August 6 & 9, the 75th anniversary of U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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August 6 and August 9 this year mark the 75th anniversary that the U.S. dropped the first atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, the first and only time that atomic bombs have ever been used. But atomic weapons have proliferated and their threat hangs over the world as never before.

In the year of 1983 was organized the 1st International Day of Nuclear Disarmament set that Summer Solstice June 20. All that year saw direct actions of civil disobedience throughout the world to stop nuclear weapons. That January, I took part in a blockade at Vandenberg Air Force Base to stop the test of the MX Missile designed to carry first-strike nuclear bombs. I was arrested with about 500 others and taken to the Lampoc Federal Prison where I wrote the following poem:

 

------------Here for Life

(Vandenberg Air Force Base, January 1983;

first blockade of MX Missile testing)

I am here —

I wear the old-ones’ jade —

it’s life, they said & precious,

turquoise I’ve sought to hone my visions,

& coral to cultivate the heart,

mother of pearl for purity.

I have put on what power I could

to tell you there are mountains

where the stones sleep —

--------hawks nest there

& lichens older than the ice is cold.

The sea is vast & deep

keeping secrets

darker than the rocks are hard.

I am here to tell you

the Earth is made of things

so much themselves

they make the angels kneel.

We walk among them

& they are certain as the rain is wet

& they are fragile as the pine is tall.

We, too, belong to them;

they count upon our singing,

the footfalls of our dance,

our children’s shouts, their laughter.

I am here for the unfinished song,

the uncompleted dance,

the healing,

the dreadful fakes of love.

-----I am here for life

-----------& I will not go away.

---------© Rafael Jesús González 2020

Voices for Peace Anthology, Barbara Nestor Davis, Ed.; 

Rochester, N.Y. 1983; author’s copyrights.) 

Still here (and more) are the nuclear weapons threatening us all and still here for life are we who oppose them.

Thursday, August 6 marks the 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Join the yearly protest and direct action at the gates of the Livermore Laboratory, where nuclear weapons are designed, from 8:00 am to 9:30 am Pacific time. This year, due to the pandemic, you may join from home by signing up for a live stream link. For the Earth, justice, peace, life please join us. (Throughout the day on August 6 and August 9 there are events nationally that you may join #stillhere.)

El 6 y el 9 de agosto este año marcan el 75 aniversario de que los EE.UU. dejaron caer las primeras bombas atómicas en las ciudades de Hiroshima y Nagasaki, Japón, la primera y única vez que bombas atómicas jamás se han usado. Pero las armas nucleares han proliferado y su amenaza cuelga sobre el mundo más que nunca.

En el año de 1983 se organizó el 1er Día Internacional del Desarme nuclear para el solsticio de verano el 20 de junio. Todo ese año vio acciones directas de desobediencia civil por todo el mundo para ponerle fin a las armas nucleares. Ese enero participé en un bloqueo en la Base de la Fuerza Aérea de Vandenberg para detener la prueba del Misil MX diseñado para llevar bombas nucleares de primer ataque. Fui arrestado con cerca de 500 otrxs y llevado a la Prisión federal Lampoc donde escribí el siguiente poema:

--------------Aquí por vida

(Base de Fuerza Aérea de Vandenberg, enero 1983;

primer bloqueo de la prueba del proyectil nuclear MX)

Aquí estoy —

llevo el jade de los ancianos —

es la vida, decían, y preciosa,

turquesa que he buscado

para darles filo a mis visiones,

y coral para cultivar el corazón,

madreperla para la pureza.

Me he puesto el poder que pude

para decirles que hay montañas

donde duermen las piedras —

-------los halcones anidan allí

y liquen más viejo

de lo que el hielo es frío.

El mar es vasto y profundo

guardando secretos

más oscuros

de lo que las rocas son duras.

Aquí estoy para decirles

que la Tierra es hecha de cosas

tan suyas mismas

que hacen a los ángeles arrodillarse.

