In Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio struggles with fitting in at school because of his cultural heritage (pg. 58-59). Consider the "tristesa de la vida" that he feels. What is this sadness and why does it exist?
Read the poem "Why am I so Brown?" by Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. Think about how our cultural identity shapes who we are and how we interact in society. Examine the pride and connection of an individual with culture in the poem. Leave a post that analyzes the poems themes and use of diction to convey a message about heritage and how it interacts with society.
I feel like he is sad because all the other kids already know english but he doesn't. He only knows Spanish. And although he didn't struggle learning, all the other kids knew how to write too. I feel like society being so discriminative towards certain cultures and races affect the race by making young children (or anyone else) think they are wrong just because the color of their skin. If they do not like themselves and are bullied for the color of their skin they try to change their culture so they are more like the person who is making them feel that way. This makes them abandon their original culture and adopt a new one that they were somewhat forced into by thinking who they were before, was not right. -Madilyn Turner
ReplyDeleteThe poem is how the color of our skin doesn't matter, what matters is the type of person we are. Heritage is what shapes a person and makes us who we are in society. If someone has a heritage that is introverted, then they will most likely shut out society and never understand it.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is not very blunt but in fact a bit vague. The one who speaks in the poem is very positive in the poem, stating that brown is not a boring color or just a color. It is a "Human Texture"- something that makes you unique. The color of your skin tells the story of your family tree. Its so fascinating when you give it some thought. You are the living breathing, future of your ancestors. You have their skin and eyes and hair and other things. It's almost as if you are living through them yet you are your own being, your own person. Your culture makes you unique, your beliefs and things like that make you who you are. Of course you are not an exact copy of your ancestors- but you have a bit of them within you. Lastly, when the writer exclaims "It's HER favorite color", I believe they are hinting at the Virgin Mary. She is the mother of God and Jesus and she is a very kind and merciful holy one. - Fatima Adame
ReplyDeleteTony is an outcast and gets laughed at from having different traits than the normal kids, even the teachers laugh at him, so this is where his sadness comes from.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the girl asks why is she so brown, and the mother answers by telling her many ways being brown is great. Her culture roots back to the Chicana warrior so she should be proud of where she came from. The girl does not want to be so brown but she then understands that brown is not a color, it is a state of being human texture. This shows that in society it should not matter about what your skin color is or the culture you have, because everybody is the same. No skin color is better or worse, therefore everyone is equal.
this poem connects to bless me ultima because tony questions his beliefs and culture in the book , as does the child the mom is talking to in the poem.in the poem the mom is saying how there culture makes them who they are and explains how it makes them special much like ultima does with Antonio.
ReplyDeleteThe sadness in both poems is about being different. They both are different and feel a sadness because they want to be like the others even though they cant be.:(
ReplyDelete1) Sadness is a feeling in which people feel when they are sad. We feel sadness because optimistic people make the best out of everything and we let ourselves overthink and get into ur feelings.
ReplyDelete2)This poem is about culture and society because it is about how she is the color that she is, and that it starts talking about Mexican heritage -Amber Johnson & Haylie Reyes.
Antonio feels saddened because his school is white-washed, and people make fun of him for his culture. In the book, the kids make fun of him for having a tortilla instead of regular bread like they do. They are shaming him for something they do not understand, and he feels as if he's doing something wrong. In reality, it's just the way he was raised and brought up through his culture. He thought everyone at his school would be the same. He was not prepared for the diversity, and neither were the other children. The poem talks about cultural identity, and the pride that should come with the color of your skin. People of color are so often shamed, and made to feel like light-skinned people are of more importance, or hold more beauty. This poem holds the meaning that that is not true, and you are made brown because it is who you are, and you are beautiful the way you are made. It is also mentioned that God is a woman, which addresses the age-old belief that God is a man, and we don't know how true that even is. This adds to the reversal of common beliefs that so many people are still ignorant to. The diction of this poem shows the pride of having a brown skin tone, of knowing your worth and wearing that confidence like everyday dress. It uses words like 'royalty', 'goddess', and 'warrior', to show people of color are beautiful, important, wise, and strong. Antonio has not realized his worth, and so he does not feel these things.
