{"id":8596,"date":"2020-06-14T21:33:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T21:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/?p=5536"},"modified":"2020-06-14T21:33:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T21:33:03","slug":"black-lives-matter-in-the-revolution-of-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/06\/14\/black-lives-matter-in-the-revolution-of-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Lives Matter in the Revolution of the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/literary-dialogs-with-nina-serrano\/\">Literary Dialogs with Nina Serrano<\/a> featuring Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez<\/h3>\n<p>Rafael reads two poems, each in English and Spanish: <em>Wake Up U.S. America!\/\u00a1Despierta EE.UU. Am\u00e9rica!<\/em> and <em>The Moon Masks Herself\/La luna se enmascara,<\/em> followed by the poets conversation about Black Lives Matter in the Revolution of the Heart in the post pandemic world to come. English and Spanish subtitles are available on the video settings button.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qygm062ugzw\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rjgonzalez.blogspot.com\/\">Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> has always been the <a href=\"http:\/\/rjgonzalez.blogspot.com\/2017\/09\/1st-poet-laureate-of-berkeley.html\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">poet laureate of Berkeley<\/a> for me, long before he was appointed in 2017. As a multimedia producer, I often called on him for poems and interviews with a spiritual take on nuclear disarmament, world peace, equal rights, Chicano history, environmentalism, and the love of Mother Earth. He always has a lot to say about the moon too, on a monthly basis, which earns him a place in the my feminist lexicon. As an activist poet he has spent time in Santa Rita jail for protesting the war machine. As a graphic artist his altars and other artistic works are exhibited in the Oakland Museum. And when he was a professor at Laney College, he struggled for and established the Mexican and Latin American studies department.<\/p>\n<p>I first encountered Rafael in 1969, when we both appeared in the same poetry anthology, \u201cMark in Time\u201d, published by Glide Press, which was the first time I was included in an anthology of San Francisco poets.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_5543\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5543\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-5543 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-Mark-in-Time-small-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez, 1969. From Mark In Time published by Glide Press.\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-Mark-in-Time-small-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-Mark-in-Time-small-107x150.jpg 107w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-Mark-in-Time-small.jpg 358w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez, 1969. From Mark In Time published by Glide Press.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_5542\" style=\"width: 263px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5542\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-5542 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-Mark-in-Time-small-253x300.jpg\" alt=\"Nina Serrano, 1969. From Mark In Time published by Glide Press.\" width=\"253\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-Mark-in-Time-small-253x300.jpg 253w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-Mark-in-Time-small-126x150.jpg 126w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-Mark-in-Time-small.jpg 421w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5542\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nina Serrano, 1969. From Mark In Time published by Glide Press.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Rafael is still the same man who you see in this interview 51 years later, kind, friendly, full of intelligence, laughter, passion, activism, and cosmology that ties him to Mother Earth. While I studied for my Master&#8217;s Degree (class of 2002) at the Oakland campus of Naropa University, Rafael was on the Board of Directors trying to keep the University of Creation Spirituality afloat with its art based education and spiritual curriculum.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_5545\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5545\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-5545 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-screen-shot-300x241.jpg\" alt=\"Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez, Screen shot from video, 2020.\" width=\"300\" height=\"241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-screen-shot-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-screen-shot-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-screen-shot-768x617.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-screen-shot-373x300.jpg 373w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rafael-screen-shot.jpg 854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez, Screen shot from video, 2020.