Burro Genius — 5 Stars

Villasenor, V. (2004). Burro Genius. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Well, I have finished the entire book and I have to say, "I loved it!"

It was an amazing story about a Mexican boy who comes to America, and struggles to make it through school, due to not speaking English and suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia (no one knew what dyslexia was back then). If that isn't interesting enough for you, my favorite parts were all of the spiritual and religious wisdom Villasenor shares throughout the book. Insights from his grandmother (mamagrande,) especially. Victor's grandmother was a very spiritual, Mexican Indian woman. She taught Victor to talk and listen to the plants because "the whole Spirit World is always with us wherever we go, if we just have the ojo-eyes to see from our hearts and the orejo-ears to hear from our soul." (p120) and to realize that God, who they called Papito Dios or Daddy God (I just love that!), was in every living thing. Mamagrande said, "... animals were much closer to God than we humans were. This was why Jesus had been born in a manger, to learn about love from the animals in the barn. (p29)

Because of his love for everything in the world, Victor had very special relationships with trees, lizards and frogs, horses, dogs and even dolphins. It was quite amazing reading about his experiences with the world around him. Victor used to get a purring, humming, vibrating sound behind his ears when he was young. He grandmother explained to him that "people got this when they saw the magic glow of God's Sacred Light." (p98) Victor used to get this purring a lot as a young boy. 

Salvador Villaseñor

Salvador, Victor's father was well, faithful, vulgar, street smart, and flat out hilarious. For example, when trying to get Victor to talk to him one night, Salvador said, "I've told you a thousand times, that to the cop or the priest we might need to lie, but to ourselves or la familia, we never lie." (p138) Salvador had so many sayings he taught Victor that I think speak volumes. Such as, "Lo cortés no quita lo valiante, y lo valiante no quita lo cortés" or "manners didn't take away bravery, and that bravery didn't diminish manners." (p50) and "dime con quien andas 
y te dire quien eres." or "Tell me who you walk with and I'll tell you 
who you are." (p80)

Victor's father's faith was very strong because of mamagrande. Salvador told Victor she "always used to say that when the going got tough, this was when we had the real opportunity to do God's work. 'Come on, God,' she'd say in the middle of disaster, 'give it to me some more! Because I know that together, You and me, God, We can move mountains.' She didn't believe in God. No, she LIVED with GOD!... 
She saw herself as Living with Papito Dios, and He needed her just as 
much as she needed Him, so that His Will will be done!" (p253) 

I love hearing about other's faith, and I hope to remember all of these amazing quotes. What a wonderful way to live your life. We all have hard days, weeks, or even years sometimes, but if we just remember God is always with us, maybe we can hold on. Also, if we will remember that God is in all creatures, maybe we would try to treat others a little better. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. I will most likely be reading to my dyslexic son very soon. 


Just remember:
"mañana es otro milagro de Dios', tomorrow is another miracle of God's" (p252) 

Book Three – Forgiveness

Villasenor, V. (2004). Burro Genius. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Victor, 14, standing in front of a portrait
 of his brother  Joseph, 1964.

In the beginning of Book 3, Victor is so angry. He has just lost his brother, Joseph, and Victor is convinced he is the one that should have died. Joseph was the smart son who could have been a lawyer and Victor believed he was the dumb one. He continued to struggle with reading, and writing throughout the rest of his education. Victor attended a couple of Catholic schools before being enrolled in the Military Academy Joseph attended. Captain Moses was Victor's teacher. He constantly compared Victor to Joseph, shoving it in his face that he would never live up to Joseph's reputation. Captain Moses was very cruel and consistently decraded Victory, pretty much giving the entire class free reign to bully him. Victor was so angry he would daydream about getting a gun and shooting his past teachers and especially Captain Moses. On the day Victor plans to kill them, he runs home to get his gun and overhears his parents arguing like never before.

Apparently, an article had been published about the doctor responsible for Joseph's death. The doctor had been caught drunk at the hospital, and was being blamed for the death of numerous other patients. But now, he, himself was dying. Victor's father, Salvador, was trying to convince his mother, Lupe, that they needed to visit the doctor and forgive him. He tells Lube "this isn't just about forgiving him. It's a way to bring all this anger out of our bodies that we've been carrying in our hearts all these years" and ask her "How can we expect God to forgive us, if we can't forgive others?" (p 306) Lupe refused to forgive the doctor for the death of her 16 year old son, and was fighting against Salvador going to do do it. Victor completely agreed with his mother, but he decides to follow his father to the doctors home. He can't believe his father can really forgive him.

When Victor gets there, he sees his father talking to the doctor. They are just making small talk, but he can see, by the look on the doctors face, how grateful he is that Salvador has come and by coming, forgiven him. The doctor just looked like a sad old man. Victor becomes confused about his own feelings. Is he so angry about the past that he can't live and love in the present? Instead of going to shoot Captain Moses, Victor heads to the beach to clear his head and pray to his brother. Victor begins to try and forgive Captain Moses and all those teachers that tortured him all his life, after remembering one of the last things Joseph ever told him, "What the world really needed was so simple – patience, love, compassion, forgiveness and understanding," (p 309) 

Even though this all happened in the 1950's, I believe it still holds true today. If we could all be a little more patient, compassionate and forgiving, this world would be so much better. As a teacher, I am going to do my best to remember something Victor's grandmother use to tell him, "children truly are our latest messengers from God, and each is unique and wonderfully brilliant already." (p 316) 

Book Two – Who You Callin' a Lying, Lazy, Dirty Mexican?