ReplyDeleteThe poem takes a new twist on the whole concept of minorities and how its seen and viewed. In 'Why am I so Brown?', it says that "brown... is not a color it is:/a state of being a very human texture/alive and full of song, celebrating--/dancing to the new world/which is for everyone/" (Sanchez, Jr., lines 23-28) This relates to Antonio and real life in very similar ways. Antonio talks about the 'tristesa de la vida', or the sadness of life. What if he's referring to how he doesn't fit in with the other kids? It isn't because of his skin color, but of how he was raised and now he has a 'bruja' living in his house. His connection is lost with the ones around him because the people who should don't take the time to understand and realize that he's almost like the other boys. But this gets deeper than BMU. In real life, we see these kinds of problems. We see police get shot because they are police, not for their personality. African Americans are getting killed in cold blood because they're considered threats. LGBT+ kids and teens get kicked out of their homes, beaten, and pushed over the edge of depression just because they are different. Muslims are shunned because 'they don't have a voice'. People always talk about maturity and people claim that they have it, but if we keep letting people get pushed around, then where is the understanding? What kind of a world are we going to let our children grow up in? Antonio talks about the 'tristesa de la vida' he feels because he doesn't fit in, and its crazy how this book is 40 years old but can still be used to represent society. The poem works so well with BMU, with the connections and symbolism. They both are trying to say we all are human, we all are water, so what does it matter what kind of water or person we are? If we all are the same thing, shouldn't we all be treated the same? Shouldn't we all be loved if we all are water?
ReplyDelete1)"Tristesa de la vida" is the sadness of life he is sad because his culture is so much different then everyone else.He struggles to fit in at school because he has a different culture so he speaks a different language. So then the kids make fun of him.
ReplyDelete2) It talks about our ancestors and how they are proud to be the color of there race.
-Gisselle
In todays society, race is everything. Why does everything revolve around race? It shouldn't, but it does. There are riots all over America. Any race is shooting any of the other races. In the poem, a young girl is asking why she is brown. At the end the woman tells her that she is brown because that is God's favorite color. Color should not be an issue and no matter what color someone is, they should get the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be conscious of being too white or too dark. We should be proud because God made us for a reason, we all have a purpose. The woman in the poem is telling the girl to be proud of her skin tone because not everyone can be like her.
ReplyDelete"tristesa de la vida" - sadness of life
ReplyDeleteI believe that this "sadness of life" exists to describe how people feel they can be consumed and overwhelmed by sadness. It could be something so deep they've never felt before, something along the lines of depression. Antonio felt this sadness of life because he felt like an outcast around others, like something was wrong with him. The poem "Why am I so Brown?" seems to be written for people, mostly women/girls, who feel unloved for having brown skin. It shows how discrimination based on skin color, something that can't be controlled, can make someone feel excluded, or an outcast like Antonio. Society has the power to cause people to feel insecure with themselves so easily. In the poem, "connecting you to your raices,/ your story/historia" explains how the color of your skin is important because it's part of your history and heritage. It's nothing to feel ashamed or insecure about because it's a beautiful part of who you are. "not a color...it is: / a state of being a very human texture / alive and full of song, celebrating-- / dancing to the new world / which is for everyone..." (Line 24-28)
Well first I think I should translate what "tristesa de la vida" means. so after looking it up I found out that it means "sadness in life" and I think this sadness is embarrassment. and in my opinion this only excist because for aome reason if someone if different than everyone else we think that we need to make fun of them for it. Our cultural identity definitely has an impact on who we are and how we act insociety. for example some cultures raise their kids to be more respectful to adults than others or to be kinder to their peirs than others. In the poem the mother of the girl is trying to teach her daughter that the color of her skin is something to be proud of instead of ashamed of. the mother explains to her daughter that ther color of her skin represents "leaders/madres of Chicano warriors" and that people with that skin color are "a princess" which represent people who hold a higher powers. Culture interacts with society just like in the 1960s when discrimination was going on just because of peoples skin color. And even now people wont hire an African American or a Hispanic person just because of their culure and/or skin color.