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_5544\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5544\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-5544 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-screen-shot-300x258.jpg\" alt=\"Nina Serrano, Screen shot from video, 2020.\" width=\"300\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-screen-shot-300x258.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-screen-shot-150x129.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-screen-shot-349x300.jpg 349w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nina-screen-shot.jpg 722w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5544\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nina Serrano, Screen shot from video, 2020.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Our regular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/search\/top\/?q=la%20raza%20chronicles&amp;epa=SEARCH_BOX\">KPFA-fm radio program, La Raza Chronicles,<\/a> has always turned to Rafael for the most advanced and profound thinking on events in the Latinx world. He has always promoted bilingualism demanding that any poem of his read in public or published in print be included in both Spanish and English. He is truly the product of a border town with fluid movement between the two countries and the two cultures, the twin cities: El Paso, Texas, USA and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>When I visited him in Berkeley I should not have been surprised that his house straddled the Oakland Berkeley border. I cannot remember if the cozy kitchen was in Berkeley and the wood lined living room in Oakland or if it was the reverse. My best memory of his home was the garden, with wild and fragrant plants. I think it is in his garden that his ideas incubate and blossom.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4781\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4781\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4781 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/universal-earth-justice-peace-fl-150x113.jpg\" alt=\"Universal Earth Justice Peace flag by Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez\" width=\"150\" height=\"113\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/universal-earth-justice-peace-fl-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/universal-earth-justice-peace-fl-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/universal-earth-justice-peace-fl-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/universal-earth-justice-peace-fl.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4781\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Universal Earth Justice Peace flag by Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>In my own home, you can find Rafael&#8217;s colorfully designed <a href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/universal-earth-justice-peace-flag-and-button\/\">Universal Earth Justice Peace flag and buttons<\/a>. I also treasure the earrings he&#8217;s made and the little Spanish scrolled sewing scissors and thimble he brought me from Toledo.<\/p>\n<p>Below you will find the poems presented in the video.<\/p>\n<h3>\u00a1Despierta EE.UU. Am\u00e9rica!<\/h3>\n<p>Cuando un jugador de pelota se hinca sobre la hierba<br \/>\npara protestar por la justicia cuando se toca<br \/>\nuna canci\u00f3n de cantina hecha sagrada, se le denigra<br \/>\ny despide. Pero cuando la polic\u00eda ponen la rodilla<br \/>\nal cuello de sus v\u00edctimas o les disparan<br \/>\nm\u00e1s veces que no se le llama<br \/>\n&amp;quot;Cumpliendo su deber.&amp;quot; \u00bfNo vemos<br \/>\nporque dormimos o somos ciegos<br \/>\ncomo nos gusta representar a la justicia?<br \/>\nQuit\u00e9mosle la venda de los ojos para que vea<br \/>\nque su b\u00e1scula est\u00e1 fuera de balance,<br \/>\nque no es dalt\u00f3nica y si lo es<br \/>\nque lo corrija. En la visi\u00f3n del Tao<br \/>\nlo negro y lo blanco son equivalentes, uno no m\u00e1s<br \/>\nde valor que el otro pero su b\u00e1scula<br \/>\nse desequilibra a favor de lo blanco, todo matiz de negro<br \/>\nno contando por mucho. \u00bfSer\u00e1 porque dormimos?<br \/>\nSi solamente es que dormimos \u00a1Despierta EE.UU. Am\u00e9rica!<br \/>\nSi es que nos negamos a ver \u00a1Que nos ayuden los dioses!<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez 2020<\/p>\n<h3>Wake Up U.S. America!<\/h3>\n<p>When a ball player kneels upon the turf<br \/>\nto protest for justice when a bar-room song<br \/>\nmade sacred is played, he is vilified<br \/>\n&amp;amp; fired. But when police take their knees<br \/>\nto the necks of their victims or shoot them<br \/>\nmore often than not it is called<br \/>\n&amp;quot;In the line of duty.&amp;quot; Do we not see<br \/>\nbecause we sleep or are we blind<br \/>\nlike we like to portray justice?<br \/>\nUnbind her eyes that she may see<br \/>\nthat her scales are out of balance,<br \/>\nthat she is not color-blind &amp;amp; if she is<br \/>\nto correct it. In the vision of the Tao<br \/>\nblack &amp;amp; white are equal, one no more<br \/>\nof value than the other but her scales<br \/>\nare weighted to the white, all shades of black<br \/>\nnot counting for much. Is it because we sleep?<br \/>\nIf it is only sleep, Wake up U.S. America!