Let us ask, where does this Otro Mundo we so much preach about reside?

How does one coexist when there are forces of domination that are destroying our ways of being, hopes, and desires? The answer lies somewhere within our constant struggle to be autonomous beings that can think and live freely in such a way that does not dictate a notion of liberation in the lives of others.

I think of the struggle in Israel-Palestine and I begin to reflect on my own struggle growing up in Compton and how this 10 square mile geopolitical space I call home is bordered by the 91, 110, 105, and 710 freeways.. then I think of how the Pasadena community has not allowed the expansion of the 110 freeway and I don't wonder why because I know. I simply think of the Chavez Ravine that is now the Dodger Stadium or the South Central Farm that will probably soon become a warehouse for Forever 21.

I see the Mexico-U.S. border and I do not see that reality of living as refugees as any different than the state of apartheid I grew up in or that folks in Israel-Palestina experience. The racial profiling in the East is no different than the one that already happens in my hood or that is now being legalized in Arizona with SB-1070. I am thinking about how my dad's struggle for survival- to exist was dependent upon him crossing the U.S.-Mexico border several times. And I think of the things he would tell me growing up about his anti-capitalist views of the world. If there were co-existence in our pueblito in Mexico then why would he move somewhere where he knew he'd become more vulnerable to a premature death?

Within each other we may coexist, but between one another we may not be able to. It is dependent upon our survival. The question then becomes, how can we rethink our ways of survival that allows for the coexistence of all life?