ReplyDeleteI found this poem very interesting because it was trying to empower Chicana women and help them feel not only comfortable but proud of the color of their skin. I really liked the last stanza because it says, "God made you brown because it is one of HER favorite color". Which is strange because God is usually seen as a man and the idea that God is actually a female is very interesting. The problem mentioned at the beginning of this problem is that some Chicana women are insecure or feel that they don't fit in because of their skin color. Antonio faces a similar problem to this when he starts school. He does not understand English like some of the other kids so he can't make friends with them and he has trouble fitting in. I think that both of these issues/insecurities make the people who struggle with them better for it. Every struggle in life can better you if you handle the situation correctly. -Michaela Anderson
ReplyDeleteThis poem shows pride in heritage by having the narrator tell the girl in the poem that she should be proud of who she is because god made her that way. this connects to other people having pride in their heritages because the main reason they are proud is because they are different.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, the child is questioning why he is brown. The words "God made you brown, Mi'ja" suggest that he asked someone else this question. Due to the wording, it was most likely his mother, and just like any mother she told him encouraging things about his skin tone, so he wouldn't think of it as a bad trait. Antonio did not experience this sense of encouragement, so he was left feeling ashamed and outcast. Although the child in the poem was given encouragement from his mother, she did not know how to provide a proper answer that he would understand, so instead, she said that the reason was God. He just chose to accept this, while had Antonio been given this reasoning, he would've questioned it. This also contributes to his sadness or "tristesa de la vida" because by questioning everything he is told, Antonio never knows what is real. He doesn't have anything to hold onto and feel secure with. Security is very important to a child as young as him. Also, while this is unrelated to the topic of sadness, in the poem, the mother refers to God as a "HER". Perhaps this "her" in BMU would be the Virgin. But alas, we'll never know.
ReplyDeletethe color of our skin can determine racial slurs on you or how much money you will earn when you get a job later in life. this poem is saying you should be happy about what your skin color you have and not question it because there is something happy about it all the time.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is saying that the color of your skin is more than just a color. The color of your skin shows who you are as a person. It shows your uniqueness. The poem expresses that each person should take pride in their color. In the poem the girl wants to know why she is brown. Her mom I'm assuming tells her all the wonderful reasons of why she is brown. That's how we should all see ourselves. We should all think about the good parts of ourselves.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that stuck out to me in this poem is the line "God made you brown because it is one of her favorite colors", because I think that a lot of people are more confident in themselves if they know they are loved.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, it gives off the impression of a guardian telling a child to be proud of their color. I believe that this poem could have a deeper meaning to it then others would think. In the poem, it says "God wants you to understand...brown
ReplyDeleteis not a color...it is:
a state of being a very human texture
alive and full of song". This could give the impression of different qualities with different skin color, or it could be saying that every skin color has their own, unique "song" to it. What that means is that every skin color and its person are different and unique in their own way. This could mean a variety of things in society. Your skin color doesn't represent your whole being, but it could represent a stereotype. This could be the reason for the kid/person feeling uneasy about their skin color in the poem. Unfortunately, this seems to happen a lot in society, but the meaning of the poem is to be proud of the skin you wear. You were given it for a reason and it doesn't make you anything less than what you are. It describes you in the best ways possible and gives you a unique attribute that not every one has.
The poem is a compelling scenario of ideals and cultural activism.It identifies our mindset as a pass down from our parents. ethnicity is not something you can make, it gets surpassed from your parents and so forth. It shapes what we eat, speak, hear, and do. If you believe in your god or goddess then you need to set an example of your belief for them.Many have pride for what they believe in and stick to it all their lives. This poem explains that your made for who you are. The kid is brown and that's who he will alwas be in ethnicity and color.Though many will be confused you learn the way of your religion as you slowly grow into a person with a big mind of what they believe in.
