Two Names, Two Worlds

Graphic Organizer

 

Directions​: Assign the following roles to your group members: ​facilitator, note-taker​, and ​summarizer​. The facilitator will keep time and lead your discussion. The note-taker will type the group members’ ideas on this handout. The summarizer will report out to the class.

 

Group Members’ Names:

 

What words or phrases does Jonathan use to describe his identity?	What do you think Jonathan wants you, the reader, to think about?
What do you think Jonathan means when he uses the phrase “two names, two worlds”?	What advice could you give Jonathan that would help him move between these two worlds?

 

 

 

 

 

In the poem below, Jonathan Rodríguez reflects on his name.

How does his name “place him in the world”?

How is it a mask, shield, or container?

 

Two Names, Two Worlds

 

Hi I’m Jon………..No—Jonathan

Wait—Jonathan Rodríguez

Hold on—Jonathan Rodríguez

My Name, Two names, two worlds

The duality of my identity like two sides of the same coin

With two worlds, there should be plenty of room

But where do I fit?

Where can I sit?

Is this seat taken? Or is that seat taken?

There never is quite enough room is there?

Two names, Two worlds

Where do I come from?

Born in the Washington Heights of New York City

But raised in good ol’ Connecticut

The smell of freshly mowed grass, autumn leaves

Sancocho, Rice and Beans

The sound from Billy Joel’s Piano Keys

And the rhythm from Juan Luis Guerra

I’m from the struggle for broken dreams

Of false promises

Of houses with white picket fences

And 2.5 kids

The mountains and campos de la Republica Dominicana

And the mango trees

I’m not the typical kid from suburbia

Nor am I a smooth Latin cat

My head’s in the clouds, my nose in a comic book

I get lost in the stories and art

I’m kinda awkward—so talkin’ to the ladies is hard

I listen to Fernando Villalona and Aventura every chance I get,

But don’t make me dance Merengue, Bachata

Or Salsa—I don’t know the steps

I’ve learned throughout these past years

I am a mix of cultures, a mix of races

“Una Raza encendida,

Negra, Blanca y Taina”

You can find me in the parts of a song, en una cancion

You can feel my African Roots en la Tambora

My Taino screams en la guira

And the melodies of the lyrics are a reminder of my beautiful Spanish heritage

I am African, Taino and Spanish

A Fanboy, an athlete, a nerd, a student, an introvert

I’m proud to say: Yo soy Dominicano

 

I’m proud to say, I am me

 

I am beginning to appreciate that I am

 

Una bella mezcla

 

I am beginning to see that this world is also a beautiful mix

 

Of people, ideas and stories.

 

Is this seat taken?

 

Or is that seat taken?

 

Join me and take a seat,

 

Here we’ll write our own stories