a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

San Antonio, TejasApril 2015, Vol. 28 Issue 3

San Antonio

State of the

community

address

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ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a mailing address correction please send it to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. If you want to be removed from the La Voz mailing list, for whatever reason, please let us know. La Voz is provided as a courtesy to people on the mailing list of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. The subscription rate is $35 per year ($100 for institutions). The cost of producing and mailing La Voz has substantially increased and we need your help to keep it afloat. To help, send in your subscriptions, sign up as a monthly donor, or send in a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thank you. -GAR

VOZ VISION STATEMENT: La Voz de Esperanza speaks for many individual, progressive voices who are gente-based, multi-visioned and milagro-bound. We are diverse survivors of materialism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism, violence, earth-damage, speciesism and cultural and political oppression. We are recapturing the powers of alliance, activism and healthy conflict in order to achieve interdependent economic/spiritual healing and fuerza. La Voz is a resource for peace, justice, and human rights, providing a forum for criticism, information, education, humor and other creative works. La Voz provokes bold actions in response to local and global problems, with the knowledge that the many risks we take for the earth, our body, and the dignity of all people will result in profound change for the seven generations to come.

La Voz deEsperanza

April 2015vol. 28 issue 3

Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez Design: Monica V. Velásquez

Contributors Itza Carbajal, Malena González-Cid, Rachel Jennings, Jessica O. Guerrero, Tom Keene, Cathy Marston, Vanessa Quezada, Laura

Rios-Ramírez, Luissana Santibañez,Yoly Zentella

Voz Mail Collective Juan Díaz, Fidel Castillo, Mario Carbajal

Grace Gonzáles, Mildred Hilbrich, Josie M. Martin, Angie Merla,

Daniel Ovalle, Lucy & Ray Pérez, Alvaro Rafael, María Reed, Mary A. Rodríguez,

Gina Sandoval, Adolfo Segura, Guadalupe Segura, Roger Singler, Dave

Stokes, Rebecca Velasco, Helen Villarreal

Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez Esperanza Staff

Imelda Arismendez, Itza Carbajal, René Saenz, Saakred, Susana Segura,

Amelia Valdez, Monica Velásquez Esperanza Interns

Elizabeth Joy Delgado, Iliana Medrano, Elisa Pérez, Gianna Rendón

Conjunto de Nepantleras

-Esperanza Board of Directors-Brenda Davis, Rachel Jennings, Amy

Kastely, Jan Olsen, Kamala Platt, Ana Lucía Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales,

Tiffany Ross, Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba, Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens

• We advocate for a wide variety of social, economic & environmental justice issues.• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not

necessarily those of the Esperanza Center.

La Voz de Esperanza is a publication of

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212

210.228.0201 • fax 1.877.327.5902www.esperanzacenter.org

Inquiries/Articles can be sent to:lavoz@esperanzacenter.orgArticles due by the 8th of each month

Policy Statements

* We ask that articles be visionary, progressive, instructive & thoughtful. Submissions must be literate & critical; not sexist, racist, homophobic, violent, or oppressive & may be edited for length.

* All letters in response to Esperanza activities or articles in La Voz will be considered for publication. Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups

will not be published.

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center is funded in part by the NEA, TCA, theFund, CoYoTe PhoeNix Fund, AKR Fdn, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Fdn, Horizons Fdn,

New World Foundation, y nuestra buena gente.

In this issue of La Voz we include The People’s State of San Antonio

Address, speeches that were given on March 3rd by community members on the steps of City Hall. Mayor Taylor and the Council were

invited to listen to these concerns on the same day she delivered her address to city government and business leaders. The issues addressed were a continuation of efforts to listen, connect and understand each other’s experiences through storytelling circles—part of the US Dept of Arts & Culture People’s State of the Union poetic address. We begin with Patricia Castillo’s speech:

Listen Mayor Ivy Taylor and City Council Members: We have community-based visions of a city where families live in P.E.A.C.E. And receive all the police protection we pay for delivered in a most professional way.

We need you to listen, and hear what citizens’ lives are like when riddled by violence inflicted from those who are supposed to love them, 44K calls to police in 2014 alone.

Is it the connection to peoples’ experience that may require an appropriate response from you and city council members that you fear the most.....???

Try to understand others’ experiences because no matter how much money we bring in through tourism, business, militarism and Fiesta.....

If families continue to be destroyed through family violence, child abuse, teen dating violence and elder domestic violence and human trafficking, your efforts to better our city will have only a minimal effect....

So Listen Mayor Ivy Taylor and City Council Members... Are You Listening???

Editor’s Note: Also in this issue: a speech from the 25th Annual S.A. International Women’s Day March & Rally by Nadine Saliba, a tribute to National Poetry Month and reading sources on Palestine. Submit articles and announcements for the May Voz by April 8th.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:A letter to La Voz (Dec 2014 | Jan 2015) proposes that “the entire human race (is) genetically pre-disposed to violence.” I propose a more hopeful thought: Our vio-lence is grounded not in our genes, our human nature, but only in our culture.

Evidence for this goes back to our racial beginnings as homo sapiens 200,000 years ago. Anthropologists tell us that our neolithic ances-tors (50,000 to 10,000 years ago) experimenting with gardens and herding left evidence of many tools, but no weapons of war such as swords and shields. Theirs was a culture of tribal cooperation and solidarity that had enabled their survival from the beginning.

Only the advent of a plantation-sized agriculture brought the structural violence of armies, slavery and empire. In other words, brought us to our present “civi-lized” culture. Now, eight thousand years later that is where we get our violence. If it were true that we are predestined by our genetically determined human nature to be violent, then the work of Esperanza and La Voz is doomed to failure.

But, we of Esperanza, by our work and commitment, defy that propo-sition. We are betting our lives, money and time on the meaning-fulness and power of determined, relentless cooperation and solidar-ity. It is this kind of dedication out of which new and just systems arise and replace our current culture of corruption and violence.