Caminamos entre ellas

y son ciertas como la lluvia es húmeda

y son frágiles como el pino es alto.

Nosotros también les pertenecemos;

cuentan con nuestro cantar,

los pasos de nuestro bailar,

los gritos de nuestros hijos, su risa.

Aquí estoy por la canción sin acabar,

el baile incompleto,

el sanar,

las terribles adujas del amor.

----Aquí estoy por vida

-----------y no me iré.

-------© Rafael Jesús González 2020

Aquí todavía (y más) están las armas nucleares amenazándonos a todos y todavía aquí por la vida estamos todxs nosotrxs que nos oponemos a ellas. 
 

Leo

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--------------León

El león, ojos de carnalina,
colmillos, garras de sardónice,
lleva en el pecho corazón de rubí
que guarda el fuego fijo del valor.
-----Anhela devorar al sol
-----y mudarlo en oro
que surgiera por sus venas
como río caliente de luz. 



----------------© Rafael Jesús González 2020





-------------------Leo

 
 The lion, carnelian eyes,
fangs, claws of sardonyx,
carries in his breast a ruby heart
that holds the steadfast fires of courage.
------It desires to devour the sun
------and turn it into gold
that would run in his veins
like a hot river of light.



----------------© Rafael Jesús González 2020

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Black Lives Matter in the Revolution of the Heart

Posted on June 14, 2020
 

Literary Dialogs with Nina Serrano featuring Rafael Jesús González

Rafael reads two poems, each in English and Spanish: Wake Up U.S. America!/¡Despierta EE.UU. América! and The Moon Masks Herself/La luna se enmascara, followed by the poets conversation about Black Lives Matter in the Revolution of the Heart in the post pandemic world to come. English and Spanish subtitles are available on the video settings button.

Rafael Jesús González has always been the poet laureate of Berkeley for me, long before he was appointed in 2017. As a multimedia producer, I often called on him for poems and interviews with a spiritual take on nuclear disarmament, world peace, equal rights, Chicano history, environmentalism, and the love of Mother Earth. He always has a lot to say about the moon too, on a monthly basis, which earns him a place in the my feminist lexicon. As an activist poet he has spent time in Santa Rita jail for protesting the war machine. As a graphic artist his altars and other artistic works are exhibited in the Oakland Museum. And when he was a professor at Laney College, he struggled for and established the Mexican and Latin American studies department.

I first encountered Rafael in 1969, when we both appeared in the same poetry anthology, “Mark in Time”, published by Glide Press, which was the first time I was included in an anthology of San Francisco poets.

Rafael Jesús González, 1969. From Mark In Time published by Glide Press. Nina Serrano, 1969. From Mark In Time published by Glide Press.

Rafael is still the same man who you see in this interview 51 years later, kind, friendly, full of intelligence, laughter, passion, activism, and cosmology that ties him to Mother Earth. While I studied for my Master’s Degree (class of 2002) at the Oakland campus of Naropa University, Rafael was on the Board of Directors trying to keep the University of Creation Spirituality afloat with its art based education and spiritual curriculum.

Rafael Jesús González, Screen shot from video, 2020. Nina Serrano, Screen shot from video, 2020.

Our regular KPFA-fm radio program, La Raza Chronicles, has always turned to Rafael for the most advanced and profound thinking on events in the Latinx world. He has always promoted bilingualism demanding that any poem of his read in public or published in print be included in both Spanish and English. He is truly the product of a border town with fluid movement between the two countries and the two cultures, the twin cities: El Paso, Texas, USA and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

When I visited him in Berkeley I should not have been surprised that his house straddled the Oakland Berkeley border. I cannot remember if the cozy kitchen was in Berkeley and the wood lined living room in Oakland or if it was the reverse. My best memory of his home was the garden, with wild and fragrant plants. I think it is in his garden that his ideas incubate and blossom.