ReplyDeleteI think the sadness Antonio feels is grief because he cant help it that he cant speak English and doesn't fit in because of his background and his heritage and it makes him sad and want to cry even though he knows that he cant help it just like the poem she cant help that she's brown there is nothing wrong with it she just needs to embrace her heritage and be more pride full of her background just like Antonio. the author is implying that brown isn't a color its just a texture of skin and it doesn't matter your color just your background and heritage.
ReplyDeletemaybe what they mean by god is she is the fact that they are talking about mother nature and evolution how it is better to have brown skin evolutionarily speaking the dark color protects from the sun and its UV rays.
ReplyDeletein the poem "why am I so brown", the daughter In the story is asking her mom why God made her brown. The mother mentions God and many reasons why he made her that way, explaining that your color explains where you come from, etc. but there is a big twist at the end. The whole time throughout the poem we are thinking that the God she is talking about is the lord God almighty creator of heaven and earth, but in reality, she is talking about a female god. this family is obviously from a Spanish heritage, so maybe they consider the virgin Mary a god. It would make sense, she is the one that gave birth to the one that Christians give praise to. they may feel that she deserves all of the credit. Or from a different standpoint, that family may be like, why does God have to be a male, why can't God be a female, and all of that. heritage interacts with society by mainly choosing which religion you are, or how you will have an education, if you will have pets, etc. I mean, you never really hear of muslims from the middle east becoming Christians, or hindus, they are born into a certain religion, just as we are...
ReplyDeletethis relates to bmu because it shows that Antonio might be asking the same qutions
ReplyDeletethis poem tell you that it doesn't matter about your skin color. your who you are, and you brace that. you don't let anyone take you downto make you fell bad
ReplyDeleteThis sadness that Antonio feels is the sadness for being different than everyone else. This exists because he has a different culture than everyone else and not many people in the school share the same culture as Antonio. The poem conveys a message that people may be different by how they are, like their culture, but that's what makes everyone unique, just like Antonio and the girls in the poem are.
ReplyDeleteThis poem tells you not to let color define who you are. You are your own king/queen. You are unique in your own way and serve a purpose no matter how irrelevant you think you are. Do not let others tear you down. This poem makes you question who you really are and why you are here.
ReplyDeletethe poems theme is race / skin color. the poem interacts with society because of racism. some people judge others by their skin color but the lady tells the girl she's brown because of God made her that way and she should be proud of it.
ReplyDeleteI think the poem and the story go together grate because when Antonio goes to school the other kids laugh at him and make fun of him because his food and I think that most people think different is weird and to others it is cool it really depends on the person but all those kids laughed because he had brought Mexican food and they were not used to seeing that so they reacted and that made Antonio feel bad about his culture and in the poem the girl questions her race to and I think that that is how both of the stories relate and interacts with society.
ReplyDeleteI think the poem is about how you shouldn't listen to stereotypes. I'm assuming the narrator is the mother and she is talking to her daughter about her race. She is telling her daughter that she should not be ashamed of her brown skin color or her ethnicity. To emphasize this, the mother uses Spanish through out the poem. The mother is probably telling her daughter this because society has many "rules" that will tell her that she doesn't fit in. The theme may be to always be proud of who you are, where you came from, and screw society and their stereotypes. This relates to Antonio because he was bullied by his society for only being able to speak Spanish in the beginning of his schooling, even though that is his cultural heritage.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the poem is about stereotyping and how it can affect one. The woman is telling the girl that she should never be ashamed of her skin color no matter what happens.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the poem is saying not to listen to racism/ sterotypes because all they are doing is judging you when you shouldn't even think about them. tht is just there opinion and everyone has there own. God made you who you are and you should be pleased of who you are.
ReplyDeleteHe is asking why he is brown which is a metaphor for why am I who I am. He is asking why is he a Chicano. These are questions that he is asking about nature. While others are asking simple questions like why is the sky blue he is asking complex questions about why am I a Chicano. Which cannot be answered.
