Esperanza - 30 Years of Peace and Justice by Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

Esperanza, 30 years of peace and justice 1987-2017 As part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, we have had to reflect on our history and try to make sense of it all. This publication, Esperanza, 30 years of peace and justice, along with the dinner celebration program that took place on August 12, 2017 forced us to figure out the trajectory of our history. What we arrived at was three distinct epochs or periods from which we can view the history of Esperanza in San Antonio, Texas. This approach is by no means the definitive history of Esperanza. Regretfully, it does not include everything and everyone. It is a pocket history that is simple and easy to read and view. Esperanza, 30 years of peace and justice is a mere droplet in a torrent of marches, rallies, concerts, plays, pláticas, readings, press conferences, festivals and meetings, meetings, meetings that constitutes Esperanza’s history. We begin a journey together that will transport us through 30 years of Esperanza’s history in three epochs. The first epoch is the Birth of Esperanza that begins in 1987 when the Esperanza opens its doors. There is a slight prelude in 1985 before the opening of Esperanza in 1987 that includes the first International Woman’s Day March that does not occur again until 1992. The 2nd epoch is Emergence from 1994 to 2002 and the final epoch

is Resurgence that goes from 2003 to the present. Each epoch lays out a period of intense activity that leads to a crossroads where decisions must be made that impact our future. In 1987, we could not imagine that our future would be as it is now in 2017, 30 years later, and we could not know what roads we would choose to take. The tributes on these pages were written by community members of the Esperanza. Everyone wrote about their own experiences and with their own lens. I must warn the reader that even though writings are allotted to a particular epoch, the sentiments expressed can reach forward or back in Esperanza’s history. Nevertheless, we get an inkling (and actual photos) of what Esperanza’s history entails. We have many people to thank—for getting us to this milestone—people who have been with us from the beginning, people who made major contributions along the way and have moved on to other endeavors, and people who have passed on to the spirit world leaving behind a presence that continues to inspire our work. With this publication, we celebrate the community spirit that is Esperanza, that has inspired this organization to win major battles bringing gente together to work for peace, justice and our madre tierra.

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Esperanza: 30 years of Peace and Justice Table of Contents

A Haven for Peace and Justice Susan Morales Guerra

An Oasis of Progressive Theory and Action 5 Antonio C. Cabral Imagine San Antonio without Esperanza Lourdes Pérez and Annette D’Armata

Con Esperanza En Mi Corazón Laura Parra Codina

30 Beautiful Years Elva Trevino

People, Planet & Process Before Profits 26 Kamala Platt Top Ten Memories When I Worked at the Esperanza Center Barbara Renaud-González

The Corazones del Westside

Dale Shine al Westside Rachel Jennings

Qué Viva Esperanza David Spener

La Gente de Esperanza Tom Keene

Esperanza, No Hay Camino Jessica Rocca

Esperanza=Hope! It’s Who We Art! Martha Prentiss

The Uprooted Series Nadine Saliba

My Life Affair with the Esperanza Jan Olsen

A Place Where I Belong 33 Itza Carbajal

Brilliant Community Organizing Maria Salazar

Esperanza, an Activist Repair Station 34 Lillian Stevens

Brad and Mike, Our Story Mike Rodriguez and Brad Veloz

Calaveras y Calacas 19 Enrique Sánchez I Am a Playwright Jesus Alonzo

Preserving Barrio History Matters Sarah Gould

Esperanza, Champion of Historic Preservation Gary W. Houston

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BIRTH

1987-1993 If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. —Toni Morrison Esperanza: 30 years of Peace and Justice Prelude: The birth of Esperanza began as a dream in 1995 when mujeres and diverse groups came together for the first International Women’s Day March of San Antonio. Many groups working on peace and social justice issues, locally and globally were part of the March. One of the speakers was Emma Tenayuca. At the end of her speech Emma prophetically stated: The future is yours, it is up to you to become acquainted with the issues and fight! And fight, we have! For 30 years the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center has fought to make San Antonio, Texas and the world a better place to live in. The folks who marched in the 1995 IWD March were part of a Network of activists in San Antonio, The Interchange Network. Some of the women of the Network decided to look for a building where everyone could share resources and have a place to gather. In 1986 they found the building on N. Flores. The Esperanza opened its doors in January of 1987. Among the women who founded Esperanza were Susan Guerra, the first director of Esperanza, Carol Rodríguez, who took over when Susan moved to Norway and Graciela Sánchez who followed Carol as director after returning from film school in Cuba in the fall of 1988. The story of the Esperanza’s birth is one of a search for a full identity—as a peace and justice center who dared to incorporate the cultural arts into its programming in order to expose communities to injustices that come from the same root; a center that continued to be anti-war; a center that connected local to global issues; and a center that believed in the inclusion of all people expressing their authentic cultures and being fully themselves. In a city that considered the cultural arts mostly for entertainment and for mostly mainstream audiences—this was bound to rub folks the wrong way. When the 2nd anniversary of the Esperanza was celebrated in 1989, the unveiling of a children’s mural was featured that had been painted on the walls of the Esperanza using the actual drawings of children from the east and west sides of San Antonio and from the Circle School in Alamo Heights. That event also brought in the Chicano community with Juan Tejeda playing music and Isla Mujeres, an all lesbian band. Although we had many groups and individuals involved with the Esperanza in the first two years including ELLAS, a latina lesbian group—it was not until a series of art exhibits took place beginning with the AIDS Show by Mim Scharlack in 1989 followed by annual lesbian and gay art shows, thereafter, that homophobic attitudes found their mark. The Esperanza was evicted in 1993 from its first location at 1305 N. Flores. Thus we came to our first crossroads fully exposed in all of our identities...

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A Haven for Peace and Justice

Susan Morales Guerra, Chicana abroad

At the opening of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in January, 1987 Susan Guerra, the first Director of Esperanza and Cindy Duda of the Interchange Network spoke. María Berriozábal, District I councilwoman, also addressed the crowd. One of the performers was Patti Radle.

On January 31, 1987 the official opening of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center was held at 1305 N. Flores St. A San Antonio newsweekly which existed then, The Current; wrote this headline: Opening a Haven for Peace and Justice in the issue of January 29 - February 4, 1987. Within the article I, as its first director, state that the center was to serve as a resource center and provide workspace to facilitate social action, for the many groups which existed in San Antonio at that time. In 1986, an Ad Hoc working group was establised to discuss the organization and structure of such a meeting place, and which purpose it might have, within the umbrella organization called The Interchange Network. In short, the purpose as proposed by the Ad Hoc group was 1) to provide resources and meeting spaces, 2) to produce educational materials and provide a a library as well as conduct workshops of learning, 3) to develop local and statewide networks and 4) to promote a cooperative spirit among peace, social justice and environment groups in the city and region.These words are the seeds and roots of the Esperanza. The background for the need of a peace and justice center was grounded in the dismantling of civil rights programs and a foreign policy led by the Reagan administration. Our view in the Ad Hoc group, was that the people of San Antonio were directly and negatively affected by an unsympathetic and ultra-conservative government. The consequences and intersectionality of our issues were not only seen locally, but nationally and internationally. Without hope, people are powerless. Therfore the name, Esperanza. We must have hope in order to have power. ESPERANZA came from, and still does come from, citizen groups in action and dialogue together. Power comes from this kind of ESPERANZA 4 • E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y

force. Potential for changes which serve justice, the environment and solutions to end poverty come from this power of HOPE among the hands and heads of people. What the people of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center have done for thirty years is to put action to the word hope— working for the education and the connections which have been needed to make HOPE tangible. The impact of the work done at the EPJC has become tangible after the years of continuous labor, education and mobilization of people with the resources necessary to focus on civil and human rights. In my view, the Esperanza also constitutes the global village of citizens who organize to defend open democracy and social-economic and environmental justice throughout Europe, in the Americas and in all continents. Has the Esperanza been that haven as expressed in 1987? Yes! It has been a haven and home for me, a pivotal point of reference for the work of my lifetime in San Antonio, in Norway and in Europe. Thank you and congratulations on thirty years of serving peace and justice!

An Oasis of Progressive Theory and Action

Antonio C. Cabral

“The Esperanza Peace & Justice Center has been a unique pillar of progressive resistance. That’s why I first walked thru it’s doors decades ago at North Flores St. and have respected it ever since.” In a city known for its conservative socio-political environment, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (EPJC) has been a refuge for individuals who maintain the belief that a more just city, country and world are possible. It has served as a refuge because progressives can always count on the EPJC to take a courageous stand on issues that other groups choose to ignore out of fear of repercussions or simply because they choose to gain public notoriety by addressing only safe and popular issues. Those of us who have been involved with the EPJC for decades since it was located at 1305 North Flores have always counted on its leadership’s Antonio C. Cabral collective awareness that is a long-time labor and community all local resistance to organizer/activist & injustices has a dialectical publisher/editor of relationship to the global newspapers including La Nueva Raza struggle by the working and El Pueblo. He’s class against economic currently writing a exploitation, racism, hobook about the San mophobia, misogyny and Antonio progressive movements from the militarism. late 1960s when he It has been that spirit returned to SA from of active internationalist military service and joined the antiwar solidarity that has been resistance. the fundamental mission in most of EPJC’s activities since 1987. There are so many specific examples of those activities: The 1994 gathering and shipping of medicines and food to the embattled Antonio helped indigenous communities in Chiapas that organize against had been suffering continued repression the PGA, the Pro and blockades by Mexican soldiers and Golf Association, mercenaries hired by wealthy landowners when the City of SA backed developers since the January 1, 1994, uprising by the who wanted to Zapatista Army protesting the implemen- build a golf course resort over the tation of NAFTA. The EPJC’s solidarity with the struggles Edwards Aquifer. The community by Mexico’s men and women against the fought back, but injustices caused by NAFTA was part of ultimately lost in the second round. its local struggles to expose the damage

done by that trade agreement to U.S. working families. For example, by 2004 Levi Strauss had closed its plants in Texas including San Antonio and moved outside the U.S. Hundreds of women were left unemployed and the EPJC helped organize them into what became Fuerza Unida. Similarly, in 2006 when the women of Atenco, Mexico, were violently removed from their traditional market place in order for Wal Mart to build on that land, the EPJC supported their resistance led by Mujeres Sin Miedo. The EPJC has also organized activities to inform people of the nightmare that Israel has inflicted upon Palestinian people since 1948 including killing of Palestinians trying to prevent the demolition of their homes in Gaza so Israel can build more illegal settlements. The Israel/Palestinian conflict is central to the broader middle east wars and thus has a dialectical relationship to the suffering of thousands of U.S. families whose children have died or been left maimed for life. These are only brief examples of EPJC’s many historical efforts to link international and local struggles for basic human decency. Today, the White House, the federal, and many state governments are controlled by extremists who are marching us toward an abyss of war and social despair. San Antonians and all the people of the world are depending on the EPJC’s continued struggle for peace and justice.

