I wrote this poem today for Jaime Escalante, the math teacher who was made famous in the movie “Stand and Deliver.” He died March 30, 2010, at the age of 79.
Photo: George Rose/ Getty Images
My Name Is Jaime Escalante
I sing the body mathematical;
my children calculate
the warp and woof
of the universe.
They strain at their limits,
breaking through the
expectations of parentage,
economy, geography.
In an infinite series of small
achievements, the next generation
ascends to the summit,
surveys el barrio.
No fence can restrain them,
no cracked concrete
prevent their flowering.
They are transcendent,
a series of small stones
bridging the chasm
between now and
what could be.
Just another man from East L.A.,
a son of Bolivia and father
to the children of the function,
the integral, the derivative.
What equation can measure this sum?
What sign can equal these lives?
I sing the body mathematical.
My children calculate the answer.
I enjoyed this so much . . . perhaps because I am one of Escalante’s children in a way. To share in kind some memorial sentiment: http://disorderedcosmos.com/2010/03/27/jaime-escalante-has-cancer-you-can-help/
And a statement I wrote for the National Society of Hispanic Physicists: http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/News/
I appreciate your comments very much, Chanda. Thanks for visiting.