A Force Beyond Myself Andy Ocampo

This poem is a wild breath, a whispering voice out of air, of someone desperately asking for help in the prison of their hopes. It describes what goes in the mind of an individual from Venezuela who is forced to travel across the borders from their homeland aiming to reach the United States border control in Mexico, where they might have a chance to claim for the status of a refugee. All this by walking next to other hundreds of people, families, elders, and children with the same goal in mind. There are no words to describe what these photos showcase. There are no adjectives to tell in detail the anxiety I felt when my younger sibling told me they were going through that adventure running away from starvation in our birth nation. They all left behind the few things they had, with only one dream in their minds. So that perhaps they could make it better in a promised land. Somewhere where they can have access to the most basic things a human need to survive such as food, health, water, roofs, and electricity. Though it is true the Anthropocene has left us with incredible advanced technologies and the cure to many diseases that in the past were a threat to us all, so it is as well the repercussions of mass production, consumerism, and capitalism in marginalized groups of people around the world.

The privilege of a few is the pain of the many.