Universal Earth Justice Peace flag by Rafael Jesús González

In my own home, you can find Rafael’s colorfully designed Universal Earth Justice Peace flag and buttons. I also treasure the earrings he’s made and the little Spanish scrolled sewing scissors and thimble he brought me from Toledo.

Below you will find the poems presented in the video.

¡Despierta EE.UU. América!

 

Cuando un jugador de pelota se hinca sobre la hierba
para protestar por la justicia cuando se toca
una canción de cantina hecha sagrada, se le denigra
y despide. Pero cuando la policía ponen la rodilla
al cuello de sus víctimas o les disparan
más veces que no se le llama
"Cumpliendo su deber." ¿No vemos
porque dormimos o somos ciegos
como nos gusta representar a la justicia?
Quitémosle la venda de los ojos para que vea
que su báscula está fuera de balance,
que no es daltónica y si lo es
que lo corrija. En la visión del Tao
lo negro y lo blanco son equivalentes, uno no más
de valor que el otro pero su báscula
se desequilibra a favor de lo blanco, todo matiz de negro
no contando por mucho. ¿Será porque dormimos?
Si solamente es que dormimos ¡Despierta EE.UU. América!
Si es que nos negamos a ver ¡Que nos ayuden los dioses!

© Rafael Jesús González 2020

Wake Up U.S. America!

 

When a ball player kneels upon the turf
to protest for justice when a bar-room song
made sacred is played, he is vilified
& fired. But when police take their knees
to the necks of their victims or shoot them
more often than not it is called
"In the line of duty." Do we not see
because we sleep or are we blind
like we like to portray justice?
Unbind her eyes that she may see
that her scales are out of balance,
that she is not color-blind & if she is
to correct it. In the vision of the Tao
black & white are equal, one no more
of value than the other but her scales
are weighted to the white, all shades of black
not counting for much. Is it because we sleep?
If it is only sleep, Wake up U.S. America!
If it is that we refuse to see, may the gods help us.

© Rafael Jesús González 2020

La luna se enmascara

 

Prepárense, un amigo astrólogo nos dice, a que la luna esta noche se enmascare con la sombra de la tierra. El primer eclipse lunar del año pronto siguió la conjunción de Saturno (padre de dioses, del tiempo, de la generación, disolución, renovación, liberación) y Pluto (acumulador de riqueza, rey del inframundo), ocurrencia de una vez cada treinta y ocho años.

En ese momento escribió: Sí, estamos comprometidos. Grandes cambios están sobre nosotros. Ha
llegado el tiempo para la trasformación . . . Los eclipses son presagio de la revelación cuando el contenido de las sombras se hace más visible. Esto anuncia un momento de gran cambio donde el mundo se sacude, se sacude para que despierte. Tres eclipses seguidos en vez de dos en este ciclo de eclipses, nota. Y despertamos. Aislados en nuestras casas por la pandemia, la amenaza de la otra pestilencia del fascismo nos saca a muchos de nuestros refugios a riesgo de contagio. ¿Cual es peor?
Cercado en una gran casa blanca el jefe demagogo plutocrático 45 exige toques de queda y amenaza llamar al ejército para aplastar toda protesta. Pero, advierte Naomi, “Cuando dicen que no tenemos el derecho a protestar, ese es el momento de inundar las calles” Y muchos sabemos que así es. Nuestras vidas están a riesgo y no solamente por un virus coronado.

Venus, la Serpiente Emplumada se prepara a sacrificarse en la fogata del sol para surgir de nuevo siete días después como Señor del Amanecer; comienza un ciclo de 584 días. ¿En 584 días hasta donde llevaremos nuestra revolución, nuestra revolución sanadora?