—Tom Keene | 2.20.2015

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I always like to evoke the radical history of International Women’s Day to reclaim it from the banal celebrations and official appropriation by

governments, the United Nations and NGO’s. This day is rooted in a radical history of socialism, labor rights, anti-war organizing and international solidarity.

How can we miss the recurrence of similar themes and struggles today, from war to racism, exploitation, immigration, displacement, inequality, greed and capitalism with no liberal make-up on?

God knows there is no lack of issues to talk about and angles to explore. Yet, it was a challenge to write something for today. This is not the first time I come up on this podium to say that I am at the end of my rope, at my wit’s end, only to discover the worst is yet to come.

But truly, and more than ever, I feel

overwhelmed by the violence swallowing

us whole, pulverizing our world from Syria,

Iraq and Palestine to Ferguson, Chapel

Hill and Dallas like a sledgehammer in

the hand of an ISIS fighter whacking at a

Mesopotamian monument. The incident in Dallas is jolting. A newly-wed Iraqi man who recently joined his bride in north Texas was killed few days ago. What kind of a cruel fate brought this man from Iraq to the United States escaping the violence, devastation and insanity unleashed on his country by non-other than the illegal US invasion and occupation only to be shot dead by a neo-American sniper as he stepped out of his home to take pictures of the snow.

Dealing emotionally and intellectually with this ravaging violence has been a challenge of the first degree. Trying to account for the political, social and economic dynamics that give rise to this violence –from poverty to racism, economic inequality, religious extremism, political extremism, a violent foreign policy and imperialism– is hard enough. Pretending that you can go through the routine motions of living as though this is a livable life is too much to bear. Even when you are not directly caught up in this traumatic violence, you feel its weight on your psyche and on your body. You feel it right here in the lump of your throat. You look in the mirror and all of a sudden you see your skin wrinkled, your belly split open and blood streaming

from your eyes, ears and mouth in a silent suffocating pain. And if you attempt to write, unintelligible protestations stammer out through choking fits.

Please do not expect a well-thought-out and organized flow of ideas, only flashes of warring thoughts and feelings. That is all I’ve been capable of.

American Sniper — the movie. “Shatters Records.” “Biggest January Opening EVER.” Perhaps the most ironic headline: “Astounds with Record 105 M on MLK Weekend.” My favorite one however — “Blowing Away Iraqi Heads… I mean Box office Records.” “Blowing Away Box Office Records.”

Have I ever felt so alienated from this society? Violence heaped upon violence by dangerous men and shameless

buffoons. I rip you to shreds, then I spit on your bits. This is the spectacle of war standing on an edifice of a militarized culture sustained at all institutional and socioeconomic levels. The proponents and agents of the War on Terror and the military industrial complex have a clear vision of how the desire-fear binary works and is worked, ensuring public passivity through escapism and induced political phobias. They continue to indulge in the “freedom against tyranny” narrative, with Muslims and Arabs serving as subjects of a post 9/11 perpetual war.

Think of a collage of Muslim and Arab pejorative depictions –as terrorists, desert-dwelling villains and backward fools– that crowd the US entertainment industry and have done so for a long time. Racist messaging embedded in pop culture and an Orientalist rendering of Iraq as a desert wasteland outside of civilization furnished by aerial reconnaissance photos create contemporary perceptions of the Middle East and a seeming remoteness of military conflicts filtered through Hollywood and the military industry into American consumerist culture. This is

On International Women’s Day 2015:

by Nadine Saliba, speaker at 25th Annual SA IWD rally

San Antonio IWD Rally | March 7, 2015

Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, were shot to death by Craig Stephen Hicks, 46.

continued on pg. 5

STATE OF THE LATINO ARTS IN SAN ANTONIO by Malena González-Cid, Executive Director of Centro Cultural Atzlán

representing the Latino Arts Collective of San Antonio

Iam speaking today on behalf of the Westside Arts Coalition, a group of Latino organizations working to maintain the

heart and soul of this city, through the promotion and presentation of Latino arts and artists.

For over 35 years, San Antonio’s Latino arts organizations have been uplifting the voices of those that are under-represented in the arts today. Through the power of arts and culture, our organizations have played a key role in transforming San Antonio into a vibrant and creative cultural center. We have contributed to the city’s economic growth, created jobs, and promoted international cultural exchange. Collectively, we have produced hundreds of thousands of original works of art and attracted millions of audience members to our City.

In addition to our contributions to making San Antonio an international destination point, we have also helped make San Antonio a great place to live in. Our organizations have taken on roles such as arts education in the public schools, and have done the work of preserving neighborhood histories, promoting healthy living, and educating communities on a wide variety of topics essential to our health and well being.

Despite all of our contributions, San Antonio’s Latino arts organizations and Latino artists remain extremely under-resourced, receiving on average only 16% of the City arts funding budget generated from the Hotel Occupancy Tax. Much of the remaining 84% of operational support for the arts primarily serve white, middle class and wealthy audiences. Many of the institutions that draw from this 84% of the City’s arts funding pot, also receive assistance with subsidized rent in city-owned facilities, infrastructure and maintenance support, discretionary funds

and allocations from the City’s general fund. This in a city with a population of Latinos well over 60%.

How do San Antonio’s many Latino arts organizations survive on only 16% of the City’s arts funding budget? The resourcefulness and dedication of our organizations mirrors that of our Latino communities, who continue to thrive despite income inequality and jobs that often do not even offer minimum wage.

The Executive Directors of Latino arts organizations receive salaries at or below San Antonio’s median household income, while the leaders of the city’s major arts institutions receive annual salaries of over $100,000 - $200,000. Our Latino artists are often asked by other organization to do their work for free, or next to nothing. As Latino arts organizations we have made a commitment to compensate our artists for their work.

Our organizations are also dependent upon community volunteers, a quality that we see as our strength. We are proud to work side-by-side with the communities that we serve, blurring the boundaries of what it means to be an “artist.”

