La Voz - February 2018

February 2018 | Vol. 31 Issue 1

San Antonio, Tejas

Jane Tuck 1929–2017

2018… and the struggle continues

Guest Editorial Calling People “Racists” Is Not Helpful

La Voz de Esperanza February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1

Editor Gloria A. Ramírez Design Elizandro Carrington

Contributors

Sara De Turk, Amy Kastely, Tom Keene, Roberto Lovato, Cecilia Menjívar, Kristel A. Orta-Puente, Lourdes Pérez, Rogelio Sáenz

La Voz Mail Collective

Alicia Arredondo, Elisa Díaz, Juan Díaz, Claudia Enriquez, Sylvia Garza, Gloria Hernández, Gloria Lozano, Angie Merla, Sylvia Mireles, Lucy & Ray Pérez, Mary A. Rodríguez, Guadalupe Segura, Roger Singlar, Cynthia Szunyog, Isabel Veláquez, Lucila Vicencio, Helen Villarreal

Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza Staff

Elizandro Carrington, Paty de la Garza, Eliza Pérez, Paul Plouff, Natalie Rodríguez, René Saenz, Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1•

Conjunto de Nepantleras —Esperanza Board of Directors—

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Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Jan Olsen, Ana Lucía Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Tiffany Ross, Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba, Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens • We advocate for a wide variety of social, economic & environmental justice issues.

• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not necessarily those of the Esperanza Center.

La Voz de Esperanza is a publication of

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212 210.228.0201

www.esperanzacenter.org Inquiries/Articles can be sent to:

lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

Articles due by the 8th of each month

Policy Statements

* We ask that articles be visionary, progressive, instructive & thoughtful.

Submissions must be literate & critical; not sexist, racist, homophobic, violent, or oppressive & may be edited for length. * All letters in response to Esperanza activities or articles in La Voz will be considered for publication. Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published.will be considered for publication. Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published.

—by Sara De Turk Over the week following Donald Trump’s reported reference to Africa and Haiti as “shitholes,” news outlets such as the New York Times have obsessed about whether or not he is “a racist.”

This has bothered me for multiple reasons. On a tactical level (and this may be the only point on which I agree with Steve Bannon), focusing on whether the president is a racist is a losing proposition for the left. For one thing, a large swath of the U.S. public wants to avoid discussions of identity politics. Deliberations about a racist personality, moreover, distract us from action on policy. More importantly, though, the term “racist,” when used as a noun to describe some people and differentiate them from those of us who are good and “nonracist,” is misleading.

Racism is an ideology that permeates our society; few of us are immune from it. I have spent my adult life working to purge myself of racist beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, but I know that I am not cured. Accusing people of being “racists” is an exercise in “black-andwhite” (no pun intended) thinking which exonerates those of us who strive for racial equality and reserves blame for white supremacists and other bogeymen.

Rather than seeking to assign blanket condemnation, we should be working to root out our own racist language, biases, assumptions, and practices, and to point out those of our families, friends, colleagues, students, and politicians. Then change Opinion | OP-ED Columnist them. Communicate with our Charles M. Blow New York Times, Jan. 14, 2018 elected representatives about policy priorities. And quit name-calling.

Editor’s Note: After a year of being battered by the antics of the White House and Congress, we must challenge ourselves to look a little deeper and ask: How did we get here? First, it’s important that we become fully aware of the U.S.’s role in creating so-called “s-hole countries” throughout history and even now. Second, we must not buy into the myth of “America, the great” because the reality is that we’ve been bullies, thieves, liars and murderers since the U.S. was “founded” on genocide, land grabs and the deep-seeded belief that certain people are meant to be privileged while others are cast as “subhuman.”

As the year progresses, we must be aware that our news outlets are easily led astray to cover the devious tricks of this administration that wants to divert our attention from what is actually going on as they put into place—people, policies and laws— that threaten our quality of life on ALL levels for years to come. I invite Voz readers to join the writers of this issue in enlightening our gente about the issues at hand—globally and locally—and send in your writings to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. We are all part of the same community who deserve a government that represents and protects all people.

Finally, we dedicate this issue of La Voz to Jane Tuck, a life-long peacemaker and fellow elder activist of our community, who passed into spirit in December, 2017. Que en paz descanse, Jane. —Gloria A. Ramírez, editor ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a mailing address correction please send it to lavoz@ esperanzacenter.org. If you want to be removed from the La Voz mailing list, for whatever reason, please let us know. La Voz is provided as a courtesy to people on the mailing list of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.

