NATIONAL ASOCIATION FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION
NABE 2000
SAN ANTONIO TEXAS FEBRERO 17 DEL 2000
Margarita Robleda
EL SABOR LATINO EN LOS CUENTOS PARA NIÑOS EN INGLES
It is said that literature is like a mirror of life. If that its so, I don’t see myself in that mirror. That can only mean that: I’m not good enough to be part of it; I don’t exist, I’m just a shadow who passes by without leaving a trail; one of the million waves that flow side to side with the immensity without any meaning: worthless.
I recognize myself not only in the color of their skin & hair, but in the roundness of their hands and body shape and in the way they laugh: loud, free, joyful; when the characters names have more “rrrr´s” instead of “w”s and “h”s and are mixed more often with Marisa, and Juan’s; when flavors and smells jump from drawings and the pictures have music as well as words; when the senses are awakened and the memory chest open… I know that Carmen Lomas Garza has vanished my “incognito” disguise of nobody with her tender drawings of the way I lived, I’ve seen and known; that Carmen Tafolla, Sandra Cisneros, Angeles Masttreta, Rudolfo Anaya, Gary Soto, Pat Mora, Gabriel Garcia Marques, Isabel Allende, Alma Flor Ada & the maestro Tomas Rivera have given me voice. I don’t have to be blond & skinny to be beautiful and happy; I don’t have to marry a blue prince, because it’s okay to enjoy el gusto with a brown one; I don’t have to live in Main Avenue to be important, Mango Street it’s a lively and fun place to grow! I don’t have to hide my feelings with the guilt of being too emotional, to give them permission to be seen only on certain dates, only to be expressed by Hallmark and on the talk shows.
After all, I’m not that nothing, I ´m not that shadow: I have a face, a name and a magnificent culture with many voices of my own. I have a different way to communicate my warm heart and gentleness, my creativity and smart brains. At last I got permission to be, because if literature is a mirror of life, now through their stories I can see myself just the way I am.
NABE 2000
SAN ANTONIO TEXAS FEBRERO 17 DEL 2000
Margarita Robleda
EL SABOR LATINO EN LOS CUENTOS PARA NIÑOS EN INGLES
It is said that literature is like a mirror of life. If that its so, I don’t see myself in that mirror. That can only mean that: I’m not good enough to be part of it; I don’t exist, I’m just a shadow who passes by without leaving a trail; one of the million waves that flow side to side with the immensity without any meaning: worthless.
I recognize myself not only in the color of their skin & hair, but in the roundness of their hands and body shape and in the way they laugh: loud, free, joyful; when the characters names have more “rrrr´s” instead of “w”s and “h”s and are mixed more often with Marisa, and Juan’s; when flavors and smells jump from drawings and the pictures have music as well as words; when the senses are awakened and the memory chest open… I know that Carmen Lomas Garza has vanished my “incognito” disguise of nobody with her tender drawings of the way I lived, I’ve seen and known; that Carmen Tafolla, Sandra Cisneros, Angeles Masttreta, Rudolfo Anaya, Gary Soto, Pat Mora, Gabriel Garcia Marques, Isabel Allende, Alma Flor Ada & the maestro Tomas Rivera have given me voice. I don’t have to be blond & skinny to be beautiful and happy; I don’t have to marry a blue prince, because it’s okay to enjoy el gusto with a brown one; I don’t have to live in Main Avenue to be important, Mango Street it’s a lively and fun place to grow! I don’t have to hide my feelings with the guilt of being too emotional, to give them permission to be seen only on certain dates, only to be expressed by Hallmark and on the talk shows.
After all, I’m not that nothing, I ´m not that shadow: I have a face, a name and a magnificent culture with many voices of my own. I have a different way to communicate my warm heart and gentleness, my creativity and smart brains. At last I got permission to be, because if literature is a mirror of life, now through their stories I can see myself just the way I am.
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