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Susto Callado

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I am not sure if I would've liked to read La Frontera before my trip to la frontera or afterwards. Nevertheless, this is an irreplaceable piece of work that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Anzaldua's courage to voice and publish her struggles is enlightening and comforting. Her rich language and sentences reach out to me and caress a younger me. As a native Spanish speaker, I can understand why she did not translate so much of the text in her book. She has quite a talent for incorporating her Spanish without it seeming forced, as I opine some authors can do.

Having come from the border recently with my mouth wide open and my heart heavy, it adds to my frustration to read lines such as "caught between being treated as criminals and being able to eat" (p. 34). This is what I heard at the border myself. If there is anything to be said about truths or Truths, this is it, unquestionably the situation that, 20 years later, continues to haunt and drive our brothers and sisters trying to return to a land once rightfully theirs. People are screaming, but they are not screaming loud enough because they don't have their other half. Before we concentrate on screaming to policymakers, we have to come together, as we once were and take on the issue. Racism continues to rule the hearts of people on both sides, only few have been able to break this barrier and hold hands and fight as brothers/sisters. Reform, our present goal, will not be reached until we hold hands across the border and fight together. How can we stand by as our brother/sister is dying of hunger and shame as he/she tries to come home? Anzaldua talks about susto and explains it very nicely as "the soul frightened out of the body" (p.70). Part of my daily vernacular, I never thought about the deep meaning of susto. This is what I experience when I think of the faces of the migrants I dined with and read the policies our government produces in attempt to keep our brother/sister out.

Anzaldua brought the people I met in Mexico back to my face. I thank her for that. But more importantly, she brought me back to my face. How to bring that out of my mouth is the next journey.

"'Knowing' is painful because after 'it' happens I can't stay in the same place and be comfortable. I am no longer the same person as I was before" (p. 70).

Comments

Shaunak Sastry said…
Vicky, I love this post. It's so earnest. I am sure the border experience was intense and I'm sure it will stay with you for some time to come!
March 28, 2010 at 4:46 PM
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