The subscription rate is $35 per year ($100 for institutions). The cost of producing and mailing La Voz has substantially increased and we need your help to keep it afloat. To help, send in your subscriptions, sign up as a monthly donor, or send in a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thank you. -GAR VOZ VISION STATEMENT: La Voz de Esperanza speaks for many individual, progressive voices who are gente-based, multi-visioned and milagro-bound. We are diverse survivors of materialism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism, violence, earth-damage, speciesism and cultural and political oppression. We are recapturing the powers of alliance, activism and healthy conflict in order to achieve interdependent economic/ spiritual healing and fuerza. La Voz is a resource for peace, justice, and human rights, providing a forum for criticism, information, education, humor and other creative works. La Voz provokes bold actions in response to local and global problems, with the knowledge that the many risks we take for the earth, our body, and the dignity of all people will result in profound change for the seven generations to come.

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se despide del año 2017 con una poema para el día 365, parte de una serie que escribió durante el año entero de 2017.

Lourdes Pérez who wrote a series of poems throughout the year bid farewell to 2017 on day 365 with this poem...

Adios, dos mil diecisiete Este es tu último día No tengo melancolía Por favor, empaca y vete Comenzaste tú al garete Se dañó la presidencia Ha tomado residencia Un caos a nivel mundial Y un diluvio universal Amenaza la coherencia No lo tomes personal Es cuestión de mejor suerte No es por falta de quererte Pero llegó tu final La rotación celestial Ya te cuenta los segundos Y el grito será rotundo Por todos los continentes Que se despiden fervientes Con un suspiro profundo Te escribí vastas poesías Para tener paz mental Ya que no hubo paz mundial Precisaban melodías Y cada vez que invadían Payasos armamentistas La burla maquiavelista Se hacía menos poderosa Si contemplaba las rosas Y me soñaba alquimista Agradecida por todos Los que a mi me acompañaron Y por los que comentaron Porque juntos de algún modo No caímos en el lodo De la desesperación Levantando el corazón A lo que en verdad importa Que la vida, larga o corta Requiere la inspiración A los que el agua defienden Los que defienden la tierra Los que ha matado la guerra Y los que el amor entienden Ustedes son los que emprenden La devoción que me pide Que el origen nunca olvide De la pluma incitadora Y plena, esta cantautora Con el año, se despide

Goodbye, two thousand and seventeen This is your last day I have no melancholy Please, pack and go You started as a disaster The presidency was damaged A global level chaos Has taken up residence And a universal flood Threatens coherence Do not take it personally It’s a matter of better luck It is not for lack of love for you But your end came The celestial rotation Is counting down the seconds And the scream will be resounding Throughout all the continents As they say goodbye fervently With a deep sigh I wrote you vast poems To have peace of mind Since there was no world peace Melodies were even more necessary And every time they invaded The armed clowns The Machiavellian mockery Became less powerful If I contemplated the roses And I dreamed myself alchemist Thankful for everyone Those who accompanied me And for those who commented Because together, somehow We did not fall into the mud Of desperation Lifting the heart Toward what truly matters Because life - long or short Requires inspiration To those who defend water Those who defend the earth Those who have been killed by war And those who understand love You are the ones who ignite The devotion that asks of me To never forget the origin Of the the instigating pen And fulfilled, this singer-songwriter Along with the year, says goodbye

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Jane Tuck 1929-2017 Life-long peace advocate and social justice activist

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1•

Jane & Woody at a 2003 Not In Our Name Rally, protesting the Patriot Act & other repressive responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Jane Tuck at the first Lila Downs concert at Guadalupe Plaza in 2004.

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Jane Tuck, an esteemed elder of the Esperanza passed into spirit in December, 2017. She was born in 1929 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and graduated from Indiana State Teacher’s College teaching history for a brief period before joining her husband, Woody, who had enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War. At the time of the Vietnam War she became very involved in anti-war activities leading to a life long advocacy for Peace. In applying for the Esperanza’s 2004 WAARR exhibit at La Nueva Esperanza she stated: As an Air Force wife, I was appalled by the actions of my government in Vietnam. I became active in peace organizations. I put together this collage and hung it in my living room so that any visitor to my home would know my stand for stopping this immoral war. When Jane moved to San Antonio, she became involved with the American Friends Service Committee, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the American Civil Liberties Union. It was during this time at the old space of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center on N. Flores that we came to know her and often work with her. Upon her passing Patti Radle noted: Jane Tuck was a woman who was such a great inspiration and model in causes for social justice. She volunteered with Inner City, was very active in the ACLU, causes for peace and non-violence.

So many people in San Antonio know how hard she worked, how gracious she was, and how she never felt she did enough—She will be missed greatly by many who were inspired to keep on going as she did for almost 9 decades. Graciela Sánchez of the Esperanza recalled: I remember in the last 10 years how she lead the fight against The Patriot Act, how she worked with us on the Free Speech Coalition circa 200710, and against US aggression throughout the world. Que en paz descanses dear sweet and fierce Jane. Jane Tuck presente, ahora y siempre. Esperanza staff, board and buena gente offer our sincere condolences to Woody, her husband, her family and Jane’s many fellow activists and friends. Her life will remain a model for us all to emulate. ¡Jane Tuck, presente!