Our organizations are responsive to current events. The artists and communities that we serve are at the front lines of most political struggles, and the art that we present reflects that reality. Our work tells the stories of immigration, homophobia, racism, education,

healthcare, and the other realities that our communities face on a daily basis.

Our organizations also shake up the definition of “art,” proclaiming “Arte es Vida,” and harkening back to the cultural ways of our antepasados, for whom art was an expression of life, and life was lived with artistry.

As our nation begins to talk about and address issues of income inequality and racial equity, the City of San Antonio has an opportunity to take a leadership role in examining and correcting the arts funding inequities that have existed here for decades.

We recommend that empty references to equity be actively transformed into equitable funding policies and grant making practices to distribute new resources to San Antonio’s vibrant Latino arts sector. We call on the City of San Antonio to institute an equity funding formula to build the capacity of under-resourced organizations.

On a national level, foundations such as Ford, Surdna, Nathan Cummings, Kellogg, Kresge, Rockefeller, and Mellon are shifting their funding priorities to address racial equity and income inequality. We encourage the City of San Antonio to also take a leadership role in creating equity in arts funding.

It’s essential for the City of San Antonio to acknowledge and validate the vital role that our local Latino arts organizations and artists have played in contributing to the expansion and growth of the city’s cultural landscape. In a city like San Antonio, with a majority Latino population, our Latino arts & cultural organizations are called on to do much more than 16% of the work, and we deserve more than 16% of the City’s arts funding. v

San Antonio State of the Community Address | March 3, 2015LA

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Environmental Justice efforts in San Antonio are a combined effort of many different groups including the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Southwest Workers Union, Fuerza Unida and others. 2015 was a

year of horrendous contamination of our water, air and land. We must act more responsibly to be better caretakers of this land and each other.

Despite “tens of millions of dollars” in improvements, the Calumet Refinery experienced fuel spills on March 4th and April 11th of 2014. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) cited Calumet for three different violations, since the second spill contaminated the San Antonio River. We demand that this company be held accountable for the health of our city. In late September, the refinery also experienced a fire, for which the city fire department was on site for an hour before being told to stand down while extinguished by an “internal special unit”. We ask that our city fire department be trained in specialty fires so that in the event of an emergency, more trained professionals are able to assist to protect and preserve the viability of our community.

The $3.4 billion Vista Ridge Pipeline outsourced to Abengoa and Blue Water Systems of Austin that will be built over with Wilcox-Carrizo Aquifer will bring water from Burleson County to San Antonio. We ask that our city council explore more creative water preservation and sustainability practices. We are losing water due to contamination at an alarming rate and rather than spending more money on a project that is a temporary solution, we ask for more research and resources to further existing conservation programs and stronger policies to minimize pollution of our waters.

Concerns mount over the Governor-appointed TCEQ who denied the Alamo Area Council of Governments a $185,000 grant because the Council showed that fracking in the Eagle Ford Shale is impacting San Antonio Air Quality. Thanks to the “Frackaso!” exhibit at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, citizens affected by fracking shared their stories of headaches, nausea and respiratory problems near fracking sites, the same complaints being heard inside the city limits. Particulate matter,

formaldehyde, benzene and other “proprietary” chemicals are carried with the gulf coast currents into our city with little oversight. Within the last month, citizens have reported Frac sand inside our city limit. Ninety-nine percent of this sand is composed of crystalline silica, a known carcinogen that has also been associated with cardiovascular, kidney and autoimmune diseases. We must dedicate more resources to researching the dangers of fracking on our city and actively take measures to minimize the impact on our citizens to preserve a healthier city.

Just two weeks ago, during the expansion of the convention center, 150,000 cubic years of soil was found to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals including arsenic, barium, lead, mercury and selenium “that exceeded regulatory levels”. That soil was dumped on a city-owned site at 151 and US 90 across from the San Antonio Food bank community gardens to save the city $6 million. We demand the city ONLY allow responsible development that does NOT jeopardize the health of the land and those that depend on these lands to live. n

Environmental Injustice in SA by Vanessa Quezada

The Calumet Refinery located along the San Antonio River had spills in 2014 that contaminated our river along the Mission Reach area. Concerns fell on deaf ears with the River still at risk for more “accidents”.

San Antonio State of the Community Address | March 3, 2015LA

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..... A Spectacle of War and Violence cont’d from p.3

what you call the normalization of violence in mass media

and culture –an architecture of decimated public spaces and anonymous dead and maimed fighters or civilians– (they’re all the same), ravaging the Arab and Muslim body as it undergoes a relentless process of othering.

This media and political narrative loves to depict Muslim and Arab women as oppressed veiled victims of their religion and culture who need saving. This framework has been used as a rationale for military intervention. Using the trope of women’s rights in the service of imperial

wars is not new. The phrase “White-men-saving-brown-women-from-brown-men,” was coined a while back to describe this phenomenon. And Western liberal feminists have jumped on the government-sponsored bandwagon of imperial missions to “liberate” Muslim women a long time ago. This time, however, we have a CIA propaganda memo exposed by Wikileaks to dispel any doubts anyone might have. Oh, the Western liberal feminist’s burden!

We know from the families of the three Muslim American victims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that the women’s headscarves marked them in their shooter’s eyes. “We have no doubt that the way they looked… had something to do with this,” said the girls’ father. Their killer shot

them in the head execution style. Point made. The sisters Yosur and Razan Abu Salha –a dental and an architecture student respectively, volunteers and activists in their communities, thoughtful, compassionate and engaged– needed only to be saved from their neighbor-shooter and liberated from American Islamophobia and the anti-Muslim rhetoric we breathe.

Yes, we are women telling our stories! They will not have the last word in the account of what has come to pass. v

Bio: Nadine was born in Tripoli Lebanon on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and immigrated to San Antonio with her family. She studied Political Theory and Int’l Relations and works as a translator. She is a board member of the Esperanza Center.

