Writer. Translator. Chicano. He/él. Pan. Rep: Full Circle Literary & Inclusion. Co-publisher CHISPA. President of
@texas_letters
| Same SM handle everywhere
In Spanish, when someone has the same name as you, they're your "tocayo" or "tocaya."
I've loved the word since childhood.
I minored in Spanish (for BA & MA); the consensus among my professors as to its origin was the same.
In Roman marriages, a bride would say a phrase:
1/
Arabic is tightly wound up within Spanish, more so than most people know.
For 781 years, from 711 to 1492, all or large parts of modern Spain were under Arabic, Muslim rule. Iberian Romance languages were spoken alongside Andalusi Arabic.
Every few days, I'll share a word. 1/
I often read this question: "Why is Mexico spelled 'México' in Spanish, especially if in Nahuatl Mēxihco was pronounced [me: SHIʔ ko]? What's up with that 'x'?"
The answers given are usually partially right or totally wrong.
Guess what? I'm going to explain it to you. 1/???
I’ll let you in on a secret. I have a doctorate in education, but the field’s basically just a 100 years old. We don’t really know what we’re doing. Our scholarly understanding of how learning happens is like astronomy 2000 years ago.
Most classroom practice is astrology.
Here's something I am wondering... as a parent... Why are there so many tests happening during remote learning? Aren't there other ways to assess at this point that would be more logically aligned with the type of learning environment students are in?
My wife has 3 pet names for me: Güero, Amor, & PENDEJO.
I'd say the last is her favorite, given how often she uses it. 🤣
If you don't speak Spanish, you may not get the joke. “Pendejo” has a few meanings, but the most common?
“Dumb-ass.”
Want to know its origin? Okay!
1/
As a result of the "güero" thread, several of you have asked me to explain where the word "gringo" came from.
It's actually really simple (IMO), but first we have to dispel some folk etymologies and learn a couple of linguistic processes by which words evolve.
1/
"Why do people keep writing 'Latinx'? And yikes, how do you pronounce it?"
Alright, deep breath. It's the 10th & final edition of my Mexican X series for 2018 (& for 7 Reed ... the Mesoamerican calendar aligns with ours this year).
MEXICAN X PART X: WHAT THE HEX A LATINX? 1/?
A year and a half ago, I created an online Basic Classical Nahuatl course. Thirteen, self-paced modules with narrated slides and exercises.
I'm now giving everyone free access to the course.
As you shelter in place, study a vital indigenous language.
Güeros mexicanos, ahí les van unos pasos a seguir.
1) Admite que existe el racismo en tu país y que te beneficia.
2) Entiende que no te puedes deshacer de o renunciar al privilegio blanco. No lo habrás pedido, pero lo tienes.
1/
Nobody with a shitty, reactionary, regressive take on the classics in the classroom today ...
... actually knows a GODDAMN THING about literacy or the point to English instruction in public schools.
Hint, dumbasses: it's NOT to churn out English majors.
1/
"Hey, so were there gay, trans, non-binary, or otherwise queer folx in pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, especially in the Aztec Empire?"
Okay, here we go.
MEXICAN X PART XII: JUST WHAT DID XOCHIHUAH "POSSESS"?
1/
Apropos of nothing (ahem), I'd like to remind everyone that the vast majority of Mexican Americans do indeed have *significant* Indigenous heritage. Some of us actually know *which* Indigenous nation our ancestors were from; others have a vaguer notion; many had that erased.
1/
Once again, for the fools who didn't listen the first time:
"Latinx" was coined by queer Latinx folks. You don't get to dismiss it as coming from academia or white people. It's valid and important, even if you don't like it, even if the majority of Latinx people don't accept it.
I often get asked, "Weren't the Aztecs bloodthirsty people who engaged in massive human sacrifice?"
No. Let me explain.
Most Aztecs—the name we use for the Nahua peoples ruled by the Triple Alliance of Anahuac—had little connection to human sacrifice. They were farmers.
