Si, se puede!

Dreamers,

Dancers,

Doctors,

Senators,

Scholars,

Singers,

Lawyers,

Legislators,

Librarians,

Teachers,

Businessmen and women,

But somehow, still unknown.

Like the knight in shining armor

We come through.

We love

To fall in love,

And tell a few tales.

We make the violin cry,

And play the piano,

Weaving a wonderful lie,

Noting that the black keys

Make some type of noise too.

Life, like guitar strings,

Like a song we’ve learned to play,

We’re trying to stay in tune.

La musica,

Our bachata,

Our cumbia,

Our salsa,

Our merengue,

Oh trust me, our hips move!

Our food,

Full of tradition,

Passed down through every abuela I know,

Cooked in huge pots,

Boiled in water,

Tamales,

Frijoles,

And so much more.

Pero tambien asamos,

Cocinamos,

Y comemos

pupusas, carne asada, frijoles, empanadas de pollo,

y tamales de pollo y de elote hasta mole poblano,

Yes, chicken in chocolate!

We cook

We eat

We season

We don’t play with food!

Our kids,

We teach

To dance like us.

We teach

our Latin roots,

Though some of us

Tuck it away like

A secret to be kept,

While we attempt assimilation.

We’ve had to pretend

We’re something we’re not.

We’ve had to live out in the streets,

Learning an unknown language.

We’ve had to sell drugs, do crime

To get by.

We’ve learned to speak,

Received our degrees,

Worked triple hard,

We’ve had to wait too long

For falsely promised dreams.

Our blue flag,

Our red flag,

Our green flag,

Our different flags

All make us one.

We are the story of a rollercoaster.

A woman with a musical voice

And the man she met,

How they craved a kid

Had him here, in this country

Hoping he would become their dreams.

We are the story of the boy

Who would grow and one day have a degree,

A lawyer defending his parents’ rights

His dreams becoming their dreams.

The children, the dreamers,

We know the harsh truth

Of how our parents are unseen.

The children, we unite and show

That the Spanish language

Is a powerful storm—

Our songs

Our people

Our food, make us who we are.

We, my people, are the hardest suns to break!