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Today I would like to speak about our city’s lack of accountability as based on our own experiences with issues such as Mission Trails, the Vista Ridge Pipeline, and Hays Street

Bridge, to name just a few. In the SA2020 section of Civic

Engagement, the city sets out various goals such as having “elected officials and city staff take ownership of issues and are accountable for results” [and] to be “inspired and effective leaders in selfless service to the community... recognized for delivering transparency in government.” Our city has failed to produce any of these results.

For example, take the devastating vote on Mission Trails. As many will recall, residents of this community spent hours pleading to city council to place their needs before so-called economic development. While county members demanded that alternative solutions be found to avoid this horrendous displacement, city staff and council ignored those pleas. With a 6-4 vote, council members voted in favor of rezoning the property effectively pushing out over 300 families. Where was the demand for city staff and officials to be held accountable for the fate of these people?

At least with the Mission Trails vote,

there was some sort of conscience –not enough to stop the destruction of this community, but at least enough to show that some council people favor the lives of people over economic development.

On the other hand, for the Vista Ridge Pipeline, the council voted unanimously to fund the project despite the fact that only a few months prior, it was considered to be a bad idea by the SAWS’ President. Here we saw the classic scenario— “powerful business leaders urged the council to sign off on the project as a way to ensure job growth, while local environmental groups and advocates for low-income people called it unnecessarily expensive and risky.” (Texas Tribune Oct 2014) Citizens demanded that their city officials side with the community and called for environmental justice for Burleson County and for the people of San Antonio. Community folks even asked for a delay in the vote in hopes that city leaders would come to realize the riskiness of such a project, but to no avail. The 3.4 billion dollar pipeline project was approved without even a whimper from city council. Where was the nod of approval for the hard work of community folks asking for effective and responsible government planning?

Finally, I’d like to remind our city leaders and the press about one of the most contested and blatant examples of

this city’s lack of ownership, ill decisions and wasteful pursuit of economic development —the Hays Street Bridge struggle. This past year, we witnessed a clear disregard for justice when the city of San Antonio continued with its plan to sell the contested land at 803 N. Cherry next to our dear Hays Street Bridge. Just months prior, the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group had won the court case citing that the city had indeed breached the original contract regarding the use of the land. Even before going to trial in 2012 —when thousands of San Antonio residents signed petitions and tried to involve themselves in government decisions with a call for a vote— it never happened.

Now, we face a publicly funded lawsuit using taxpayers’ dollars aimed at destroying a community-led effort. Where is the transparency? Where is the accountability? Where is democracy?

Today, we organize against this disregard for democracy in San Antonio. We are here to tell city officials & staff that we are disappointed with their lack of accountability and transparency. We expect you to listen to the people, not the lobbyist, corporations, or developers. Stop the illegal and unethical actions that take place at city hall. Use our taxpayer money to honor and care for all people especially those most vulnerable. n

A Lack of Accountability: San Antonio’s City Government

by Itza Carbajal, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

San Antonio State of the Community Address | March 3, 2015

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Who will be our voiceand speak to our killers’ consciences, remind them that someone, someone/all is watching? Who will be our handsto touch the hands of our torturers,naming their work the cruelty it is,deeming it more hurt than our own? Who will ask our interrogatorsthe questions that turn their hearts, hearing their confessions,granting them forgiveness?

Thy kingdom comeby Tom Keene

We are the world that has.This is how we dream:along everlasting assembly lineswe put ourselves togethersuited to designs of fashionto fit intentions of entrepreneurswho follow leads of marketsthat care not to know what we doso long as doing gets done.We dream of machines that mold us to fitto become interchangeable partstill obsolescence or wearsend us to recycling bins. We are the rest of the world.This is how we dream:

Fitfully, amid babies’ cries. We harvest colonial garbage cans,ponder melting into mountains with machetes and guns.Poets, we celebrate our desperate hopes.Painters, we color our future and wake to a cold gray now.

 We are the tribe of dreamers.This is how we live:

Becoming a people to make a people of all who dream.We wear on our faces the blueprints, store lumber,

brick and mortar in the basements of our minds.Seeds, dormant in winter’s dirt, we wait for spring.Yeast set aside, we wait for the wheat and the fire.

april is

nationalpoetry month

(for Jennifer Casolo)by Tom Keene

 Who will cleanse with pain-hardened truthsthe eyes and ears of blind and deaf,the nameless who pay our assassins’ wages,buy the bullets that pierce our bodies? Who will nourish initial doubts and whispered thoughtsinto growing convictions and stubborn resistance,broadcast the seeds of critical masstill stilled hearts rise and cry as one? Who will hail us from our gravesto hear our cries transfiguredinto choruses of justice, symphonies of gracewhen we come, bright and sure as morning suns?

 —February 5, 1990

Cry of the Savior’s Martyrs

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For Molly / Eulogy For a Prisoner of the Stateby Cathy Marston, PhD

Mollywas a lesbianwas a survivor of male battering was the mother of Brandy and Kim Molly, with a tattoo on her arm in honor of her mother’s life and death. Her brother snubbed her because of that tattoo, and told her to remove it. “I didn’t sit in a chair for hours to remove it for YOU,”she told him. Quiet Molly said that?Yes!

Molly had Chihuahuas. She loved those dogs, too Talked about them all the time. On June 19, 2011 I woke up at 1:55 a.m. I looked out the window —the ambulancewas on the street.

I looked out my cell door as I sweltered in the heat from no A/C and SCREWED-SHUT WINDOWS.

Molly, EMS brought you downstairs on a gurney NAKED The guards videotaped all the way to the ambulance

They brought you right by my door Then lied that you were alive. Your bunkie sobbed and sobbed, “Oh, Molly! Oh, Molly!” They took her to seg.

Was it the 105 degree HEAT? Or was it the Thorazine, the psych poisons, I begged you to get off of that had you so disoriented that yesterday you wore your shirt inside-out to dinner? Was it your bunkie I helped you report? Was it everything?

To TDCJ, you’re nothing but you’re everything to ME, friend. 43 years old. You were everything.

P.S. Molly, you’ll be GLAD to know: law enforcement showed up 4.5 hours AFTER the ambulance left. Don’t take it personally. I’ll take it personally for you.

