Teachings of a Chicano: 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Young Lady and the Fool

The young lady, said to the fool. “I’m not compromising my dignity and future over you Ese!” The fool replied, “What do you mean?” “You can’t even get a job and take care of yourself, so how in the world are you going to take care of me,” replied the young lady.

“I’ll get a job,” said the fool, just wait and see.” Yea right,” said the young lady, “when Hell freezes over!” “Es mas, I remember you said you were going to look for a job two years ago, and it seems like you’re still looking! Besides that, all you ever do is hang around with those lazy vatos you call homies!"

“The reason I hang out with my homies is because someday were going to make a big score and be set for life.” “Oh, you’ll be set for life alright, in the big house,” said the young lady. Then the young lady gave the kiss of death to the fool. “Sabes que, you’re almost twenty-four years old, and your parents are still buying you toilet paper, so what does that say about you Mr. Big shot?”

The young lady was fuming by now and angrily stormed off, but not before having a final say in the matter. “From now on you can hang with your bum friends all you want, because in my book you are history!” The fool was trying to save face in front of his homies, so he rattled off a quick putdown. “Don’t pay any attention to her locos, she’s just a fool Ese, and doesn’t know anything about real life or about how to achieve success, like I do! Now, how much change do we all have, maybe we have enough to get us a twelve pack!”

The moral of this story is: Never pay attention to a fool, because you will never achieve success in life if you do!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Old Man by the Road

There was once an old man sitting by the side of a dusty road. Nearby a man was beating up his wife. A young man happened to be walking by, and asked of the old man, “Why is he beating the woman he loves?” The old man replied, “Because he doesn’t love her!”

Then the old man said to the young fellow, “Look out upon the world and tell me what creatures you see?” To which the young man replied, “Only men, women, and animals.” That is correct said the old man, “There exist only men and women in the world, both equal in dominion; As far as this particular man beating his wife, he is one of the animals!”

In this parable, we see that everything in life is based upon mutual respect, and that to succeed in life we must treat others as we ourselves wish to be treated. Love and hate are two totally different energies, for how you treat the ones you love will show the entire world, just who you really are!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Power of Choice

Have you ever heard some young Chicano or Chicana say “Why do bad things always happen to me?” Well let’s get something straight from the get go. The majority of the bad things that happen to us in life occur because we caused them. Surprised? The choices we make each day reflect the condition and circumstances in which we find ourselves, for better, or for worse today.

The man who has a drinking or drug problem, the woman who allows herself to be physically, emotionally, and mentally abused by her spouse who swears he loves her dearly, or the teen who drops out of high school to seek a low wage job because he or she thinks that they will have “a greater command of life” with a little feria in their pockets. Each and every one of the situations above, are the result of the choices that we make in life. And the list goes on and on, endlessly spiraling to the bottom of life’s pyramid instead of to the spacious view at the top.

The man with the drug problem needs to grow up and quit acting like an irresponsible little baby! The woman who allows herself to be abused needs to wake up, and do some research as to what love and a good relationship is really all about! The teenagers, who want to work menial labor jobs, have to ask themselves, “Is this what I want to do with my life or do I want to finish school and then make some real money in the future?”

Each and every day, we are faced with choices which will affect not only our future health, happiness, and financial wellbeing but also that of the people in our lives whom we say we love! So with this in mind, we need to make the very best choices in life, and throw the rest in la basura!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Future of La Raza

Is this a conscious choice we must address?

Somewhere along the way, did we La Raza, take a wrong turn? We are all descendants of some of the most advanced civilizations in the History of the entire world. In us flows the blood of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses. Of brave warriors full of courage is our linage, but the question remains. Are we following our true destiny? What would our ancestors whom built the Aztec and Mayan civilizations pyramids, calendars and many other wonderful inventions, which in their time were even more sophisticated than those of the Europeans of that same time period think?

Teens dying in the streets from gang violence, while others are dying daily, from the wicked poisons made only to fatten the wallets of the drug dealers. Young girls selling themselves for the almighty dollar because they think they can do no better in life. Hispanic teens dropping out from schools, only to learn much later that without an education, career or trade, there is not much choice for them but to engage in low wage menial employment.

The time has come for La Raza, to make a collective choice. Even though many Mexican-Americans are moving towards achieving success in life, many others are still being left behind. This is not, the way it should be. We as a collective people must replace the voice of indecision now facing our youth with the voice of the certain assurance, that they can obtain the same level of success which our ancestors enjoyed, and therefore return La Raza to the splendor and wonder, which also awaits our youth through the acquisition of knowledge and of a higher education.