A Warrior Poet Remembered: raúlrsalinas, March 17, 1934 - February 13, 2008
Posted February 15th, 2008by Magdalena Gomez
“Raza Linda, ya volví
me fue muy bien por allá
surge otra dimensión
ya no soy de acá
There’s tristeza/there is joy
pero ya todo acabó…
hay que empezar otra vez,
life has just begun…”
- From raúlrsalinas’s book, Un Trip Through the Mind Jail y Otras Excursion: Because I Should (Una Breve Escape a Las Tierras
Please do not attempt to separate his name: raúlrsalinas. All lowercase, all one. That’s how raúlrsalinas chose to write it. This simple action speaks volumes of this man I had the good fortune of knowing and performing with, if only for a brief while. Singular, indefatigable in the struggle for justice, even in times of ill health, with a name and a personhood that could not be divided by anyone. The very writing of his name, a conscious choice to be whole, solid, unbreakable, no selling out, no compromise, no adherence to the standard rule of how one “should” write one’s name. A singular man of principle and character. A man who, as poet Sara Littlecrow-Russell might put it, intrinsically understood “the secret powers of naming.” A man who held onto his warmth, generosity, and kindness, even after many years of hard time behind the concrete walls of Leavenworth. Poor health in his later years never stopped him from his tireless commitment to incarcerated youth or those termed “at-risk.”
raúlrsalinas conducted writing workshops in countless juvenile detention facilities and community centers to help youth find the poet within themselves and embrace a freedom that cannot be robbed from the soul and mind, regardless of circumstance. Working from his small bookstore in Austin, Texas, Resistencia Bookstore: Casa de Red Salmon Arts, raúlrsalinas found ways to generate whatever was needed to support a cause, to amplify a silenced voice, celebrate a victory, provide a venue to established and fledgling poets, to feed the hungry (and more importantly work beside them to feed themselves), provide shelter, teach organizing strategies, working from the perspective of mutual liberation. Every day was a new adventure for the ready response of a man with a corazón de melon and a seemingly infinite capacity for compassion coupled with the courage and will, or better said, ganas to take action. Although I knew him and addressed him as raúl, I choose to honor his full, unbroken name: raúlrsalinas.
I first learned of the depth and substance of who raúlrsalinas was and will always be in the history of resistance and literary arts from my dear friend and colleague, composer and baritone saxophonist Fred Ho. Fred was aware that raúlrsalinas was not as well known on the East Coast as in the Southwest and West Coast, despite a staggering trajectory of arts and activism that spans decades. raúlrsalinas has remained unknown to a wider audience, a greater loss to all of us than to raúlrsalinas, who was not enamored of celebrity nor did he require it to fuel his commitment as a poet of the people and an indefatigable worker for human rights and social justice, as exemplified in his work with the American Indian Movement and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.
Although Fred had spoken of raúlrsalinas, we had not met, and did so by accident. I was attending a conference of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture in 2004 when during lunch in the hotel restaurant I overheard the following: “Fred Ho’s been around; that cat’s been in the trenches a long time. That brother is loyal, dude.” I knew I wanted to meet whomever that voice belonged to; we clearly shared a sentiment and a friend. It turned out to be raúlrsalinas. We had a chance to get to know each other a little, share stories, dinner and some deep belly laughs at that beautiful, memorable conference, where he was awarded a lifetime achievement award and honored with a profoundly well-deserved extended standing ovation. Although I met many, many inspiring and impressive people at that memorable conference, raúlrsalinas left his indelible mark, a tattoo of lingering memory. From that weekend forward we knew we would enjoy working together and began our running joke where I officially, and with the deepest respect for him as my elder, named him Papí Chulo. This stayed with us and we laughed at every gig as he stole and broke hearts everywhere we performed. His humor, sharp intellect, charm, and talent caused a collective swooning and fluttering of hearts wherever he went. I would tease him and say, “raúl, do these people know you are my Papi Chulo? Today there will be blood on the streets!” And that silly joke never got stale for us as it became more operatic in proportion each time, with exaggerated talk of knives and decapitations; watching raúlrsalinas belly laugh was no small thing. For me it was like the constant repetition of a beautiful miracle – this man who had suffered so much throughout his life, incarceration, erasure, insult and illness, always had it in him to laugh with his whole being. Everyone who knows him has seen this miracle. raúlrsalinas was never robbed of his sense of humor any more than of his relentless sense of justice. His magic was his kindness, his ability to connect with anyone from any walk of life. He could take a joke and give one back, effortlessly and lovingly.
raúlrsalinas’s poetry rocked the house wherever we went – it was clear how audiences loved him, even in moments when his energy was low due to illness, the luminosity of who he was at the core, always shone through. During our Caliente! tour we were invited to perform in Western Massachusetts at Hampshire College, hosted by Sara Littlecrow-Russell and Mary Bombardier; New WORLD Theater at UMass; attended a luncheon with students at an event hosted by Jacqueline Pinn and the Women of Color Leadership Network, and also at Holyoke Community College. In 2002, raúlrsalinas received the Louis Reyes Rivera Lifetime Achievement Award from the student organization at Amherst College, La Causa in collaboration with The Darks Souls Collective.
raúlrsalinas had dubbed himself “The Cockroach Poet” and now I understand why. Some think it was a self-effacing gesture. I chose to believe otherwise. It is very hard to destroy the cockroach and it knows how to find it’s way in the dark. The cockroach will survive long after the rest of us are gone, and if there is any justice in this world, so will the name of raúlrsalinas. Visiting his website would be a good place to start: www.raulrsalinas.com
Learn more about the life of poet and activist raulsalinas at the following links:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/14/0214salinas.html,
http://www.terribly-happy.com/salinas.html,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvir4jUjBNM,
Latino USA commentator Abel Salas’s remembrance,
and throughout The Latino American Experience.