<br \/>\nIf it is that we refuse to see, may the gods help us.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez 2020<\/p>\n<h3>La luna se enmascara<\/h3>\n<p>Prep\u00e1rense, un amigo astr\u00f3logo nos dice, a que la luna esta noche se enmascare con<br \/>\na sombra de la tierra. El primer eclipse lunar del a\u00f1o pronto sigui\u00f3 la conjunci\u00f3n de<br \/>\nSaturno (padre de dioses, del tiempo, de la generaci\u00f3n, disoluci\u00f3n, renovaci\u00f3n,<br \/>\nliberaci\u00f3n) y Pluto (acumulador de riqueza, rey del inframundo), ocurrencia de una vez<br \/>\ncada treinta y ocho a\u00f1os.<\/p>\n<p>En ese momento escribi\u00f3: S\u00ed, estamos comprometidos. Grandes cambios est\u00e1n sobre<br \/>\nnosotros. Ha llegado el tiempo para la trasformaci\u00f3n . . . Los eclipses son presagio de<br \/>\nla revelaci\u00f3n cuando el contenido de las sombras se hace m\u00e1s visible. Esto anuncia un<br \/>\nmomento de gran cambio donde el mundo se sacude, se sacude para que despierte.<br \/>\nTres eclipses seguidos en vez de dos en este ciclo de eclipses, nota. Y despertamos.<br \/>\nAislados en nuestras casas por la pandemia, la amenaza de la otra pestilencia del<br \/>\nfascismo nos saca a muchos de nuestros refugios a riesgo de contagio. \u00bfCual es peor?<br \/>\nCercado en una gran casa blanca el jefe demagogo plutocr\u00e1tico 45 exige toques de<br \/>\nqueda y amenaza llamar al ej\u00e9rcito para aplastar toda protesta. Pero, advierte Naomi,<br \/>\n&#8220;Cuando dicen que no tenemos el derecho a protestar, ese es el momento de inundar<br \/>\nlas calles&#8221; Y muchos sabemos que as\u00ed es. Nuestras vidas est\u00e1n a riesgo y no<br \/>\nsolamente por un virus coronado.<\/p>\n<p>Venus, la Serpiente Emplumada se prepara a sacrificarse en la fogata del sol para<br \/>\nsurgir de nuevo siete d\u00edas despu\u00e9s como Se\u00f1or del Amanecer; comienza un ciclo de<br \/>\n584 d\u00edas. \u00bfEn 584 d\u00edas hasta donde llevaremos nuestra revoluci\u00f3n, nuestra revoluci\u00f3n<br \/>\nandara?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez 2020<\/p>\n<h3>The Moon Masks Herself<\/h3>\n<p>Prepare, an astrologer friend tells us, for the moon tonight to mask herself in the<br \/>\nEarth&#8217;s shadow. The first lunar eclipse of the year followed fast upon the conjunction of<br \/>\nSaturn (father of gods, of time, of generation, dissolution, renewal, liberation) and Pluto<br \/>\n(hoarder of wealth, king of the underworld), a once every thirty-eight years occurrence.<br \/>\nAt that time he wrote: Yes, we\u2019re in for it. Great changes are upon us. The time for<br \/>\ntransformation has arrived. . . Eclipses are harbingers of exposure, when shadow<br \/>\ncontents become more visible. This heralds a time of great change, where our world is<br \/>\nshaken up, shaken in order to awaken.<\/p>\n<p>Three eclipses in a row rather than two in this eclipse cycle, he notes. And we awaken.<br \/>\nSequestered in our houses by the pandemic, the threat of the other pestilence of<br \/>\nfascism draws many of us from our shelters at the risk of contagion. Which is the worst?<br \/>\nFenced in a big white house, chief plutocratic demagogue 45 demands curfews and<br \/>\nthreatens to call the army to squelch all protest. But, says Naomi, &#8220;When they say we<br \/>\ndon&#8217;t have the right to protest, that is the moment to flood the streets.&#8221; And many<br \/>\nof us know it to be so. Our lives are at stake and not only from a crowned virus.<\/p>\n<p>Venus, the Plumed Serpent prepares to immolate himself in the bonfire of the sun to<br \/>\nrise again seven days later as Lord of the Dawn; a 584-day cycle begins. How far in 584<br \/>\ndays will we take our revolution, our healing revolution?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez 2020<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/black-lives-matter-in-the-revolution-of-the-heart\/\">Black Lives Matter in the Revolution of the Heart<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/black-lives-matter-in-the-revolution-of-the-heart\/\">ninaserrano.com<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Literary Dialogs with Nina Serrano featuring Rafael Jes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez Rafael reads two poems, each in English and Spanish: Wake Up U.S. America!\/\u00a1Despierta EE.UU. Am\u00e9rica! and The Moon Masks Herself\/La luna se enmascara, followed by the poets conversation about Black Lives \u2026 <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/black-lives-matter-in-the-revolution-of-the-heart\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/black-lives-matter-in-the-revolution-of-the-heart\/\">Black Lives Matter in the Revolution of the Heart<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/ninaserrano.com\/\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":858,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2519,371,1303,2496,2492,2520,2521,2522,2523],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/858"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8597,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8596\/revisions\/8597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}