YanaguanaAcaso deveras se vive con raiz enla tierra?Y que nos alimentará si vivimos con agua contaminada...?Agua que se contamina por la avaricia, el egoismo, el turismo.Agua que ya no brota por Yanaguana

(Song) YanaguanaYanaguana hoYanaguana heyana hei ney owey

Benzine injections into mother earth’s skinRadiation left behind for our next of kin.Carcinogens, our origins didn’t always begin with corporations and sinister grins.

(Song)Yanaguana hawey ney neyHeyana hawey ney neyo

Somos gente que ama sus origenesHermandad alumbrada como jarrón de barroExtraido desde el fondo de la tierraCon la misión de servir al hermano.

(Song)Yanaguana heyana hey neyo wey

Quien hablará por los peces, las tortugas y todos quienes viven en sus aguas. As guardians of mother earth.We will speak for Yanaguana

-written by Laura Rios-Ramírez, Luissana Santibañez & Vanessa Quezada for The People’s State of San Antonio Address.

that we glued to the balloons. Emma’s hair was a bun, while César’s was dusted with talcum powderto make it salt-and-pepper. These puppets were old as the earth: wise, worldly,satirical. Even their faces, which we painted brown, were old, the dried plastercreating wrinkles and creases.Invisible beneath brown paint and black yarn were collages of wordsin newsprint: Gaza Beijing wolves stocks women bomb Juárez checkpoint global immigrant coal transport factory whales lettuce oil police environment Border drought fossil

Words lay beneath their skin.Another language could be heardin Emma’s eyes, which weresimply pecans pressedin her sockets by an Esperanza artist. Emma’s old eyes were a world. —Rachel Jennings

On Making Papier Mâché PuppetsIn March 2000 at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center,we who were buena gente made papier-mâché puppets of César Chávez, leaderof the farmworkers’ union,and Emma Tenayuca,organizer in San Antonioof striking pecan shellers.At the César Chávez March,César and Emma would sitserenely side by sideon the flat-bed trucklike an old married couple,though sometimes they would jump up and down or raise their arms in defiance of los patrones. (“Dale shine al Westside!”)We tore long stripsfrom La Prensa, The Current,and The San Antonio Express-News. As if swinginga scythe, we shredded storiesabout primary elections;falling internet stocks; and Elián González, the little Cuban refugeescooped from the seabut kept from his father,who stayed on the island.Curls of newspaper printadded up to half a dozen bags.The project leader taught me to soak the paperin a paste of harina y aguabefore pressing each stripflat onto a huge balloon.Seeing the balls sticky with plaster, I recalled projects of childhood—my sister’s Groucho Marx mask as well as the green and blue model of earth we made in fourth-grade science class. The heads of César and Emma, too,were worlds we created. Their hair and eyebrows were black yarn

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Non-sexist languageand feminist exegesis of Judges or Genesisdid not—could not—assuage my anger.

Weeping fits in church meetings,meltdowns in the parking lot,polemics on Facebook and Twitterwere my only weapons.How I burned.

A pantheon of preachermen had ascended singlyas on wingsinto the pulpit.I never saw a woman.

Nothing reached me. Nothing workedto quell the rage, newly aflame,in this middle-aged, menopausal self.

Fathers, brothers, clergy had betrayed me.

How could I have known, Reverend Jones, Methodist druid healer

of thinning black hair, that in your mild-mannered pastoral wisdom, you wouldpost a YouTube video of Stevie Nicks’ appearanceon Midnight Specialin ’76?

Thank you, Reverend Jones,Facebook friend who has fixed his mind to another time.————————In gauzy black scarves and feathered hair, Stevie sings about the old Welsh witch,Rhiannon.

Her contortions are Pentecostal,her shrieks fire-and-brimstone.She gives all she has and is.Her eyes melt inward.

A rustle of wings, a bird that flies.I am taken into the air.*Ruah. Ruah: The Hebrew word for breath or spirit.

—by Rachel Jennings

Not even Welsh or Scotch-Irishas lore would paint me,I was an AppalachianSassenach* who knewnothing of Celts or Catholicsbut entered Irish studies on a whimat The University of Texas.After the Galway conference on nationalism and outsiders, my companions and I traveled east by train in time for breakfast at a Dublin diner.I craved the blood puddingthat came with two fried eggs, fried potatoes, and pinto beans. The round patties reminded me of the breakfast sausage,Tennessee Pride,that my mother used to serveon melamine plates.Crisp, savory, the plumpdisks melted on my tongue,

enlivened me after a sleeplessnight on a railway car.

Inheritors of Vatican II,Fighting Irish Catholic schools,Clancy Brothers rebel songs,and melodious Irish names that were one-way tickets to Ph.D’s in postcolonial theory,my fellow travelerswere aghast—made nauseous by fried blood that they knew to be even worse than kidneys or intestines. Disgusting. Ugh. I could hardly hear their wailsover Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”keening+ on the radio. Poking a morsel with my fork,I only wished for a bigger portion. By now, the milky tea had gonestraight through me, so I stood to find the bathroom.

When I returned, a stackof dark patties lay piled on my plate. I heard my friendslaughing: “She will eat them.”And I did. Not muchof a proposal to finish off five or six modestly sized slices of blood pudding.

*Anglo-Saxon; gringa.+wailing to express grief.

Blood Puddingby Rachel Jennings

Rhiannon -for Sid Hall

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by Yoly Zentella

For over 10 years, I have researched the historical loss of land and place in el norte de Nuevo Mexico, north-ern New Mexico. This loss was a result of 19th century colonization, war and annexation into the American

Union of the area now know as the Southwest which includes Nuevo Mexico. The Southwest was part of the northern territories of Mexico until 1848. My research has also included the impact of this historical loss on contemporary Hispano-Chicano popula-tions in el norte.