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Imagine San Antonio without Esperanza. Lourdes Pérez and Annette D’Armata

But San Antonio is not without Esperanza. A place emerged and, more importantly, has remained for 30 years for people who don’t fit the bill, won’t shut up, would not be stopped and will gladly feed you homemade tamales on your way in or out, prepared by the loving hands of fierce elders who will also take their aprons off (or not) and go marching into the city council to rectify wrongs, who will stand and support oppressed people on the other side of the earth, who will defend and preserve culture and history but are also willing to learn and change traditions and habits that are harming some of us. - A place that helped make the road and shape the conversation at a time when neither existed, for queer people of color...

Lourdes Pérez sings at the 1991 Mujercanto at 1305 N. Flores in front of the iconic sunburst doors. Penny Boyer with Lourdes Pérez and Irene Farrera after her first concert What if Esperanza had folded in the 1990’s? What if it had never with Lourdes at the Esperanza in 1996 at 922 San Pedro as part of the existed at all? Imagine what instead would have filled that space Mujercanto program. and time that Esperanza has held continuously, against the odds, in this particular city in the southern U.S. Esperanza is its founders and original visionaries (those here and those who are gone), the longest standing components of its life force (Graciela Sánchez and Gloria Ramírez), all the staff and volunteers and board members whose work built it, all the local and international artists, cultural leaders and human rights activists that have left echoes inside Esperanza’s physical space and in its heart. Esperanza is all its biggest fans and all its critics and all the voices who found the courage to speak for the first time. Erase the moments, hours, days, weeks and months packed into 30 years of stories, singers, writers, visual artists, hands on clay, dancing, laughter, rabia, discussions, panels, agreements, disagreements...an empty Miriam Pérez accompanied Lourdes Pérez in the Dulce Vigilante concert of 2015 building at 922 San Pedro. that featured stories and songs of life in the western region of Puerto Rico. An art exhibit of the drawings from the book was also part of the program.

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and is now continued by newer generations. - A place where La Voz, a people’s journal, has been folded by the hands of the community. For years. Without fail. - A place where artists emerge and established artists return. Our own history with Esperanza goes back to our first performance at MujerCanto in 1991. Over the years, we lived in Austin, California, Arizona, Mexico, Spain and Alaska but always considered Esperanza our artistic home and came back nearly every year to release a new CD, to perform as part of MujerCanto, to teach oral history based songwriting workshops and to present first at Esperanza any international collaboration that Right: Lourdes and we toured (Irene Farrera - Venezuela, Miriam her partner, Annette Pérez - Puerto Rico, May Nasr - Lebanon), and D’ Armata, are most recently to turn oral histories of Westside currently working with local musicans elders into a book and CD that honors them. like Flaco Jimenez Always part of Esperanza and yet not local, (far right) and Max Baca putting music not from here, we grew together through the to the stories of the years. In 2014, we physically moved to this Westside. Bottom: place that has somehow always been home: Gabriela González, this San Antonio that is not without Esperanza. Gloria Ramirez,

Esperanza’s survival doesn’t come out of a few conversations or a couple of mind-blowing pláticas or a deeply moving performance or nourishing convivio. It comes from never stopping the work. It comes from holding each other in highest regard. It comes from, together, identifying the very real threats to our existence and knowing, in the big scheme of things, who really has your back. San Antonio is not without Esperanza. And for that we are grateful beyond words.

Annette and Lourdes at the Sara De Turk reading of Activism, Alliance Building, and the Esperanza Peace and Justice. Center.

Top: Lourdes is currently documenting Westside stories (like elder Jesús Vidales’ life story) setting them to music at Blue Cat Studio owned by Joe Treviño (right). Bottom: Lourdes has played two concerts with Venezuelan singer, Irene Farrera, most recently in 2013. Another international concert with Lourdes occurred with May Nasr of Lebanon in 2009 and in 2016 which was titled, Written in Water.

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Con esperanza en mi corazon Laura Parra Codina Con Esperanza en mi Corazón En mi Visión Es mi Misión De cargar este mensaje ADELANTE Como dicia mi madre, Eufrasia Ortiz Parra --Adelante, mi’ja, nunca se acaba el Trabajo— The work, the joy, the expression of hope never ends Thank you, Esperanza!

Laura Codina and Agosto Bianco Cuellar at Esperanza’s exhibit, Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos. He was also in the Queer Grito 3.0 exhibit in the summer of 2017. Agosto was one of the artists featured in early lesbian and gay exhibits at the N. Flores space.

Xochitl and Yasmin and I went. I felt immediately that I was home. That the attraction I had felt way back when I was hitchhiking through San Antonio in 1971 was right here before me. In 1990 I was asked to serve on the Board of the Esperanza, I accepted proudly, serving until 2000.Those ten Walking around the barrio years we all saw tremendous of El Sunnyside one bright day growth and development of with a light wind singing in the what the organization had to tall cottonwoods, I stopped in be – para el pueblo! When my tracks, hearing the sound we were deciding what to do of laughter, platica, and music since we had to leave that coming from a neighbor’s galocation, after everyone at the raje. People molding clay from table gave their opinion, I was memories of their lives, sharing last to speak. the joy of expressing the happi “With the name of ness, sadness, anger, confusion Esperanza, nosotros tenemos that they have survived. que tomar una presencia Seated left to right enjoying Mujercanto Esperanza at 1305 N. Flores in grande en este pueblo.” Y, It’s only a dream, I 1990 are Elsa Noboa-Duarte, Laura Codina (boardmembers), Ruby Nelda ASI ES!!! UNA PRESENCIA said to myself. But, I never Pérez and Romelia Escamilla who was also a boardmember. GRANDE que ha ayudado woke up! I’m living it! cambiar la mera cara de San In the early 1970’s, Antonio, de lo invisible a lo visible. Con el arte, con la palabra, I’d hitchhiked from Michigan throughout the Southwest U.S. con Nuestra Visión!!! going through San Antonio on the last leg of my journey I would return to my hometown of Adrian, Michigan, home. “I’m gonna make THIS my home one day,” I thought to once or twice a year, to visit familia y amistades. Mi historia myself. Years later, that happened, living and working in SA esta basada en El Barrio Sunnyside. Alli aprendi del poder del for 35 years. In the mid-80’s, a friend and colleague, Gloria Ramirez, Viento, las bendiciones de la Tierra y la Lluvia, y la Promesa del Sol por mis abuelas, mis tias, mi madre. The first cultural invited me to an event at the Esperanza located on N. Flores at the time. So, my family, my husband and two young daughters, expressions, the Word, came from the stories and instructions

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of the powerful women of my family and the Barrio. The music, the dance, the roots of my heritage I learned right there. As a bilingual educator, my job was to incorporate the history and culture of the target population in the classroom. From the basis of my life in Barrio Sunnyside, and then armed with the experiences gained at the Esperanza, I utilized cultura to instruct, awaken, and motivate students in all subjects. My Apache blood still calls me to roam the land from South to North annually, so I live in both Michigan and Texas. And, the teacher in me guides me to look at the needs of the people. Just like the Esperanza has been guided by the People

The Funeral of Forewarning was an action that united the East and West side communities of San Antonio with a funeral procession from the Guadalupe Church to the Baptist Antioch Church where it continued to the Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in protest of the Middle East War. Pictured are Laura and her daughters Xochitl and Yasmin.

expressing their dreams, stories, hopes, fears through art, poetry, music, the needs of the gente in Adrian have led me to create the Sunnyside Center for Peace and Justice (SCPJ), modeled after the Esperanza. As an organization, the SCPJ has been in existence since 2014, when incorporated under Michigan Department of State. One year later, the organization was determined as a tax-exempt non-profit public charity by the Internal Revenue Service (501c3). I feel that El Centro has reawakened the spirit of la gente that has cried silently for release for so many decades. The loss of a strong cultural identity, along with the diminishing use of the Spanish language among third and fourth generation mejicanos, I had witnessed among our Adrian youth and young adults. There had been three suicides of youth, one being of the LGBT youth community, over the past year. So, El Centro Sunnyside held a candlelight vigil in their honor sparking from the losses at the Pulse Lounge in Orlando. From where I stood just as I was starting La Bendición (y’all are familiar with the

tossing of the pedals in the traditional Azteca ceremony, but it was the first time for everyone there), I felt such a rush as I looked out over the assembled folk there – all colors, races and mixes – truly, a Blessing! And, at the end of the event a bright Rainbow appeared in the eastern sky. Surely, a sign that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing at this time. Following the model of the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice, I have attempted to forge a peace and justice organization and reclaim space in my barrio. Having acquired the old Red Door cantina through a county auction process, my partners and I have envisioned a real possibility for the space. A multi-purpose venue, large (almost 6,000 sq. ft.) enough to house theatre space, gallery space, café, commercial kitchen, classroom space, office space and outside a commercial-grade outdoor barbeque and open fire pit surrounded by amphitheatre-style seating for retelling our stories and legends. We have included in the architectural concept designs a mezzanine conference room overlooking the rooftop deck edged with a fresh flower and herb garden; the produce to be used in the kitchen to promote healthy eating in efforts to decolonize our diet. The whole building will be powered by solar panels, t enough of them to power not only our building but to share energy with the nearby barrio – El Sunnyside. We must envision a different way to be human – to live in peace and with respect for all our relations. Those of us who have helped build the Esperanza, feel this need, this dream, in our hearts, and we carry it with us wherever we walk on the planet. !!!QUE VIVA LA ESPERANZA!!!