1/
THERE IS NOTHING INHERENTLY IMPORTANT ABOUT YOUR GODDAMN FAVORITE CLASSICS.
Have you read THE TALE OF GENJI? JOURNEY TO THE WEST? POPOL VUH? RAMAYANA?
NO?
Then please shut the fuck up.
You know a tiny fucking SLIVER of the world's literature, ignorant assholes.
5/
Earlier today my wife and my daughter were speaking to each other in Spanish.
Wife: No, güey, así no se hace.
Daughter: Ya sé, güey. Espérame tantito.
My home has reached MAXIMUM GÜEY.
How did this happen? What, you may ask, does that word even mean?
Let's see.
1/
THAT is why modern education is a failure.
Its basic premise is monstrous.
"Why should I learn to read, Dr. Bowles?"
Because reading is magical. It makes life worth living. And being able to read, you can decode the strategies of your oppressors & stop them w/ their own words
In fact, studies have shown repeatedly that forcing kids to read work well outside their zone of proximal development, books that have no relevance to children's lives, actually HAMPERS their literacy. It raises their affective filter, turning them AGAINST reading & writing.
3/
Hey, "Science" Channel ... WTF? There are millions of Maya living in Mexico and Central America.
THEY.
NEVER.
VANISHED.
Quit attempting cultural erasure and promoting genocidal messages, you irresponsible fools.
Eva Longoria: "What made me really upset was when the publisher said, 'We had to cancel the book tour because of safety concerns,' which made my community look like we're crazy people going to cause trouble. We're not."
1/2
#DignidadLiteraria
You disgusting worms, I can read in TWELVE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. I have a MA in English and a doctorate in Education...
... and EVEN I think that the "classics" are shit for modern kids.
You're not on my level, trust me. So take a MOTHERFUCKING SEAT & leave my people alone.
6/
REPORT: Barnes & Noble canceled tonight's panel. the books were not on display, but they will be behind the cash wrap at 6 p.m. Had a great conversation in the store with Sanyu Dillon, who oversees corporate marketing at Penguin Random House. She gave me more backstory.
1/
The last and most disgusting reality? The thing I hear in classroom after freaking classroom?
Education is all about capitalism.
"You need to learn these skills to get a good job."
To be a good laborer. To help the wealthy generate more wealth, while you get scraps.
PPS. tl;dr version—Literally NO ONE is saying people SHOULD NOT read the classics. We're saying that they shouldn't be forced on modern young people in the classroom. There's no data demonstrating the instructional soundness of that approach, and lots that shows it's harmful.
My Uncle Dan Garza just called to tell me--
My dad has died.
But I can't ... I can't mourn him.
I haven't seen him since I was 16.
Almost 34 years.
He left one morning, before dawn, supposedly on a business trip to Florida.
But that was a lie.
He abandoned us.
1/
We teach English to foster reading & writing in young people's lives, to guide them to mastery of skills they really need, to instill in them a love for and ability to use written language that will last them a lifetime.
We don't need the old books y'all fools love for that.
2/
Do you want kids to learn? Here's something we've discovered.
Kids learn things that matter to them, either because the knowledge and skills are "cool," or because ...
... they give the kids tools to liberate themselves and their communities.
Maintaining the status quo? Nope.
Things we (scholars) DO know:
-Homework doesn't really help, especially younger kids.
-Students don't learn a thing from testing. Most teachers don't either (it's supposed to help them tweak instruction, but that rarely happens).
-Spending too much time on weak subjects HURTS.
I don't know which white people need to hear this, but the US has never been a white nation, despite the best efforts of white people down the centuries.
First, it was founded by murdering and displacing the indigenous inhabitants of the continent.
1/
Your supercilious, privileged, frankly RACIST tirades against middle-grade and young-adult literature come from a place of DEEP IGNORANCE about the books that have been written over the past 30 years by writers that could MOP THE FUCKING FLOOR with your out-dated asses.
