For a Place Called Dallas
Commissioned for Big D Reads by Dallas poet laureate, Joaquín Zihuatanejo
“There is no real reason for a place called DALLAS.” —from a political flyer promoting a major bond issue in Dallas, 1985, as cited in The Accommodation by Jim Schutze
Let us do more
Than simply move beyond the past
Let us learn from it
Let us change both in spite and because of it
For so long we’ve been reaping what we sow
Knowing what we know all along
That smoke fades
While terror tends to linger
I’ve been trying to put my finger
On this place called Dallas for a while now
How people love to simplify
That whole beautiful shining city of the southern Sun Belt
Reeks of black ties and white lies
Dallas…is much more diverse and conflicted and beautiful than that
It’s hoop dreams and inner city youth
It’s Jim Schutze telling an awful truth
In a poignant and necessary way
It’s Will Evans publishing a book
Written 36 years ago today
It’s a Southside single mom
Working two jobs to make ends meet
It’s loving someone this way
And never letting go
It’s waking up to laugh
With Jub, Junior, and Gordo
It’s a young, strong, Black mayor
Leading us into a new day
It’s breathing free
At least it should be
Walking city streets never feeling restricted
It’s Mark Melton fighting for the unjustly evicted
It’s a non-binary Black poet
Reminding every Queer person in this city
That you are a snowflake
Born to be the most beautiful thing you can be…yourself
It’s me at age 19
Peering through Parkland pediatric glass
To catch a glimpse of my newborn daughter
It’s Robert Wilonsky and Sara Cardona
Honoring their fathers
With what they create
With how they live
It’s WordSpace
And Karen X
And all that she selflessly gives
It’s Sylvia Komatsu
Devoting herself to public media every single day
The 40 plus years of service and heart she pours into KERA
It’s Jo Giudice
Guiding us
In all things library, equity, and design
It’s Anita Nanez Martinez
Reminding us that Ballet Folklorico is divine
It’s Pleasant Grove, Highland Hills
And Tenth Street Freedman’s Town
It’s a Journey Man
Creating safe space down at DaVerse Lounge
It’s shutting down
The small town country club oligarchy
With its stones and sticks
Its urban politricks
Closing the door
And speaking soft spoken truths
Betrays this city’s youth
Believe me when I say
They are desperate to know
Where they come from
Let us make it our duty
To teach our children
Their history
In all its ugliness
In all its beauty
What if equality, fairness, and generosity
Was what we sow
What if we do something revolutionary
Like…take some of the funding
Set aside for the Ross Perot
And give it to Black and Brown owned theatres
To help them grow
To show them that this city
Our city
Sees them
So let us confront the truth
In Topic lyrics reverberating
Through UTD and SMU dorm halls
Let Daniel Yanez paint it in murals
On WestSide walls
It’s equal parts Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bach
It’s Jess Garland teaching girls how to rock
It’s a city finding a way to not only acknowledge
But support the activists, artists, and advocates
That make this city
Extraordinary
But after all this
They…still say
There is no real reason for a place called Dallas
I say…everyone gathered here today…
Is reason enough
Dallas is…
A place where wellness begins
It’s the Momentous Institute
Building social emotional health in our youth
It’s Vicki Meek and the South Dallas Cultural Center
Teaching young people
To find the artist that lives within
It’s the Aberg Center for Literacy
Teaching refugee children
It’s Arttitude supporting Queer artists
Who paint and write toward catharsis
It’s the Austin Street Center
Lifting up those in need
It’s the Senior Source helping the breaved…
These are among the many reasons
For a place called Dallas
It’s me
It’s you
It’s Sonny Bryan’s BBQ
It’s my Abuelo whispering to me,
Tu voz es tu poder (your voice is your power)
Words I will never forget
It’s a young, poor, Brown barrio boy
Growing up to be Dallas Poet Laureate
It’s always fighting the just and good fight
It’s a street poet writing wrongs with all his might
It’s everything we’ve been through
And all the good we will do
So let it begin with you
You me we
You me we
We are the reason
For this place called Dallas
————-
Reposted with permission. This piece was debuted and performed live at the Big D Reads launch event on September 1, 2022 at the Dallas Public Library, J. Erik Jonsson Central Library. View the recording here.
Commissioned for Big D Reads by Dallas poet laureate, Joaquín Zihuatanejo