Martin Espada is a Latino poet born in
Brooklyn, NY to a Jewish Mother and a Puerto Rican father. He abandoned
his work as a lawyer to fulfill his dream to be a writer and a teacher.
He explores tough Latino issues through his poetry. He is a
revolutionary and instead of using violence to change prejudice against
Latinos, he uses words.
In the poem, “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa
Cruz, California, May 3, 1877”, Espada through his selective choice of words, forcefully
takes the reader, in the first stanza, back to a day in 1877, when two
Mexicanos are lynched. “More than the
moment/ when forty gringo vigilantes/ cheered the rope/ that snapped two
Mexicanos/ into the grimacing sleep of broken necks.” He does this to draw us in to the horrific
injustices against the two Mexicanos. He
then reinforces our vivid picture by comparing the floating to hanging meat in
a slaughterhouse. We then soften to the
Virgen de Gaudalupe’s blessings, and hear the two Mexicanos playing the guitar
on La Dia de Los Muertos. Finally we are
left with an image of the lynching party, more worried about getting their
picture taken, than having any remorse.
In Espada’s
poem, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, he exposes prejudice towards other cultures,
in such an understated way. Again, he
states the problem at the very beginning, “Whenever my name/ is
mispronounced”. He then proceeds to tell
us what it makes him want to do. “I want
to buy a toy pistol,/ put on dark sunglasses,/ push my beret to an angle,/ comb
my beard to a point” He gives the reader
such a clear picture of what he looks like.
He seems somewhat docile because of his toy pistol, but then hijacks a
busload of Republican tourists from Wisconsin and has the swat team after
him. The reader fully understands how
important it is to pronounce his and all other Latinos’ names correctly. He is a revolutionary, trying to change the
way people approach other cultures. If
someone doesn’t even take the time to learn how to say someone’s name, are they
really trying to understand them and their culture?
Espada continues to try to change prejudice
through his poem, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School. This short, concise poem takes place in a
High School bathroom, and uncovers a prejudice toward others, especially if
they speak a different language and can’t understand them. It also reveals how
many deal with feeling vulnerable by using power to control the situation
instead of taking the time to understand it.
This is exemplified when the paranoid Principal upon hearing his name
mentioned amongst the chatter, decides, “ to ban Spanish in the bathrooms/Now
he can relax.”
Martin Espada is a revolutionary. He isn’t afraid of controversial content; he
is willing to look where others will not dare.
His goal is simple- with his words he wants to illuminate and eliminate
all of the injustices in the world today.
