OUR ATL PAGE 20
VoxTeenCommunications.org VOX: THE VOICE OF OUR GENERATION | SUMMER 2014
VoxTeenCommunications.org
VOX: THE VOICE OF OUR GENERATION | SUMMER 2014
PAGE 21
American Baby
Hispanic Life and Culture in Atlanta
By P.S. Goya VOX Staff Either I’m nobody, or I’m a nation. Like the stalactites that crawl into their crystal-helix shapes, I crawled, American baby, from the Strait of Magellan where the fish Gargle their lugubrious songs, to the dehydrated Line where the Texans, Those American wannabe’s, flung their broken Spanish at me.
A viewing of VOX Teen Communications’ teen art exhibition, showcasing depictions and interpretations of an important and influential population in the metro Atlanta area DETAILS
I crossed the Frontier, and for a while I stayed with Fruit-pickers, Developing into a character that cannot be defined by American citizenship. My hair crawled far away from my scalp, my feet forgot their Aztec dances, Memories became the packaged boxes in the attic of a house too busy to care. The melanin in my skin, disgusted, evaded me in mirrors.
Where: The Woodruff Arts Center When: Saturday, May 10, 2 p.m. Who: Any teen living in the metro Atlanta area! Cost: Free What to Expect: Art, crafts, face painting, teens and fun
VOX at Voices and Vibes!
OUR ATL
On Saturday, May 10, VOX will host a free exhibition for all guests at the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) as part of the Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Voices & Vibes Teen festival. Beginning at 2 p.m., the WAC campus will be transformed into a hub of live music, collaborative art-making, workshops, games and much more for all attendees. Visit the VOX Hispanic Life and Culture exhibition for face painting, arts and crafts! Register for the FREE festival at ArtsVibe.com/voices-vibes-festival/
Art from Plaza Fiesta (l-r): Rachel Li, Jelani Harris, Manuel Portillo, Alexandria Wilson Middle Row (l-r): Alexandria Wilson, Manuel Portillo Top Row (art not from Plaza Fiesta): Karestiah Lawson, Safiya Miller, Mac Rowe Page 21, bottom right corner: Rashah Neason (all from Plaza Fiesta)
I wanted to dream, baby, so when they told me about Visas, I listened, And soon enough I began speaking from my Nose just like the gringos, And recited the stories of Bush and Cheney so they’d give me my Green card. I forgot about my Mother, whose scarred back is the spine of the Andes, Who incubated me in the smoke of a patient volcano for two centuries… I didn’t remember myself until the age of 17, When, burned out from singing Yankee Doodle, I recalled the tune of my own people. The heats and smells of Acapulco, the poverty and the richness of the tongue, And I had also forgotten the cacao that is in the eyes of sweet-faced strangers… It all came back to me. I am an American baby, but the U.S., my friend, is not America.