- “This is one story: When my family moved to Calumet City, I knew I did not belong. How did I know? My parents brought me to the local preschool facility where the preschool promptly rejected my application into the school. The preschool did not have anyone on staff who spoke Spanish well enough to help me attend classes.” This would be an unfortunate event at such a young age . Thinking you don’t belong somewhere because there was no one like you in that place so you get rejected.
- “I needed to read books by Sandra Cisneros, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Benjamin Alire Saénz, Luis Alberto Urrea, Ana Castillo, Javier O. Huerta, Denise Chávez and other Chicanx writers. I needed to read books by Latinx authors.” I can appreciate that Olivarez wanted to read what his people created and also put their names because they might not be getting the recognition they deserve.
- “Here is a fact: The United States went to war with Mexico in 1846. One story says the U.S. soldiers were heroes. One story says the United States was a winner and México was a loser. / …. /One story says México suffered terrorist aggression from an imperial state. One story says México didn’t lose—it was robbed. One story says both México and the United States have illegitimate claims to govern in North America. One story says we were poor before the war and we were poor after. Spanish or English. The mouth is still hungry.” It’s good to see the point of views from the opposite perspective. It shows that not everything was as simple as I win, you lose, situation. People suffered because of the war and it was affecting Mexico greatly and it also showed that America isn’t always as great as it is said to be.
- “Maybe I could write the stories I was craving to read. Maybe I could save myself by writing.” A lot of people would complain that specific minorities don’t get enough representation in what they read. Unlike them, Olivarez chose to make his own stories that he loves to read and I’m glad that he found what he wants to represent for himself.
- “I didn’t want to write poems that moralized the issues of young people. I wanted to write poems that confronted the questions I felt as a teen. I wanted to write poems in a way that might give a young person in similar circumstances some comfort. I hoped my poems would be used to write new poems and to launch a million more stories.” He wanted to make his poems relatable, something that people would love to read and share. He hoped that it would make people like him create poems just like his so everyone has something comforting to read.
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Excellent annotations, Donovan!