Volume 15 Issue 3 2021 AMAE Special Issue Centering Translanguaging in Critical Teacher Education: Cultivando Nuevos Conocimientos de Translenguaje en la Educación de Futuros Docentes Guest Editors Pablo C. Ramirez California State University, Dominguez Hills Armando Garza Ayala University of New Mexico Editors Patricia Sánchez The University of Texas at San Antonio Antonio J. Camacho AMAE, Inc. Associate Editors Julie L. Figueroa Sacramento State Lucila D. Ek The University of Texas at San Antonio Managing Editor Christian Fallas-Escobar The University of Texas at San Antonio Association of Mexican American Educators Journal A peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu ISSN: 2377-9187 Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 126 Trenzando Poetry Yuliana Kenfield Oregon Department of Education Maricela Xuncax Lazo Western Oregon University María José Solis Western Oregon University Yecid Ortega University of Toronto Samibah Straits TLC Transformations, LLC Kee Straits TLC Transformations, LLC Joseph García Western Oregon University Ramiro Moreyra Portilla Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua This Trenzando Poetry seeks to build collective knowledge around translanguaging practices of peoples from North and South America as well as contribute to the healing of the mind/body/soul among teacher candidates and community multilingual members. The poets; a multilingual young student, Sami; four bilingual educators currently teaching, Maricela, Joseph, Maria José and Yecid; and three parents of multilingual children, Kee, Ramiro and Yuliana; we all draw on our ancestors’ sociolinguistic repertoire as an identity multilingual affirmation practice. Se puede ver la diversidad de experiencias transnacionales y multiculturales de los poetas translingüistas en las breves notas bibliográficas included at the end of this trenzado. En esta colección de poemas, alugnos de los autores incluyen también fotografías; además, Maricela incluye su trabajo en óleo. La presencia del componente visual fue propuesto por Yuliana, quien inició este trabajo literario colectivo. Pero hagamos un paréntesis en lo que significa para nosotras/os estar “Trenzando Poetry.” Empecemos con la palabra Trenzando, which translates into braiding. This word is mainly used to describe the act of braiding hair más que todo asociado con mujeres rurales. En Latinoamérica es una práctica común asociada con la gente del campo. Y son gente del campo, la mestiza o indígena, las abuelas/os o biseabuelas/os quienes entregaron esta herencia multicultural y multilingüe a los poetas autores de este proyecto. Aunque esta palabra en español, trenzar, usualmente se asocia a la práctica de enlazar cabellos, for the purpose of this poetry publication, trenzar se presenta como metáfora para el translenguaje que ocurre en este Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 127 reportorio poético, el cual se puede apreciar al ver cómo los poetas entrelazaron sus idiomas al expresar sus mensajes. The poets moved away from the conceptualization of bilingual or bi- literate interpreted as someone who has equal, high degrees of bilingualism and biliteracy across languages or being two monolinguals in one (Grosjean, 1989). Rather, we support the idea that bilinguals and bi-literates transit in a dynamic continuum, and their proficiencies shift accordingly (Anzaldua, 1987; Garcia, 2009; Hornberger, 2003; Valdés, 2001). Otra razón para el uso de la palabra Trenzando es debido a que the academic word translanguaging is actually not so well known nor used by multilingual family members. That is, translanguaging is popular for researchers and teacher educators in multilingual classrooms, but not necessarily among the multilingual speaking communities. Estas reflexiones sucedieron de repente entre los poetas; por ejemplo, en el caso de Ramiro y Yuliana, se había escuchado en el pasado la palabra quechuañol para identificar lo que sucede cuando un hablante está usando el quechua trenzado con el español o viceversa. Y esto sucede no solo porque el contacto lingüístico entre el español y el quechua ha existido por más de 500 años; sino también, sucede cuando el hablante tiene diversas experiencias bilingües con el quechua. In the case of Joseph, María José and Maricela, they share the experience with the legacy of the Spanish language in coexistence with their English since early childhood. Furthermore, Kee, María José, Ramiro, Yecid, Yuliana, and Sami brought to light their indigenous Chibcha, Diné, Quechua, and Maya legacies into their poetry. This act of braiding, or trenzando, in this poetic collection does not only occur within the individual poems themselves in which you can see languages intertwined with each other; sino también, ocurre entre las temáticas de los poemas, y de esta forma, los poetas enlazan e interceptan sus experiencias, mensajes y bailes. This is the reason why the poems are not organized in alphabetical order, rather poems are trenzados to hold each other. Los tres ejes temáticos fueron identificados posteriori por Yuliana; sin embargo, los poetas en todo momento tuvieron acceso a los poemas como iban llegando en un documento compartido interactivo. Yuliana, como lectora, pudo leer los textos en inglés, español, y quechua. Para los textos en lenguaje Diné, Yuliana sought out for colaboración de familiares de Kee y Sami, ya que ellos hablan Diné. Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 128 Now I will switch to first person as Yuliana. Los poetas me confiaron el realizar el nombramiento de los ejes temáticos de nuestro trenzado. El primer eje, exponiendo las identidades multiculturales y multilingües, reveals moments of internal force of linguistic reclamation. En algunos casos, los poetas, primero nombran y revelan sus dolores que pasaron mayormente en su proceso de escolarización, para luego mirar las fortalezas de navegar entre paisajes sociolingüísticos diversos. Este tema nos llama to reflect on our diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. El segundo eje tiene que ver with the macro-social context of the national systems that reproduce the marginalization of multilingualism within school curricular programs that do not respond to the needs of bilingual or multilingual populations. Estos discursos de educación intercultural bilingüe se revelan en los poemas y en particular la foto de la figure 2, que documenta una protesta en Cusco, Perú. Y otro momento de cuestionar el aspecto macro social of systemic barriers to multilingualism se pude contemplar en la figura 4, y en el poema Número Mágico by Maria José Solis, cuando ambos poetas entregan al lector la palabra raciolinguitics que viene del mundo académico. Aunque en los poemas simplemente se nombra este concepto de raciolinguistics mas no se ahonda en ello, los poetas dejan pistas importantes al lector interesado en translanguaging para que revise ese concepto académico de raciolinguistics y así navegue la relación de lingüicismo con racismo. Y finalmente, el tercer eje temático es la experiencia transnacional o migrante que algunos poetas desean resaltar; instancias en que poetas revelan tensiones al navegar nuevos espacios y gargantas culturales. It is a recount of instancias de empatía con las historias de inmigrantes, migrantes o sujetos transnacionales. The purpose of organizing the poems using those three themes above mentioned is to help the reader navigate the poems in an academic journal. Sin embargo, los temas son opcionales, y les invitamos a leer los poemas en el orden que deseen y tomando en cuenta que los poetas comparten algunas experiencias similares y otras no. These poems are voices of educators, students, and parents who are bilingual and/or multicultural themselves; they have different and similar lived experiences of immigration, migration, intergenerational mestizo, and indigenous practices. Algunos son migrantes, mientras otros no. Algunos tuvieron solo su primera infancia en Latinoamérica antes de migrar a los Estados Unidos en su niñez. Algunos poetas son bilingües Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 129 de nacimiento (Spanish-English y quechua-castellano), mientras otros se convirtieron en bilingües a través de la escolarización (English-Spanish). Algunos aprendieron el inglés fuera de su sistema de escolarización y les permitió migrar a Norteamérica (los autores migraron a Canadá y los Estados Unidos de América). Otros aprendieron el inglés dentro de su sistema escolar como segunda lengua, mientras veían alejarse de sus lenguas maternas en las aulas. Mientras unos escriben fácilmente en dos idiomas europeos como es el inglés y el español, en otros casos los idiomas indígenas en estos poemas tomaron más tiempo para estar presentes en forma escrita, ya que los poetas para pasar de la oralidad a lo escrito tuvieron que consultar algunas recientes reglas en la escritura de idiomas indígenas al buscar plasmar fonologías diversas. En fin, el lector encontrará en este Trenzando Poetry herramientas histriónicas para sacar no sólo dolores; sino también, exponer las fuerzas que ayudaron a los individuos a reafirmar sus identidades lingüísticas entendiendo que a veces, aunque los sistemas de escolarización no estén a favor, estarán a favor muchos legados intergeneracionales que va más allá de algunos sistemas reproducidos recientemente. Esta poesía colectiva busca ser un llamado a los educadores (maestros, madres, padres, y todo quien aporte a la educación) a reafirmar legados lingüísticos qué tal vez la escolaridad haya borrado por seguir agendas nacionalistas monolinguisticashe collective production of aims to reaffirm the sociolinguistic legacies of our ancestors cohabitating the Diné, Quechua, Spanish, and English languages. In sum, Trenzando Poetry are poems based on intergenerational dialogues which we hope they engage readers such pre-service teachers and teacher educators to learn, unlearn, relearn, and dismantle sociolinguistic ideologies and practices that promote or suppress Diné- English, Spanish-English and/or Quechua-Spanish multimodal literacies. Tema A: Exponiendo Las Identidades Multiculturales y Multilingües Creciendo Con Mis Dos Idiomas Maricela Xuncax Lazo Growing up I was so shy. It was hard making new friends and me daban nervios when I had to speak aloud. Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 130 Until teachers & mentors began to encourage me to usar mi voz. Y tomó tiempo. Little by little, palabra por palabra. The moment I embraced my two languages was, the moment I began to break through my shell, & open my eyes to a whole new world. Fue el momento en que realmente, empecé a ver crecimiento, En mi ser y en mis pensamientos. But sometimes there were people that, por el color de mi piel y mis idiomas, thought less of me. Cast doubt upon me & led me to doubt myself as well. Pero, estoy creciendo con mis dos idiomas. Y cuando una administración, threatened mi comunidad I became unapologetic. El SABER es PODER. I am no longer that niña timida. I am here to stay. My CULTURE is here to stay. My COMMUNITY is here to stay. My LANGUAGE is here to stay. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 131 Y espero seguir creciendo con mis dos idiomas. Figure 1 Watercolor/ ink artwork of what translanguaging has done to help my personal growth. M. Pascual Lazo, 2021. La niña en la pintura de acuarela es una reflexión de mí misma, Maricela Xuncax Lazo. Una hija de inmigrantes cuyas raíces culturales, valores, e historia familiar están estrechas hasta los pueblos natales de sus padres. Estas raíces contribuyen a los idiomas y la coexistencia de todos los idiomas, conocido como el “translenguar.” Las ramas representan el crecimiento y en ellos están escritos varios aspectos de mi vida donde he experimentado el aceptar el “translanguaging”. Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 132 Latidos de T’ika y Chaski Yuliana Kenfield Voces de lluvia nutren la tarde, penetran el dragón del asfalto, explotan aroma sobre los caminos. T’ika y Chaski entregando latidos: otroone Siep Allallawfrio Palabras translenguadas, mixtura de lenguajes a manera de latidos che’qche. Maicitos che'qche reventándose en el alma dominical/ Creando palabras, wawaykunawan una contradanza/ juego trenzado de voces que caen y suben como tibia garúa en mi pecho. Maicitos che'qche revoloteando: Yes o no? Porfis, please Dame now Chaski y T’ika vierten sus voces hacia el rainbow, atienden el viejo paisaje de acertijos Maicitos che’qche musicalizando la tarde. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 133 Figure 2 In Coya Town: T’ika and Chaski with Grandma and Great Grandma. Y. Kenfield, 2015. Esta fotografía se enlaza con el poema Latidos de T’ika y Chaski pues retrata el paisaje lingüístico intergeneracional. La bisabuela Raquel es bilingüe quechua-castellano, mientras los bisnietos son de nacimiento English-Spanish bilinguals who spend a year in a Quechua town of Coya. Mientras aprendían la labor de desgranar sara (maíz) they were listening to great grandma quechuata rimasharan. Grandma Maria, Raquel’s oldest daughter, was in the back also desgranando junto a sus nietos en el 2015. Sunshine of My Childhood Maria José Solis I was in a place where it was sunshine yearlong Played until the sun came down Everything and everyone seemed happy and warm I came to a place where it almost rained yearlong Could not go out and play until the sun came down Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 134 Everything and everyone seemed sad and cold Wishing it was sunny Summer came slowly Reminded me of the 6 years I lived In the beautiful sunshine As the summer warmth came It went away Living memories I found myself in the rain again Sad and cold Slowly becoming used to the rain Little by little the fog of the winter mornings Made me forget the warmth of the yearlong sunshine of my childhood Now when summer comes A part of me remembers A place where it was sunshine yearlong And played until the sun came down I am – Yo soy Yecid Ortega I am from the spoon I love to eat from, from tofu and broccoli and Country Harvest $3.50 bread. I am from the cold, mountainous and busy city. I am from the grass, the dandelion and the leaves. I am from no tradition and humble, from the Paez and Chibcha Indigenous people and sometimes Ortega’s from Spain. I am from the hardworking side and the sensitive. From being nice and you will succeed. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 135 I am from no religion at all. We do not need God to love each other, respect each other and understand that we are all the same - Humans. I'm from Hortua Hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, potatoes and rice. From the land of the homeless guy quien te lleva si no te portas bien or the stray dog who takes you in the mouth if you are a bad guy. I am from Santa Librada, Monte Blanco, Bellavista neighborhood, Chicago and Toronto, walking by the lake and under the bridge, by the park, riding my bicycle and running 10km an hour, recording the street vendors - eating arepa con huevo. I am from this world, I am from this universe. But after all, I am who I am-a human being and I am from here trabajando por la justicia social - Con-razón. Tema B: Around the Macro-Social Aspect Número Mágico Maria José Solis Six is the magic number where my English language journey begins You see at six I was told that children learn English faster and that my mother shouldn’t worry Yet I spent time in the LRC room because “I just needed extra help” Yes, I needed extra help I needed someone to tell me that it was okay to write the word “because” by pronouncing it “be-ca-u-se” and please “ple-a-se" That my tongue needed to re-navigate and learn its new way home to pronounce your thanks, thinks and thoughts but what about my thoughts? That the word knife has a silent k and that silent k slowly stabs my accent away El acento de mis ancestros Mayas Y que ese acento se iba a desaparecer because my tongue found a new home Y cuando me preguntan where you from? Do I say Oregon? Merida? Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 136 Si digo que de Mérida, me responden “Mare, hija pero tú no hablas como yucateca” Pero si uso palabras mayas en lugar del español me dicen eso no es español. Oh, wow que bien hablas el inglés pensaría que eres nacida aquí ni acento tienes Now you got me reading articles from Academic Language to Language Architecture: Challenging Raciolinguistics Ideologies in Research and Practice Like my life research navigating through these grammatical rules between academic English and my Spanish somehow, does not qualify me as an academic source when talking about language acquisition. That before translanguaging was a “thing” I used it in the classroom and teachers would say “how does your mind work that way, you should stick to just writing in English you’ll learn faster”. That interpreting at my school conferences, mi abuela’s doctor’s appointments I still lacked the “academic English vocabulary to comprehend content area texts” You mean to tell me that I have to learn from Krashen, Flores, Lightbow, Spada, and Norton about language acquisition on what it’s like for an Emergent Bilingual in a classroom so I can become a better teacher to them? You see at six, my language journey began. My English and Spanish do a beautiful dance where they become one My tongue may forget at times which direction home is by mispronouncing words but children will see that their teacher speaks like them. While we have been taught to subscribe to this linguistic colonization we need to remember to make the student’s native languages as valuable as their academic English. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 137 Ventanas, Significados y Abrazos Yuliana Kenfield Las escuelas sienten débiles sus ventanas, vibran sus marcos/ entran a las aulas las lecciones de las madres, de las fruteras, de los ambulantes, Someone shouts out occupy your public schools, decolonize your mind Entran las lecciones desde las calles. ¿Q’alapata para dónde vas? Entran las voces y los vientres que traen de vuelta las gargantas de las y los bisabuelos. Aterrizan en la mente la memoria social de los pueblos Translenguando, desgranando generaciones y conciencias Ama sua, ama qella, ama llulla Translenguando, quechuañol hablando Translenguar, una manera de respirar, palpitando Spanglish. Minoritized doesn’t mean insignificant Que calle no significa que acepte Las palabras construyen abrazos, entregan significados urgentes para las y los bisnietas. Figure 3 The Cusco’s community supporting teachers’ strike for quality intercultural bilingual education. Y. Kenfield, 2017. Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 138 This photo relates to the poem Ventanas Significados y Abrazos as it exposes la exigencia de las madres, padres, y educadores que tienen que ir a la ciudad para reclamar una educación de calidad que a veces no llega a su comunidad rural. Los discursos políticos se llenan de promesas de una educación que se vigorice de los conocimientos quechuas while in practice often colonizing frameworks are reproduced in schooling, ashka suwakuna gobiernonisqapi. Indigenous Girl Samibah Straits Being Native is not easy, especially when I am with English-speaking kids who do not speak Spanish ... ¡como yo! Soy casi la única chica que habla español. There are no Diné-speaking kids like me. Most of the Diné cannot speak as fluently because they do not ask to learn or practice. It is hard to be brown when there are people who do not appreciate us being who we are as brown people. I am the only person in this school who speaks Quechua. My people’s lands have been taken by others, their traditions are stolen their history, treasure and songs are gone. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 139 Many Tongues’ Truths Kee Straits A veces siento que tengo half a tongue fumbling and tripping from the words I was raised in (now representing forced assimilation) a otro lenguaje de natalidad y reclamación (también con historia de colonización) Then toddling into tongues of Indigeneity Runasimiy, noqa Qosqomanta kani A high school year living abroad... My brown skin, long thick braids and convexly curving nose told the man on a German street corner that I should speak Spanish… and be poor Aber ich habe so gut Deutsch gelernt dass ich meine erste Sprache (Englisch) vergessen habt And my English-only mother, so glad to have me back home, soon found my tongue’s memory unconsciously roamed With each language, a different set of realities distinctly expressing cultural experiences that I pass on to my daughter who has a Navajo father And she’s learned to speak Diné “Ya'at'eeh Shik'ei doo Shidine'e” says she then transitions to Quechua smoothly “Allillanchu, imanallan kashanki?” Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 140 Often when my grammar fails Y me faltan las palabras I become unanchored, set adrift Ni en un lenguaje nor in the (m)other tongue No culture or community do I belong among but then I realize the power of periphery, cruzando fronteras with translanguaging My family forges unity as our future’s foundation Our many tongues’ truths express the heart of one human nation. Where Do I Belong? Joseph Garcia My first words as a boy were bidi bidi bom bom, an onomatopoeia turned mantra. Yet, I didn’t speak until five years-old, cultivating the code-switching culture of the cloth I was cut from. The only brown bean in a pot of peeled cashews, I struggled finding kids like me in school. A dónde pertenezco? Literature I read showed me villains I was expected to become - with White saviors being my idol of Worship. A dónde pertenezco? My private school deemed upper echelon and standard - Spanish was an accessory. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 141 “We speak English, here,” I was once told. I saw my skin fade in the mirror, my eyes turned blue with contacts and bank account empty supporting light brown hair combatting my black strands. I did not need representation when I saw the best version of myself, already. A dónde pertenezco? I turned away from my heritage, culture, and self-worth for the sake of satisfying those who would never know my pain of alienation...alien. My olive skin glistens in sunlight, I acknowledge the shimmer of the black arm hairs. My brown eyes melt like velvet chocolate in rays of yellow beams. I have learned to love myself at 22, for a Tejano inside...loves me. Tema C: Tensiones al Navegar Nuevos Espacios y Gargantas Culturales Brown Means Café Yecid Ortega Brown means café and café means coffee. I love coffee…black coffee from the land que me vio nacer. Yes, you all know the little brown looking dude. Yes, I am Latino, latinx or what whatever es. But what you don’t know is that I was born … I was burnT out of the ashes of violence Struggle / DeaTh Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 142 Y la miseria de lo indígena and social justice warriors in Colombia In my veins corre el dolor de la maldad…la ignorancia and the exploitation of all the corrupted countries from the global North and South South…is where I am heading when I ride my bicycle and I see all the homeless people in the streets to TO…. Yes, because I am a Latino…latinx or whatever es…. I have an accent…but I do not care…cause I care about others… where are you really from? the white dude asks every time I go to the coffee shop or the hipster dive bar I answer…of course I have an accent. I lived in Colombia with an O not Columbia…for almost 20 years…there is where I picked up the accent… But I don’t care because If I fake my accent, I would sound fake…not like you who have a fake life, full of fake dreams stolen from the land you live today…. My fellow latinx have travelled thousands of miles or should I say kilometres …to suffer the snow, the poutine, the curling, the hockey, the Bluejays and the raptors…to get a job as cleaners…with high degrees…they are engineers, doctors…nurses…. accountants…and you… Yes, you only see an accent in a brown body… I rather recommend you go ahead and get your brownie… take your coffee to-go and pretend you care… because that is how white privilege looks, sounds, and behaves… I don’t care…I don’t see race…I don’t see color…that is what you say But here I am ...I am brown…. I am a Latino…latinx or whatever es…. Sin justicia no hay paz y sin paz no hay vida Eres mi vida. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 143 Figure 4 Scholarship roots of my Brown body. Ortega (2021) The photo represents my scholarship and commitment to social justice as infused by the Colombian coffee I drink every morning as a symbol of strength and connection with campesinos and coffee growers from my native land. Allin Samari…tano Ramiro Moreyra Portilla Dejando su huch’uy llaqta, un buen hombre vino aQosqo, hatun llaqta; kaqmanta en nombre de su comunidad… kaqmantapor unos papeleos. Llakiyllaña camina él; recordando lo que su abogado le repite sapa kuti: ‘Alégrate, jefe, todo va a salir bien… allillanmiestán los billetes; gracias’; pero él piensa: ¡Mana allinchu que esto años dure, mana allinchu, ca...! Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 144 ‘La Le es la Ley’ niwanku; ichaqa, ¿por qué estos asuntos muy difícil son? ¿Por qué misti juez como nosotros, llaqtarunas, problemas no resolver? Runakunaqa rimaspalla imatapas allchayku, nuestra palabra no más es. Manan mikhuyta munanichu, sumaqchicharronchata muskishas…papas. Un ratito me descansaré… Kaypi tiyaspaqa, en total paz me lo siento yo. ¿Será que kay uhupiqa algo poderoso hay… como Wiraqocha Cura dice? Así, a pie hasta la carretera y en carro hasta el pie del sacro Qorikancha, velando por los suyos… llegó al grandioso corazón de los cuatro suyos… Figure 5 Allin smari… tano. En el templo de Qorikancha / Santo Domingo, Cusco. R. Moreyra Portilla, 2013. En la fotografía se halla un hombre que sentado y apoyado a la base de una columna descansa en el frontis del templo católico de santo Domingo, el cual fue construido sobre el templo inka llamado hoy Qorikancha, que fuera tomada el 14 de enero de 2013 y publicada el 24 de octubre del mismo año con el título “Allin Samari…tano” translenguando quechua y Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 145 español; “Allin samari” quiere decir “Buen Descanso” en quechua; “AllinSamaritano” quiere decir “El Buen Samaritano”. Poets Bios and Final Words Yuliana Kenfield: Me llamo Yuliana y ante todo me identifico como Surandina, nací en Cusco, Perú, donde se hablan varios idiomas y hay un alto grado de bilingüismo entre el quechua y castellano. Recientemente mi cargo laboral es de funcionaria pública como directora estatal de educación migrante de Oregón. I am a former licensed bilingual teacher in the SouthWest as well as an immigration paralegal and translator. Más que todo la diversidad de estudiantes bilingües en las aulas de primaria me inspiró a luego comprometerme a capacitar future bilingual teachers. I became involved in this poetry project cuando trabajaba on collective sociolinguistic self-explorations with pre-service bilingual teachers around culturally responsive praxis at the Western Oregon University. Como Qosqoruna y trabajadora con comunidades multilingües, en particular con maestros de educación multicultural, tengo una pasión por involucrarme en proyectos sociales o educacionales que persigan la democratización del conocimiento y liberen de ideologías opresoras. Desde que era wawa he hallado en la poesía una excusa sanadora ya que me empuja a un paréntesis autoreflexivo beyond los discursos que consumo. Once I learned that poetry was welcomed in this journal I promptly saw the opportunity to collectively reflect and heal through poetry around. Collaborating with others en este específico proyecto alrededor del translenguar he sentido una danza sanadora con los demás autores. Más que catarsis, al escribir y trenzar colectivamente poesía, I wanted to uplift each other, voces translenguadas. Yecid Ortega: Yecid Ortega es mi nombre y tengo más de 20 años en el campo de la educación de lenguas en Colombia, USA y Canada. As an educator and researcher, I have worked with teachers advocating for bilingual education and valuing the diversity of languages in the classroom by adopting a plurilingual approach and using translanguaging as a pedagogical tool to use languages with meaningful purposes. In my spare time, escribo poesía experimental y espoken guord donde utilizo varias formas de usar el lenguaje in English and Español as they are my main languages. Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 146 The poems in this collection reflect my personal experiences and my identity as a latinx mestizo immigrant to North America. As I write this poetry, I experience a sense of belonging and freedom. I use it as a platform or springboard to amplify my voice, to express who I am as I am reconnecting with my heritage and my roots. Maricela Xuncax Lazo: Me llamo Maricela y soy una estudiante de primera generación quien ha tenido el privilegio de haber tenido una educación bilingüe: desde el kinder hasta la universidad. Me dedico a enseñar a estudiantes bilingües en la primaria y soy apasionada por la importancia de la representación en el campo de la educación y el soporte necesario de estudiantes “bilingües emergentes.” También soy artista que se especializa en pintura acrílica con un enfoque en los temas de conservación de cultura e idiomas indígenas de parte de mi familia de México y Guatemala, Mi perspectiva del “translenguar” es que es una manera de “decolonizing” nuestros idiomas y aceptar que tan diversas son nuestros idiomas, y fortalecer nuestras identidades como ciudadanos de EE.UU. Mi filosofía pedagógica es ser un mentor para estos estudiantes, a quienes veo como reflexiones de mi familia y yo, para que ellos se sienten empoderados por ser bilingües. Estos estudiantes son nuestros líderes futuros y son capaces de luchar por sus valores y lo que ven que es correcto. “Creciendo con mis dos idiomas” es un reflejo de mis luchas internas y como el “translanguaging” me ayudó con mi crecimiento personal. De niña, yo era tímida y batallaba con tener confianza propia. En la primaria, los idiomas de español e inglés fueron claramente segregados. Si “translenguamos”, fue considerado incorrecto o académico. Como resultado, me fui distanciando del idioma del español. No fue hasta la secundaria cuando me fui acostumbrando a translenguar con mis compañeros y en mis tareas. La mejor parte fue que el “translenguar” no fue considerado “no académico'' por mis profesores que enseñaban en español. De hecho, nos animaban a mezclar nuestros idiomas. En el proceso, supere la confianza en mis habilidades bilingües y en mí mismo. Igual me ayudó a conectarme con mi comunidad y poder participar y tener un rol de liderazgo. Yo quiero que el lector se refleje con sus propias experiencias y raíces, como fueron enriquecidos con el “translenguar'' y les han empoderado a ser la persona que son hoy en día y que podrán lograr ser en el futuro. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 147 Ramiro Moreyra Portilla: Empecé a escribir poesía en el colegio, aunque solamente en idioma castellano, no obstante ser yo quechuahablantenato; pues, no usé ese idioma en mi educación ni nadie me incentivó a crear textos en quechua… eran otros tiempos. Comencé a fotografiar siendo universitario en la ciudad del Cusco, en película; pero, ya en la adultez publiqué mis fotos digitales en internet, en la red social Flickr, poniéndole títulos en español, quechua y otros idiomas; pero, destacan varios con redacción mezclada entre quechua y español, caso que recién este 2021 me entero se le conoce como translenguar, porque nosotros a este fenómeno lingüístico llamamos cotidianamente quechuañol, espanglish, etc. Maria José Solis: Mi nombre es Maria José Solis, y soy nacida en Mérida, Yucatán, México donde aprendí hablar español y algunas palabras mayas. I learned to speak English at the age of six when I moved to Oregon. My love of teaching started eight years ago when I became employed at an elementary school as a bilingual secretary; cuatro años después empezaría my journey académico como maestra bilingüe with a minor in English to speaker of other languages en Western Oregon University. I am a first generation student and a DACA recipient. I was given this opportunity to write a few poems by Professor Yuliana Kenfield; I knew I had to take this opportunity and express part of my linguistic journey and memories of my motherland. As an Emergent Bilingual I understand some of the experiences students might be going through y translenguar es una manera que une culturas y lenguajes. In poem, “Sunshine of my Childhood,” is about my transition from coming from a place that was bright yearlong and simulating the gloominess of Oregon weather. How the rain became everything I have known. In some ways it touches on translanguaging because one learns to adjust to a new type of style of speaking or new words yet deep down there is always use for el idioma materno de uno. “Numero Magico” plays an homage to the thousands of Emergent Bilinguals like myself who grew up in a time when interpreters were not available and as a kid, I grew up translating for mi abuela. It touches on how being in college I have learned about my own experiences in K-12 education from academic sources, studies and scholars that somehow we always forget that some of us have lived it. I was told that using both languages as a child Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 148 was not correct or proper and now it is something we nourish and cherish in classroom that are multilingual. Kee Straits & Sami Straits: I am a bilingual Indigenous Latina licensed clinical psychologist with a master’s degree from the University of New Mexico and a doctoral degree from Utah State University. I am the founder and CEO of a consulting business, TLC Transformations. I also took on a position as the Director of Equity, Community and Culture at Bosque School, a 6th-12th college preparatory school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In order to understand my views on language and translanguaging, it would be important to know that I was born in Perú, adopted into the USA as a baby and grew up in an English- speaking environment. My only exposure to Spanish as a child was through school classrooms. I excelled academically in language learning (reading and writing exercises), but I could not use Spanish in authentic contexts. In addition, I recollect having primarily White Spanish teachers who were not native speakers. I battled my own emotional relationship with Spanish because I knew my outward appearance signaled to others that I should be fluent in Spanish when I was not. I deeply desired to speak Spanish as the language of my birth country, but my tongue would not remember. Y por primera vez, me conecté con lenguas indígenas en mi alrededor, abrazándome. Ayllu, ñañay, minka, chakra, waway, warmi, … aprendí la palabra ayni, no en libros, pero por ser testiga y participante en el proceso, reparando un techo de una familia con la ayuda de la comunidad. I lived in communities with bilingual schools (Quichua-Spanish, Kofan-Spanish) and learned from the community members themselves, as well as grassroots Indigenous groups how hard they fought to shift the system to bilingual education. Since then, in my work on health, mental health, and educational disparities with Indigenous and Latinx