Asina is How We Talk: A collection of Tejano poetry written en la lengua de la gente Paperback

By Eddie Vega

Asina is How We Talk is a fresh and tasty morsel of language activism, a defense of that nepantla of a borderland between two cultures, two languages, two nations, where even how we accent our words, which languages we speak, and whether those languages are allowed to consort with each other become a political, personal, and possibly confrontational action. An anthem of biculturalism, it fills our senses with the tastes and sounds of that cultural and linguistic mix where children of the Aztec Quinto Sol express their uniqueness and pride "...Eating pepperoni pizza/With salsa verde..." (Nicolás Valdez) and learn that "cenizas quedan/ my body should be a furnace" (ire'ne lara silva.)