7/
I'm always dumbfounded at how monolingual speakers or English can say "bedroom" but insist on pronouncing "Pedro" as "PAY-drow."
The "e" is the same in both words, folks.
Many Chicanas & Mexicanas I admire have begun calling themselves "Xingonas," a tweak of the Mexican Spanish word "chingona."
To me, this "reclaiming" is awesome. Others are offended by the root word, "chingar."
Why? Let's investigate!
Mexican X Part XIV: Xigonx Power
1/
So curl up with the books you love & let us help young people discover the ones THEY love.
They won't be the same titles, I'm afraid.
Millions of books exist.
We're not sticking to the few dozen you've declared holy writ.
Our kids deserve more.
They deserve freedom.
12/12
Especially when you propose we force the canon on children from oppressed, under-represented groups.
They need literacy, not to conform to your egregiously backwards notions of literary quality, BUT TO LIBERATE THEMSELVES FROM PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!!
Written language is a tool.
10/
This is especially true for children from communities of color, where different dialects of English or different languages may be the principal means of communicating. Literature that isn't even written in the PRESENT-DAY VERNACULAR / TARGET DIALECT consigns them to failure.
4/
The teachers you're attacking? Fools, they KNOW PEDAGOGY. They understand that their job is to TEACH KIDS TO READ, deeply and critically, and then to set those kids free in the world to dive into the books THEY choose, not what your simple-minded adherence to custom dictates.
8/
Without getting in to just how much
#DiaDeMuertos
or
#DayoftheDead
in Mexico is Indigenous or syncretic, I wanted to share some basic (mostly linguistic) information about similarly-named holidays among the Mexica ("Aztecs") and other Nahuas before the Spanish invasion.
1/
CONTENT WARNING: translated Nahuatl vulgarity will abound in this thread.
When I was a kid, my tíos, abuelos & Dad used to warn me about screech / barn owls.
"Witches in disguise," they said. "Looking to steal kids."
Among the many ways to escape them?
Bad words.
1/
Kids are acutely aware of injustice and by nature rebellious against the systems of authority that keep autonomy away from them.
If you're perpetuating those systems, teachers, you've already freaking lost.
They won't be learning much from you.
Except what not to become.
For what?
It's all smoke and mirrors. All the carefully crafted objectives, units and exams.
WE.
DON'T.
KNOW.
HOW.
PEOPLE.
LEARN.
We barely understand the physical mechanisms behind MEMORY.
But we DO know kids aren't empty piggy banks.
They are BRIMMING with thought.
Raza, do NOT be like this pinche pendejo in McAllen (a few minutes from my house, my parents' hometown). RGV protestors, be safe. There are evil people out there.
PS. Penguin Random House has announced it'll donate up to $10,000 to the Hurston Wright Foundation, which works to develop, discover, & support black authors. PRH says it'll give a dollar every time people tweet the hashtag
#BlackStoriesHavePower
So ... start tweeting!
"Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia" ("where you are Gaius, I'm Gaia," i.e., we now share a name). The groom would repeat the phrase, inverted.
That "tu Gaius," professors assured me, evolved into "tucayu" and then "tocayo."
But it seems they were mistaken.
The word is Nahuatl.
2/
Fuck you, Republicans. A $500 billion slush fund, without oversight, so Trump can shovel money to his rich friends? And a measly $1200 for the rest of us?
You're playing with fire, you rich, racist pieces of shit.
#VirusVote
: Senate fails to advance phase 3
#coronavirus
stimulus bill 47-47, after Democrats opposed Big business bailout money, with limited relief for working families.
After vote
@senatemajldr
blasts
@SpeakerPelosi
for blowing up deal last minute
So in 1971, Michael Moorcock said of John W. Campbell: "The man was an out-and-out fascist. I mean, he was a straightforward, old-fashioned American fascist, you know, pre-war fascist as it were, in that he believed that blacks should be re-enslaved. This is the truth."
