Real America

In the capitol of Indian country, developing the setting for Our Love Is Here To Stay, after writing in a torrent, I transcribed on a recorder what I saw today. On the murals by Aztec Avenue to the celebration at Ford, it was payday for the nation, and the Dine(The Navajo) went to Walmart. The store here in Gallup defies description, except to say it contains a Toy's r us, clothing store, electronics, food, everything humans think they need. For the children of the people, it is a good hearth and home to remember. In the store, I saw real America. Not only are the Native Americans suffering. I saw a beautiful white man with a prosthetic limb wheeling a shopping cart deftly along the aisle. I saw Navy Veteran hats on older men, both Indian and white.I heard Jimmy Hendrix piping Sweet Melissa through the megaphones outside the Ford place. There, with baby blue '55 T-Birds, the Navajo strolled with their beautiful girls. Some seemed an amalgum of Mexican, Chinese, and Indian.Their kids listen to their own radios. They like Rolling Stones and Rock & Roll. They also like John Wayne. In Cowboys & Indian games..guess what..they like to be the Cowboy! As I get closer to Gallup, I see these people are a lot like me. But better. They do not have to prove they are American. I can't explain that more. But in the dichotemy of short-haired long haired diverse appearances...their laughter lifts into the enchanted air. They have increased their population greatly, here. And i am so happy about that. Somehow, through suffering I cannot imagine, but feel kinship only in my own race's painful past, I am witness, in the T-shirts, the hats of baseball and football teams-the entirety of America is in the natural face of this nation that stays apart, but always has remained true. My hope is to walk these streets, this nation, and see no difference, no shade of false color, no notion of separation with me.