Protesting against Guantanamo with John Stanford in the background in 2003.

Jane at a rally honoring John Stanford, another elder activist, who passed in 2013.

Jane and Woody attended an Inner City holiday fundraiser in December, 2017.

At the 2006 Esperanza art exhibit, They Uprooted the Palestinians, Now They’ve Uprooted the Olive Trees by Salwa Arnous.

The Violence Behind Corporate Globalization Is Threatening Indigenous Communities With Extinction Saturday, December 23, 2017 By T.J. Coles, Truthout | News Analysis | http://bit.ly/truthout_coles Reprinted with permission

Colombia Colombia is a country of more than 49 million people who live in 33 departments, the largest of which is Bogotá (population 7 million). More than 50 percent of the population identify as Mestizo and approximately 30 percent identify as white. More than 10 percent are Afro-Colombian. The smallest demographics are Indigenous and unspecified groups. One percent of the population own 50 percent of the land.

At the top of Colombia’s diverse and complex social fabric sit primarily white descendants of Spanish colonizers who own most of the country’s land and businesses. They have unlocked resources for foreign investors, especially British and American companies. A disproportionate number of Colombia’s millions of internally displaced persons are Afro-Colombian and Indigenous.

Recently in Chocó and Buenaventura, Afro-Colombians went on strike to protest their ongoing impoverishment, brutalization by state forces, unemployment and low wages. Their demands include job creation, regional production, sanitation infrastructure and new housing, among other things.

Beginning in the 1960s, predominantly Spanish-descendent non-elites (i.e., non-Afro-Colombian and non-Indigenous peoples) formed self-professed left-wing groups to counter

-- are in danger of extinction.

As the decades-long civil wars continued, Western businesses saw lucrative opportunities. Britain’s BP oil, SABMiller brewery and AngloGold Ashanti have substantial commercial interests in Colombia. The country has multiple resource curses: It is rich in oil, coal, coffee, minerals and coca, from which cocaine is derived.

Caught in the middle of this are Indigenous Colombians, who constitute just 3.4 percent of the population, or 1.5 million individuals. They include lowlanders and highlanders and total approximately 100 different groups. Native Colombians speak 65 Indigenous languages, of which five are extinct and 19 are disappearing. Just three departments -- La Guajira, Cauca and Nariño -- host 80 percent of the country’s Indigenous population. Furthermore, about one-third of Colombia is a “reservation,” and many of these regions have “environmental conflicts due to extractive activities,” according to the Indigenous rights group International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA).

In 2014, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, Todd Howland, reported that over 60 percent of the country’s Indigenous populations -- more than 750,000 individuals -- are in danger of extinction. The Center for Autonomy and

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We all face the possibility of extinction from nuclear war -- or the elite domination of land- and business-owners. The main more likely accident -groups were the onceand from environmental popular Revolutionary destruction. Sen. John Armed Forces of Colombia McCain even threatened (FARC) and the National North Korea with “exLiberation Army (ELN), both founded in 1964. tinction.”

These groups used violence As we speak, some -- small in scale compared humans are already going to the enemy armed forces extinct. Their extinction of Colombia and their alis often a consequence of lies -- in a failed effort to the structural violence of defeat government forces corporate globalization. and their paramilitary Communities are under partners. In mid-2017, threat, especially those FARC disarmed for the which sit on land coveted first time in 50 years, leavby big business. Some ing fragmented gangs and live near rivers polluted paramilitary forces fighting by dumping. Others rely Brazilian Indigenous people from several tribes protest against the new rules of demarcation of progressive elements of the on biodiversity wiped out Indigenous territories, in Brasilia, on November 23, 2017. (Photo: EVARISTO SA / AFP / Getty diverse population. by intensive agriculture. Images) Their misery stems from the so-called “soft power” of corporate Over 60 percent of Colombia’s Indigenous globalization and is bolstered by the “hard power” of militarism, populations -- more than 750,000 individuals special forces and the rent-a-goon culture designed to enforce it.

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Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Colombia and IWGIA all attribute the extinction of Indigenous communities to resourcedriven conflicts.

Also in 2014, the UK’s Lord Alton commented on the UKColombia bilateral “free trade” agreement. Alton said: “According to the Colombian constitutional court, 34 groups of indigenous peoples are currently at risk of extinction. The court identified forced displacement as the major cause.” Alton concluded that “the UK has created in this trade treaty something that will benefit British businesses but harm exploited and vulnerable people.”

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Brazil

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The story is much the same in the former Portuguese colony, Brazil. Wealthy white Portuguese descendants own much of the land. After the 1960s, Brazilians endured decades of oppression under Western-backed military juntas. Brazil’s population is 207 million.