Villasenor, V. (2004). Burro Genius. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Victor, six years old, on Midnight Duke

Okay, so book two is pretty much the whole book, but it was jam packed with Villasenor family wisdom. Victor's papa and mama taught him from an early age, how strong and brave the Mexican people were, but when Victor started school, he was told a whole different story. Victor spoke little to no English, but was not allowed to speak Spanish at school. "English Only!" his teachers would yell. In addition, they called them lying, lazy, dirty Mexicans. He was told these horrible, stereotypical things so often that he started believing them. Why it is so easy for kids and adults to believe what other people say about us, and why is it so much easier to believe the bad stuff instead of the good? 


Even though Victor ended up going to multiple schools and repeating multiple grades, he learned a lot of life lessons over the years. I have really enjoyed reading the tidbits of wisdom Victor's papa, Salvador, instilled in him. I will most likely pass some of them on to my kids. I have listed my favorites below.

"... a real man didn't get offended if other men ridiculed him for staying close to the women of his familia. That a real hombre was proud of being close and loving with the women of his life." (p 58)

"These are the real heroes of life, men who bring home the bacon." (p 190)

"This is how we learn, by making mistakes. And big ones, too!" (p 87)

"... be very careful to not become a show-off or make fun of people who don't know how to play as well as you... if you get cocky or show off too much, people will turn against you and then you'll have no one to play with." (p 115)

"...there are no bad people on Earth, once we've learned how to open your eyes and really see." (p 182) 

"You mean, there were two Bibles back in Eden? Yes of course. That only makes sense. No man and woman could ever agree on just one story." (p 175)

No one is in control, Mundo. We're all just God's guest for a short time." (p 217)

"The more and more that I learn the more and more I realize that God is always with us. It's just that we're too busy to notice." (p 219) 

Book One — Determination Like No Other

Villasenor, V. (2004). Burro Genius. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. (pp 3-46)

After reading the first book (There are three books, not sure why the memoir is divided into books just yet, but we will find out.) of Burro Genius by Victor Villasenor, I am hooked! I love how humble and vulnerable Villasenor is in his writing. He starts off the book by informing the reader that it took him 260 rejections and 13 years to published his first book. Not something to brag about, but it does show a tenacity and determination that is uncommon in today’s world. Villasenor shares is feelings and emotions as if he were talking to a parent or his best friend. To be honest, I don’t know a man willing to share his feelings a tenth as much as Villasenor has so far in this book. But, I guess that is why he is a writer.

Martinez, A. (April 27, 2016) El Paisano 

So, shortly after Vellasenor’s first book was published, he was invited to the California Association of Teachers of English convention. Admittedly, he was only invited because he lived nearby and a scheduled panelist failed to show, but through a series of ironic circumstances Villasenor ends up being the keynote speaker at the conference. During his speech, Villasenor tells a room full of English teachers how horrible his English educational experience had been. How his teachers would yell hateful things at him and how some were even physically abusive to him. Vellasenor went as far as to say he had an English teacher he prayed to God “DIES A PAINFUL DEATH THAT LASTS AT LEAST ONE WEEK!” (p 14) You can image how well that went over in a room full of English teachers. Vellasenor yelled, cried, and even ended up berating a few of the teachers that tried to leave, but by the end of his speech most of the room was crying with him and he received a standing ovation.

 

Later, Vellasenor was asked if he would talk more about even one good teacher he had growing up. Today’s teachers realize the system isn’t perfect, but they need to know what constructive influences he had and where he acquired his determination and perseverance. Vellasenor spends the night thinking and then dreaming about a teacher that had a positive effect on him. Sadly, it was a substitute teacher he only had for three days, but in those three days, that substitute made a huge impact on Vellasenor’s life.

Now, for just a minute, I have to veer off track to mention some specific things this substitute did, simply so I can remember to do them when I teach.

1)    Glance around the classroom and give each student a personal acknowledgment. I want each and every one of my students to know that I see 

them and they are important to me. That each one has something to bring to the class.

2)    Grade in a pencil to show respect for the work the student does. This is 

especially important when it comes to art, because art can be very personal. 

It can be an extension of one’s self.

3)    Get students so excited about their studies that “the love of learning will 

be with [them] for the rest of [their] lives.” (p 26) If I can find the one thing 

that excites my students, I can use that to get them excited about art.   

Okay, back to the actual subject of this post. That substitute teacher was able to build

up Vellasenor’s confidence so much, that even when Captain Moses, his English teacher at the Army Navy Academy in Carlsbad, belittled and humiliated him in front of the entire class, and his fellow students hit and kicked him so much he couldn’t breathe, it only served to strengthen him. Vellasenor would never again be trapped by fear, the idea of failure or other’s beliefs that he couldn’t do something. He was free to be who he was (cowboy hat, loud western shirt, belt buckle and all). He was determined and proud to be his very best.