JE#10

The 10 most memorable characters of Border Consciousness are:

1. Shark's Tooth
2. Shelly
3. Mama Chona
4. Felix
5. Nina
6. Gregorio Cortez
7. Yvon
8. Ximena
9. Irene
10. The Shadow Beast

Ivon, the Shadow Beast, Shark's Tooth, Mama Chona, and Gregorio Cortez are all going to engage in a dialogue at the the Border Consciousness: Nepantla is my Home Summit as the guest of honor. Border Brujo will be the host of the guest of honor panel in which they will all discuss the concept of the border, nepantla, and border and mestiza consciousness.

Border Brujo: 

Welcome jotas, jotos, chicano@, nepantler@s, lesbianans, mujeres, hombres, gender queers, y border dwellers! 

In today's Guest of Honor Panel we have Ivon, la butch lesbiana de El Paso! A su lado tenemos al rebelde y ferros Shadow Best! Despues la ultima Opatan Concha (formerly known as Shark's Tooth). After her is la fresa Mama Chona, and last but not least el hijo del la Chingada Gregorio Cortez! 

Bienvenidos a todos! We are going to begin with a simple question. What is the border?

Mama Chona: La border es la linea que nos separa, a nosotros (los espanagoles de sangre pura) contra los inditos Mexicanos.

Concha: Esta senora a de pensar que soy india ignorante. Mejor me quedo callada. 

Ivon: The border, according to Dr. Gloria Anzaldua, es "una herida abierta where the Third World grates against the First and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of two worlds merging to form a third country—a border culture” (Borderlands:La Frontera)

Gregorio Cortez: El border es lo que nos separa a nosotros Mexican que viven en los Estados Unidos, de nuestro pais verdadero Mexico. 

Shadow Beast: The border is what ya'll need to really be crossing. Ya'll need to look at my monstrous face figure out what it is for yourself, and then look at my rebel face to see how.

Mama Chona: Shadow Beast, no se de que esta hablando. Tu no me handes diciendo que haga, eres un monstruo por dios. Yo soy espanola, refinada, y catholica. No tengo porque ponerle attencio a usted, una monstruocidad indigena. Sucio, asceroso, diablo!

Border Brujo: Dona por favor relax. Lets continue this discussion. Aver what does everyone think about Shadow Beast's border idea? Cuales son las borders que ustedes tienen que crucar?

Concha: Si yo pudiera yo quisiera regresar a los timpos de mi ninez. Yo quisiera poder vivir entre los dos mundos. Qusiera poder canta las canciones de mi mama a Rosa, y tambien darle todas las opportunidades para sobrevivir. 

Ivon: You know Concha if you want to learn to navigate both worlds I think you should look into Mestiza Consciousness. Its a process that allows you to navigate the ambiguity and contradictions of both worlds. Si quiere despues le explico el processo.

 

Concha: Muchas gracias muchacha. Pero usted cuales son sus borders? Me imagino que no es perfecta usted.

Ivon: Si Concha lo es sierto. You pienso que una frontera que tengo que cruzar is to accept that regardless of my consciousness I still have a variety of borders to cross, such as my internalized sexism. 

For the purpose of time I will be ending this dialogue here.