Here
Here, people never think I’m Latina,
until they sexualize me.
Here, mi gente me crean guerita,
because of how I dress.
Here, I’m spicy and not smart
when I wear hoops and red lipstick.
Here, everyone is a John, Mary, and Joe
not Juan, Maria and Jose
Here, no dicen gracias, ni Buenos dias —
they could give two shits
Here, I’m surrounded by white face, but
sparkles of melanin glimmer in the crowd.
Here, estamos en tierra indígena,
but we call it the United States.
Here, no somos la minoría,
we are just not seen, erased.
Here, my mother is chastised for her accent
But never praised for her bi-lingual abilities.
~Que se chingan
Here, Black and Brown lives are ended by the
government that some thought was rescue.
I am over this place,
but I am not done yet.
We’ve put in too much blood, tears,
years of life…to give up here
Here, our people prosper.
Our mother’s and father’s blistered
and overworked hands —
are the drive for perseverance
.
June 6th, 2020
This was the moment where we knelt in silence for 8 minutes,
a moment of reflection for all.
With a wall of police on either side of us
and curfew quickly approaching, I shuddered.
The power of group defiance sent a shiver through me —
the electricity leaving my body and the feeling palpable in the air.
The police are scared — I saw the fear in their eyes.
CPD sent the young, the brown and the black cops to control us.
No surprises, minorities are forever a dispensable resource
We were there to remind them through chants,
that where there is no justice there is no peace.
That we are fighting for Black Lives and to defund the police.
The silence lifts and we sing Happy Birthday to Breonna Taylor.
Her name echoing through the streets, bouncing off the walls of the underpass.
Her name is an amplified reminder that silent cops are guilty too and their inaction is violence.
These moments will continue, and in my hopes
raise others’ consciousness of the battles we are fighting.
For we are not free until all of us are free.
With growth of the collective consciousness comes change.
With growth of the collective consciousness comes community.
With growth of the collective consciousness comes hopes.
I love you Chicago.
Despite all that divides us, we still be coming together.
Disrupters of the peace, hoping that from the ruins of comfort will come a new norm.
A reality where we can keep each other safe.
.
Corporate Cannabis Blues
I miss the sun,
Filling my skin of melanin.
Chi town winter is wearing my nerves thin but I’m staying steady and kickin it.
Focusin’ on self — being diligent.
Keepin’ my intentions within my vision.
Silently plotting my acquisition
of my ideal life that I know I’m already living.
Countering strife with defiant religion of self love and pure wealth —
of patience, peace, strength and love.
Mean mugged lil mami showin’ a strength,
built from life lessons filled with hard times
and fuck — just so much self hate.
Pero como mi familia, I fought and overcame.
A loud mouthed brujita, my degree: Mary Jane.
Creating access for my people to heal their own pain.
Through sacred plantitas and freedom from greed fueled vain.
Giving them freedom to seek their own domain outside of
misinformed judgment and racism ingrained.
I cannot remain silent.
About the systemic violence.
About the racial disparities.
About the broken families.
About my people behind bars.
About the million dollar industry.
Marijuana turned cannabis.
The new aged propaganda of respectability politics.
Do you have your medical card? The right license?
No? Then your hustle ain’t state compliant.
Policing of a sacred plant, an act of violence.
Trying to keep people silent.
The war on drugs, failed — led to mass incarceration.
Keeping their stolen land safe from the indigenous and the enslaved nations.
Lock up em in a 95 billion dollar cop academy after taking their schools away,
after excluding em’ from the industry that they helped create.
Who’s reaping the rewards of this new health industry that’s all the craze?
.
Breaking the Cycle
Cut attachments.
Release fear.
Rid yourself of negative energy.
When achieving greatness and seeking a higher self, you lose some things along the way.
In doing so, you create space for positivity and growth
through casting out negative thoughts, habits and people that no longer nurture you.
Cut attachments.
Attachments: Break the ties that bond you to a routine and unfulfilling existence.
Attachment is a product of greed and possession,
both are easy to feed into while creating nothin’ but cylic toxic behavior.
That and you being in your feelings…ALL THE TIME.
Things always work out better when you focus on you.
Give yourself that attention that you’ve misplaced in those negative investments.
Release fear.
Fear: Fear stems from those attachments. Fear of losing what doesn’t belong to us.
When you accept nothing as yours (people, places, objects, moments) you stop fearing loss. You let
go of those attachments. When you accept that nothing is permanent,
that nothing is truly ours other than yourself;
then you can live free and move towards truly selfless love.
Rid yourself of negative energy.
Negative energy: Anger, frustration, sadness, spite, jealousy…
these feelings on their own are not the pillars of negative energy.
Emotions, both good and bad are allowed and are a valid part of existing;
but they should not dictate your existence.
You are not your emotions.
Just because you feel sad — you are not only sadness.
Because you are joyful — you are not always expected to be happy and joyous.
This is negative energy, when those patterns are causing you to run in circles
all while staying in the same place.
Cut attachments.
Release fear.
Rid yourself of negative energy.
.
Tongue Like a Serpent
I am a Wiccan with words.
Wicked Witch with a
tongue sharp as a dagger.
Mis palabras — my preferred protection.
Against the mal de ojo,
against the unwanted cat calls,
and coos from the mouths of the pigs.
These fuckbois really need to get a hobby,
One that don’t involve making a
spectacle of my body.
I get it, I’m fly – I know you want me.
Call me conceited, fuck it – I still flaunt it.
Pero, once I open my mouth, the stares
turned to scared.
As I proclaim:
I am not merely a body to ogle.
I am a mind.
I am more than a concept.
I am eternal.
I am universe.
Lil boys play with toys y no soy tu juguete
Lil boys fantasize of lives based in lies
Fed to them my this vision of
~heteronormativity~
Story book narratives, where the damsel in
distress marries the first lil boi
who pretends to play prince charming
And I am no cinderella
Soy Bruja — Yes, a witch.
The evil villian from the story books.
The one with enchanting looks and
a tongue like a serpent.
Words — I cast a tangled mix of broken
spanglish, pero enchanting nonetheless.
They cannot understand me.
They cannot understand us.
Brujas were burned for their power and
strength. For being poderosa and saying
I do whatever I damn well think.
They were hunted and persecuted for their
knowledge and conviction that not religion,
but madre tierra y universe
could cure their afflictions
In their spirit — I stay resilient.
I proclaim:
I can because I can and fuck what you say.
I’ll throw my dagger and cast my spell,
just watch the game I play.
Soy Bruja, yes a witch
and that I will proudly say
About the author: LizMarie Palomo, aka Mota Mami, is a Chicago-based creative whose work explores resistance, identity, and hope, by amplifying the experiences of Latinx femmes. A proud MexiRican, she uses poetry, storytelling, and zines to challenge societal norms and cultural erasure, while celebrating resilience and advocating for community and collective liberation.
About the illustrator: Diosa (Jasmina Cazacu) is a Spanish-Romanian illustrator and muralist. She uses surreal, dreamlike imagery to create fantastical scenes that dare her audience to challenge their perceptions, observe with wonder, and appreciate the magic that is always flourishing beneath the surface of the mundane. Diosa has displayed in galleries and painted murals internationally. Painting is her way of interacting with the world. She plans to continue her travels and the exchange of getting to know new places while leaving a bit of herself behind in each.