Laura stands in front of the building bought for the Sunnyside Center for Peace and Justice in Adrian, Michigan, her hometown. At top is the architect’s rendition of the center.

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Dale Shine al Westside Rachel Jennings Psst. Psst. Over here, Espe. Look my way, mama. Stuck up? Too good For me? Men called them jotas, marimachas. Y white men? “Ain’t nothin’ downtown but Mexicans and queers.” Espe shrugs. Our streets will not be silenced.

Las Calles No Se Callen The City told women, brown people, working class people not to go in the streets, but Espe took those marching legs into the streets and plazas, too. Espe marched and marched—first, yes, at International Women’s Day, but never stopped marching for free speech; worker and immigrant rights; protection of public water; peace in Iraq, Afghanistan. Marching in public, swinging those hips for all to see, Espe got arrested, shoved off the street, told to stay on the sidewalk like a proper lady.

Rachel was part of the Teatro de las Calles that performed skits to inform the public about the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center v. City of San Antonio lawsuit filed after the city took away funds recommended for the Esperanza’s arts programming.

Yeah, got branded as immodest, denounced as brazen, an exhibitionist. International Women’s Day Marches in San Antonio begin with a single march in 1985 before Esperanza existed. They did not start again until 1992 when Esperanza began to sponsor the annual IWD marches that continue today. Pictured is the IWD coordinating committee of 1995 wearing the logo, Mujeres Marchando...El Mundo Cambiando/Women Marching...The World Changing.

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Espe shrugged.

The Free Speech Coalition was formed after the City of San Antonio began to require outrageous fees to march on city streets with unreasonable procedures. The Free Speech Coalition filed a lawsuit that is pending.

Respeto Es Basico

Arte es Vida

An exhibitionist? True enough. No demure wallflower, Espe could put on a show— art exhibits, plays, poetry readings, film festivals.

Esperanza has not always lived at 922 San Pedro. Before its current space, there was that building with sun-ray window panes--el sol, sunrise. Remember? That building on Flores Street? Flores--like flowers. In Nahuatl, the word for poem is flower-and-song, flor y canto.

Then came hate messages on voice mail, a rock through the window. Talk radio invective, comic strip diatribes. After the Closets: Queer Experiences art show, an eviction. After Out at the Movies, defunding.

Did you know that poems saved my life? That la poesia is my life?

Don’t feel sorry for Esperanza. When authorities pointed to the closet, Esperanza marched.

Xochitl Codina stands in front of the doors at 1305 N. Flores site of the Esperanza’s original home.

Esperanza is thirty an’ seen a lot but in one way has not changed or at least has come full circle around the sun: arte es vida, arte es vida Vida es Esperanza Todos Somos Esperanza

When evicted from its rented space, Esperanza y toda la gente raised funds for a brick-and-mortar home of their own. Defunded? Esperanza knew about rights, freedom of expression-and how to be breadwinner. Above: The banner Stop the War!/Alto A La Guerra! was one of the original banners of the Esperanza used in the 90s at the MLK marches and anti-war marches. Below: The new building at 922 San Pedro was immediately designated, A Pro-Choice Zone. breaking the annual chain on San Pedro Ave. formed by Anti-Choice protestors. In 2017, Planned Parenthood moved next door to the Esperanza.

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La Gente de Esperanza Tom Keene I remember how Graciela and I first met. 1969, at the offices of Southwest Voters Registration, I think. She greeted me with a hug and a kiss on my cheek. I remember Esperanza’s first offices on North Flores. Ever since, I have felt lucky to have been a witness and participant in Esperanza’s ongoing evolution. I see Esperanza as a force of nature. Like Mother Earth, who gathers air, water, fire and soil into a life-giving, ecological whole. Esperanza, where seeming separations are synthesized into ever old, ever new sources of power. Where anger at injustice is funneled into action for justice. Where La Gente de Esperanza engage conflict and struggle while keeping a continuing clarity of purpose. I see Esperanza’s monthly La Voz as a true voice for the spirit of La Gente. From meaningful insights on happenings in the barrio to issues of worldwide scope, La Voz serves as the moral conscience of San Antonio. I see La Gente de Esperanza as the memory of our community. With our Foto Historias Project and our efforts to preserve places like La Gloria, we create altars of remembrance to our people. I see La Gente de Esperanza as the curandera/ healer for all of San Antonio. We work to heal the separations of geography, north, east, south, west. We create times and make place for sharing by black, brown, white and all to discover our common hopes. La Voz de Esperanza began publishing in November of 1988 after the Interchange Network stopping publishing their newsletter.

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I see La Gente de Esperanza as the treasure hold of San Antonio’s grassroots cultures. With Las Tesoros de San Antonio we bring west side singers of the 40s, 50s and 60s together to celebrate and to remember. With the music of Noche Azul, the poetry and writings of Barbara Renaud Gonzales, Carmen Tafolla and hundreds of others, we celebrate the arts and crafts that reveal the meanings of our lives. I see La Gente de Esperanza as San Antonio’s gift to itself. A gift from the people, to the people, for the people.

Tom Keene and Graciela Sánchez protest US military support in El Salvador on the 10th anniversary of the massacre at El Mozote that occurred in 1981 killing 1,000 civilians.

EMERGENCE

1994-2002

Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks. —Gloria Anzaldúa After being evicted from 1305 N. Flores in 1993, the director of Esperanza went to the community to decide what to do stating: This is going to keep happening, because we are going to advocate for people and issues that those in power do not like, we are always going to be vulnerable to being evicted. SO, we must either buy our own building or end the Esperanza. The Esperanza network and community decided to buy a building. Two committees were formed: a fundraising committee and a building committee. The whole process was amazing. The building committee met weekly visiting one building after another until they found a two-story building at 922 San Pedro Ave. The finance committee committed to raising enough money to BUY a building, renovate it and pay it off by the year 2000. Community gente, arts organizations, and artists stepped forward with all kinds of fundraisers. It was bought, renovated and paid off! Then the unexpected happened. The Esperanza—that was part of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity challenging the City’s arts funding process—began to be attacked systematically for their arts programming. Esperanza and Graciela were attacked and ridiculed publicly, as were artists associated with Esperanza. The attacks came via mainstream newspapers, right wing radio, and in the LGBT publication, The Marquise, that was published by white gay men who aligned themselves with the Christian coalition. Finally, the attacks found their mark and The City Council of San Antonio eliminated recommended arts funding for the Esperanza in 1997. The Esperanza convened community supporters in a series of pláticas, cafecitos, and mock trials to explore the possibility of a lawsuit and in1998 filed suit against the City of San Antonio. By 2001, the Esperanza had won the suit against the city for viewpoint discrimination and violation of First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment and Texas’ Open Meetings Law. The arts community and buena gente of the Esperanza had supported Esperanza in a myriad of ways and allowed it to survive the three years between the elimination of funds and the win in court. Sandra Cisneros, Gertrude Baker, Ana Fernández, Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa,the MacArturos and so many more had stepped forward to help. The city was ordered to let Esperanza apply for funds, again. In 2002, a new road opened up for the Esperanza with the heartbreaking loss of La Gloria that led to a renewed interest in the Westside of San Antonio...

Top left: Coalition for Cultural Diversity Right: Celebrating Lydia Mendoza’s 86th birthday at Plaza de Zacate Bottom left: 3 Poets & A Lawyer plática at Esperanza Right: The Arte es Vida campaign collecting signatures at Rosedale Park.

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Esperanza=Hope! It’s Who We Art! Martha Prentiss Support of the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered community was part of the reason for the Esperanza’s eviction from the North Flores location. We had been one of the first to publicly organize a queer art show. Our last show, Closets: Queer Experiences, in 1993, at the old North Flores location came to be the most talked about event to this day. Some of the work was taken out of context and used against us by the Christian right and conservative gay white men that ultimately affected our funding and support base. One piece in particular, a sculpture by Ana Fernandez entitled How to Pose for the Camera, contained a dream about a sexual encounter with Kay Bailey Hutchison, that became the flashpoint. Another art piece used by those particular gay white men to incite the Christian Right was a film by Barbara Hammer that included older lesbians making love. It seemed that these men only

chose works by women as samples of the Esperanza’s support of “pornography”. It seemed right that the first large gathering in our new home on San Pedro was the Who We Art exhibit in 1994 with 48 artists participating. It was different from the previous Lesbian and Gay art shows because it was open to any and all that identified as LGBT artists. As the “queerators” for the show, Penny Boyer and Michael Marinez and I defined it as a survey show” that would reflect work produced that past year by the LGBT community. In addition, a survey was conducted of participants to begin to identify the breadth and range of identity, visibility, self-definition and acceptance within the San Antonio community. The results of the artist survey were posted next to the artist’s work. Because the show featured such a diverse group of artists from professional to amateur, the opening night party drew an incredible crowd. We must have had at least 500 people come through the doors that evening. And the Energy! I saw it as such a positive beginning for our new home. I like to believe that every time we gather in Hope/Esperanza, we provide ourselves with a safe place to gather strength and support to continue in the struggle for peace and justice.

