Immigrants in Our Own Land

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1977

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Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

"There Are Black" by Jimmy Santiago Baca (1979)

This poem is another vivid and emotionally poignant depiction of prison life, emphasizing its normalization of brutality and its effect of turning inmates against each other, a theme Baca also address in “Immigrants in Our Own Land.”

"I Am Offering This Poem" by Jimmy Santiago Baca (1979)

This is another poem from Immigrants in Our Own Land. Unlike the title poem of the collection, this love poem does not address the experience of incarceration directly. However, it is a lyrical statement of his belief in the nurturing and protective power of poetry. You can also listen to Baca read the poem here.

"Who Understands Me But Me" by Jimmy Santiago Baca (1990)

This poem is an ode to the ability to overcome adversity and turn hardship and mistakes into the building blocks of personal growth. While it contains a few explicit references to incarceration, it takes a much broader view and speaks to a universal potential of discovering within ourselves previously unknown strength and richness.

Further Literary Resources

Jimmy Santiago Baca’s Personal Website

The website contains useful information about Baca’s life and work, as well as testimonies from readers who found his poetry valuable in their own lives.

"Baca: A Poet Emerges from Prison of His Past" by Beth Ann Krier (1989)

This Los Angeles Times article offers a concise survey of Baca’s early life. It includes recollections about life in prison and his discovery of the power of language.

"Jimmy Santiago Baca Talks about His Life and Writing" by NMPBS (2018)

This is a 20-minute video interview from New Mexico PBS (NMPBS). During the interview, which appeared on the News in Focus prime-time magazine show, Baca speaks openly about incarceration, poetry, and his life in general to correspondent Megan Kamerick.

"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander (2010)

Michelle Alexander posits that the incarceration of African Americans is a caste-like system disguised as justice, a system in which the government denies civil rights to citizens it rebrands as second class and thus unworthy. Alexander, also a legal scholar and a civil rights litigator, sheds new light on the “othering” of individuals and the negative effects of punitive justice.

Incarceration Nation: How the United States became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World by Peter K. Enns (2016)

Enns’s book explores the reasons why the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It begins with the roots of incarceration and journeys to present-day discourse on punitive versus rehabilitative measures.

A Place to Stand by Daniel Glick (2014)

Watch the trailer for a documentary based on Baca’s time in prison. The documentary is also based off of Baca’s own memoir of the same name.

Listen to Poem

"Immigrants in Our Own Land"

This careful reading of the poem allows the viewer to both see and listen to the lines as they are being read, which makes the poem’s meaning easy to follow.