© Rafael Jesús González 2020

The Moon Masks Herself

Prepare, an astrologer friend tells us, for the moon tonight to mask herself in the Earth’s shadow. The first lunar eclipse of the year followed fast upon the conjunction of Saturn (father of gods, of time, of generation, dissolution, renewal, liberation) and Pluto (hoarder of wealth, king of the underworld), a once every thirty-eight years occurrence. At that time he wrote: Yes, we’re in for it. Great changes are upon us. The time for transformation has arrived. . . Eclipses are harbingers of exposure, when shadow contents become more visible. This heralds a time of great change, where our world is shaken up, shaken in order to awaken.

Three eclipses in a row rather than two in this eclipse cycle, he notes. And we awaken. Sequestered in our houses by the pandemic, the threat of the other pestilence of fascism draws many of us from our shelters at the risk of contagion. Which is the worst? Fenced in a big white house, chief plutocratic demagogue 45 demands curfews and threatens to call the army to squelch all protest. But, says Naomi, “When they say we don’t have the right to protest, that is the moment to flood the streets.” And many of us know it to be so. Our lives are at stake and not only from a crowned virus.

Venus, the Plumed Serpent prepares to immolate himself in the bonfire of the sun to rise again seven days later as Lord of the Dawn; a 584-day cycle begins. How far in 584 days will we take our revolution, our healing revolution?

© Rafael Jesús González 2020

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Posted in Blog, Literary Dialogs Tagged bilingual poems, Black Lives Matter, Literary Dialogs with Nina Serrano, Rafael Jesus Gonzalez, Revolution of the Heart, The Moon Masks Herself, Wake Up US America! permalink

About Nina Serrano

Nina is a well-known, international prize-winning inspirational author and poet. With a focus on Latino history and culture, she is also a playwright, filmmaker, KPFA talk show host, a former Alameda County Arts Commissioner, and a co-founder of the San Francisco Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. Oakland Magazine’s “best local poet” in 2010, she is a former director of the San Francisco Poetry in the Schools program and the Bay Area’s Storytellers in the Schools program. A Latina activist for social justice, women’s rights, and the arts, Nina Serrano at 84 remains vitally engaged in inspiring change and exploring her abundant creativity. For more information go to ninaserrano.com or contact her publisher at estuarypress.com. For more detailed information about Nina see About Nina on her website.

View all posts by Nina Serrano 

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full moon: The Moon Illumines U.S. History

The Moon Illumines U.S. History

On capitol dome

the moon lights a bronze figure:

'Statue of Freedom.'

Standing for Democracy,

its form was cast by a slave.

--------------© Rafael Jesús González

La luna ilumina la historia de EE.UU.

En cúpula del capitolio

la luna alumbra una figura de bronce:

'La estátua de la Libertad.'

Significando la democracia 

su forma la fundió un esclavo.

---------- ----© Rafael Jesús González

 

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4th of July, Independence of the U.S.A.

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Did the quill shake, did the hand of the man penning these self-evident truths tremble knowing that his owning of slaves belied them? Are the words for all that less self-evident, less true?

We had long thought that the pyramids by the Nile were built by slaves but scholars now doubt it. But doubt there is none that Mount Vernon and Monticello are the works of slaves. And when the capital of the newly declared United States of America was fixed on Chesapeake Bay, The White House and the Capitol, its dome graced with a bronze figure of Freedom, were built by slaves — the house, the capitol and dome, the statue that tops it.

Statue of Freedom

designed by Thomas Gibson Crawford, sculptor

cast in bronze by Philip Reid, slave

It is two-hundred-forty-four years since the birth of the nation, five-hundred-twenty-eight years since Europeans stumbled onto the "Americas" establishing empires and the economics of empire (capitalism) founded on genocide, thievery of land, slavery, racism, and wanton violation of the Earth.

The changes we have wrought  upon the Earth put life itself at risk, what democracy we have painfully created, flawed though it may be, is undermined and reversed, virtual slavery and poverty are universal and the wealth of nations is in the pockets of the few, the wars of empire are constant.