The 1990 Texas Lesbian Conference held in San Antonio included a lesbian film festival co-sponsored by the Esperanza at the Guadalupe Theater where protests by the religious right took place and calls to city hall were made. The TLC logo was designed by Martha Prentiss.

Jan Olsen & Martha Prentiss, then boardmembers of the Esperanza, were organizers in the tribute to Gertrude Baker in 1997 and also in raising funds to purchase a new building when evicted from N. Flores.

L to R: Agosto Bianco Cuellar, Michael Marinez, Andy Beach, David Zamora Casas, Bernice Williams and Martha Prentiss at Freedom of Choice, the 3rd lesbian & gay exhibit in 1991.

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Gertrude Baker, (now deceased), was a poet and performance artist as well as a company member of Jump-Start Performance Co. She was honored at the Esperanza in a special tribute dinner in 1997. Martha was also a regular vendor at the Esperanza’s annual Peace Market (top). Pictured are Martha, Gertrude, and Graciela, Director of Esperanza.

My Life Affair With the Esperanza by Jan Olsen These are the words that I wrote for the publication that the Esperanza did for El Grito de Esperanza to celebrate paying off the mortgage on our building. I chose to repeat them here because 17 years later, as we celebrate Esperanza, 30 Years of Peace and Justice, they best reflect my history and my feelings about the Esperanza.

September 15, 2000 – El Grito

big event in our new building. Planning meetings started at the beginning of the year. The planning committees that finally emerged symbolized for me

The final payment on 922 San Pedro was made on September 15, 2000. Among the boardmembers presenting the final check are Rudy Rosales, Beverly Sánchez-Padilla, Jan Olsen, Jim Isaman, Laura Codian, Ron Dodson, Martha Prentiss and Graciela Sánchez, director of the Esperanrza.

My “life affair” with the Esperanza started about ten years ago. The experience has been an incredible mix of life transformation, angst, sometimes anger, incredible joy and amazing people. The Esperanza has had what is the best of the Esperanza. As we multiple meanings to me over the years but all know, Gertrude’s life has been rich the common thread has been the concept and varied and this committee reflectof coalition, of bridge building, of bringed this. Picture this: A group of retired ing people together who otherwise would Army nurses who had never heard of remain unknown and unknowable to each the Esperanza sitting side by side with other. Two examples of this come to mind. artists, actors and activists of every affilIn the spring of 1996, the Ku Klux Klan iation. During that brief, wonderful pecame to San Antonio. The media had been riod of time, all our boundaries blurred. reporting on other Klan rallies around the Pictured above are Gloria state along with the violence and arrest that always ac- Ramirez, Judith Sanders-Cascompany such events. In our community, the mayor’s tro, Jan Olsen, and Graciela office, the local chapter of the NAACP and a few local Sánchez. At right: (l to r) Victoria Zapata Klein, Jesús pastors were advising that we stay home and ignore Alonzo, Graciela Sánchez, the Klan. Passivity in the face of racism has never been Paul Bonin-Rodriguez, Karen Whitney, and Peggy Apple— the Esperanza way. Our response was to take the lead all part of the anti-KKK rally. in organizing an incredible coalition of activists from the African American, the Latino, the Gay and Lesbian, the Legal and the Arts communities. The coalition included such Once again,the Esperanza names as Ciro Rodriguez, Rosa Rosales, T.C. Calvert and Mario had brought Salas among many others. Together, we created the “San Antonio together groups of people who would have never had the experience Coalition for Racial Unity. The result was a day long program of of knowing and working with each other and walking away with an music, speeches, prayers, entertainment, dancing and prayers that appreciation of other worlds and other ways. coincided with the Klan rally at City Hall. Our event provided our In the final analysis, my most precious Esperanza memories are community with a means of discovering and affirming the positive about the people. I have been so privileged to have met and worked and loving connection which unite us. As a result of our efforts, no with the most committed, gifted and loving people I have ever arrests of acts of violence occurred that day and the connections known. Probably, most important of all, are the parts of myself that made through the coalition have endured over the years. I discovered during my work with the Esperanza. At times, I was In the summer of 1997, the Esperanza held one of our most a very resistant and reluctant student, but I ultimately had to face special events. “A Tribute to Gertrude Baker”. Martha Prentiss and my own demons and my own strengths My heartfelt gratitude to I had been coordinating special events fundraising for a couple of the Esperanza family over the past years for all the gifts that I have years as Esperanza Board members and this was going to our first received and for accepting what I had to give. Members of the ,..And now we celebrate the most powerful San Antonio Cosymbol of our strength, commitment and vision, alition for Racial Unity “Stand Up our very own building, I am forever grateful that we For America” were naïve and powerful enough to ever think we declaring the could pull this off. I am so proud of all of us! KKK=Racism. Now, seventeen years later, in 2017, I continue to be so proud of all of us.

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On September 11, 1997, the City Council of San Antonio eliminated all city funding to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. When that decision came down, the Esperanza staff, volunteers, board and community members mobilized to determine how to respond. For months, information was gathered, various strategies were explored and we wondered how to best prepare a community for trial. The answer: Have a mock trial. The mock trial generated dialogue allowing the attorneys to discuss the legal issues of a view-point discrimination case and gave the community a place to shape the story of the Esperanza. The community or La Buena Gente shared their knowledge of the power of street art, protest, community dialogue, altar building, theater and story-telling. As the Esperanza prepared for trial, I heard the case discussed in the LGBTQ community and in the faith-based community. I recall hearing the artists of Mujerartes asking the legal team about the mechanics of a trial. The youth from the Esperanza’s media project asked if they could really go to Court at trial. This conservation was a lesson on civic duty, open courts and the freedom of expression.

Brilliant Commu Maria Salazar, Attorney at Law, María Salazar acted as judge for the mock trial that prepared community for trial in Esperanza Peace & Justice Center v. City of San Antonio filed in 1998.

Brilliant community organizing. The best organizing, I have ever seen. I hadn’t been a staff member for long, having just moved from San Francisco earlier that year. The City Council’s decision was devastating but I was overwhelmed with hope from the Esperanza community. So, when I was

The 2nd floor of the Esperanza served as the venue for the mock trial. Amy Kastely was lead lawyer. Michael Marinez testified.

Multiple press conferences were held before and after Esperanza’s funding fight.

Another organizing tactic used to inform the community was performance by Teatro de las Calles.

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Press conferences were held on site at the courthouse where the trial took place. Pictured are Rudy Rosales at the podium and staffmember, Vicky Grise and Petra Mata of Fuerza Unida at right. The quilt was also a project dedicaed to the Esperanza fight.

unity Organizing former Esperanza staff member As part of the mock trial community members like Micaela Sánchez-Diaz testified as witnesses.

asked to play the role of judge in the mock trial of Esperanza Center v. City of San Antonio, I took it seriously. I had to honor La Buena Gente. I paid close attention to the legal arguments. I read case law. I asked questions. I made index cards! At the mock trial, I wore the borrowed doctoral robes of Rodolfo Rosales, my political science professor. The legal team headed by Amy Kastely proceeded with Esperanza’s case-in-chief. Witnesses were called including our expert witness of Tomas Ybarra Frausto. The community sat in the galley much like a court room in trial. After each part of a trial, the community asked questions. The attorneys took notes and sharpened their arguments or reworked their questions from this interchange. Brilliant community organizing. The best organizing, I have ever seen. At the end of the mock trial, I ruled in favor of the Esperanza. I had not gone to law school yet. But after hearing the arguments, the reasoning presented by the Esperanza led to the conclusion that the City of San Antonio had favored one set of views over others, and under the law, that was not permitted. In May of 2001, at the actual trial, Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that the City of San Antonio had violated the First Amendment rights of the Esperanza Center. Furthermore, Judge Garcia found that the City of San Antonio had violated the equal protection clause when the City cut of all of the Esperanza’s funding from the 1998 City budget while maintaining funding for other arts organizations with a 15% reduction. Much like the day of the mock trial, the Esperanza cried out in great joy. Victory! Brilliant community organizing. The best organizing, I have ever seen.

La Voz announces the Esperanza’s win against the City of San Antonio in 2001 that made national news. The City had rescinded funds from the Esperanza for arts programming violating the Esperanza’s First Amendment rights.

Night vigils at the courthouse were held in support of the Esperanza. Esperanza’s Teatro de la Calle performs at the Plaza downtown across from the Bexar Co. Courthouse to inform gente about the lawsuit and its significance.

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Brad and Mike, our story by Mike Rodriguez & Brad Veloz Mike and I met in 1977 in a gay bar called the San Antonio Country but it was not until Tejanos, Mike Rodríguez and Brad Veloz have been partners 1987 while living in Washington, and organizers for 40 years. D.C. that we began our LGBT In November, 2013 they were married in historic Lincoln Park in Latino activism helping organize Washington, D.C. the first Latino LGBT organization in Washington, D.C. called ENLACE. We also organized and helped with a “buddy system” for our brothers with AIDS. That same year we met activists like Gloria Ramírez, Graciela Sánchez and other Latinx LGBTQ leaders at the 1987 March on Washington and subsequently helped organize LLEGO, the National Latino/a Lesbian & Gay Organization. Earlier that same year (1987), the Esperanza

A reading of Queer Brown Voices reunited LGBTQ activists/friends: (l to r) Dulce Benavides, Gloria Ramírez, Mike Rodríguez, Brad Veloz, Leti Gomez, Luz Guerra, Graciela Sánchez, Dennis Medina.

