By Maria Enriqueta Romero

Bismellah

Soy Mexicana
Soy Musulmana
De ser Malinche* no se nada

He reclamado mi herencia
Humana
Femenina
Mi dignidad
Como mujer y madre

Levanto la frente
Orgullosamente
Mi velo es mi escudo
Mi fe, la espada
Para combatir
La opresion
Mientras vivo for El
No me falta nada

Estas lagrimas no son
Debilidad
Solo agradezco
ser Esclava de un Maestro
Que me ha elevado
Pulido
Inshallah Perdonado

Soy Mexicana
Soy Musulmana
Alhamdulilah Soy Esclava de Allah

Comment:

Malinche, Malinalli, or Doña Marina as she is sometimes, known was a translator for Cortez and some say, facilitated the Conquest of Mexico. For many years, if you were thought to have betrayed your Raza, you were called a Malinche, or Malinchista. New scholarly thought and research places Doña Marina in a new light, but we won’t go there now.

I thought of this because the first time a Chicano classmate saw me in hijab, he called around to our friends and said something along the lines of, “Chale, Queta’s no longer one of us. She’s one of THEM.” Alhamdulilah, I’ve been one of THEM since August 13, 1998. May I live, and die on this deen. AMEEN.

Fe Aman Allah.