More than 50 percent identify as Black/mixed race/ Afro-Brazilian. Just under 50 percent identify as white. According to Survival International, Brazil’s Indigenous populations total 900,000 and are split into 240 groups. This equates to just 0.4 percent of the population.

The largest Indigenous group is the Guaraní people, who number 51,000 and who are mainly crammed into reserves or live on the edges of highways. Levels of suicide are high, as opportunities to live off the land become scarce. Over the last three decades, more than 620 Guaraní have ended their own lives, making the suicide rate 19 times higher than the national average. Those under 30 constituted 85 percent of suicides. Ranchers hire militias to intimidate and “systemically target” them, according to Survival International.

Ten members of one Amazonian community who made unintended contact with gold miners in September 2017 ended up dead.

In the Amazon, says Survival International, the largest group is the Tikuna, who number 40,000. The Yanomami occupy 9.4 million hectares and number 19,000. The Awá consist of 450 individuals, and the Akuntsu, just five. So-called uncontacted peoples in Brazil -- people who have had no peaceful contact with dominant societies -number several hundred and consist of around 80 groups. They include the Kawahiva, who flee loggers and ranchers and are said to be on the edge of extinction. In 2016, Euronews reported: The Kawahiva are a group of hunter-gatherers ... forced to live on the run, fleeing violence from outsiders. Attacks and disease have killed relatives. And loggers are getting closer.

Euronews also notes that the coup against the central government of the left-leaning Dilma Rousseff also threatens Indigenous rights, as the US-backed Michel Temer talks openly about deregulating the economy and expanding resource extraction.

Of the Awá alone, Vanity Fair reported in 2013 that loggers were “killing their trees and their animals and are now within a

few miles ... and ... thousands of other invasores ... have illegally settled on [Awá] land and converted a third of their forest to pasture.” This is significant because the Awá, like most Indigenous peoples, live off the forest’s biodiversity, not farms.

A recent Al Jazeera report found that “the country’s economic crisis and growing pressure to exploit the rich resources on those reserves could lead to the extinction of many communities.”

According to the New York Times, at least 10 members of one Amazonian community made unintended contact with gold miners in September 2017 and ended up dead.

According to the Times report, during “bar talk,” some miners murdered members of the group, stole a hand-carved paddle belonging to the tribe, and bragged about killing in self-defense. Leila Silvia Burger Sotto-Maioir, a coordinator for the Brazilian agency on Indigenous affairs, Funai, said: “They even bragged about cutting up the bodies and throwing them in the river.” The incident is currently being investigated.

Where are the timber and profits ending up?

According to a 2014 Greenpeace study, “Illegally logged timber in Brazil is being laundered on a massive and growing scale and then sold on to unwitting buyers in the UK, US, Europe and China.”

There is no indication that this has ceased.

Africa Turning to Africa, Uganda, a former British colony, has a population of 41.5 million. The largest ethnic group is the Baganda, who make up nearly 17 percent of the population.

One of the smallest and “near-extinct” groups is the Ik. Consisting of 14,000 individuals, the Ik live in the ranges of the Kidepo Valley National Park. In the 1960s, the central government imposed a Wildlife Reserve on the Ik’s land, forcing them to migrate to Mount Morungole, along the Kenyan and South Sudan borders. The Ik have largely given up on cattle-rearing due to raids by rivals and farmers. They survive by goat breeding and beekeeping.

The 1,300-strong ethnic Hadza group in Tanzania has lost 90 percent of its land in just 50 years due to land privatization and exploitation from mining and logging.

Every year, thousands of wealthy tourists visit the Kidepo Valley to enjoy luxury tours. Kidepo contributes to Uganda’s $1 billiona-year safari industry. Kidepo Safaris says that Mt. Morungole is home to the Ik, “the tiniest ethnic group found in Uganda, [who] have their own special culture.” The Uganda Safari Guide offers expensive tours to meet “endangered tribes.”

Uganda is not the only African country home to an endangered people.

Tanzania has a population of nearly 56 million. There are 120 ethnic groups in the country. In terms of employment, most ethnic groups grow crops for markets, including bananas, coffee

and eleusine.

However, the 1,300-strong Hadza group has lost 90 percent of its land in just 50 years. This is due to land privatization and exploitation from mining and logging. The group lives primarily on the edge of the Serengeti plains. Their increasingly limited diet includes porcupine and berries. Andrew Madsen’s book The Hadzabe of Tanzania notes problems in supposedly protected villages, including “wood cutting, honey gathering, [and] increased mining activities” by Tanzanian migrants who work for local economies.

In addition, the nomadic Maasai are facing persecution in Tanzania and Botswana. The central government of Botswana’s efforts to enclose wildlife have led to the loss of land in a series of government evictions. This reminds the people of recent history, where Maasai “were shot, [and] houses were burned,” said Samwel Nangiria, a Maasai representative and coordinator of the Ngonett civil society group.

