From Our Land to Our Land: Essays, Journeys, and Imaginings from a Native Xicanx Writer

by Luis J. Rodriguez Narrated by Luis J. Rodriguez

Overview

Luis J. Rodriguez writes about race, culture, identity, and belonging and what these all mean and should mean (but often fail to) in the volatile climate of our nation. His passion and wisdom inspire us with the message that we must come together if we are to move forward. As he writes in the preface, "Like millions of Americans, I'm demanding a new vision, a qualitatively different direction, for this country. One for the shared well-being of everyone. One with beauty, healing, poetry, imagination, and truth." The pieces in From Our Land to Our Land capture that same fantastic energy and wisdom and will spark conversation and inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Luis Rodríguez is a poet prophet for our times."
—Sandra Cisneros, author of A House of My Own: Stories From My Life

"Powerful from start to finish, Rodriguez's book celebrates Xicanx culture and wisdom while calling for much-needed global healing. A thoughtful and radically provocative collection."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Former Los Angeles Poet Laureate, Luis J. Rodriguez reflects on a lifetime of experiences, wisdom and healing, illuminating the intersections of the personal, spiritual, and historical. His is the 'story of the ‘other’ Los Angeles,' a love song to the city, Xicanx culture, its influence around the world, and the spirit of revolution full of risk, but also one full of triumph. He says 'this is not about avoiding trouble, it’s about getting into the right kind of trouble.' A poet at heart, Rodriguez rightly claims that 'as long as the world needs changing, we’ll need poetry.' There is still much left to change and the captivating work contained here is a testament to the possibilities of our will to make a difference." 
—Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, author of Children of the Land

"In a climate fraught with division and increased in-fighting amidst the tension, From Our Land to Our Land is a welcome and generous call to recognize the myriad gifts peoples across the world have contributed to our present and celebrate that which we share in order to imagine where we as a society go from here. Tracing connections between language, cultures, and how one chooses to identify, whether Native or non-Native, to current social, environmental, and political concerns, Luis J. Rodriguez reminds us there are healers still at work in this world, and yes, poets walk among them." 
—Abigail Chabitnoy, author of How to Dress a Fish

Kirkus Reviews

2019-11-25
A distinguished Mexican American writer meditates on the place of Xicanx culture in what he sees as a sick and increasingly fragmented global society.

Reacting in part to the political upheaval and chaos that have characterized the last decade, Rodriguez (Borrowed Bones: New Poems From the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, 2016, etc.) offers 12 essays that reflect on the meaning of identity while offering a vision of a more humane world. In "The End of Belonging," the author responds to Donald Trump's anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican rhetoric by celebrating his Native American ancestry, which predated the European conquest of the Americas. As the descendent of Indigenous people, he sees himself as a child of the Earth who transcends the fabricated boundaries of nation. "I belong anywhere," he writes. To counterbalance what he sees as the disease of capitalism brought to the Americas, Rodriguez advocates for a new "mythic imagination" in the essay titled "The Four Key Connections." Through myths, people can find "sustenance for mind and soul." Poetry is another avenue of healing the author believes society should explore. In "Poet Laureate? Poet Illiterate? What?" he discusses poetry as "medicine" that can not only "impact [but] change this world." Throughout the book, Rodriguez speaks about Xicanx cultural achievements with pride. In "I Still Love H.E.R," he discusses the Xicanx-hip-hop connection and the influence of that connection on recording artists around the world. In "Low & Slow in Tokyo" he describes the impact of Xicanx popular culture on anti-establishment Japanese youth. In speaking about himself, Rodriguez is, as always, honest and forthright. In "Men's Tears," he speaks openly about his violent gang past and the lesson he eventually learned that "men should cry more, connect more, feel more." "The Story of Our Day" details the author's unsuccessful but impactful 2014 Green Party bid for California governor, a campaign that emphasized nothing short of revolutionary change. Powerful from start to finish, Rodriguez's book celebrates Xicanx culture and wisdom while calling for much-needed global healing.

A thoughtful and radically provocative collection.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176365351
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	01/26/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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