communities in the USA, I support community-led approaches that center community languages and modes of expression as imperative to achieving equity. Trenzando Poetry Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 149 Además que eso, cuando adopté a mi hijita, Samibah Straits que también es de Perú, el castellano cesó de ser un segundo lenguaje porque su reclamación adentro de nuestro hogar y su conexión a emociones profundos de amor entre mi familia lo convirtió a una lengua de corazón, igual como Quechua (a language my daughter and I are reclaiming together) y Navajo (the first language of my husband). Translanguaging is an expression of dynamic cultural vitality, reclamation, creation and future thrivance. What I most hope the reader feels from my poem is how deeply rooted our languages are to our experiences, our families, communities, histories and to both our self-love and community-love. The story behind the poem of my daughter Sami, Maria-Fernanda Samibah Straits (Quechua/Navajo) is an eleven-year-old 6th grade student at Bosque School in Albuquerque. She wrote and illustrated several unpublished stories: The Pegasus and the Serpent; Mi Viaje a Cuba; My Vacation to Seattle; and La Guerrera. Her book, All About Guinea Pigs, won her 4-H Grand Champion at the New Mexico State Fair. Twice, she placed first in her grade for reciting poetry in Spanish. She represented her school at a citywide presentation, Poesía Eres Tú. Samibah says, "Writing makes me imagine things as if I were taken from one place to another like magic." She is an avid reader, pianist, and animal-lover. When I was offered to write a poem, I thought to myself that maybe I should do a poem about my people and how many similarities there are in both Quechua and Dineh tribes. I was able to explain a little bit about Quechua and Dineh people. I want the readers to understand how much we suffer by how much we lost to colonization. It was helpful to me to release all the sadness, worry and pain for the brown community. I wrote it in English and Spanish to explain how lucky we are to be bilingual, the few of us who are. The consequences of not asking or even trying to speak our native language, whether it is English or Spanish, causes disruption between us. Many people have forgotten su lengua natal. I was trying to bring back Spanish to those who can understand but do not care to speak. I use English to bring both communities together. I love to mix in both to show that all beings are sacred. Kenfield, Xuncax Lazo, Solis, Ortega, Straits, Straits, García, & Moreyra Portilla Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 150 References Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza. Spinsters/Aunt Lute. García, O. 2009. Bilingual education in the 21st century. A global perspective. Wiley-Blackwell. Grosjean, F. (1989). Neurolinguists, beware! The bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. Brain and language, 36(1), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(89)90048-5 Hornberger, N. H. (Ed.). (2003). Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings (Vol. 41). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596568 National Center for Education Statistics, 2018. The condition of education 2018 [online]. Washington, DC. Available from: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pdf [Accessed 30 October 2019] Valdés, G. (2001). Heritage Language Students: Profiles and Possibilities. In J. Peyton, J. Ranard & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage Languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 37- 80). McHenry, IL: The Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems co. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(89)90048-5 https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596568 https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pdf Figure 1 I am – Yo soy Yecid Ortega I am from the spoon I love to eat from, from tofu and broccoli and Country Harvest $3.50 bread. I am from the cold, mountainous and busy city. I am from the grass, the dandelion and the leaves. I am from no tradition and humble, from the Paez and Chibcha Indigenous people and sometimes Ortega’s from Spain. I am from the hardworking side and the sensitive. From being nice and you will succeed. I am from no religion at all. We do not need God to love each other, respect each other and understand that we are all the same - Humans. I'm from Hortua Hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, potatoes and rice. From the land of the homeless guy quien te lleva si no te portas bien or the stray dog who takes you in the mouth if you are a bad guy. I am from Santa Librada, Monte Blanco, Bellavista neighborhood, Chicago and Toronto, walking by the lake and under the bridge, by the park, riding my bicycle and running 10km an hour, recording the street vendors - eating arepa con huevo. I am from this world, I am from this universe. But after all, I am who I am-a human being and I am from here trabajando por la justicia social - Con-razón. Brown Means Café Yecid Ortega