More recently, the BBC reported that in August, hundreds of Maasai were left homeless when government-linked gangs burned their homes to drive them out of the “reserves,” where wealthy Dubai-based businesspeople can buy pricy licenses to murder rare animals for their amusement.

What Can We Do?

As Westerners who support wildlife conservation and who benefit from many of the resources extracted from these countries and regions, we can have a more ethical approach to consumption.

We can demand to know that the products -- be they furniture,

jewellery or imported foods -- have come from fair-trade sources.

Crucially, we can pressure companies to prove that exploitation is eradicated from their supply chains. We can also form links and networks with Indigenous communities, particularly through unions.

Indigenous people are not passive victims. To give some examples, the Ugandan Ik have elected one of their own, Hillary Lokwang, to parliament. Lokwang has pledged to represent the Ik’s needs in government. With regard to conservation, we need to pressure wildlife organizations to guarantee rights for Indigenous peoples, as well as rights for elephants and other endangered non-human species.

In Brazil, over 200 Indigenous organizations work for the survival of their respective peoples, hosting cultural events and clinics. Guarani-Kaiowá leader Ladio Veron says that rich countries “can support us, add pressure, condemn the situation and demand that our rights and land are recognized.” Sarah Shenker at Survival International, which works with Indigenous peoples, says, “International pressure can make a difference.” She adds that people in wealthier countries must “realize that what is happening to Indigenous people is not just a situation that is far away, and not to do with us.”

Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.

Bio: T.J. Coles has written several books, including Voices for Peace (with Noam Chomsky and others), President Trump, Inc., and his latest, Fire and Fury (all published by Clairview Books).

The Cross of El Salvador

its inlaid images enliven the village, nestled among hills, under the warm arching sun, white stuccoed homes, tiled roofs, trees draped in their fruit, a visiting cockatoo, two hens and their rooster.

In its silence, the cross asserts a pledge, that out of war’s flesh eating mouth rebirth will rise.

Tom Keene May 2, 2017

••• Saturday

February 17, 2018 11 am — 6 pm

Sunday

February 18, 2018 12 pm — 5 pm OnAndOffFed.org

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1

Facing the desk, and any who sit there, the Cross of El Salvador,

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The Historic Bridge Give-Away Is this the City We Deserve?

by Amy Kastely Unless Mayor Nirenberg and the City Council act quickly, the now-iconic view of the Historic Hays Street Bridge—the one we have seen countless times on television and social media—will be reserved for the exclusive enjoyment of people living in the upscale “Bridge Apartments” at 803 N. Cherry. Soon thereafter, the Bridge itself will be dominated by a private skywalk leading to a restaurant closed to all but affluent diners. This transformation of the

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Bridge from public to private will be a result of the backroom favoritism and greed that has been business as usual in San Antonio and has recently made headlines for the Tri-Centennial Commission and Centro San Antonio.

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The long struggle over the City’s breach of contract with the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group is just part of this sad story.

The most shocking parts have not yet been reported. But I’m jumping ahead in the story.

On August 2, 2012, Council approved a very sweet sweetheart deal for Eugene Simor, the owner of Alamo Beer and widely-known to be a close personal friend to the former Mayor. Trey Jacobson, former Assistant to Mayor Hardberger and current Chief of Staff for Mayor Nirenberg, represented Alamo Beer in negotiations with the City. The deal provided that 803 N. Cherry would be “sold” to Alamo Beer for $295,000. Alamo Beer also would be given a cash grant in the amount of $295,000, “to be funded from the sale of 8093 N. Cherry.” In the real world, this is called a give-away. In addition, Alamo Beer would be given three ten-year licenses to build a skywalk to the Bridge, to put a private restaurant on the Bridge, and to use the land under the Bridge. For these, Alamo Beer would pay nothing. To cap the deal, Alamo Beer would be given an additional $499,000 of public money.

In July of 2014, a jury found that the Alamo Beer give-away breached the City’s 2002 contract with the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group. In September 2014, Judge Canales entered judgment against the City on the breach of contract claim and ordered that the City comply with the terms of the 2002 agreement.

Nevertheless, on December 4, 2014, City staff told City Council to reinstate the 2012 Alamo Beer Package, including 803 N. Cherry, because the land was still needed by the Alamo Beer Company “for parking and ancillary facilities associated with the brewery operations.” Yet later that same day, an Assistant City Manager signed a deed transferring the land at 803 N. Cherry not to the Alamo Beer Company, as the City Council had been told earlier that day and as Council authorized, but to the Simor Texas Land Company L.L.C., a private company personally owned by Eugene Simor! When asked about this, one City official remarked that the Simor Texas Land Company is “affiliated” with the Alamo Beer Company so the transfer was proper. This is ridiculous. These entities are “affiliated” like a corporation and an officer’s personal bank account!

