MY GRANDMA'S NAME WAS GUADALUPE
written by Lilith and Sarah Tijerina
ENTER barefooted Lilith and Sarah dressed in white with a table draped in a serape.
FIRST AUDIO plays as the twin sisters sit in front of the table, do the rosary, say a prayer, and set up an altar.
Altar is completed when audio finishes, and Sarah and Lilith address the audience.
Sarah: MY GRANDMOTHER IS SO WEST SIDE I THOUGHT THE GUADALUPE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER WAS NAMED AFTER HER.
Lilith: That “El Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe” exists because of my grandma
Sarah: That they called the church “Our Lady of Guadalupe” church, because my grandma taught there
Both: Guadalupe “Lupita” Escobedo Zepeda
San Anto, born and raised, right on the west side
at the Alazan Apache Courts
Sarah: It looks a little different now
Lilith: It’s gonna look a lot different later
Sarah: but the plumbing is still in tact
the walls you build for the next condominium
will be my mother’s walls, identical
identical in the way I am with my fraternal twin sister
I carry her heart and DNA and borrow her stories to make sense of mine
I lend her sugar and empathy, and she leaves on my doorstep tortillas and blueprints and mind your business, been there done that
identical in the most authentic twin way there is:
“not original”
“I saw this coming”
and “I will always be older than you because I came out first”
identical, in the way history repeats itself
It’s only a matter of time.
the walls you build for the next condominium
will be my mother’s walls, identical
identical in the way I am with my fraternal twin sister
I carry her heart and DNA and borrow her stories to make sense of mine
I lend her sugar and empathy, and she leaves on my doorstep tortillas and blueprints and mind your business, been there done that
identical in the most authentic twin way there is:
“not original”
“I saw this coming”
and “I will always be older than you because I came out first”
identical, in the way history repeats itself
It’s only a matter of time.
Lilith: Isn’t this what y’all did to the Wheatley courts?
What’d y’all call it?
Oh that’s right. “Redevelopment”
What’d y’all call it?
Oh that’s right. “Redevelopment”
Why y’all wanna be hood so bad?
Like when a famous artist engulfs themselves in your world
Studies you like an endangered economic identity
for their money making magnum opus
Studies you like an endangered economic identity
for their money making magnum opus
Y’all come to the hood write our stories
Tell em like we tell em
Tell em back to us
Tell em like we tell em
Tell em back to us
Now, with a copyright infringement
Now, we can’t tell em no more
I almost forgot whose stories they were
Now, we can’t tell em no more
I almost forgot whose stories they were
Drive down the mero weso
Drive up the rent
Drive up the rent
The murals are really nice huh
Bet you wouldn’t believe that those are real faces.
Bet you wouldn’t believe that those are real faces.
Second Audio plays as the twin sisters return to the altar. They start applying different accessories to themselves. First, a classic fiesta crown. Next, tacky cowboy boots. Finally, each fold up a white bandana and tie it around their faces. As the audio plays, they begin to blindly take down each part of the altar.
The Second Audio finishes, and the twins place a "FOR SALE" sign on the destroyed altar, now just a table. They remove the blindfolds and address the audience once more.
Lilith: As of 2020, The Alazan-Apache Courts were named one of America’s most endangered places according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, due to its impending destruction.
Sarah: The vote for demolition was overturned, but plans for “Re-development” are still in place.
Lilith: Efforts of gentrification guised as “re-development” are happening as we speak all over the west side.
Sarah: It’s only a matter of time.
Both: This was my mother’s mother’s home.
