This J-Term, I took a Hispanic Studies course called The Latino Experience in the US. I took
this course because of my environmental studies capstone and the relation with the US-Mexico Border. I also wanted to take it because of the curiosity I
had about the experience of latinx here in the US. Listening and learning from
others about what it means to be Latinx is here in the US. Throughout the
course we read from different authors, like Gloria Anzaldua, Hector Tobar and
Junot Diaz. Their experiences were shared experience, but not homogeneous and
that’s what it was all about. How being Latinx in the US is not always the same
for everyone, but there are some common things. Languages. Language as the form
of identity. This is where Spanglish for me is a form of identity, where Spanglish
works as the tool to fully express oneself with others, with my kind, with the
world. This is why I wrote this short poem about Spanglish and what it means to
me.
Spanglish la lengua
Hola, I speak in Spanglish.
Lo uso when I am just hanging con mis friends or when I talk
with my sister
Aveces it’s because I don’t feel that English fully gets me,
but then again Español doesn’t get me either
This is because I live aquí, in this soil
On this
side
En este
lado
Where lo automatico that my brain does is code switch
Because it feels natural
It feels like that’s how I can fully express myself
English is great
I can use it to express myself, but I can’t fully
Spanish, can't either
I do this because I am in between
In this space where this language
Spanglish is spoken by some, not all
Is seen as form of identity, but not always
It can be positive, but also seen negative
By others
By us
By you
But eso no importa
Because the mixing of both
Can create new identities
Nuevo spaces
It gives me the ability to hablar and be heard
I used the mixing of the both to express me, to be me and speak
the la lengua to my people
Spanglish is when one cannot find the word of something in
English, but I know that Español has my back
Because this is one historia of the in between
- Kindra
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