The common thread between "Albanza: In Praise of Local 100" & "Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits"

The common thread between these two poems by Martin Espada is they are both about people that are not noticed for the hard work they do; they are invisible to people as if they do not exist. Martin wrote these poems to show that all people are important no matter what occupation they have. He wants to prove that they deserve credit for what they do because they work as hard and go through as much stress and damage as anyone else. His poems show that society only pay attention to who they believe are important people and ignore all the others. Martin wants to prove society is wrong and to show that all people have feelings and should be treated equal. People take advantage of the workers that do the little things in life such as clean toilets, sweep floors, work in a restaurant, or work in a convenient store. What if these people really didn't exist in society? Without these "little people" society would be a disaster, therefore people need to realize and take into consideration the people they take for granted and what good these people actually are to society. He wants to recognize the people that are invisible to others and show how good they really are.

Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100 tells about people being invisible by telling about the restaurant workers during 9/11. These workers were highly affected by the attach but were not noticed by anyone; the only people noticed were the main people such as the fire fighters. Martin wants to show that the restaurant workers were also important and should be thought about.

Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits tells about a janitor that is not noticed by all the people he cleans for. They don't realize how important he is and how much help he is to them. Martin wants to show that he needs to be recognized for what he does because he cleans for everyone, he does not do it for himself. People need to know who he is and say thank you for the job he does.