Peace & Justice Center had been founded in San Antonio, Tx. After moving from Houston to San Antonio in 1993, Mike returned to complete his degree at the Our Lady of the Lake and I continued as a Federal employee. While at the Lake, Mike interned with the Esperanza and I joined the board. Our involvement with the Esperanza at the time was exciting as we continued our lives as activists. We participated in demonstrations against the KKK, rallied against the Esperanza’s defunding and did battle with the internalized homophobia against the Esperanza. Organizing has been in our blood since high school and college. Brad began organizing high school students in

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Corpus Christi, while Mike became active during his college years in San Antonio. Organizing as a couple has strengthened bonds between us. While we may share common visions and aspirations of what equality should be, we are not monolithic in our thinking. There is a 9-year difference in our ages and we often have different ways of looking at things—but we can bounce off of each other’s ideas and have learned to compromise. Organizing together has also expanded our familia to include Latinx organizers who remain a close circle of friends. During the early years we witnessed the deaths of many friends lost to AIDS. We made a commitment to always take care of ourselves and each other. Together we have organized and served as officers of LGBT Latino organizations in Houston and San Antonio. Before the 1987 March, we had never really talked about who we were as gay Latino men. That changed after the March and our involvement with the Esperanza as we came into contact with Latinx LGBT brothers and sisters. We recently helped organize the first San Antonio LGBT LULAC Council, Orgullo, and were involved with efforts to pass a Non-Discrimination Ordinance that brought protection from discrimination to the LGBT community in San Antonio. As we approach our 60’s and 70’s, aging has been a process we have witnessed our parents endure. We are blessed with the loving support of our families and friends. In November, 2013 we returned to Washington, D.C. and were married in Historic Lincoln Park across from where we had lived for many years. We continue to advocate for LGBT equality in our City, State and Nation. In 2017, Mike and I celebrated 40 years together.

When the KKK marched in San Antonio, Tx, The Coalition for Racial Unity countered their presence with an all-day rally of song, poetry and performance. Pictured: Kate Herrington, Gloria Ramírez, Philip Avila, Dennis Medina, Mike Rodríguez, Antonio Díaz and a friend.

Calaveras y calacas: Now a Westside Tradition Enrique Sánchez ¡Celebramos Todos Un Gran Acontecimiento! Treinta Años de existencia significa unión. Aunque muchos han tratado de destruir El Gran Trabajo que Esperanza Peace and Justice Center ha hecho, Nunca cesa de seguir adelante. ¡Buena Suerte! La Palabra Esperanza tiene un gran significado Toda la gente que ha contribuido en el pasado y los que estan y siguen con este fin han ayudado Al crecimento de esta organización y de San Antonio. Estas Palabras que han leido son una señal positiva que en la unión esta la fuerza. (La Espiritiflautica trendrá que esperarse para despues; Ella siempre es paciente.)

¡Qué Vergüenza! Se eligió en nuestro suelo un tipo que es vendedor Convenció a mucha gente y al carajo nos mandó.

Enrique Sánchez dances with his wife, Isabel, at the annual Dia de los muertos celebration. Known as “Don Calaveras” he has written calaveras for La Voz de Esperanza since they started publishing them annually each November since 1999. Calaveras are satirical poems that are written about people for Dia de los muertos.

Problemas y Más Problema No cesan los problemas en la ala oeste, Este lugar esta poblado con gente ignorante. Los ócupan y desocupan—que hasta da risa. Órden no la hay, organización? ¡Ja, ja, ja! Lo malo de todo es que mundialmente tenemos payasos Encargados de una—la nación mas poderosa. ¿No verdad? The problems in the west wing don’t seem to stop. This place is populated by ingoramuses They are hired and fired constantly. It’s even funny. No order, organization? LOL! Worldwide, we have clowns in charge of running The most powerful nation. Really! E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 1 9

It goes without saying that the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center directly impacts the lives of many people and communities, not just in our city, but also throughout our state, our country, and abroad. Esperanza’s impact is unique and altogether critical because San Anto Playwright and Poet the lives she touches and for whom she effects change, are lives of underrepresented or otherwise marginalized gente who oftentimes find themselves with few to no advocates on their side. Through her fearless efforts, the Esperanza sheds light on a great many issues that carry global ramifications. In so doing, the Esperanza empowers, gives voice, creates dialogue, links bridges, and teaches. Hers is the work of love, the work of change, the work of humanity, the work of progress; it is the work of social justice. When I speak to people about being a playwright, I always tell them that I became such by pure accident. But that is not entirely true. I became a playwright because the Esperanza saw the potential of my work when I did not see any. I became a playwright because the Esperanza taught me that I was one and challenged me to continue developing my craft. At a time when even I was afraid to speak of my Chicano queer identity, the Esperanza gave my work a platform and thus initiated my

I am a playwright Jesús Alonzo

A scene from the play, Miss América: A Mexicanito Fairy’s Tale at the Esperanza. The playwright, Jesús Alonzo, far right, was also a cast member.

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journey as a playwright. As a result, my works, Jotos del Barrio and Miss América: A Mexicanito Fairy’s Tale, were produced both, at the Esperanza (1995, 2002, 2014) and the JumpStart Performance Co. (2002) and presented to record-setting audiences. Furthermore, the prior was published through Kórima Press (2014) and is being taught as part of Chicano Literature classes in various universities, including the University of Texas at Austin (Fall Semester, 2017) where it will be taught alongside the works of such notable writers and scholars as Emmy Perez and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. Because of the Esperanza, my work has found its way into the lives of many individuals whom like myself, were afraid to embrace the totality of whom they are. Furthermore, because of the Esperanza, I have connected with other working artists, grass-roots organizers, and allies from throughout the country with whom I now share community. And all of this came to fruition because la buena gente of the Esperanza was engaging in their daily work of giving voice to the voiceless. Thus, in the Acknowledgements section of my book I give thanks to: “Graciela I. Sánchez and the buenísima gente of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center who first gave my work a home...” It is with great hope and great honor that my future work will continue to find its way home to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. ¡Felicidades por sus 30 años y que vengan muchos, pero muchos mas!

Cast of Jesús Alonzo’s Jotos del Barrio performed several times at the Esperanza from 1995 to 2017.

RESURGENCE

2003-PRESENT

These are the times to grow our souls. Each of us is called upon to embrace the conviction that despite the powers and principalitiesbent on commodifying all our human relationships, we have the power within us to create the world anew. —Grace Lee Boggs After the fall of La Gloria, the Esperanza awoke to the fact that much more work was needed to combat the forces that sought to erase the brown working class cultura and neighborhoods. The Esperanza took on a new challenge—setting up a base of operations en el mero westside to recover cultural traditions and preserve neighborhoods and the gente’s own history. With oral interviews and a resurgence of cultural traditions and convivios, the Esperanza slowly began to make inroads into the restoration and renovation of the Westside that now faces gentrification. The Esperanza not only operates from its main base at 922 San Pedro now, it also owns buildings on the Westside of San Antonio called el Rinconcito de Esperanza where this fall MujerArtes, the Esperanza’s Mujeres Clay Cooperative that opened in 1995, will soon move into a new Earth Block Building. The early Mujercanto concerts have now grown into major espectaculos at a variety of venues throughout the City of San Antonio with performers like Lila Downs, Eugenia De León and Susana Baca. And with the excavation of barrio history and cultura, the Esperanza has been able to pay homage to cultural icons like singer, Eva Garza and rocnrol legend, Gloria Rios—from the Alazan Apache Courts who were known internationally but whose importance was lost in their own San Antonio barrios. And the living legends, Las Tesoros, who came to light and back to the stage after Esperanza’s homenajes to la gran Lydia Mendoza, continue to amaze audiences as the 80 and 90 year olds continue to belt out ranchera favorites. Litigation has become a tool for change for social justice activists in San Antonio leveraging some gains in the protection of the environment and defending free speech. We continue to fight for environmental justice in coalitions throughout the city and throughout the country protecting our aquifer, decrying fracking, and protesting pipelines locally and globally. The small gains made in the LGBT community in the 90s that Esperanza had to pay a price for have been a great investment as we now have a non-discrimination ordinance in San Antonio that a solid coalition of civil rights groups worked on. We still have battles to fight—for the transgender community, immigrants, pro-choice movement y muchos mas, especially now, that the spectre of the radical right has gained a foothold. Your support is greatly needed now more than ever! Acuerdense, Todos Somos Esperanza!

Cast Top: Lila Downs performs. Bottom left: Las Tesoros includes Perla Tapatia (deceased), Blanca Rosa, Rita Vidaurri, and Beatrice Llamas. Middle: Homenaje a Eva Garza Right: Azul, who celebrates 10 years of Noche Azul in 2017.

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Preserving Barrio History Matters Sarah Gould While San Antonio is known as a city imbued with history, and that history is well protected in some areas of town, the rich history of San Antonio’s Mexican American heritage has often only been preserved where and when it promotes tourism, a type of preservation that reproduces colonial fantasies and devalues Mexican American lives. Understanding that historic preservation is not just about fancy buildings designed by famous architects, that it is about acknowledging the contributions of our communities to the economic, social, and historical fabric of the city, state, and nation, that it is about recognizing the labor of our ancestors who built our communities – often with their own hands – in spite of being redlined, underpaid, and underserved, and that it is about our belonging, Esperanza has been at the forefront of staking a claim for historic preservation in working class and Mexican American communities and drawing connections between historic preservation, social justice, and the power of place. In 2002, La Gloria, an iconic Westside rooftop dancehall and the first multi-pump gas station on the Westside, was threatened with demolition. A community coalition, including many Esperanza buena gente, stood between the building and a bulldozer understanding that In the 1930s, La Gloria, had a rooftop dance hall where Tejano orquestras and conjunto bands played and people danced. At street level it had a food market, bakery, movie theater and one of San Antonio’s first multi-pump gas stations. In spite of a vote to designate the building a historic landmark and wide community support to save it, La Gloria was demolished in 2002. This was a turning point for the Esperanza who added preservation to its work list.

