Indigenous Voices of Abya Yala (2010) Contributors

Evelyn Isabel Barba is a Mexican American student who enjoys fashion and drawing and is currently attending Laney and Alameda College.

Adriana Blanco is a Xicana danzante, teacher and student from the Bay Area, just left of Aztlan.

Ras K'dee is a Native California Pomo/African American musician who is the co-founder and director of the Native youth media organization SNAG and vocalist/producer of the band Audiopharmacy.

Nayeli Guzman was born in Michoacan, Mexico and raised in Los Angeles where she is influenced by street art, her Meso-American culture, and Spirit in all its manifestations.

Melissa Lozano is a Chicana poet, author of Bullets & Butterflies, and is an undergraduate student in the English Literature program at Mills College in Oakland, California.

Venaya Yazzie is of the Dine' and Hopi nations of the southwest and a poet, painter and photographer from northwestern New Mexico.

Poem by Melissa Lozano

 Chicano Aztec Lover
_______________________________________________

Bronzed skin hitting the afternoon sun

And it’s a Sunday afternoon of Mariachi

Festival fun. So many Chicanos in the park

Wearing their Sunday best, macking

Socializing in the San Jo heat.

Chicano Aztec Lover.

Some wear their colors on their sleeves

But me I am sending out that vibe you know that vibe.

I’m looking for a tall Moreno guapo Chicano Aztec lover kind of guy.

And then there he is next to the oldies vendor stand.

A bronzed firme Chicano and I am thinking to myself he has to be down.

Down enough to go down to the barrio and buy me a real carne asada taco

and not one of these overpriced sin queso sin aguacates tacos.

He must wear obsidian rocks and tongues

around his neck. He must whisper my name in Nahuatl.

and if he’s a poet, a definite plus.

Chicano Aztec Lover.

I bump oldies out of my 64’ and I pray to my mini

Virgen sanctuary located in the back of my trunk.

Just to prove to you baby, I ain’t about no junk.

I’ve read the Chicano Manifesto from front to back

back to front and now it’s my turn

to read you. I come for reals baby.

I want to be your Chicano Aztec Lover.

Let me wrap my long hair around your body.

I’ve been growing it for years for my Aztec dance tribe.

My bronzed body is tattooed with the Aztec calendar.

The symbols of the United Farm Workers and a tear drop to boot.

I may not have served time but I feel I am a prisoner of this country.

I don’t fly Mexico’s flag on Cinco de Mayo

but every day. I want to be your Chicano Aztec Lover.

I just don’t pump my muscular body with weights and ego.

My body is a temple and you

shall worship it. But enough about me.

Y tú, como te llamas?

Me llamo Chicana

Sin verguenza fuerte Azteca

Discoteca mama poeta

love him and

leave him lover.

And if you could

please move

you’re

blocking

my sun.

Artwork by Adriana Blanco

Artwork by Venaya Yazzie

Artwork by Nayeli Guzman

Poem by Ras K'dee

Untitled

healing thru dreams

revelation thru allies

allows internal peace

to circulate 360

the spiral remains to the right of the fire

be prepared for the second sun

there is always an end and a new beginning

darkness becomes light

Artwork by Evelyn Barba