ReplyDeletethis story has so much passion and intensity and the goal of this poem is to catch your eye and make you keep reading and the way it talks about brown and being her favorite color is interesting
ReplyDeleteThe sadness that Antonio feels is the hurt of being discriminated against and he feels kind of embarrassed to embrace his culture since he is being discriminated for it.A consistent theme throughout the poem is that your culture/heritage is very important and special. Your culture is part of your identity, it connects you to your heritage and gives you a group that you can share your culture with and feel accepted into."God made you brown, mi'ja color bronce--color of your raza connecting you to your raices,your story/historia
ReplyDeleteas you begin moving towards your future" (Sanchez jr. Lines 5-9) Heritage influences society interactions, because society discriminates against certain heritages/cultures so if your heritage is one that's discriminated against you won't feel safe fully embracing, celebrating, and participating in your culture. For example there's a lot of islamophobia in the United States so Muslims can't fully embrace their culture without being discriminated against. They are susceptible to hate crimes and discrimination at any given moment just for identifying as a Muslim.
What ever your skin color is, does not matter. Your skin color is natural. You are who you are and its a common thing to question why you are the color you are or who you are. It does not matter if you are white, brown, black, or if you have a pink under tone to your face. You should not be ashamed of your ethnicity. You should be confident in your skin. God didn't make you this color to embarrass you, he did it to show who you are. it shows who you are, it shows the uniqueness of you and who you are inside. What you look like on the outside isn't who you are on the inside. Just because you are a brown skin color doesn't affect who you are and what you are made of. Be proud of who you are and the color of your body. You are brown because " It is one of Gods favorite colors." Don't listen to stereotypes.. Be confident in your skin.
ReplyDeleteThe poem states how a skin color is many positive descriptions of yourself. The narrator is telling the girl how her ethnicity's meaning should not be determined by other people. That she should see herself that her color describes her culture and past generations of her family. The narrator says "God made you brown..." because this shows that your skin color is a gift from God. The girl may question herself because of the society that she lives in, telling her/ generally stating that being a "color" means that you aren't pretty enough. The poem doesn't state what time period this was taken place in but the overall society hasn't changed over the years. Antonio also feels this doubt about himself because he believes that he cannot fit in at his school because of his ethnicity. He is curious about God's decisions for him and he feels that he will not be able to relate to other peers due to the culture God and his family gave to him.
ReplyDelete-Savannah Guidry
I believe that poem is showing us you shouldn't listen to stereotypes. The narrator is like a mother or father figure telling their child how they shouldn't be ashamed of their culture. The child is like Antonio because Antonio was bullied at the beginning of the book for being able to speak Spanish fluently . So overall you should just have self respect for your culture.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is about how everyone needs to learn to be proud of their heritage or culture because that makes up who they are. This poem also relates to BMU because Antonio got bullied in school because he only speaks Spanish and he also got bullied because of the food he ate. And the reason I feel society does this is because if they don't understand it than its bad or wrong. For example when Antonio brought his lunch to school the kids who've never seen that before automatically started making fun of him and putting him down just because he was different and they didn't understand it.
ReplyDeletethe sadness of life for Antonio is there because he feels like he is not as good as everyone else. in the poem "Why am I so brown" the author is talking to an audience of brown skinned girls mostly and telling them that their "tristesa de la vida" which is about their skin color should not bother them.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is about someone who feels like they don't belong because of their heritage. This is something that happens in Bless Me Ultima in the beginning of the book, when Antonio couldn't socialize with his classmates because he felt out of place. This also relates to the real world, where there is a major social trap. Some people are excluded from social groups because of their features. It's a sad and somewhat dangerous thing that can lead to society becoming a very uncomfortable, divided, and ugly thing.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is about someone who feels like they don't belong because of their heritage. This is something that happens in Bless Me Ultima in the beginning of the book, when Antonio couldn't socialize with his classmates because he felt out of place. This also relates to the real world, where there is a major social trap. Some people are excluded from social groups because of their features. It's a sad and somewhat dangerous thing that can lead to society becoming a very uncomfortable, divided, and ugly thing.