But now besieged by a pandemic that devastates the world, more and more of us awake to the self-evident truth that our vaunted ideals are belied by the policies of empire, and we take to the streets demanding justice, protection of the Earth, peace. If this pandemic that demands that we isolate ourselves teaches us anything, it is that we are one humanity, that what threatens one threatens us all. We rise and what we rise for is our revolution of heart and mind.

Our revolution must be radical, going to the roots of our distress. The new world we must create from the shambles of the old must bring to a close the millennia of patriarchy that has brought us to this, and end the Age of the Warrior and bring in the Age of the Healer. Our institutions and our policies must be rooted deeply in love, in love of life, of the Earth, of each other and all our relations. Justice must be grounded in compassion without which there is no peace.

The courage and intent which we have traditionally attributed to the warrior are what must inform the healer, each and everyone of us. It will be far from easy and what must impel us is a fierce love. Nothing less will do. Our greatest moral teachers of the past have said no less. Perhaps our greatest teacher will prove to be this less than tiny and most deadly crowned virus that will force us to awake and make our revolution. Immediately.

The world depends on it.

Rafael Jesús González

 ¿Se sacudió la pluma? ¿Tembló la mano del hombre que escribía estas verdades evidentes al saber que su posesión de esclavos las desmentía? ¿Son menos evidentes, menos verdaderas las palabras por eso?

Habíamos pensado por mucho tiempo que las pirámides del Nilo fueron construidas por esclavos, pero los erudito ahora lo dudan. Pero no hay duda de que Monte Vernon y Monticello son obras de esclavos. Y cuando la capital de los recientemente declarados Estados Unidos de América se fijó en la Bahía de Chesapeake, la Casa Blanca y el Capitolio, su cúpula adorada con una figura de bronce de La Libertad, fueron consruidas por esclavos — la casa, el capitolio y cúpula, la estatua que la remata.

Han pasado doscientos cuarenta y cuatro años desde el nacimiento de la nación, quinientos veintiocho años desde que los europeos tropezaron con las "Américas" estableciendo imperios y la economía de imperio (capitalismo) fundada en el genocidio, el robo de tierras, esclavitud, racismo y violación desenfrenada de la Tierra. Los cambios que le hemos causado a la Tierra ponen en riesgo la vida misma, la democracia que dolorosamente hemos logrado, aunque defectuosa, es quebrantada y revertida, la esclavitud virtual y la pobreza son universales y la riqueza de las naciones están en los bolsillos de los pocos, las guerras de imperio son constantes.

Pero ahora asediados por una pandemia que devasta el mundo, cada vez más de nosotros nos damos cuenta de la verdad evidente de que nuestros ideales preciados son desmentidos por las políticas de imperio y salimos a las calles exigiendo jusicia, proteción de la Tierra, paz. Si esta pandemia que exige nos aislemos nos enseña algo, es que somos una humnidad, lo que amenaza a uno nos amenaza a todos. Nos levantamos y por lo que nos sublevamos es nuestra revolución de corazón y mente. 

Nuestra revolución tiene que ser radical yendo a las raíces de nuestra angustia. El nuevo mundo que tenemos que crear de las ruinas del viejo tiene que terminar con los milenios de patriarcado que nos han llevado a esto y terminar con la Era del Guerrero y traer la Era del(a) Sanador(a). Nuestras instituciones y nuestras políticas tienen que estar profundamente arraigadas en el amor, en el amor a la vida, a la Tierra, a un@ a otr@. La justicia tiene que basarse en la compasión sin la cual no hay paz.

El valor y la intención que tradicionalmente hemos atribuido al querrero es lo que debe informar al(a) sanador(a), a todos y cada un@ de nosotros. No será fácil y lo nos tiene que impulsar es un amor feroz. Nada menos que eso bastará. Nuestros más grandes maestr@s morales del pasado no han dicho nada menos. Quizás nuestro más grande maestro será esrte virus coronado menos que pequeño y tremendamente mortal que nos obligará a despertar y hacer nuestra revolución. Inmediatamente.

De eso depende el mundo.

Rafael Jesús González 

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