I consider myself a good writer and teacher. At the heart of both is the hope and the belief that I can share information in such a way that can ignite the good, strong, and beautiful in those whom I encounter (either as readers or students). I try to create content with which people will resonate and find that fountainhead of truth inside themselves that exists in all humanity. Since I have background in art, I strongly believe that creativity is among the clearest paths to a healthy spirituality. From that spirituality, I suspect (and hope) that health can emerge. However, it’s not up to me to tell anyone how their spirituality should look, or how they identity their spirituality.
Because I do all I can to refrain from superimposing my identifiers on top of others, it’s hard for me to imagine that anyone would find fault when I say, “the labels with which we choose to identify are NOT neutral.” While the excerpt from “Yo soy Joaquin” included in the image included with this post might seem to indicate it doesn’t matter how Joaquin labels himself; underneath the label, he is human will act in accordance with his humanity, not the label that others place upon him. In saying that, he is reinforcing the fact that labels are not neutral. Rather, he is saying the opposite: he will be who he is regardless of the label placed upon him.
Throughout my life, I have chosen to identify as Chicano, which to me means a person of mixed race who derives from a colonized land whose primary language was Spanish. Others may call me Mexican or Latino, but my ancestors have been part of this land for centuries; yet, I never knew myself to be from Mexico. I’ve always been New Mexican. I’ve never been or spoken Latin, however, and I would never be Latino. Yet, mainstream society wants to place those labels on me in hopes that they can somehow gain an insight into who I am. But being a mestizo from an area that was colonized isn’t easy to understand. In reading “Yo Soy Joaquin,” that message comes out: he’s trying to decode his own experience, just as we all are.
However, that becomes very difficult when others place labels that they understand on top of us. That’s really what’s at the core of my message that “labels are not neutral.” For example, when treatment providers insist those with substance use disorders call themselves “addicts” or “alcoholics,” all they are doing is using terms that they understand that may actually be harmful for others to identify with. Just as I identify with “chicano,” someone else might think that’s not something good to call himself. By the same token, if someone else calls himself an “addict” and finds it helpful and healthy to do so, then so be it. But it’s not for anyone to label or force others to use labels that they aren’t comfortable with.
We all have the source of all that’s good and strong and beautiful inside our souls. But it’s up to all of us to find it for ourselves, in our own terms, through our own experience. When we do, we can call I whatever we want. I call myself Chicano.