The more I research, the more I find that the historical phe-nomena responsible for loss of land and place in Nuevo Mexico: Westward Expansion, the use of law to dispossess Mexicanos from their lands, illegal land seizures (many at gunpoint) and deadly violence against Mexicanos already living in these terri-tories — is parallel to the violent occupation of Palestine and the displacement of Palestinians in the creation of Israel.

Placing the historical colonization and annexation of Nuevo Mexico side by side and within a universal context with the occupation of Palestine, one reaches a global understanding of the patterns of territorial expansion, their origins and consequences. Viewing specific international issues on such a level brings these issues out of isolation, encouraging each of us to understand the commonality we have with others facing parallel situations.

Universality creates

solidarity because it

places them next to us. They mirror our own struggles — whether they be racism, racial profiling, gentrification of our barrios, assaults on our indigenous and native languages, suppression of our histories and cultures, or the historical, systematic killing of our people including the killing of our children by law enforcement.

There are differing perspectives between alternative and mainstream media on the complex Palestinian issue and because of this, we can find ourselves either not knowing where to turn or sifting through numerous sources vying for our attention. As most of us live a fast-paced life combining work, education, family and activism — who has time to do the legwork? Sometimes, unfortu-nately, we settle for what the corporate, biased, conservative tube brings into our homes.

As a grassroots and academic writer I stumble onto informa-tion. In this process some sites have emerged, which I believe, are credible, possessing particular characteristics that I look for in news and information sources. For example I consider — the reputation of the site, and who supports or sponsors it. Do they keep archives? Do they document sources, particularly historical ones, used in creating news items, information, and materials? Lastly, do they let the people speak? Based on these observations, I would like to share with the readers of La Voz some sites with information on Palestine. These not only provide more balanced

reporting, but also offer educational materials, archives, book announcements, interviews, academic articles, and links to other sites. All are on the internet:

Institute of Palestine Studies

www.palestine-studies.org

The Institute offers articles from their journals: The Journal of Palestine Stud-ies and The Jerusalem Quarterly — to

which one can subscribe. One can browse through current or past issues, free. Also available is a free e-newsletter with current topics on Palestine. Their gem is a bookstore that offers readers books with a sound foundation and analyses on Palestine. A must-read is Before Their Diaspora: A Photographic History of the Palestinians 1876-1948, by Walid Khalidi. Another is, Prelude to Israel: An Analysis of Zionist Diplomacy 1897-1947 by Alan R. Taylor, published in 1970 by the Institute for Palestine Studies. Written simply and well- documented, minus academic jargon, it is never-theless powerful. If Americans Knew www.ifamericansknew.org

This site was founded by Alison Weir, Ameri-can freelance journalist and author of Against Our Better Judgment: How the U.S. Was

Used to Create Israel. The site contains reports on the cur-rent situation in Palestine and articles on related issues; two issues that are particularly striking for us in the U.S., are those on the killing of Rachel Corrie and the attack on the USS Liberty. Attacks by Israel on international peace work-ers include the 23 year old American, Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer operator in Gaza in 2003 where she was protesting the bulldozing of a Palestinian home. In 1967, the Israeli military attacked the USS Liberty, killing 34 American servicemen. An article which stood out for me, was, Christian Evangelicals Increasingly Support Palestinian Human Rights by Alison Weir. Having been both baffled and concerned about Latino evangelical support of Israel, the article offers a twist on the matter, shattering the belief that there is unconditional support of Israel by Lati-nos.

Weir’s book, available through the site, is well-documented using government and academic documents, and media reports. It describes in simple language how the U.S. became involved in the support of Israel and narrates the Zionist plan to take Palestine before 1948. Weir’s book along with Taylor’s gives us a better understanding of what Zionism is, its ma-

Reading for

Palestine

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nipulation of the British government and its lobbying in the U.S. — efforts that have spanned two world wars leading to the U.S. government’s support of Israel’s establishment on Palestinian land. Educational materials are also available.

The Link

www.ameu.org The Link is a humble periodical published by Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU), an educational website. Each issue fo-cuses on a critical topic, which as the site states,

“is usually not covered in depth—if at all—in the mainstream press”. AMEU has several programs that include videos and teacher packets. The current issue of January/March, 2015, fea-tures Ilan Pappe, the widely respected Israeli historian now living and teaching in England that has been instrumental in exposing the occupation of Palestine for what it is. Link issues are archived going back to 1968. Palestine Link

www.palestinelink.eu This new source I found describes itself as an initiative by Palestinians in the Netherlands, and a “genuine independent voice and a professional resource and service center”. The source advocates

for Palestinian rights and promotes Palestinian interests. Its goal is to connect Palestine, its people and culture, to the outside world. The site is an open door for those interested in the real Palestine, not the hysterical, stereotyped, racist models exported by corporate media. It includes a historical chronology, 1919-1939 — Resisting Zionist immigration and British occupation.

What is impressive about this site is its link to the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. This site shows the amazing efforts that young Palestinian musicians are making in refining their musical expertise and keeping performances alive despite the many obstacles that they are facing as Israel continues

to dispossess Palestinians from their ancestral homes, properties, and livelihoods.

Middle East Research and

Information Project (MERIP) www.merip.org

MERIP, a non-governmental, non-profit organiza-tion based in Washington, D.C. established in 1971 are publishers of Middle East Report, a significant

source of current news, perspectives and analysis from and about the Middle East, by Middle Eastern and Western correspondents. While the site and publication are not specific to Palestine, I in-clude it because it provides clear background to the complex poli-tics of the Middle East, which often overlap with Palestine, for example, the connection of Hamas to the Muslim Brotherhood. There are also special publications like the Primer on Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict that gives a comprehensive history from the 19th century, covering intifadas, and peace plan initiatives.

Middle East Report covers general and specific topics, some of which hit close to home. For example, the issue on fuel and water, published in the summer of 2014 included the issue of fracking which reminded me of the ongoing oil and gas designs that we in el norte continue to do battle with and which I see discussed in La Voz. One can subscribe to Middle East Report online or receive paper copies. Some archived articles are accessible for free. The intervention tab offers analyses on many topics with book announcements and a blog. A staple periodical, it has good reporting and photography.

