1. Barbara Jane Reyes
• Born in Manilla, Philippines
• Raised in SF Bay Area
• Educated: UC Berkeley/SF State
• Currently an assistant professor at Mills
College
5. Obvious U.S. involvement with Philippines
• 1898 Philippines wins independence from Spain
• But this is during Spanish American War which
Spain loses
• America decides that Philippines is a spoil of war,
and theirs
• Philippines is a “territory” or semi-autonomous
commonwealth until 1946 when it gains
independence
• It continues to be used as a military base during the
cold war and up until our own times.
7. Poeta en San Francisco/Poeta in New York
• “Foreigners” writing about US cities
during a time of crisis
• Felt a certain horror and disgust (Lorca
during Great Depression/Reyes during
times of War)
• Not just revulsion and rejection but a
surrealistic overlay.
8. [state of emergency]
To honor movement in crescendos of text, combing through
ashes for fragments of human bone, studying maps drawn for
the absurdity of navigation — what may be so edgy about this
state of emergency is my lack of apology for what I am bound
to do. For instance, if I dream the wetness of your mouth an
oyster my tongue searches for the taste of ocean, if I crave
the secret corners of your city on another continent, in
another time, in series of circular coils extending outward,
then it is only because I continue to harbor the swirls of
galaxies in the musculature and viscera of my body. You will
appear because I have mouthed your name in half-wish,
reluctant to bring myself to you. You will appear for me,
because you always do, with earthen skin outside the
possibility of human causation.
9. [lakas sambayan 2003]
p.98
stone torch in nation’s fist fractures
dictator’s face wings flutter yellow paint
streaming from the giant’s lachrymal ducts
inventoried war crimes swiss bank accounts
dialysis paparazzi copycats bless american way
iron tanks cannot deter nuns wailing
novenas guarding ballot boxes with rosaries
remember the agong as woman’s breast
remember generala silang brandishing bolo knife
riding bareback where confluence of fishmarket
freeways prefab housing squares meet basketball
courts liquor stores cornrowed b-ballers sport
saggin sean john bling bling knuckles
lowering rice rockets scraping tha pavement
vinta colors billow island monsoon sky
street chrome exhaust pipes black smoke
pimpin boyz flip they caps sideways
faraway spectacle this commissioned stone face
no rushmore mere quick dry cement
block amnesia exile nation cannot dismantle
10. stone torch in nation’s fist fractures
dictator’s face wings flutter yellow paint
streaming from the giant’s lachrymal ducts
11. Isn’t it clear what this mural is doing in San Francisco?
12. Spirit of ‘68?
San Francisco=
people power over
governments
1986 People’s Power
Revolution
(EDSA)
non-violent revolution
13. =
inventoried war crimes swiss bank accounts
dialysis paparazzi copycats bless american way
...remember generala silang
14. But maybe the mural is here as a protest against US
imperialism...
Marcos’ and Ronald Regan
(the toppling of a regime
supported by US)
Swiss Bank Accounts
Marcos’ are called “copycats”
of American Values
This is not
a french woman’s fist
General Aguinaldo pictured
here is famous for resisting
US occupation in 1899
1899-1902: Philippine-
American War
(Aguinaldo surrenders--
official end of the war-- A US-designed military tank?
fighting continues)
There’s a red flag in the choice to name the
mural in Tagalog rather than in English
15. Which side to choose?
Brechin or Bennet?
“You will appear for me, because
you always do, with earthen
skin outside the possibility of
human causation.”
22. Rice Rockets (and other modified imports &
exports)
street chrome pimpin boyz
cannot dismantle?
lowering rice rockets scraping tha pavement
vinta colors billow island monsoon sky
street chrome exhaust pipes black smoke
pimpin boyz they flip they cap sideways
23. twist (someone’s) cap v. phr. 1. to amaze, astonish, or enlighten.
2. (in hip-hop) to kill someone; to beat, outwit, or get the better of someone.
Also twist (someone’s) cap back. Subjects: English, Hip-Hop, Slang
pimpin boyz they flip they cap sideways
25. Fate of the Mural
block amnesia exile nation cannot dismantle
26. stone torch in nation’s fist fractures
dictator’s face wings flutter yellow paint
streaming from the giant’s lachrymal ducts
inventoried war crimes swiss bank accounts
dialysis paparazzi copycats bless american way
iron tanks cannot deter nuns wailing
novenas guarding ballot boxes with rosaries
remember the agong as woman’s breast
remember generala silang brandishing bolo knife
riding bareback where confluence of fishmarket
freeways prefab housing squares meet basketball
courts liquor stores cornrowed b-ballers sport
saggin sean john bling bling knuckles
lowering rice rockets scraping tha pavement
vinta colors billow island monsoon sky
street chrome exhaust pipes black smoke
pimpin boyz flip they caps sideways
faraway spectacle this commissioned stone face
no rushmore mere quick dry cement
block amnesia exile nation cannot dismantle