On December 18, 2014, the Restoration Group filed a Motion for Contempt in the District Court based on the City Council’s reinstatement of the Alamo Beer Package; later that day, the City filed an appeal from the District Court’s Judgment and Order. The Motion for Contempt is still pending in the District Court, awaiting further proceedings in the Texas Supreme Court.

This history reveals callus manipulation of City Council, favoritism, and public handouts to satisfy personal greed. Is this the City We Deserve?

Amy Kastely is the attorney representing the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group. | This article was previously published in the San Antonio Express-News on Dec. 5, 2017.

Hays St re

Puente Pa

Save the viewshed from the iconic Hays Street Bridge Kristel A. Orta-Puente Tower) is 225 feet…It is actually these two styles of bridges originally built in 1880 and reconstructed together at its current location in 1910.-cited from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the San Antonio Express News.

Viewshed is the geographical area that is visible from a location including all surrounding points that are in view within that location.

An example of the magnitude of ignoring viewshed is the Pearl Brewery development. While its “activation” is considered a success by developers, the 10-story building and surrounding development dwarf the once dramatic view that could be seen from every direction. We don’t often see the jewel in the rough until someone comes along and sheds light of the beauty in plain sight. The Bridge has become an iconic location shown in countless advertisements, in engagement photos, in police department promotions, in the rebranding of San Antonio video and as one of the top Instagramed locations in San Antonio. Can you imagine this location with a park in the foreground featuring a local artist installation, a lighted walking trail around the park, a dog park, and a restroom facility like the new one downtown?

Mr. Simor mentioned the homeless (or what he calls urban campers) will be eliminated by diversifying the Eastside with more upper class residents in this complex. How you solve homelessness issues are not by installing fences or committing cultural suicide with the noose of rapid overdevelopment, but rather looking at historically ignored social Continued on Page 11 Photo: Kristel A. Orta-Puente

e e t B ridge

ara La Gente

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Previously published in the Express-News on Dec. 11, 2017.

As a local ethnographic photographer that photographs buildings in San Antonio, I feel a responsibility to get involved in saving structures and views that have historical significance. Developers Mitch Meyer and Alamo Beer owner Eugene Simor are building a 4 story mixed-use apartment complex that will block the best full view of the Hays Street Bridge, a local and national historical landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During the first and only community meeting to discuss the complex at the Alamo Beer Co. last week, Simor and his team made it clear that despite pending Texas Supreme Court litigation and the very vocal opposition of many San Antonio residents, this development was moving forward. The photo I took this on 8/17, it highlights the entire structure of the Hays Street Bridge from the best perspective left available to capture the entire bridge that includes our iconic San Antonio cityscape.

This exact location happens to be within the middle of where the 4 story complex would be built, a location that is currently within the chain link fence installed by Eugene Simor and company.

A little engineering history in regards to why a Hays St. Bridge complete viewshed is important... the bridge itself is originally constructed by the Phoenix Bridge Co., connecting Eastside and Downtown…in 1910…The Hays Street Bridge utilizes… The Pratt design…(which) is part of the wing design for the first successful Wright Brothers airplane.

The Pratt truss of the bridge spans 130 feet, and the Murphy-Whipple (same construction used to construct the Eiffel

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Sáenz: U.S. should own up to its role in the plight of Salvadorans Those granted haven after quakes face even worse danger if deported

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By Rogelio Sáenz and Cecilia Menjívar: Reprint from Houston Chronicle, January 13, 2018 Reprinted with permission

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San Salvador, along with the rest of El Salvador, is bracing for But because Salvadorans were fleeing a U.S.-supported the return of as many as 200,000 Salvadorans who have been right-wing dictatorship, very few - less than 3 percent - seekliving in the United States. ing political asylum between 1983 and 1990 were granted The U.S. government has a short and selective memory. this status. To partially remedy the incongruence between the This was in full display on Jan. 8, thousands of individuals fleewhen Kristjen Nielsen, secretary of ing state-sponsored terror and Homeland Security, announced her the U.S. reluctance to extend decision to end Temporary Protected refugee protection to them, Status for Salvadorans.