Being informed and aware will help us wade through the biases, manipulations, and racial profiling that the Palestinian image is daily subjected to in mainstream media.

Bio: Yoly Zentella is a writer, independent researcher, clinician and professor focusing on Hispano-Chicano psychology of place and historical trauma in el norte de Nuevo Mexico. Comments: yzentellnm@yahoo.com

AgradecimientosBlanca’s Catering

(210) 781-1310

Thank you to the following businesses for their generous donations at recent events. We encourage the Buena Gente of Esperanza and San Antonio to check out these establishments. (210) 822-8075 (210) 930-9393

(210) 804-2242

(210) 227-1187

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Carol “Ms. Carol” Thompson,

former resident of Mission Trails Mobile Home Community passed away on March 13, 2015. The Esperanza Center and buena gente along with the many people who supported her efforts in defending the Mission Trails Mobile Home Community extend our heartfelt sympathies to her family and many friends. Jessica O. Guerrero of Fuerza Unida and community supporter of Mission Trails residents notified everyone with the following note:  

Ms. Carol was one of the most vocal residents of this mobile home community. She was a fierce presence in collective opposition to her and her neighbors’ displacement. She spoke often about her concern for her beloved dogs and the difficulty in finding a new home for them alongside her. Ms. Carol met with her neighbors and supporting community countless times, rain or shine, cold or hot, always in the front row of that picnic area at Mission Trails. She was a mother figure to her neighbors and her loss is a new weight on their shoulders.

Leno F. Díaz entered into rest in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 95 in February and will now reside in “El Otro Barrio” — as he would often joke. Born in Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, Mx, on May 6, 1919, Leno came to the U.S. at an early age with his family of 10 siblings settling in the Boyle Heights and Maravilla barrios of Los Angeles. He served in World War II as an airplane mechanic in the China-Burma-India Theater receiving commendations. He then earned a B.A. in Education at Texas Western College (nowThe University of Texas at El Paso) that begin a 25-year career in 1954 as a bilingual educator and administrator. Leno was a tireless advocate for the Latino community in both civic affairs and the cultural arts. He travelled extensively with Elisa, his beloved wife of 65 years, who also retired as a schoolteacher. In retirement he honed his skills as an artist and enjoyed life. Leno and Elisa lived in San Antonio for 13 years when their son, Eduardo, and former daughter-in-law, Beverly Sánchez-Padilla, moved here to be part of the cultural arts community. Micaela and Siboney, Eduardo and Beva’s daughters, grew up in San Antonio and currently reside here. Elisa and Leno made many a friend in San Antonio and are fondly remembered as an integral part of the social justice and cultural arts community. The Esperanza staff and buena gente extend our deepest sympathies to Leno’s family, friends and community especially to his wife, Elisa—and to Eduardo, Beva, Mika and Siboney. —Que En Paz Descanse, Leno

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Start your 2015 tax-deductible donations to Esperanza today!

for more info call 210.228.0201

Please use my donation for the Rinconcito de Esperanza

$35 Individuals$100 Institutions

La Voz Subscription

Amnesty International #127 For info. call Arthur @ 210.213.5919.

Bexar Co. Green Party: Call 210. 471.1791 or bcgp@bexargreens.org

Celebration Circle meets Sun., 11am @ Say Sí, 1518 S. Alamo. Meditation: Weds @7:30pm, Friends Meeting House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533.6767.

DIGNITY SA Mass, 5:30pm, Sun. @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1018 E. Grayson St | 210.340.2230

Adult Wellness Support Group of PRIDE Center meets 4th Mon., 7-9 pm @ Lions Field, 2809 Broadway. Call 210.213.5919.

Energía Mía: Call 512.838.3351.

Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. www.lafuerzaunida.org | 210.927.2294

Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteer orientation, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.

LULAC Council #22198, Orgullo de SA, meets 3rd Weds, 6:30pm @ Luby’s, 911 Main Ave., Alamo Room. To join e-mail: salgbtlulac@gmail.com NOW SA Chapter meets 3rd Wed’s. For time and location check FB/satx.now | 210. 802.9068 | nowsaareachapter@gmail.com

Pax Christi, SA meets monthly on Saturdays. Call 210.460.8448

Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy meets Thurs. 7pm, 325 Courtland.

SA Women Will March: Planning Meetings are underway. Check: www.sawomenwillmarch.org|210.262.0654

Metropolitan Community Church services & Sunday school @10:30am, 611 East Myrtle. Call 210.472.3597

Overeaters Anonymous meets MWF in Spanish & daily in English | www.oasanantonio.org | 210.492.5400.

People’s Power Coalition meets last Thursdays | 210.878.6751

PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs. @ 7pm, University Presbyterian Church 300 Bushnell Ave. | 210.848.7407.

Parents of Murdered Children, meets 2nd Mondays @ Balcones Heights Community Ctr, 107 Glenarm | www.pomcsanantonio.org.

Rape Crisis Center 7500 US Hwy 90W. Hotline: 210.349.7273 | 210.521.7273 Email: sgabriel@rapecrisis.com

The Religious Society of Friends meets Sunday @10am @ The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. | 210.945.8456.

S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursday, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Community Church.

SA AIDS Fdn 818 E. Grayson St. offers free Syphilis & HIV testing | 210.225.4715 | www.txsaaf.org.

SGI-USA LGBT Buddhists meet 2nd Sat. at 10am @ 7142 San Pedro Ave., Ste 117 | 210.653.7755.

Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Tues. 7pm & Sun. 9:30am 257 E. Hildebrand Ave. | 210.222.9303.

S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Contact Barbara at 210.725.8329.

Voice for Animals: 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org

SA’s LGBTQA Youth meets Tues., 6:30pm at Univ. Presby. Church, 300 Bushnell Ave. | www.fiesta-youth.org

¡Todos Somos Esperanza!Start your 2015 monthly donations now!

