Dear America

By Marleny Carolina

​Dear America, 

If only you knew how my people think of you,

their eyes glisten, when they speak of you,

to them you are the key to a better life;

running water, electricity, education, and the American Dream.

“Tu veras, you’ll be an Americana in no time.” Voices filled with hope,

they all said to me, right before I boarded the plane to Nueva York.

It wasn’t until I made my way past customs at JFK, that I realized something was wrong;

America didn't want ME.

America,

If only you knew how my country reveres you,

Roads are named after presidents whose’ names we can barely pronounce.

Presidents whose foreign policy disguised their colonial imperialism as political activism.

Presidents who stripped us of our resources and made them cheaper for their consumption.

Please tell me why a plátano is cheaper in New York than in Santo Domingo where it grows?

And, why do I know of more gringos who’ve been to Punta Cana than of Dominicans back home?

Because we are black and immigrants you expect nothing but the worst of us.

Give us nothing but the worst of you. 

America,

You should be grateful we make better guests than you,

Unlike when you visit our shores, 

We are not here to steal, rape, or kill.

We are here to give our kids a better life.

To help rebuild the countries your greed pillaged,

The many economies you destroyed and governments you usurped. 

Amerikkka Coñaso.

How do I tell my people that the running water,

electricity and paved roads were built with the crushed skulls of their ancestors?

Ancestors they haven’t heard from since they were forced to go aboard different cargo ships.

How do I tell them that the American Dream is an illusion you mechanized to exploit their hard work?

TELL ME.

How do I go back empty handed and tell them you were full of empty promises? 

You want us OUT.

But where the fuck do we go when the whole world is Uncle Sam's sanctioned shooting range?

Marleny