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the demolition of La Gloria represented an erasure of Westside Mexican American history. When the building came down, Esperanza added historic preservation of working class and Mexican American neighborhoods to its slate of issues. Since then, the Esperanza has collaborated on a number of preservation projects and issues including serving as host for meetings

Sarah Gould gives out information on Los Courts at the Paseo por el Westside

Alliance began working with the Office of Historic Preservation to identify and document potential historic landmarks in the Westside, an area long been neglected by the Office of Historic Preservation. Through these efforts, City Council designated twenty-two Westside properties as local historic landmarks on March 21, 2013 with additional designations the following year. Since 2010, the annual Paseo por el Westside held in May for National Historic Preservation Month has highlighted the neighborhood’s vernacular architecture, community history, and historic structures - both those standing and those that have been lost to development - to raise cultural awareness of the neighborhood’s significance. That same year, the historic Lerma’s Nite Club faced demolition due to numerous code violations. Esperanza was able to negotiate the purchase of the building, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places and was named one of Texas’ Most Endangered Places in 2014. Fundraising for its rehabilitation is ongoing. Esperanza’s historic preservation work has had victories and losses. In 2013, the City of San Antonio failed to find historic significance for the building that housed the nation’s first full-time Spanish language television station, KCOR/KWEX Univision 41. Esperanza and WPA members tried to block the developer’s bulldozers and were arrested. More recently, the Westside’s iconic Malt House – designated historic in 2013 – was approved for demolition to build a 7-11 convenience store. Despite the losses, Esperanza’s historic The UNIVISION building was home preservation work has successfully challenged to the first completely Spanish lannotions that historic preservation is only for guage television broadcast network wealthy communities while also expanding in the U.S. Located on prime property downtown on the river, UNIVISION appreciation for the connections between the was demolished to make way for a built environment and our intangible cultural high rise apartment complex despite heritage within our own communities. Esperefforts of The Westside Preservation Alliance, Fuerza Unida and other anza has not only won numerous preservation community groups and individuals. awards for its historic properties, but also assisted in the recovery of “lost history” such as bringing new attention to female performers from the Westside like Eva Garza and Chelo Silva and of course Las Tesoros - Beatriz Llamas, Blanca Rosas, Perla Tapatia, and Rita Vidaurri – recently featured in a documentary film.Thanks to the on-going work of the Esperanza, our future generations will know why our barrios matter.

of the Westside Preservation Alliance, which seeks to increase awareness of historic preservation issues in the Westside. Following the loss of La Gloria, the Esperanza purchased a Westside property naming it el Rinconcito de Esperanza. Consisting of two historic houses and the former Ruben’s Ice House, the property serves as a community space including monthly oral history gatherings at the Rinconcito’s Casa de Cuentos to further capture and preserve the history of the Westside. Fotohistorias recovered barrio “En Aquellos Tiempos: Fotohistorias del history and pride with a series of large photo banners disWestside,” an on-going project played throughout the Westside. Graciela Sánchez poses that brings the Westside’s with a photo of her abuela. history to the streets for all to see, combines visual arts with historic preservation. Beginning with fifty wall-size photo banners in 2006, the fotohistorias are a source of pride for many and reveal people and stories not recorded in official San Antonio history. In 2009, Esperanza learned of plans to demolish Casa Maldonado, a structure originating in 1910 that over the years served the Westside in multiple ways including: the home of the Spanish Baseball league and Progresso Club baseball team, a political gathering space for Progressive Democrats, a job training center, and the popular Speedy’s diner. Following a two-year battle, the building was saved. That same year, Esperanza and the Westside Preservation

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Esperanza, Champion of Historic Preservation

The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is the guardian of Lerma’s Nite Club that is now on the register of historic places. It was slated for demolition, but community efforts saved it and the storefronts attached that will be renovated and repurposed to serve the community.

Gary W. Houston Esperanza is noted for boldly blending the creative and performing arts into a vision of social justice and social change then relentlessly challenging, informing and transforming the conventional wisdom in healthy directions. Less well known is that the Esperanza defines the preservation of underappreciated neighborhood buildings, structures and cultural traditions they symbolize as agents of change—and their protection as a form of social justice. It has championed more historic preservation in minority communities than any other organization in this city or state. If there is a community institution whose staff and volunteers embody more of a commitment to making the Humanities a vivid and organic part of everyday life for every human, I do not know where it is. Because of Esperanza there are fewer forgotten people, places and traditions. Those of us who have observed Esperanza at close range know that we are witnessing something remarkable, unique in its depth and unprecedented in its scope. Every city deserves an Esperanza. We in San Antonio are lucky to have the prototype. ¡Viva Esperanza!

Top:The Maldonado building also known as the “pink building” was saved by community efforts working together with the Westside Preservation Alliance. Bottom: The Hays St. Bridge was saved by community efforts and remains in litigation challenging the city’s claim to the land below.

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Elva Treviño

30 Beautiful Years

Elva Pérez Treviño under the arch of flowers she built for the entrance of Casa de Cuentos at Esperanza’s where Día de los muertos is celebrated.

Beautiful. Necessary. Inclusive. Dynamic. This is Esperanza Peace and Justice Center’s presence in the core Westside of San Antonio: an old Barrio where Esperanza has established itself in this old core neighborhood just over the railroad tracks from the historic King William neighborhood. Through its activities and events held at 815 S. Colorado also known as El Rinconcito del Westside Esperanza has created a space where community joins, forms and becomes

aware of its identity. Esperanza brings San Antonio’s Westside back to itself. Through the space it creates and provides—Esperanza helps this old barrio identify with itself and let others know who it is. It helps provide the stage for all the success stories that comprise this old neighbor, long neglected because of where it lies geographically and because of who lives in it. But Esperanza has used its space and resources to restore to this community—a place of music, laughter, gaiety, and celebration. El Westside San Antonio shines in part because of Esperanza. It has made it its mission to restore this part of itself. Through classes on making paper flowers, saw dusts tapetes,

and paper Mache Calacas it exposes community to great artisans. It brings back the wisdom of our elders who come to this space to teach the heals arts: working with herbs and other non-traditional healing methods long practiced in our Mother and daughter pose with their mini ofrenda at the minature altar workshop taught by Angie Merla in preparation for Día de los Muertos.

community and now brought back to light because of this

space called Esperanza. This space called Esperanza gives children an opportunity to be proud of where they come from, it gives adults a place to show who they are and it provides a space for elders to show us what we can become. Thank you Esperanza for 30 years of making us proud, of sharing us with us, for the community you help create and present A practice sawdust tapete designed by Mary Agnes to the world Rodríguez was completed by buena gente, staff and MujerArtes with Martin Ramírez Salas of Xoxocotla, with such Morelos for the 2016 Día de los Muertos celebration at dignity and El Rinconcito de Esperanza pride. Margarita Elizarde conducts a workshop on herbs for the Corazones del Westside while Blanca Rivera assists.

MujerArtes women & buena gente worked with Martin (center) to make lifesize Katrinas for the 2017 Día de los Muertos celebration.

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o c r e P ss before & t e n a l P Prof , e l p it s o e P by Kamala Platt

I wonder if we are prepared for “our ahora,” por nuestros new age/ tomorrow: Are we ready to be one of the islands struggling for sovereign space as seas of consumption-driven plastics colonize marine ecologies? Are we ready to arch our backs into bridges of concern as policies, legislation and daily practice deepen divides and stretch the distance between us? Are we prepared to nurture dignity & respect like native flora in the face of endemic, multi-tentacled, corporate rapaciousness? Esperanza Buena Gente have long held to placards our community carries: “People/Planet before Profits.” In a You Tube video from Lebanon about the resurrected art of making cemento tile by hand, I hear a related “dicho”: “Process before Profit.” Contemplation before Capitalism. “Deep reciprocity” foregrounding extraction, to borrow concepts from Idle No More member Leanne Simpson. “Proceso” with its many-faceted possibilities is what we, at our best, are about at Esperanza, and what may help

2017. This year that Esperanza turns 30, I hear people decades older than our beloved Centro, say that these are the worst, most dangerous times they’ve seen. Some days, I feel this to be omnipresent like mid-day July sun. Let’s put aside mean-spiritedness, calculated callousness, fakery. The country and state we live in have rejected our hard-won--admittedly, relatively small--role in crafting the world’s strategic approaches to an age-old issue, now the preeminent challenge of our time: to admit our imbalances are exponentially increasing, to shift our self-absorbed ways and reduce our destruction of our parent planet, and in doing so, to deconstruct violence toward each other. As an artist, I’ve been taught process—to contemplate before acting, to observe that certain colors, tones, shades and even shapes play off each other: some elements recede into background, while others beam the foreground out toward viewers. Two years ago, when she was 28, I was twice as old as Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. But El Centro de Hope, Paz y Justicia is getting an edge on me, age-wise, and perhaps as our relative perspectives shift, new facets of her doings come out to me; I think about Esperanza’s role in this City of the Blue Hole and in these “worst of times,” I see a glint of hope that appears to spawn a rainbow’s song-- a banner swirling forward in front of the protruding turbulence of climate change-tainted cloudage. It is those glimmering spans of hopeful acts that Esperanza has participated in, to which I call attention, because keeping our eyes on them helps us steer a true course even in Trumpian turbulence. I think back on bittersweet recuerdos, ironies, complexities, the fierceness and sublime, the Top: Teresa López Jiménez mending hearts and wounded corazones, someand Irene Aguilar travel times beating in tandem, sometimes not. I reannually from Oaxaca, member with gratitude for having been here. Yet, Mexico to the Esperanza’s Peace Market. Bottom: Kamala Platt, former member of the Esperanza Conjunto, reads poetry at the 2016 Peace Market and sells plants.

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Esperanza move through the worst of times with color, grace and wisdom. And participating in that process—promoting “People, Planet and Process before Profits” might just help right the planet.