Esperanza works to bring awareness and

action on issues relevant to our communities. With our vision for social, environmental, economic and gender justice, Esperanza

centers the voices and experiences of the poor & working class, women, queer people

and people of color.

We hold pláticas and workshops; organize political actions; present exhibits and

performances and document and preserve our cultural histories. We consistently challenge City Council and the corporate powers of the

city on issues of development, low-wage jobs, gentrification, clean energy and more.

It takes all of us to keep the Esperanza going. What would it take for YOU to become a monthly donor? Call or come by the

Esperanza to learn how.

¡ESpEranza vivE! ¡La Lucha SiguE, SiguE!

FOR INFO: Call 210.228.0201 or email: esperanza@esperanzacenter.org

Be Part of a

progressive Movementin San Antonio

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Notas Y Más Brief news items on upcoming community events. Send items for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

or mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212. The deadline is the 8th of each month.

Notas Y Más Brief news items on upcoming community events. Send items for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

or mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212. The deadline is the 8th of each month.April 2015

15

PASEO POR EL WESTSIDE Saturday, May 2nd @ Rinconcito de Esperanza 816 S. Colorado (betwn Guadalupe & El Paso) 9am-2pm

Want to help? Call 210.228.0201 to get involved in our ANNUAL MAY CELEBRATION of the HISTORIC and CULTURAL

PRESERVATION of SAN ANTONIO’S WESTSIDE!

The Texas Size Breach Collaborative: From El Paso to San Antonio, an exhibit curated by Alicia Viera, features more than a dozen Texas artists displaying large-scale prints. It continues through June 14th at the Educational & Cultural Arts Center of Texas A&M University, 101 Santa Rosa in San Antonio. Find more on facebook.

Study in Chiapas, Tlaxcala and Mexico City with the Mexico-US Solidarity Network this Summer or Fall 2015 and receive credits for studying the theory and practice of social movements. Application deadlines are: April 15th (Summer) and May 1st (Fall). See mexicosolidarity.org/ausmstudyabroad/mexicostudyabroad.

The Coming of Age of LGBTQ Studies: Past, Present, and Future, a two-day conference examining the state of this field of study will take place at San Diego State University from April 17-18. Visit: lgbtqrc.sdsu.edu/ conference/ Folk Healing, Curanderismo and the Practice of Biomedicine Conference will be held on April 22nd & 23rd at the Univer-sity of Texas-Pan American in Edinburgh in the Valley. Sponsored by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, it brings academics, practitioners and students to-gether to discuss the present and future of curanderismo. Find more on facebook.

MEGA CORAZÓN returns in celebration of National Poetry Month at URBAN-15 Studio, 2500 S. Presa with a 6 hour mara-thon of poetry from 4pm to 10 pm. Check: events@urban15.org

Latinos in Heritage Conservation Sum-mit: A National Dialogue takes place Fri-day, May 22nd and Saturday, May 23rd in Tucson, Arizona at the Hotel Congress. Preservationists, scholars and community advocates dedicated to the preservation of Latino places and stories in the U.S. will come together to develop a vision/mission for Latino preservation. Visit: www.face-book.com/latinoheritageconservation

The Center for Mexican American Stud-ies (CMAS) at UT-Austin and The Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa serve as the hosts of El Mundo Zurdo 2015: Memoria y Conocimiento, Interdisciplin-ary Anzaldúan Studies—Archive, Legacy, and Thought taking place on May 27-30 at the U.T. campus. Papers that critically access the archive of the Gloria Evange-lina Anzaldúa Papers, 1942-2004 at U.T. will be a focus. The conference is free but registration is required. See www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/cmas/anzaldúa-confer-ence-2015/el-mundo-zurdo-2015-co

The 2015 Critical Race Studies in Education Conference will take place at Vanderbilt University Law School

in Nashville on May 27-29. Hosted by The Social Justice Program at Vander-bilt University Law School, it focuses on critical examinations of systemic racism and resistance to it within the context of the shifting social, historical, cultural, and political realities in the U.S. and globally. Check www.crseassoc.org

The MALCS Summer Institute is sched-uled for July 29th to August 1st at the Uni-versity of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Hosts/organizers are Alma Rosa Silva-Bañuelos, Director of the UNM LGBTQ Resource Center and Rosa Isela Cervantes, Director of the UNM Centro de la Raza and Special Advisor to the President on Latino Affairs. Check: www.malcs.org/summer-institute/

Save the Date! Texas State University College of Education developed The Tomás Rivera Mexican American Chil-dren’s Book Award in 1995 to honor au-thors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experi-ence. Celebrate 20 years of exceptional Mexican-American children’s literature at the conference and literature fair on Friday and Saturday, September 25th and 26th. The 2015 award winners include: Sepa-rate is Never Equal: Sylvia Méndez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation and Gabi: A Girl in Pieces. See www. river-abookaward.org for more information.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 3•

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AZUL + CUCASATURDAY APRIL 18TH 8PM @ Esperanza | $5 Donation

de Esperanza

For tickets: Call Isabel at (210) 227-6868

Lanier scholarship fund

BAILE!Sanchez Fuentes

salsa

cumbia

raffle

y mas

DJ El General

sat april 11, 8pm @ Esperanza center

$7 with leaders from the Coalition of

Immokalee Workers

FILM SCREENING + ACTION FRIDAY APRIL 3 at 6PM

@ Esperanza | $5 más o menos

PASEO POR EL WESTSIDE

Noche Azul

Saturday, May 2nd

@ Rinconcito de Esperanza

816 S. Colorado details inside p15

Health Care for All Texas presents

Mon, April 27th - Sat, May 9th 10am-5pm Free

handcrafted ceramics made to honor all women who have nurtured and advocated for their families, friends and community

Saturday April 25 7PM@ Esperanza | Tickets: $5-20

210.228.0201

Mother’s Day

@1412 El Paso St, (210) 223-2585

su mamá

Mercy Killers a play by Michael Milligan

‑The ScoTSMan

“Shattering.” —The STaGe