#37 De-Westernize Yourself

A country is not a country is not a State is not a Border

My whole life you have been taking, taking, taking, 

My whole life I’ve seen you take what isn’t yours, bring me all these promises, bring me your weariness, your fear, your reservations, your interests, your need for more, and more, and more.

My whole life you have been taking, taking, taking, 

Some people don’t understand what’s wrong. It’s complicated! It’s complicated! It seems that’s the only word they know. 

My whole life you have been taking, taking, taking, 

Demanding always more, never less, building and expanding and growing and forcing my hand to give you everything. Now I go to the immigration office with paperwork you gave me, you even gave my land a name, 

You took more and more and more and when you left you decided it wasn’t worth it any more. 

De-westernize yourself! I try to tell them, I try to show them the pain of it, the indignation, the way the inherited injustice burns in my chest every time I see them, their land taken from them, their birthright ripped from their hands, everything is about taking,

My whole life you have been taking, taking, taking, 

And even when I have nothing left to give you, you punish me, 

You punish all of us when you decide some of us are worth defending more than others,

Everything you are defending is your self, it is for your own name, 

It is not about taking a side! Is the most luxurious statement I have ever heard — 

My whole life you have been taking, taking, taking, 

When you step your foot on my neck, when your knee presses my throat, when your bullets hit my chest, when your pellets hit my skull, when your bombs destroy my home,

My whole life you have been taking, taking, taking, 

A collective erasing,

De-westernize yourself! A country is not a country is not a State is not a Border is not a Government is not Democratic is not Accepting is not Inclusive is not For us.

I see you try to push me down and shove me into the hands of History, 

I see you try to label me an inconvenience, 

I see you decide my existence isn’t of interest,

I see you decide what lives cost you more than others and

I see you call it Freedom but it’s not Freedom 

it is not The right to exist it is not Beauty it is not Autonomy it is not Life

You can’t buy my pain. Calle 13 - Latinoamérica

Tú no puedes comprar al viento You can’t buy the wind.
Tú no puedes comprar al sol You can’t buy the sun.
Tú no puedes comprar la lluvia You can’t buy the rain.
Tú no puedes comprar el calor You can’t buy the heat.

Tú no puedes comprar las nubes You can’t buy the clouds.
Tú no puedes comprar los colores You can’t buy the colors.
Tú no puedes comprar mi alegría You can’t buy my happiness.
Tú no puedes comprar mis dolores You can’t buy my pain.