Hear Our Battle Cry

Can’t you hear it?...

The cries and mourns of my brothers and sisters

Families separated on the basis of our legal status

They treat us like Aliens

Nothing more than dirt they leave at the door

As they bang their boots on the door frame to leave their day behind

They want us to cower as their torches shine brighter in the night

As their words spic, wetback, and border hopper whisper at our backs

But even then, they never will be able to remove our pride

The blood and fire of my ancestors that runs in me

In all of us

We have to make them hear our united battled cry

Be like your tias and mami at a family fiesta

Turn that shit up, let them hear the roll of our tongues

The passion that lies behind everyone one of our syllables

Be as obnoxious as they see as to be

And DON’T allow them to forget who we are

Latino and proud

All I see standing before me is a country of dreamers

As the cries grow louder and stronger

It didn’t hit us until now when we saw our chances fade away

The long hour shifts, your parents worked, the two jobs they had to work

You see it all being to crumble in front of you

Can’t you hear the beat

The rhythm of a salsa and a bachata that begins to fill your soul

As you march to the beat of the Latino blood that fills your veins

It’s time to act like you tios, tias, primos and primas at your quinces

Loud & Rowdy

It’s time to speak Spanish more loudly, a little more obnoxiously

Be as spicy as the food that we make

As rambunctious as the beat of a cumbia

Let them see the azucar negra that runs through our veins

Don’t allow for our voices and stories to be drowned out

Don’t let them forget for a second that we are here to stay

By their own marches in their white robes

Like the wall, they so badly want to build

Stand united against them

Don’t let them forget who we are

Latino and Proud

Because pinche su madre

We aren’t going anywhere