Those Who Fear Us by Anthony Estrada

Author:Anthony Estrada [Estrada, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bright Communications LLC
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

El León

Mira, there’s nothing you can say to me to change my mind about how I feel about nobody. Why should I? This mindset, this way of thinking is what got me to where I am today. I run these streets. I run Muerte.

I’m taking the power back—not just for me, but for my people. El León is el rey of this jungle. You understand me?

My people have taken generations of abuse and slaughter. Slaughter of our bodies and of our spirits. I’m not going to allow us to take it anymore. That’s why I started Muerte in the first place. We will break the cycle of poverty. We will elevate us to the next level and leave the past behind us. We have the power.

“¡Viva la Raza!” All that shit, it’s just words. I’m putting power behind my words, and I always will.

Fuck this fuckin’ place.

San Eugenio exploits our people for the betterment of the white man and the fuckin’ millionaire and billionaire pieces of shit running this country. They can’t have me, and they ain’t gonna have me. They won’t have us.

It ends with me.

It ends with us.

Fuck my moms and my pops. Moms bailed right after I was born. Said she couldn’t handle it. Pops drank himself stupid.

The fields take your soul, leaving you nothing.

I guess I get why they both did it: Moms because who the fuck would want to stay here? And Pops, because what the fuck else are you supposed to do when people keep taking advantage of you? All these fucking farm corporations did.

We picked. They profited.

“Have something to say? Go ahead, I’m sure ICE would love to hear.”

“Want more pay? Find another job.”

“You’re working too many hours? Sun too hot? I got a new swarm of you crossing every day.”

It was easy for them to exploit us.

And me? I was supposed to be some sort of dreamer? For every immigrant kid that graduated from Harvard and thanked their mom and dad for the sacrifices they made, there were a hundred of us living the reality we did—going nowhere.

Driving their fucking Teslas, competing for who the best Latino would be. Always talking the talk, but none of those motherfuckers ever came back. They never gave back to the places they came from. There were a few pictures at charity events. Pictures they got to post to their Instagram, in-between vacations to Aspen or wherever the fuck their wannabe-white asses would go.

Fuck them. They became part of the system exploiting us. They traded their virtues for six- and seven-figure salaries. Who could blame them? I can. They forgot who they were and where they came from. Just like Lopez.

“But, what about Cesar Chavez and labor rights?” You can believe the fairytale, but when someone wants to cut costs, they’ll find a way. When someone wants to cut corners, they will. The small farms were too small to regulate, and the big corporations had enough money to pay off government officials to turn the other way and keep cutting costs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.