1/
People have asked me where the Mexican Spanish word "güero" comes from.
I hope you're in the mood for some etymology!
We have to go far back in time, to the Celtic languages that once dominated Western Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula.
1/
In the next few days, throughout Mexico, the US Southwest, & beyond, the orange-gold shimmer of marigolds will help us honor the dead.
In Mexican Spanish, we call this flower cempasúchil.
The name, as you might suspect, comes from Nahuatl.
Shall we?
Come. Take my hand.
1/
YOU want your own children to read the classics?
Buy those books for them. Read them with them, like you do whatever scripture you hold dear. Ain't nobody stopping you, friends.
But this pearl-clutching and browbeating? It needs to stop. You look petty, cruel, small.
9/
Reconciliation and healing? Nope.
First we need a sort of Truth and Reconciliation Commission that takes a look at the past four years ... and then the past 150.
Restorative justice for oppressed communities of color, especially Indigenous and Black folks.
Then we'll see.
I respect and sympathize with those who find the AI "art" boom horrifying, especially artists—already undervalued—who perceive a potentially slippery slope looming.
But I'd like to add my own two cents, arguing that the threat to real art is a lot less than it may appear.
1/
As you know, I love Nahuatl. Translate it, teach it, write original work in it.
What you probably didn't know is that the huge influence that language had all over what is now Mexico & Central American is not just due to the expansion of the "Aztec Empire."
Spain did it.
1/
A two-fer today in honor of
@GustavoArellano
Loco. From Classical Arabic "lawqāʔ" through Andalusi Arabic "láwqa," feminine of "alwáq" or "stupid."
In other words, "loca" was first adopted into Spanish, then the masculine "loco" was derived from it.
Patriarchy, anyone?
3/
Just like
tomate
aguacate
chocolate
tamal
etc.
It filled a void that needed filling.
And the world's a slightly more satisfying place as a result.
11/11
Because several people have asked, I'll remind you all that I have a self-paced, online course in basic Classical Nahuatl available for anyone interested in learning.
Happy
#InternationalNonbinaryDay
to all my wonderful non-binary friends, followers & readers!
A reminder that language does not HAVE to embrace oppressive gendering. Languages around the world, including many Indigenous ones in the Americas, don't.
1/
PS. Thanks for all the kind words. I love you all.
BTW, this will seem strange, but I'm very thankful for the government safety net, such as it is.
It wasn't FUN to live in Section 8 housing & receive food stamps, but we wouldn't have survived otherwise.
Welfare MATTERS.
Before the late 19th century, no human society had ever attempted to formally educate the entire populace. It was either aristocracy, meritocracy, or a blend. And always male.
We’re still smack-dab in the middle of the largest experiment on children ever done.
A tool we wield
to carve our happiness out of the crude stuff of reality.
to stave off the darkness of existential despair
to fight against those who would snuff out our spark, our essential dignity & humanity
to assert our right to EXIST in the face of fools like you.
11/
There is no record of the word "tocayo" in Spanish before 1700. If it had evolved from "tu Gaius," we'd see it developing in multiple texts from Medieval to modern dialects. Its use would be greatest in Spain.
None of that is true. Its use is greatest in Mexico.
It spread. 10/
Quick moment of personal celebration. Four years ago, at age 46, I left a 20-year career in public K-12 education to accept a position at
@utrgv
.
It's now official. On September 1st, I will be awarded tenure.
Sweet!
What’s worse, the key strategies we’ve discovered, driven by cognitive science & child psychology, are quite regularly dismissed by pencil-pushing, test-driven administrators. Much like Trump ignores science, the majority of principals & superintendents I’ve known flout research.
PS. The trolls replying to this thread (especially the tweet with my credentials) with a variation on "shut up, nerd" are not doing their side any good.
"Shut up, nerd! We'll keep forcing classics on children."
What an absurd string of words. JFC.
