-made governments no longer serve our vital interests and refuse to bring about required reforms we have a sacred right to alter or abolish those governments. In the end, a true democracy must be the sacred will of the people in power and with control over their own future destiny. Venceremos!
Research Links:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Homo+sapiens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicano
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztlán
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_Island_(North_America)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_Vespucci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans
c/s
Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s
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