Nuestras alas son más fuertes que su odio / Our wings are stronger than their hate
by Rosalía Salazar
Translated into English by Ana M. Fores Tomayo and originally published on the blog Adjunct Justice.
Introduction by Ana M. Fores Tomayo:
Schools, universities, and communities are fighting for DACA recipients — and alongside them too — but these endeavors do not take away their hurt, their fear, their mistrust in a system that supposedly was going to protect them.
What happens to all the information the government now has of DACA recipients? Will it use it to not only come after them, but also their families? And who will help their families now? After all, a huge part of DACA, for recipients, was being able to help in the day-to-day struggles their families go through.
So today I share with you one young woman’s words. Her original Spanish will appear first, followed by my translation of her work into English.
Indeed, we are all one; we share one same language, the language of love.
Por alguna razón, los últimos meses me han perseguido las mariposas por todos lados…
Queridos SOÑADORES de ojos abiertos
y de sueños tan reales como las líneas de nuestras manos,
esto va para ustedes…
… para nosotros
Nuestras alas son más fuertes que su odio…
Intentaron soplar con tal fuerza que pudieran atemorizarnos, desplazarnos, y alejarnos…. Pero al hacerlo, nuestros colores se hicieron aun mas brillantes, y nuestras alas se desplegaron abrazando a todo aquel quien se cree incapaz de sentir.
Volamos por las calles inundándolas de esperanza, revoloteando entre el odio de los que aun no han aprendido a volar.
Somos la revolución hecha canción.
Somos la libertad reflejada en la mirada de alguien que observa el cielo azul.
Somos flores renaciendo en un horizonte que ya se alcanza a ver.
Somos manos entrelazadas creando puentes.
Somos seres alados intentando los muros derrumbar, y las vendas de los ojos quitar…
Hay veces que los latidos de nuestros corazones logran sincronizarse con el movimiento de nuestras alas y es entonces que se llega a un instante que transciende fronteras,
que hace del odio algo
insignificante,
casi inexistente.
Nos volvemos uno,
…pero somos muchos.
Y nuestras alas siempre serán mas fuertes que su odio.
For some reason, the last few months I have been pursued by butterflies from all directions…
Dear DREAMERS with eyes wide open,
and dreams as real as the lines of our hands,
this goes out to you
to all of us
Our wings are stronger than their hate…
They tried to bluster with such force they would terrorize us, displace us, distance us…. But in so doing, our colors dazzled even brighter, our wings unfolded, embracing all who think they are incapable of sentiment.
We soar through streets, flooding them with hope, hovering amidst the hatred of those who have not yet learned to fly.
We are the song made revolution.
We are freedom reflected in the gaze of someone who studies the cerulean sky.
We are flowers reborn on a horizon that is breaking dawn.
We are hands entwined, forging bridges.
We are wingéd beings trying to shatter walls, removing bandages from our eyes…
There are times when the beat of our hearts manages to synchronize with the flutter of our wings. And it is only then that we arrive at that instance of transcending borders,
which makes hatred an instrument so
insignificant,
it becomes almost inexistent.
We become one,
… yet we are many.
And our wings will always remain so much stronger than their hate.
All photographs credited to the author.
About the Author:
Rosalía Salazar is an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin**with a Bachelors of Science in Applied Learning and Development.
She is a bilingual Teacher at Lida Hooe Elementary in the Oakcliff area of Dallas, Texas, where she enjoys serving as chair of the “beautification committee” and uses art as a tool to inspire staff and students. She also serves as an active member of En Pie De Lucha Peformance*, *a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness of social issues through the use of art.
Rosalía enjoys poetry more than anything, and she believes that it is through the use of art that people can make deeper connections with who they truly are and what they are capable of doing in order to change their surroundings.
This is her motto, which she lives by daily; you see this in her classroom as well as in her day-to-day life interchanges with all those around her: “In order to change the world, we need to start from within… cambiar al mundo desde adentro”.