The Nobodies
The Nobodies
Who are not, but could be.
Who don’t speak languages, but dialects.
Who don’t have religions, but superstitions.
Who don’t create art, but handicrafts.
Who don’t have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who don’t have faces, but arms.
Who do not have names, but numbers.
Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police blotter of the local paper.
The nobodies, that are not worth the bullet that kills them
Eduardo Galeanao
The Book of Embraces
W. W. Norton, 1991
I don't believe it has ever occured to me that it is the powerful, educated, and affluent that often write history, thereby taking upon him/herself to describe the worlds of the nobodies.
Who are not, but could be.
Who don’t speak languages, but dialects.
Who don’t have religions, but superstitions.
Who don’t create art, but handicrafts.
Who don’t have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who don’t have faces, but arms.
Who do not have names, but numbers.
Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police blotter of the local paper.
The nobodies, that are not worth the bullet that kills them
Eduardo Galeanao
The Book of Embraces
W. W. Norton, 1991
I don't believe it has ever occured to me that it is the powerful, educated, and affluent that often write history, thereby taking upon him/herself to describe the worlds of the nobodies.
posted by Melody at
7:46 PM
3 Comments:
True. Though it is changing somewhat.
But not enough.
Which is partly why 'they' create their own folklore.
And partly why it is so difficult for 'them' to aspire to something else. Because their world has become its own culture in which there are heroes and villains, rules and standards, and accepted expectations.
They have been rejected and have thereby survived by adjusting.
P.S. This is just one reason I love you. Because you think about stuff like this.
By
Dakota House , at 9:47 AM
Awesome poem! I was going to blog on the same thing! powerful!
By
Praisy, at 5:23 PM
I wanted to post that poem too. I was really moved by it and the power struggle that is conveyed in our choice of words.
By
First Pres. Youth Group, at 12:26 PM
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