President George W. Bush TPS was created as part of the created TPS and El Salvador Immigration Act of 1990 to provide was the first country to be temporary relief to people already in designated for this relief. the United States who could not return Immigrant rights groups safely to countries ravaged by war or seeking formal recognition natural and environmental catastrophes. for the plight of Salvadoran In the midst of their country’s civil war, refugees played a key role in which ended in 1992, many Salvadorthese immigrants gaining this ans at that time were able to get shorttemporary relief. term relief from the TPS program; this Members of XIII Caravan of Central American Mothers’ “4,000 Kilometers of During the Clinton adSearch, Resistance and Hope” hold Salvadoran flags at a protest in front of status was terminated in 1994. ministration, through new In 2001, El Salvador was again des- the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City last month. laws that would enable an ignated for TPS, this time following two devastating earthquakes unprecedented number of deportations, many Salvadorans and violent aftershocks that devoured much of that small country, who had come to the United States as young children were taking nearly 1,000 lives and destroying close to 110,000 homes. deported. Among these were youths who had joined gangs in Today overall conditions have remained a challenge for the large the United States as a way to fit into a society that marginalmajority of Salvadorans. If anything, over the past 17 years the ized them. Returning to an essentially foreign country with situation has deteriorated as the postwar economy and weakened few economic prospects and extremely limited opportuniinstitutions have not recovered, while inequality has deepened. ties, some of these youth found fertile ground to recreate Yet, the present conditions in El Salvador did not come about their networks. El Salvador had been thoroughly militarized independent of U.S. actions. In fact, the United States has played during the war years and was still awash in weapons. This is a key role in their making. The United States has a long history of how the seeds for the recent waves of violence in El Salvador involvement in the economic and political affairs of El Salvador. were planted, the violence that has forced thousands to flee As the civil war erupted in the country in the late 1970s, Presithe country and come to the South Texas border in search of dent Ronald Reagan sent significant support to the existing rightpolitical asylum. To this day, the U.S. government does not wing government during the war, to the tune of $1.5 million a day recognize its role in creating the current instability and ris- $3.3 million in today’s dollars - in military aid alone. The civil ing violence in El Salvador. Instead, it distances itself from war resulted in countless deaths and the uprooting of thousands that violence and advocates military strategies to address the of people. The number of Salvadorans migrating to the United instability it helped create.

States increased five-fold between the 1970s and 1980s.

Indeed, memory is selective and short.

…the present conditions in El Salvador did not come about independent of U.S. actions… in the late 1970s, President Ronald Reagan sent significant support to the existing rightwing government during the war, to the tune of $1.5 million a day - $3.3 million in today’s dollars - in military aid alone.

Nielsen’s decision means that there are now about 200,000 Salvadorans who will become undocumented and run the risk of deportation if they do not return to El Salvador by Sept. 9, 2019. They are being thrown to the wind to find their fate in a country that cannot support this massive level of new arrivals. In the mix, of course, is the uncertain future of their nearly 193,000 U.S.-born children.

The impact of the termination of TPS designation for Salvadorans hits close to home. Texas with more than 36,000 Salvadorans with TPS designation has the second largest population behind California. Among U.S. cities, Houston has the third largest population of impacted Salvadorans with 19,000 losing their TPS designation, followed by Dallas with approximately 10,000.

These individuals are not strangers. They are our family, friends, coworkers and fellow congregants who have lived here, on average, for 20 years. They have established deep roots in this country and their communities. Taking this status away destroys their worlds and stifles their children’s future. It harms their communities in this country, while also amplifying economic and political instability in El Salvador.

Rather than taking away their temporary legal status, these Salvadorans should be granted permanent legal status. This act would formally recognize their deep roots in this nation, but it would also begin to redress for the havoc created by decades of U.S. policy in El Salvador.

San Salvador, along with the rest of El Salvador, is bracing for the return of as many as 200,000 Salvadorans who have been living in the United States.

Bio: Sáenz is Dean of the College of Public Policy and holds the Mark G. Yudof Endowed Chair at UTSA. Menjívar is Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Dept. of Sociology and Co-Director of the Center for Migration Research at the University of Kansas.

Viewshed - Continued from Page 9

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1

tory, and recognize our historic buildings/views as treasures. issues in San Antonio and addressing inequality in educaThey should demand the same standards in new development. tion, a lack of livable wages, the lack of health/mental We want new health care, development but and the lack of we expect that truly affordit be thoughtable housing ful, respectful, (not $1000 and beautiful for a 500 sqft in design. If studio). this developThis comment moves plex if moved forward, this forward, will precious view block the view will no longer of this 100 plus be enjoyed by year old gem. everyone in the This gesture city, but rather reaches back to become another the mandated historical comsegregation modity that 25 of this side of residents will town robbing pay the premium residents of an for from their iconic symbol “Can you imagine this location with a park in the foreground featuring a local artist installation, a lighted walking trail around the park, a dog park, and a restroom facility like the new one downtown?” upscale apartthey take pride Photo: Kristel A. Orta-Puente ment window. in and worked hard to save in order to connect the Eastside to the heart of the Bio: Kristel A. Orta-Puente, born and raised in San Antonio, City. We need to demand to HDRC, housing development, is a professional photographer in SA specializing in commerand City Council that San Antonio acknowledge our hiscial, ethnographic portraiture.