From time to time, I come across a meme or smirking tweet that claims the following:
"Avocado comes from the Aztecs' word for testicle." :lewd snicker:
And I'm like, "WTF? No, güey, absolutely not. Gah."
A Mexican X-plainer thread: "Balls, Nuts, Jewels, Eggs and Avocados" 1/
CDC: Social distancing. Stay at home.
Me: Okay, time to write!
My wife, Angélica: Voy a instalar un pinche aire acondicionado en el loft que le construí a m'ija.
Me: 😯🤯
1) Queer Latinx folks invented the word "Latinx," not white people.
2) The majority's opinion isn't automatically RIGHT or JUST. 20 years ago, most Latinx folks opposed marriage equality for LGBTQ individuals & thought too many immigrants lived in the US. That's flipped now.
Sure, you can wear them down.
That's what happened to most of you, isn't it?
You saw the hideous flaw in the world and wanted to heal it. But year after numbing year, they made you learn their dogma by rote.
And now many of you are breaking the souls of children, too.
It's been a week since Roberto, Myriam, Matt & I sat down across the table from Macmillan execs & got them to agree to increase Latinx rep.
Lots of strategy went into the negotiations. Each of us brought a unique sets of skills to bear.
My job was presenting the proposal.
1/
In Classical Nahuatl, the word for "name" (and reputation) is "tōcāitl," pronounced "toh KAH itl," with the first and second vowels held longer than the last.
In its possessed form, it drops that last syllable:
notōcā - my name
motōcā - your name
ītōcā - his/her/its name
3/
There's so much bad-ass beauty in Mexican Spanish. I've written about some of it in "Mexican X-plainer" threads & Medium articles.
One of my favorite things about my dialect is an odd construction emphasizing (irritating) repetition.
I call it the "chingue y chingue" form.
1/
Look, like other folks living outside the state of Mexico, I was surprised to learn that "quesadilla" doesn't necessarily mean "a folded tortilla full of cheese" in Mexico City, but just "a folded tortilla with ... like ... anything inside."
Surprised, but not scandalized.
1/
Mexicanas/Chicanas: "
#AmericanDirt
is harmful, misappropriating trauma porn."
Me: "Listen to my hermanas, y'all. This book is bad on so many levels."
White Women: "You evil man! How dare you attack a woman with your patriarchal nonsense!"
Me: ... 😶
#dignidadliteraria
Okay, gente. IF and ONLY IF you are Latinx/a/o and are FINE with the term "Latinx," reply to this tweet saying so (something like "I use Latinx").
Share widely. I'm trying to prove to, uh, certain raza out there that it's not just "White SJWs" imposing this term on us.
Quit questioning Kamala's identity. Her father was a Black man. She identifies as a Black woman. Period.
I'm so done with ethnic/racial purists. My mom's a white non-Latina. My dad was a Mexican American. I identify as Mexican American, & nobody has the right to contradict me.
BTW, I spent a decade learning Nahuatl and doing all the research necessary to craft FEATHERED SERPENT, DARK HEART OF SKY (which retranslates, adapts, and interweaves essential Mesoamerican sacred stories).
We asked Sandra to blurb.
She declined.
Since I've gotten my official notice of termination, I feel safe sharing (though details are still covered by an NDA) the secret I hinted at last year: I translated the scripts for the Amazon / Amblin miniseries about Cortés and Moctezuma into Classical Nahuatl and Spanish.
If you come to the US Southwest / Northern Mexico, you'll hear a certain word quite a bit, especially if kids are around: HUERCO (also spelled güerco).
It means "kid" (with a slight nuance of "brat," to my ear). But where did it come from?
A special Mexican X Explainer. 1/
Thread about Latinx authors without Spanish surnames.
Yesterday, someone posted to FB a photo of me on a
#stbf18
panel w/ two other authors (neither Latinx). Someone commented, "Why no Latinx?" I replied, "I'm Mexican American."
