In preparation for my MFA thesis: a poem and a dance.

Music: Oiaymeló by Margarita Cuero. Interpreted by the amazing cantaora Benigna Solís.

I am fluid
and in constant process of becoming.
I am daughter,
sister,
lover,
woman,
friend.
I am Sandra Paola — “la pequeña protectora de la humanidad,”
and I am the daughter of wolves (López) and
guardians (Ramírez).

I am fluid
and in constant process of becoming.
Nací en las montañas de Abya Yala,
y por seis generaciones mi familia ha vivido on stolen land:
en la cordillera oriental en el territorio Muisca de Bacatá,
en el litoral pacífico en territorio Awá y Tumaco,
y en el valle alto del Magdalena en territorio Pijao.
Some of my ancestors were born of the earth in Abya Yala.
They weaved with her roots,
Sang with her waters,
Moved with her breeze.
Some others, traidos forzosamente del gran continente Africano,
with shackled hands and feet
were pulled from their own Mother, displaced, brutalized, raped.
Survivors of unimaginable journeys.
Most of them, los Europeos,
who roamed primarily the territories of
Spain, Ireland, Scotland, and France
came en busca de oro y plata.
In search of a better life.
So here I am,
born of contradictions,
violence,
rape,
hopes,
dreams.

I am fluid
and in constant process of becoming.
My mixed heritage gave me the opportunity to migrate North
to Turtle Island,
to the neocolonial and imperialist country of
United States of America.
Fast forward 15 years
y ahora me desenvuelvo en una realidad bilingüe.
I dream,
speak,
move,
write,
and create in two lenguas.
This new hybrid, this “border tongue” of Anzaldúa
ahora me acobija en la frontera de U.S. y México.
Es ahora aquí donde trenzo sueños,
where I start my journey to wholeness,
and where I begin to trace back
to create my future.