When we talk about being Latino
and what that means to me
I speak with certainty
and a bit of specificity
when I talk about Afro centricity
in saying you are black
and you just look at me
like it was blasphemy
because this has to be
an act of stupidity
to ignore the ethnicity
of your origins
but fortunately
there is no death
to orginality
Skipping the formality
read the history
African blood in the DNA
that is a reality
maybe you’re just mad to see
the facts as it is meant to be
Latinos as a Nationality
is just as black as can be
With the rhythmic personality
of the congas and beats
the food and the tastes romantically
link a slave with taino in history
a shared ancestry
through misery
that you refuse to see
so there is no mystery
you bleach your hair and skin
with a sense of fragility
Where is your responsibility?
to maintain that sensibility
to not make us a joke, racially
We are Latinos, of any color
we have credibility
we have grown in number, drastically
so our color is heavenly
and our culture is immortality
Anthony Otero 