Mi Gente…Here is a piece I wrote in 1996, has become a favorite to perform when I l would lecture on the college circuit…
This is the poem that started it all… literally the first poem I posted in the original version of Sofrito For Your Soul in 1997.
Buen provecho!
As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro
True Boricua
What’s up with you?
Don’t get mad at me and say that I’m not down,
Que yo no soy Boricua.
Don’t tell me that I don’t represent
When you don’t know what you are representing.
You say I don’t keep it real because my
Pants don’t hang low and I choose not to
Drink 40’s and smoke blunts
With you on the same corner I saw you on…
The last time I saw you…
You tell them I’m not down and
For once in your life you’re right,
Because while you choose to dwell
With your ill fated friends drowning in
Ignorance,
I am representing.
I am representing
Borinquen.
That’s right my motherland. On you thought
Boricua meant PuertoRican homeboy?
Hold up, let me break down what a
Boricua really is.
A true Boricua is one
Who learns about his culture,
Past and present, embracing it because he knows
He has lost so much already.
He keeps it real by educating himself.
He acknowledges the Afrikan shadow of his Taino
Soul and recognizes the oppression, devastation
And near elimination of his roots.
He can never forget that, but he won’t let
That get in the way of his progress by blaming
The slave masters 500 years later…
He knows it’s time to move on.
A true Boricua knows
His responsibility as a father and mentor to his
Children by sharing lifetime experience
And giving them mental strength.
A true Boricua sees
The ills and faults of his own people and
Understands that only through unity,
Education and caribeño family
Values is he going not be able to teach
His children not to represent ignorance
And be tolerant of the mental ploys that
Have kept our tribe
Down for so long.
A true Boricua keeps it real
By recognizing the strength, loyalty and
Determination of his female counterpart.
He respects the fact that she is,
Has and always will be our backbone.
She has kept us together and
Taken us so far for so long…
But don’t be surprised she is a natural
Born leader, for your information,
Taino women were caciques too.
So you see mi hermano,
Being Boricua is not about being down, it’s about
Elevating yourself to what our people were
Before we were attacked, before we were raped
And before we were robbed of our native
Tongue, culture
And peace of mind.
Yo, look at the time,
I have to get up early for work.
Peace, oh yeah keep it real!!
As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro
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Sofrito For Your Soul Media