Citizens

they call it a 'free' country
of free is it if half the population is working without recognition?
They don't think we should be here
They have called us names and so some of use believe them
Chola
Grease
Beaner
Now we call ourselves them
Idiota
estupida
It's not easy,many of us are forced to grow up before our time.To care for babies that are not ours,to cook and clean and work so that the bills will get paid and everyone fed.
I watch my parents cry,helplessly i cry inside
as my father breaks his back and works day and night,and my mother finds work to make our future brighter
we are not laborers and we are not dumb
I have it better than most
i know and i am grateful
we have papers
i swore to myself long ago that i would educate myself so that no one in my family will have to work on someone else's terms
i am proud of who i am
my blood makes me special
my culture makes me proud
i will go and finish school
it's not right though
that two states away an officer would stop me because i am brown
would he stop a light skinned Canadian?
no,just a brown mexican american girl
who has never stepped foot out of the US
do they carry their papers ready to be stopped?
who do you find picking in the fields?
i heard on the radio about a sweep
they sent people back
their bosses sent them back so they wouldn't have to pay them
it could have been anyone
someone in search of a brighter future
they don't care
about a brown skinned girl
i am the third generation
of hard work
i am ready to make my mark on this world
and show everyone that i WILL sucseed