Top Ten Memories When I Worked At The Esperanza Center By Barbara Renaud-Gonzalez I was at the Esperanza from 2001 – 2008, something like that. Here are my top ten memories. You have to understand that this is the hardest-working non-profit in town. There are women there who regularly worked till 3 in the morning. Sometimes we needed a little break. One afternoon. Or morning. Or maybe it was midnight:

all, and asked me if he was drinking from a little brown bag. I said how did you know? 5.

I had adopted the cats living in the parking lot. Worried about them all the time. The silver one I called Nikle, like Nickle. When Nikle had a baby, René asked me what was I gonna name it? Di-me, of course. And Nikle’s mother, who’s out there? Peseta. (i.e. nickel, dime, quarter…) 4. There was a time that David Zamora Casas couldn’t find his Voter Registration card and the rest of us really shamed him. One night I really paid attention to one of his paintings and found the card embedded in his painting! He’d made art out of it.

10. Michael Marinez embarrassed la Jasmina when he swore to all the women that he was a Brown man when the rest of us told him that he was rather guero. Despite his pretty hair. He dropped his pants and gave us a half-moon to prove his point. Jasmina screamed. She was about 16 then. Graciela ran out from her office and regañó a Michael while the rest of us laughed like locas.

3. Then there was the time Michael wanted to lose weight. Forget that, he borrowed Rene’s car and had a really bad accident on Hildebrand, near West, and his house. The car was totalled and Michael lost like 40 pounds at least.

Me and la Beva (when she lived here; the mother of the very accomplished sisters, now Dr. Micaela J. Sánchez-Díaz and local architect, Siboney Díaz-Sánchez), got into a shouting match because I thought I knew flamenco dancing and grumbled about parents who let their children dance Barbara Renaud González at the FCC hearings in at the Esperanza… While everybody 2004 and in a panel diswatched, we threw barbs at each other cussion on Fuerza Unida across the computers until Beva said at the Esperanza. L to that a boardmember’s mole wasn’t that R: Laura Codina, María Berriozábal, Petra Mata, good anyway! Ouch! Everyone started Barbara & Luz Guerra. arguing about the quality of mole in San Antonio and who made the best. Let’s just say we have different tastes. 8.

The time Vicki Grise and Beva (Beverly Sánchez-Padilla) spent a whole morning looking for keys and started going into panic mode. I showed up, Vicki told me she had looked everywhere a thousand times! They had turned the Esperanza upside down looking for the keys, and voilá, I told her to get calm and the keys were found in a drawer, of course. 7. Speaking of Vicki, she showed up once after attending some teacher’s meeting—barefoot. That’s how she attended the vmeeting. It was sooo hot. She announced that she was hardly wearing any clothes, either, in other places. Graciela was not impressed. I just laughed. The Esperanza is really a safe place. 6. I showed up at the Esperanza telling a story about some vato who tried to pick me up by cruising right besides me on Ashby as I walked to work, and when I said, “No thanks!” —he yelled, “I lub you”. Irma Mayorga didn’t think this was funny at

2. Another time a good-looking, progressive, male professor—married—came to visit the Esperanza for some reason. We all knew him, and as it turned out, most of us had crushes on him for different reasons, including me. Graciela was not impressed. 1.

Speaking of crushes, the visual artist Alex Rubio came to visit us in the middle of an afternoon. When I asked him why, he said that everyone knew that the prettiest women worked at the Esperanza. Graciela was not impressed. De pilón.There are times when the Esperanza has high school interns and volunteers. One time, the staff started talking about a nude performance that one of our adult artist-colleagues had been involved in, a staged performance for another event. The female student was shocked – “you mean my teacher—NAKED?” No, No, forget it, we told her. Changed the subject immediately. (Now, don’t ask, ok?)

Thanks for the memories, Esperanza!!!! E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 2 7

Th e C o ra z on e s del Westside

Pauline “Todos somos Esperanza,” (we are all hope). The Corazones del Westside are the hope and love of the Westside. They meet periodically at Casa de Cuentos (House of Stories- 816 S. Colorado St.) Their focus is to preserve the history, culture, stories, and traditions of the Westside which are almost forgotten. Corazones work behind the scenes with their hard work and valuable knowledge to make possible monthly “convivios,” and an annual event, “El Paseo por el Westside.” Esperanza and the Corazones also organize many workshops on subjects such as genealogy, Texas Native plants, papel picado, sugar skulls, quilt making, and community platicas about present and future events and changes occurring such as the demolition of houses, historical buildings, and gentrification. There is a focus on photos and stories between 19201960. Some of the Corazones were asked to tell us what it means to be a Corazon del Westside. Here are some of their responses.

Blanca

Pauline Enriquez: I feel welcomed and greeted with love. “Me da gusto and a feeling of happiness.” Deborah Sifuentes: We are very involved and accepted in everything. Isabel Sanchez: Since I grew up on the Westside, I am happy to be included in the Corazones. Mildred Hilbrich: For myself and a lot of seniors, it is a place to go and talk about their past and work on projects that are important. People need to feel that they are still part of the community. Angie Merla: Being a Corazón changed me. I have learned so much from stories shared by seniors and their families; and stories and history of my family. Blanca Rivera: “Dar todo de ti para ayudar a perservar las tradiciones de la familia.” [Giving your all to preserve the traditions of the family.] Mary Agnes Rodríguez: I think it’s like a family or community. They are passing on the history, culture, and traditions.

Isabel and Enrique Sánchez, parents of the directo Graciela Sánchez, have been a constant presence a help out annually at the Paseo por el Westside.

Mercedes: Nos da una opportunidad para aprender del Westside, para mejor entender como han pasado los cosas aqui en el Westside de San Antonio. [It gives us the opportunity to learn about San Antonio’s Westside and better understand our history.] Rachel Martínez: I enjoy it. We have the opportunity to share information; to meet new people and to partake in luncheons where we share our food. Yolanda Salazar: “Para mi significa un hermanidad, como hermanas, siempre compartiendo nuestro tiempo cuando se nos solicita.”[For me it’s like a sisterhood, always sharing time when it’s called for.] Bernard Sanchez: Brings out true camaraderie... sharing and learning different experiences of our neighbors. Many of the Corazones are Westsiders; that is, they grew up on the Westside or have lived there at some time, but it is only required that anyone be the love and hope of the Westside to be a Corazón. 2 8 • E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y

Mildred Hilbrich, Elva Pérez Treviño and Charles Pé workshop led by Fabiola Torralba for the Corazones

¡Que viva la Esperanza!

The Corazones del Westside evolved from the presence of buena gente who helped envision and develop el Rinconcito de Esperanza. Here Esperanza staff and buena gente plant flowers and beautify the grounds.

or of the Esperanza, at the Esperanza and

érez engage in a dance s del Westside.

Guadalupe Segura leads a workshop on making paper flowers at the 2017 Paseo por el Westside.

I have been teaching at Trinity University for twenty years. In addition to all the indispensable work Esperanza does in the community for justice and in defense of the most vulnerable among us, it has always been an invaluable resource for students to learn that another world is, indeed, possible. Esperanza represents that world to all of us: A world of cooperation instead of competition, a world of tolerance and compassion, a world of mutual caring, a world of love and stewardship of la madre tierra, a world of song and beauty, a world of remembering those that came before us. For all that the buena gente of the Esperanza have done and keep doing every day: Thank you. ¡Y que viva la Esperanza Peace and Justice Center! —David Spener

Tish Hinojosa and David Spener were among the singers who came out to the Esperanza as part of the Mil Guitarras para Victor Jara homenaje held annually in Santiago, Chile. His songs of peace and social justice have been sung all over the world for over 40 years after his assassination during the 1973 coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende. Bernard Sánchez (left) led a workshop to create a “barrilete”—a type of kite flown in Guatemala for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. To his right are: Enrique Sánchez, Angie Merla, Josie Merla Martin, Mildred Hilbrich, Lucy Pérez, Isabel Sánchez, Ray Pérez and Gustavo Sánchez.

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Esperanza, no hay camino...

Jessica Rocca

Inspirada por el virtuoso Serrat quien elevó la poesía de Machado en el éxtasis de “Cantares” que en uno de sus fragmentos versa así: “Caminante son tus huellas el camino, y nada más. Caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace camino y al volver la vista atrás, se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar...” En mis humildes e impericias palabras, que, absorta por lo que el Centro Esperanza ha marcado en mi vida, diría algo así: Esperanza no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Treinta años ya luchando por la paz y justicia social. Mientras hay quien busca construir muros que dividen, Esperanza crea puentes que unen. Delicados vínculos tejidos de filigrana por brillantes Mujeres, cimentados en nuestra cultura, valores y tradiciones. Forjando, así, un lazo inquebrantable entre fronteras y generaciones. Mientras hay quien ambiciona alzar murallas que agreden y restringen, Esperanza engendra incansablemente vida e inclusión a través de manifestaciones de arte que acaricia. Esperanza no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Esperanza no hay camino, si no estelas en la mar... Desde el fondo de mi corazón espero que muchos años vengan más. Jessica Rocca project coordinator of the MujerArtes Earthblock Building was inspired by songwriter, Serrat, who elevated the poet Machado’s words into song. One line states: Wayfarer there is no path, one forges a road as one walks... She relates this to Esperanza’s 30th anniversary noting that there was no path for us to follow, but after 30 years of fighting for peace and justice, Esperanza has constructed bridges to unite—while others seek to construct walls to divide. Esperanza engenders life tirelessly through inclusion and nurturing the arts. From the bottom of her heart, Jessica wishes Esperanza many more years to come.

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MujerArtes, Esperanza’s women’s clay cooperative, has been at El Paso St. since opening in 1995. A new studio will be opening in September that was constructed at the Rinconcito de Esperanza. Gloria Anzaldúa (front & center) and Susan Guerra, former director of the Esperanza, (under doorway) visited MujerArtes at the casita.

