Si Se Puede!

This morning, we were reading a Jose Luis Orozco book and its accompanying CD we got from the library. We turned the page and I said, "Oh! Esta cancion se llama "Si Se Puede!" but when it came on the CD, it wasnt a song but a poem. I was disaapointed. But then, from hearing the words, not even any tune, Amado said, in the perfect intonation, "Si, Se Puede!" like he was chanting it!

Jason took him to a protest against the INS raids more than a month ago. And here he was, so much later, hearing the words, he remembered the rhthym of the chant! It was more like "Si, Si Wede!" but the rythm was undeniable!

He brought it back up periodically throughout the day. We would be doing something and he would turn to one of us and say "Si Si Wede."

So, at bed time, I started talking to Amado about how it was Cesar Chavez birthday, and who he was and what he fought for, and he was really attentive while I explained. Then, I picked out a special book for bedtime that Maria had given him for his birthday but he hadnt really read because its a bigger kid book. Its called Si Se Puede, and is the story of the Justice for Janitors strike in LA.

We are reading an abbreviated version of it, and we get to one of the first pages that has pictures of people with open mouths and picket signs. Amado said "este!" "Si Se Wede!" After I read each page, he wanted to come back to that page and chant again.