This is for my homies...

A recent discovery by a new generation of railway workers building the extension of the Gold Line commuter rail line through Boyle Heights has unearthed a dark but largely forgotten period in Los Angeles history: they found remains that belonged to Chinese male sojourners who died a century ago, the same men who built the railroads during the 1800's!

This reminds me of a poem I wrote years ago, which I shall share to pay homage to these great brothers who sacrificed their lives to build this country. Pass the mutherfuckin' Tsing Tao...

Don’t talk to me like that, you stupid motherfucker!

You must mistake today
some other time back in the day
far away, in a bitter haze
called slavery, they say
quite different from the stories relayed
by my black brothers and sisters of today
for it’s the untold story
with little glory
of folks deceived with promises of gold
“a better life”, my peeps were told
so husbands left their wives behind
Ba Bas kissed their kids good-bye
they sailed for weeks in a fucked-up ship
shocked at the conditions of this trip
brought them into a deadly trap
of a white man’s obscure railroad map
destined toward the east, east side
pimping our working men obliged
cheap labor, a big enterprise
drilling holes through mountainsides
pioneered transportation for today
unknown to white folks sitting on the train
their asses being carried in vain
by the sweat and blood of those slain
killed by haphazard ways
for little-to-no pay
in the bitter cold and rain
loneliness, depression, pain
manhoods castrated, maimed
but were they recognized for all the fame
of building tracks from Cali to Maine?
HELL NO, you know it’s all the same
white folks take credit for fuckin’ everythang
successes which they stole, killed, raped
in order to advance their inferior pace
put my people in shame and disgrace
and today you put down my race?
I see right through your game
you’re the only one to blame
for all the racist shit i go through everyday
i swear to god that i will make you pay
so go fuck yourself, you stupid motherfucker
and don’t ever talk that way to me again
for the fury of my dead people under the tracks
will haunt and kill your ugly white ass!

r.yee. wednesday.august.05.1999. 3:43 pm