ReplyDelete- Reagan Bordelon
the poem is telling people that stereotypes are just in our head. stereotypes are used to be racist and its completely irrelevant, it has no reason to be offensive, if you called me a school shooter because I look like toothpaste, I wont get triggered because I know I'm not a school shooter. the poem shows people that everyone should be equally treated and stop being doodoo heads.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is about being proud of our culture/ethnicity. We should be confident in our skin color and nobody should question their background. Our culture defines the way we live and differentiates us. Society will never want us to be happy or fit in, and that's where we have to take pride in who we are.
ReplyDeleteThe poem to me is saying that anyone and everyone should think of themselves and others as the same human beings that we all are.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is about a girl struggling with her Identity and heritage. But in response the writer tells the girl that it is okay to be brown and to embrace it and to be proud of it. The writer also speaks of an emerging "race" or generation of people who don't have the need to judge you and categorize you based on your culture or color. This new generation is the one that will get rid of bias and categorize all of us as just human.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is about how people judge each other for their skin, they completely disregard the fact that they could have a different personality aside from their stereotype. This relates to BMU when at the beginning of the book Antonio was being bullied because he spoke Spanish and ate different foods. no one even stopped to consider that he might have a good personality, too busy being blinded by old culture. the problem is humans have a hard time with forgiving and forgiving- Victoria G 7th
ReplyDeleteI think this poem can relate to bless me ultima by relating the innocence and youngness what I mean in the poem she's asking questions that are youthful and are oblivious in bless me ultima just like Antonio he is very innocent and seem to think the same way in a way what I mean is both poem and bless me ultima Antonio and the girl are innocent and seem to think alike each other
ReplyDeleteAntonio feels sad/discriminated because of his culture. Most of the people laughed at him because he was different form everyone else. Antonio cant help being different its just who he is and how he grew up. Just like the poem she was born like that, she cant change who she is because its a part of her. People shouldn't judge because someone is different , they should get to know them better and see how there are.
ReplyDeleteThe poem relates to Bless Me Ultima because in the book Antonio feels like he didnt fit in because of is beliefs, culture, and ways of life. In the poem the girl questions why shes been given the identity she has because she also feels like she doesn't fit in with the other kids but her mom helps her realize why she is still perfect.
ReplyDeleteAntonio never felt that he fit in with anyone else because of his of is beliefs, and heritage. In the poem the girl starts asking questions to her mom about why is she so brown, and her mother tells her that you were made brown for a reason, and to not fell ashamed because your different from everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThis poem shows pride in heritage by having the narrator tell the girl in the poem that she should be proud of who she is because god made her that way. this connects to other people having pride in their heritages because the main reason they are proud is because they are different.
ReplyDeleteBlake
the poem connects to Antonio because he struggles with who he is as a person and his identity. the girl in the poem struggles with who she is and her skin color.
ReplyDeleteThe father in the poem is trying to renovate his daughter's good spirit's while she is considering her skin color to be a bad thing. Her father explains that her skin color makes her many things, none of them bad. He says that God has blessed her with her skin tone, not scorned her with it. Then, at the end, he makes a statement, "it is one of HER favorite colors." There is unquestionable significance in his using of the term HER. It seems he has assumed God's gender, which is a very savage move. I assume he uses this to enlighten his daughter's mood.
ReplyDeleteI think the poem is saying that 'brown' is just a color and that we are all the same. No matter what color you are, you should be proud because that's is the way God made you.
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ReplyDeleteI think this poem is about being proud of your culture and color.
ReplyDeleteIts also about how we are all equal or going to be equal in "the new world." But really the poem isn't only about being proud of being Mexican or brown. Its about being proud of who you are.
The poem describes a Chicana who worries that by her being brown that she cant do the same as others because her skin color is brown but later she understand that people shouldn't be seen by there color of skin because everyone is a human with the same chances of being someone.
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