I sat back in my wooden chair as they signed the paperwork and stared down at the arm rests, studying the various layers of paint, the chips and cracks. How many hands had gripped them? I wondered. What lives were… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
People say what distinguishes us from the animals is that we think. Well, then why the hell don't we extend some compassion to those under tremendous duress? There's this whole idea that you work really hard so you can deaden… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
I culled poetry from odors, sounds, faces, and ordinary events occurring around me. Breezes bulged me as if I were cloth; sounds nicked their… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
“They turn the water off, so I live without water, they build walls higher, so I live without treetops, they paint the windows black,… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
Every poem is an infant labored into birth and I am drenched with sweating effort, tired from the pain and hurt of being a… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
I do know that if you can name certain things and understand them, it allows you to make better choices. Unfortunately, there's so much… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
“It's the process of making-do, of the life I've lived between breakdowns and break-ups, that has made life worth living. I could not bear… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
I can't stand the comfort zone. So many people I know, their parents give them their homes, and they get married and have children,… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
Literacy is freedom, and everyone has something significant to say, — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
I sat back in my wooden chair as they signed the paperwork and stared down at the arm rests, studying the various layers of… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
Americans would have a right to go to war with the Iraqis if we could name one author from Iraq. It disturbs me that… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
We're all self-destructive when we're young. We all rebel. If we don't, there's something wrong. But when a Chicano kid's in a rebellious state,… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
I believe it's our responsibility as citizens to get in there and not accept the constant failure of prisons to deal with racism, lack… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
You've got to invite Native Americans to the table, and Asians, and Chicanos. You cannot keep us in the back room anymore and give… — Jimmy Santiago Baca Copy Share Image