Some of the artistas from the 2017 group of MujerArtes in the studio at El Paso St. surrounded by their work.

MujerArtes’ women learned to maintain the walls and floors of their new earth block building that will open in September, 2017. Here, Olga fills in crevices between the earth blocks.

Las mujeres de MujerArtes 2017 will have a new studio opening at El Rinconcito de Esperanza in San Antonio’s Westside. Their instuctor, Imelda Arismendez will be missed. RIP

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The Uprooted Series Nadine Saliba the programming was too political. The main charge was In 2006, the Esperanza Center organized a series of programs that we presented programs from a Palestinian perspective about the Middle East (ME) called The Uprooted Series. The and how dare we do that? How dare we center the narrative series got its name from its opening event, a painting exhibit of the marginalized and the oppressed? How dare we huby Palestinian artist Salwa Arnous entitled “They Uprooted manize those who are constantly defamed, disparaged and the Palestinians, Now They Uprooted the Olive Trees.” The misrepresented? How dare we deviprograming included platicas with ate from the dominant discourse? Arab American women, Jewish AmeriTexas Public Radio refused to can artists and scholars who are part of cover the series while hostile artithe Palestine solidarity movement and cles were written in the two local with families who lost loved ones to the newspapers. Conservative radio talk wars in Iraq and Palestine. We screened shows attacked the Esperanza’s right films, staged performances, organized to city funding and then-mayor Phil poetry readings and writing workshops Hardberger warned that the Espeand published accompanying articles in ranza risks losing city funding if it La Voz. “gets too far into the political arena.” In response to a hunger within the We appeared before city council community for alternative perspecto defend our programing, arguing tives on the ME and US foreign polithat the Esperanza Center, in line cy and wars in the region, Esperanza’s with its mission and long-standing vision was to organize programs tradition, seeks to offer perspectives that would serve as an educational that no other local arts group does. resource and create a community We said the Esperanza tried to do dialogue. This was in the post 9/11 for people living under occupation era. Arab and Muslim Americans’ in Palestine and Iraq what it has civil rights and freedoms were under Palestinian artist, Salwa Arnous and Nadine done for other marginalized and attack with the passage of the “Patriot Saliba at the 2006 exhibit, They Uprooted the Palestinians, Now They’ve Uprooted the Olive oppressed communities, and that is, Act,” the “war on terror” was in full tell their stories as our politicians swing and the US invasion and occu- Trees. and media cast them as the “terrorpation of Iraq based on government ist” and the “enemy” who deserves and media lies was in its third year. to be bombed. We sought to reach a deeper underThe Uprooted Series adminisstanding of these issues beyond the tered a dose of resistance against the dominant misconceptions and often forces of ignorance, prejudice and racist coverage of the ME. racism. In the golden age of emWe drew on creative and educabedded journalism when reporters tional resources, inviting scholars, attached themselves to the invading artists, performers, poets and acarmies and covered the war from tivists who created programing that their perspective, The Uprooted Secombined creativity with beauty and ries was our local attempt to disrupt the American monointellect. The Uprooted Series was successful in drawing logue on the ME, to TALK BACK. The Esperanza Center large audiences from diverse backgrounds and forging gave us that platform, and everything we did, we did with connections and solidarity between various communities love for our people and a passion for justice for all. in our city. Unsurprisingly, the Esperanza Center was attacked and city funding was once again under threat on charges that 3 2 • E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y

A place where I could belong Itza Carbajal I returned to the United States from Italy in 2012 struggling with the shock of returning to a culture I no longer saw as my own. In trying to cope with this emptiness and inability to belong, I began an internship at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Every week I would drive my pearl white scooter to the creeping fig ivy covered building I would soon call my 2nd home. Being an intern at the Esperanza shaped the direction I now follow. I remember the day Graciela took me to the now closed coffee shop on Guadalupe where I started crying in front of her despite only knowing her for a few weeks. I remember sitting in front of glowing computer screen in the storage and archival room looking up images of the sea for a Noche Azul. I remember that same Noche Azul as the one I was given full liberty to decorate the stage as I saw fit. When I walked into the room to show my ideas, Gloria and Imelda wholeheartedly supported my vision and even began to troubleshoot some of my ideas. Years later, staff would entertain my grand plans for all the organization’s historic records even at the expense of extra work. The Esperanza saw my enthusiasm, encouraged my energy, and nourished my desire to

Top: Antonia Castañeda and Itza Carbajal are interviewed in 2013 by KSAT News about the efforts by Esperanza and others who tried to stop the demolition of Univision, the site of the first Spanish language network in the US. Both Antonia and Itza were arrested. Bottom: Itza with her father, Mario, at the Paseo por el Westside.

find a place a place where I could belong. As many other spaces working towards a better world, the Esperanza also showed me what it means to work through all the pain inflicted on us by imperialism, sexism, homophobia, classism, racism, extreme nationalism, and all other forms of violence towards our being. In the time I worked at the Esperanza, I knew what it meant to feel vulnerable, to be angry, to demonstrate indifference or contempt, and to witness unbearable sadness. I saw sides of me that scared me and I felt questioned for all my privileges for the first time in my life. I recognize these moments as difficult and for some undesirable, but I appreciate the clarity these moments continue to give me. The Esperanza in its 30 years of existence is messy. My life is also messy, chaotic, and ever-changing. Finding Esperanza and the people there allowed me the chance to not hide that chaos. I no longer had to tone down my beliefs, hide my thoughts, or avoid topics that made me uncomfortable. I was my whole self there and I will never forget that the Esperanza and everyone there welcomed me with open arms.

Top: Itza, a staff member, sets up a workshop at the 2016 Paseo por el Westside. Preservation and archiving interests led Itza to return to graduate studies at UT-Austin. Bottom: Itza traveled with Esperanza staff to Juchitán, Mexico where she met Ximena, daughter of one of the Peace Market vendors, Teresa López Jiménez.

E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 3 3

Esperanza, an Activist Repair Station Lillian Stevens questions, and walked away with answers or My acupuncturist calls her little clinic the library we grew up with. We had a dream without resources or the knowledge to with names of other great resources to help “Angel Repair Station”. Although she is implement the opening of a Black perforus move through the dream. Buddhist and I lean more towards Budmance space. We also lacked the confidence I’ve watched throughout the years as the dhism than any other spiritual practice, to move forward with such a big idea. There people of the Esperanza are consulted or we share this sentiment. The idea that all offer ideas and suggestions in casual people have the potential conversations (that are often critical to be and do good, and analyses of sociopolitical situations). that all good people are When they become involved with the potentially bodhisatEsperanza, people are often prodded tvas—determined to save to think differently, being challenged suffering beings. and challenging themselves to move When I try to describe outside of comfortable, lifelong the Esperanza Peace and paradigms. Justice Center, I see a simiThe unique programming at the lar mission. It is an activist Esperanza brings together people repair station. Activism who might never have met or sat totakes its toll on people gether in the same room. This is how with a passion for peace you change hearts and minds and and social justice. It is like find the good in people. The EPJC emptying the ocean with Art pieces from the MAIZ art exhibit of 2011. At left is a clay figure by a teacup: We know that it Veronica Castillo and at right, a corn goddess by Mary Agnes Rodríguez. has a history for making “the other”, a friend. is (in theory) possible; but, In this crazy world, in which we it is lifelong work that we now find ourselves, if we are awake, we know will never be completed—it will never was no Esperanza. I wonder what might have been, if there was an Esperanza for know there is much suffering. There is be fully accomplished in our lifetimes. It is much need for a place where likeminded the work and the passion that sustains us. It those two young, Black women in the 60’s. people (and those of different opinions) can is the small battles that propel us on—deter- We might have set up a meeting, asked come together and be revitalmined to win the ized, renewed, and repaired endless war (for so that we can move forward want of a peaceful with the ideas and dreams we metaphor). hold dear: dreams of peace, When I first equality, and social justice for came to the Espeall people. Even if we never ranza, I was ridlive to see these dreams 100% ing on unfulfilled fulfilled--knowing they’re dreams; one, I understood and shared by so shared with my many comrades at this activist sister, Donnie. repair station We dreamed of is sustaining; a Carver, before for the past 30 there was a real years, it has Carver Combeen more munity Cultural than enough. Center. It was the vacant building Doña Enriqueta Contreras visited the Esperanza in 2011 and spokethat formerly about the healing powers of plants to a packed audience. housed the

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E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 3 5

A look back at our 20th Anniversary

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E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 3 7

Our family fights for your family. Nuestra familia pelea por tu familia

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Morris K Building 214 Dwyer Avenue, Ste. 302 San Anto 78204

Rosie González CWLS Attorney At Law 3 8 • E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y

E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 3 9

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w w w. l a f o c a c c i a - i t a l i a n - g r i l l . c o m 210.223.5353 Fax: 210.354.3053 800 S o. Alamo 78205 King William District Cor ner S o. Alamo & S o. Presa S a n A n t o n i o , Te x a s E s p e r a n z a ’s 3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y • 4 3

Thank you! Many thanks to the buena gente who have made 30 years possible for the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas. Gracias to the 30th anniversary committee, our hard working staff, board and our summer interns.

To sign up to be a monthly donor or to donate to our Esperanza Sustainability Fund call 2102280201 or visit our website: www.esperanzacenter.org

Esperanza Mission Esperanza works to help individuals and grassroots organizations acquire knowledge and skills so that we can control decisions that affect our day-to-day lives in a way that respects and honors shared goals for a j u s t s o c i e t y. W e b e l i e v e t h a t b y h a v i n g a p l a c e w i t h resources available we can come together to facilitate and provoke discussions and interactions in a variety of ways among diverse groups of people who believe that together we can bring positive social change to our world and address the inherent interconnection of issues and oppressions across racial, class, sexual orientation, gender, age, health, physical and cultural boundaries.