“Soy América Latina un pueblo sin piernas pero que camina.” (I’m Latin America a people without legs yet walks.) (Latinoamérica, Calle 13).

All of our discussions in class from the beginning of the year were about how Latin America came to be, their founding story. And for most of the countries and definitely Latin America as a whole it’s hard to define exactly how they came to be or what exactly makes up Latin America and makes their culture uniquely theirs. That’s why I love this line so much. This is a people that while they don’t know their background completely they keep moving forward.

 

 But I think that is how they actually define themselves. Every day they define more and more who and what Latin America is. Their culture is constantly changing and I think that’s what solidifies them. They are able to keep walking through it all and not get discouraged and give up, but keep making things their own. Latinoamérica is basically all about stickin’ it to the man. They aren’t going to let anyone get in their way.

Recently in my Doctrine and Covenants class we have been talking about the revelation that came to President Spencer W. Kimball saying all worthy males could receive the priesthood. (Don’t worry, this really does tie in with the topic). There is a black guy in the class and he asked the teacher if he could take a few minutes today in class and talk about it from his perspective since he felt it was his duty. He basically said that while we have no idea where exactly this policy came from to begin with, all he knows is that we have a prophet leading us today and that the Church is true so nothing else matters. He said how he doesn’t worry about it at all; it doesn’t even bother him. He accepts the past and keeps on going. This is what Latin America does. They might not know where exactly they came from, yet they keep on going; the past doesn’t hold them up or hinder their progress. “Vamos caminando.”