coffee and cops
10.25.02
I'm not so sure about this image, but I'll put it up anyways. Maybe I'll finally get some mail from some of you.
alejandra always tells her friends to visit my site and look at quetzalli's pictures. but regardless of what people think, this site is my site. my mode of expression.
you know, it was beto palomar the one that introduced me to the webolution. he has a radical idea about the purpose of the internet. the possibilities of democracy and freedom of expression. like graffiti, a way to make your presence felt in the world, to say that "i exist."
the other day beto and i were talking about why people do graffiti if they don't get paid plus is a big risk now with the three strikes law and all. he said cuz artist need to create. this idea to me is subversive (i like it) because now days everything is pushed by money/profit. so to create art for the sole purpose of creating and reaffirming once existence outside the consumer/capitalist system, it's just great. so that's why i started doing a little tagging myself. but i'm not good at it. i'm not sure how to throw my tag (throw, a new word i learned). my nickname is just hard to stylize.
talking about illegal/criminal activity, a while ago i emailed the Salinas Violence Supression Unit chief; here's the email:
I was looking at the picture of the Violence Suppression Unit and I was struck by the fact that most of the cops look very much European American, and I was just wondering why? After all, isn't Salinas populated by a majority of Latino/Chicano people? Furthermore, I also noticed that as part of your GIS technology description, you had Alisal High School twice in the illustrations, why? Is it because Alisal is heavily attended by Latino students? Moreover, what type of training these cops, who are outsiders to the community, receive in terms of cultural appreciation and racism? I'm Agustin Palacios, an Alisal High School graduate. I'm currently attending UC Berkeley. If you want, you can put me on your list of brown people, as one of you thousands of gang members who likes the color red. If you are interested in a discussion, you can reply to my email.
Agustín Palacios
p.s. much love to the outsider cops who come to my community to arrest our brothers and sisters.
to my surprise, the cop did email me back. he invited me to call and make an appointment to discuss my views. i'm still not sure if i should take the invitation, or if like in the miranda rights, everything i say will be used against me. maybe they monitor my website or make a file on me. who knows. lo que sera sera. what do you guys think. here's a beautiful picture of the Salinas pigs:
white cops in a brown city. there's only about five cities in the united states with this type of "gang prevention" crap. sooner or latter, i know i'll see their faces up close.
today a read/heard a poem by a San Quentin inmate, Eddy Zheng, that really touched me. it was about his life. it really showed his humanity and a real critical self analysis of his historical reality. i don't know if it's appropriate for me to put it up, so i won't. they used to have a creative writing class at Quentin, but they (those in charge of running the prison) cancelled it because inmates were getting too critical, meaning, they beginning to see that it was not just their own personal actions that committed them to prison, but also a history of war against the poor and against people of color carried out by those in power (upper class white males). Well, I don't know if this is exactly what they learned, but that's what i understand with the word "empowerment," being able to understand your social reality based in history and a global context.
((as fond as I am of spiders, right now I saw one crawl/walk by my bare foot. I hope it doesn't want to take a bite out of me. I recently saw this program on T.V. about the most poisonous insects in the world, and it happens that the U.S. has one of the top most poisonous spiders in the world. So I'm a little spooked.))
well, i have to wake up early tomorrow to work. the pain about work is that you are not in control of your body. you either assert your physical autonomy, or you get fired. although i don't buy everything marx said, i do thing that employment in a capitalist society is a form of slavery (did he said this?)
al raton le gusta el quezo
y a las ratonas tambien.
here's a corrido about el raton vaquero. y con esta me despido.
El Ratón Vaquero
En la ratonera ha caído un ratón, con sus dos pistolas y su traje de cowboy. Ha de ser gringuito, porque siempre habla inglés, a más de ser güerito y tener grandes los pies. El ratón vaquero sacó sus pistolas, se inclinó el sombrero y me dijo a solas: What the heck is this house for a manly cowboy mouse? ¡Hello, you let me out and don´t catch me like a trout! ¿Con que sí? Ya se ve que no estás a gusto ahí, y aunque hables inglés no te dejaré salir. Tras las fuertes rejas que resguardan la prisión mueve las orejas implorando compasión. Dijo el muy ladino que se va a reformar, y aunque me hable e chino pues ni así lo he de soltar. El ratón vaquero tiró dos balazos, se chupó las balas y cruzó los brazos. -- Francisco Gabilondo Soler
I dranked so much coffee that I can't go to sleep now that I want to. ....