Goodbye to BorderLinks

It was hard to say goodbye to my coworkers at BorderLinks who helped me grow and made me laugh.  I wrote the this little poem to express my deep gratitude for them and their work.  I'm no poet, but I do like them.

BorderLinks Staff Spring 2015

From academia to activism
Y’all shocked me at first
Prison abolition and collective liberation 
What do these radicals mean?

Patient explanations, walks downtown
Selena singalongs got me through
Now I’d say, I understand you.

You have pulled the wool off my eyes,
Exposed me to the pain of wage theft, deportations, and for-profit prisons
You have shown me heartbreaking realities
And given me the tools to fix them
Paso a paso
Thanks to you, I have found the comandanta within me

Thank you for blurring the line between co-worker and friend, student and teacher
Thank you for teaching me the difference between equality and equity
Thank you for introducing me to jelly-filled donuts, Café Justo, and tajin
Some call it GordoLinks, I call it home.

My next step is unknown
But I do know I will take forth
The wisdom I’ve gathered from workshop scribbles on parchment paper
The weight for the Operation Streamline shackles
The compassion of a migrant crossing the desert to reunite with her family
The bravery of an undocumented day laborer
And the resolve of a mother in sanctuary

Thank you.
Gracias.