police stopping you asking questions driving while Brown walking while Black
Where you from foo No where you really from
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What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming
Graciela can you see when they stopped you in the store harassed questioned you
Papers please We did say please
Your children screaming you barely whispering But I was born here!
Where you from foo No where you really from
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Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
Manuel can you see you movin’ too slow Sirens screaming through the perilous fight How many cops does a beat down need
Next time don’t drive or walk or take the bus Hell just don’t breathe
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
Where you from foo No where you really from
Juanita can you see a knee shoved into your back down on the ground on your way home from the ten dollar an hour job wearing that little black dress
Miss don’tcha you know prostitution is illegal as your arrest is streamed live on WorldStar Next time don’t walk home
Where you from foo No where you really from
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And the rocket’s red glare the bombs bursting in air
Jesus helicopter spotlights will make you famous sprawled on the ground Face up hands out hands up a gun cold and draped in the flag at your head
Eyes wide shut as the rocket’s red glare the bombs bursting on your head and all you did was ask a question
Why was I pulled over
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
Where you from foo No where you really from
María Elena proud of that AA BA MBA from Taco Stand to Taco Empire but you a little too brown for a CEO your English a little too accented speaking Spanish to your mother at Tiffany’s while Karen and Ken scream at you
This is America and in America we speak English
Proof that their flag is still there O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
Where you from foo No where you really from
Luis they’re still screaming at you to stop or they’ll shoot INS DEA FBI DHS six abreast six deep it’s an overtime circus racing to make sure that their star-spangled banner is yet waving
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O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Where you from foo No where you really from
Dylcia can you see the march protesting your son’s death the gas canisters bullets in the air what goes up must come down
My life has been a rollercoaster of experiences, from The Bronx to Washington, D.C., to Hartford, Connecticut, and Los Angeles, California—first as a seminarian studying to become a priest, then as a local and national community organizer, a radio host and producer, a journalist and producer in both radio and television, a government bureaucrat, a youth mentor, and a small business consultant. Besides those roles, I’ve also tried my hand at being a jewelry vendor, a motorcycle courier, an airport shuttle driver, and a bartender in a German alpine-themed bar.
I am currently working on several writing projects, including a hybrid creative memoir about my time in Washington, D.C. This project serves as a personal and psychological exploration of addiction and trauma, offering an honest look at how someone can fall into a bottomless pit of despair, losing all judgment and moral clarity. Told through flashbacks, the memoir explores a complex theme: the physical and emotional experiences that shaped my struggles with addiction, ending with the scandal that would forever haunt me.
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