i like having political discussions with amado, who is 4. sometimes they are tricky. we've talked about the police, for example, a zillion times. he knows they hurt & kill people. but he also really likes vehicles & uniforms & sirens, which complicates things. in general, though, he really impresses me with his political analysis. a few months ago i was talking to him on the phone, telling him about my day and that i had been at this mission anti-displacement coalition event. land use issues are pretty easy to talk about with kids. i told him, we want them to make this parking lot into housing for poor families and a community center. i asked him what he thought, and he said he thought it was a good idea.
then there was a pause in the conversation and then he added:
y tambien queremos que cierren todas las cárceles and also we want them to close all the jails ...
y tambien queremos que todos los policias se vayan muy muy lejos and also we want all the police to go far away ... y tambien queremos libertad and also we want freedom ...
verdad, nina? right, nina?
umm... sí! that about sums it up.
it's a delicate operation, raising leftist children. you want to encourage their critical thinking skills, and at the same time you want them to develop a deep sense of what we believe and why. but you can't tell them what to believe, unless you want to see them end up like one of those ex-red diaper babies who is now an adult reactionary or self-indulgent pain in the ass.
cultivating little roquer@s, and proper appreciation of good music in general, is kind of similar i think. just enough, not too much. they'll come along :) i remember when amado was a baby, we were in the car and fabulosos cadillacs revolution rock was playing. i turned around to say something to him and found him with his arms in the air dancing around in the back seat. no encouragement needed. eso!
foto: the other day amado came downstairs to ask for help with his hair, out of the blue, to make it "parado". oh man, i love this kind of tia responsibility!
ok, so here are a few songs for nayahuari, la baby cumbiambera, & mayari, amado's new little sister (born november 18th!), the two littlest roqueras (and future izquierdistas) de la familia rsf... to get them off to a good start!
amado likes these, as well as classical music (??!) and the star wars soundtrack.
que calor : pibes chorros
ooh child : nina simone (original the 5 stairsteps)
amadito, taking the escalator up to the west oakland station platform to ride el tren.
i came across this song the other day by árbol and of course thought of amado. he loves trenes (trains), tractores (tractors), and camiones (trucks) a lot. i'm going to play it for him and i'm sure he will like it. he also really likes workers & hardhats (or really any type of helmet) so i may show him the video as well, although he is sure to have lots of questions about it which i won't be able to answer so maybe not. trenes, tractores, y camiones : árbol
trenes, camiones y tractores, bicicletas y peatones, barcos, aviones, submarinos, toneladas de cemento...
avanzan, avanzan muy lento me arrastran, me frenan, me siento y yo pienso...
que aunque estés despeinada me gustás igual aunque estés en piyama y sin maquillar aunque estés enojada por lo que pasó, aunque ya no te vea me gustás igual... **
trains, trucks, and tractors bicycles and pedestrians boats, planes, submarines tons of cement...
move forward very slowly drag me along, put the breakson i feel & i think...
even though your hair isn't combed i like you the same even though you're in pajamas and don't have on make-up even though you're angry about what happened even though i don't see you anymore i like you the same...
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