So I'd like to take a moment to explore this. 1/
A white man says that of Campbell, and no one bats an eye. But Ng makes the same observation NOW, at this time of rising fascism, and SFF fanboys lose their shit attacking her.
Sounds ... pretty fucking racist to me.
3/
Hands-down, MY MISTER is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen. No hyperbole. I bawled my eyes out during every episode, yet felt healed & uplifted.
But I wish there were a 2nd season (uncommon for K-dramas, I know). I'd like to see the friendship that evolves grow.
1/
Spanish has some 1,000 Arabic roots and about 3,000 derived words, so nearly 4,000 total, 8% of the language, the largest influence on Spanish lexicon (not counting Latin). Before the "Reconquista," that percentage was much higher.
Swahili has around 2,300 by comparison.
4/
NAHUATL WORD OF THE WEEK:
Tlahcuilōlpīquini - false writer.
A compound of "tlahcuilōlli" (writings) and "pīquini" (one who forges, falsifies, pretends, dissembles).
"In tlahcuilōlpīquini mocuiltōnoa."
The false writer is enjoying her riches.
Dear non-Latinx folks in the US (mostly y'all, White people):
Hey, heads-up. You may be making things harder on the Latinx community by how you've been using Latinx, Latino, Latina, Latinos.
Let me break it down for you so that you don't deploy those terms the wrong way.
1/
My thread for White Mexicans is doing well. Here's something similar in English.
White Latinx, follow these steps.
1) Admit that racism exists & that it benefits you.
2) Understand that you can't reject / renounce white privilege. You didn't ask for it, but you have it.
1/
I'm going to break your hearts & teach you Nahuatl at the same time.
Each Friday, I'll tweet a line of one of the most poignant speeches ever given, the final words of Cuauhtemoc, last king of Tenochtitlan.
He spoke them on August 12, 1521.
The city fell the next day.
1/
@YalitzaAparicio
@oprahsbookclub
Yalitza,
No caigas en la trampa. El libro es grotesco, una distorsión completa de la situación en México, lleno de estereotipos y personajes inverosímiles, escrito por alguien que no sabe nada de nuestra cultura.
Va destinado a gente que disfruta de leer sobre el dolor ajeno.
In my Mexican American / Latinx family, there are brown folks, sure, but also Black and white / güerx relatives.
Equating "Brown" with Latinx is a bad idea. It's erroneous and erasing.
"It was [S. Nazario's] Enrique's Journey, [O. Martínez's] The Beast—many Latino authors have written this story! Oprah didn't pick them."
"I will not read the book. The gatekeepers of the industries do not reflect the people and the consumers that they serve."
Chingona.
3/3
I turn 50 today!
I'm celebrating by doing school visits as part of
@texasbookfest
's Reading Rock Stars program, followed by a reception at UTRGV for
#FESTIBA
and a dinner with my fellow authors.
Fifty feels great, btw. I'm the happiest and most fulfilled I've ever been.
I'd like to point out that in Classical Nahuatl, "Schadenfreude" is "telchitl."
Sometimes the same word DOES exist in another language, y'all. Just sayin'.
Most teachers perpetuate the “banking” model (Freire) used on them by their teachers, who likewise inherited it from theirs, etc.
Thus the elite “Lyceum” style of instruction continues even though it’s ineffectual with most kids.
If you add a POSSESSIVE prefix, look what happens:
notōcāyoh - my name possesser
Person who has my name. The same one as me.
tinotōcāyoh - eres mi tocayo - you are my namesake
nimotōcāyoh - soy tu tocayo - I am your namesake
Pretty cool, huh?
7/
I've received many variations on this question: "Shouldn't 'chocolate' be 'xocolate'? What happened to that 'X'?"
The short answer is NO. There was never an "x."
Don't feel bad. I was once fooled, too.
Here we go.
MEXICAN X, PART III: DUDE, WHERE’S THE XOCOLATE? 1/?