11

El Salvador’s Worst Shitholes Are

‘Made in America’

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1•

LatinoRebel.com | Posted On January 12, 2018 By Roberto Lovato Reprinted with permission

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My journalist’s hiking boots still have leftover feces and dirt countries like Haiti and El Salvador. from the ultimate shitholes of El Salvador: its mass graves. Many Consider, for example, the Salvadoran case of El Mozote, the of the thousands of graves that my sources there have mapped site of the massacre of almost a thousand peasants, a crime whose were dug by U.S.-trained and funded security forces in the 80s. irresolution still haunts many. Some 37 years after the mass masMost of the rest were dug more recently by L.A.based-gangs sacre, forensic evidence from mass graves proved that 553 of steadily deported to El Salvador by U.S. immigration authorities those victims were children, many of them under six years old. since the 90s.

Victims of the El Mozote Massacre (Photo by Susan MeiseProtest against US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War las, Magnum Photos/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike in Chicago, Illinois, in March 1989 (Linda Hess Miller/ Creative 3.0 United States) Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) El Mozote is the best documented of El Salvador’s thousands President Trump’s characterization of Africa, Haiti and El of mass graves, many of which remain unexcavated. Forensic Salvador as “shitholes” experts with El Saldisturbed me, but I vador’s Institute for wasn’t sure why. The Legal Medicine and the comments were made world renown Argenduring a discussion tine forensic team told about the temporary me that their evidence protected status for —bones, shoe marks, hundreds of thousands hair samples, bullet of Salvadoran, Haishells— of the mass tian and other immikilling at El Mozote grants Trump had just pointed to elite Salvarescinded. In search doran soldiers trained for an answer, I went in places like Fort home and pulled out Bragg and Fort Benand studied my boots ning, Georgia, formerly , which were tattered known as the notorious after too many visits “School of the Amerito mass graves, mass cas.” Evidence from graves with the remains recent Salvadoran and of Salvadorans—in El international court cases Protest against US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War in Chicago, Illinois, in March 1989 (Linda Hess Salvador, in Mexico corroborates this. The Miller/ Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) and in the deserts of boots, bullets, weapons, south Texas. Wearing my hiking boots during visits to numerous helicopters and uniforms used during the massacre were all Made sites along this chain of devalued life led me to the conclusion in the U.S.A. And the evidence trail isn’t limited to El Mozote. that mass graves were the ultimate shitholes.

A United Nations Truth Commission established by agreeWhat made me most uncomfortable was less about Mr. ment between the Salvadoran government and the FMLN Trump’s choice of word than how he used it: he mistook guerrillas at the end of the civil war in 1992 concluded that the shithole part for the whole country. Trump’s rhetorical U.S. trained security forces had perpetrated 85% of the killfallacy feels like a cover-up, a distraction from the fact that ings of innocents during the war that left over 75,000 dead.

El Salvador’s mass graves contain fingerprints and other evi- Most of the perpetrators remain free. The forensic evidence dence that point to the United States as an accomplice to the left by El Salvador’s US-trained and funded military is undemass murder and violence that created them. Viewed from niable at El Mozote, in the murder of El Salvador’s only saint, this perspective, Trump’s “shithole” comment said in words Monseñor Romero, in the case of the 4 Maryknoll nuns raped what all US presidents have said with their policies towards and killed in 1980, just as it is in the cases of the tens of thou-

Save the Date • Trinity University, Difficult Dialogues

presents • Save the Date

Rape on the Night Shift

Film Screening & Conversation with Lilia García-Brower This film by Frontline (PBS) investigates the sexual abuse of women who work as janitors. Lilia García-Brower is the Executive Director of the Maintenance Corporation Trust Fund (MCTF) a watchdog organization in California whose mission is to abolish illegal and unfair business practices in the janitorial industry.

Contact Dr. Rita Urquijo-Ruiz at 210.999.7898 or rurquijo@trinity.edu for more information. Co-sponsored by the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.

Thursday, March 22, 2018 Northrup Hall 040 Refreshments: 5:30 pm Screening & Conversation: 6:00 pm Free & open to the public

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1

sands of other, lesser-known slaughtered innocents. early 90s, the LAPD and INS began the fatal practice of handThe war-era mass graves I visited around an area called Paning the young gang members over to the then Immigration and chimalco are located Naturalization Service right next to the more (INS) for deportation. recent mass graves In the process, these dug by gangs in the agents of US policy area. Like the weaphelped create a gang ons and training used culture in a country by the Salvadoran with no history of military, the gangs U.S.-style gangs and themselves were also gang warfare. These born in the United gangs have since gone States, specifically on to fill the mass Los Angeles’ Pico graves that mark El Union neighborhood.

Salvador as one of the I remember because I most violent countries was there in the early on earth.

90s, when police of In immigration the Rampart police diterms, the shithole is vision —the site of the a distraction. Calling worst police scandal in the countries shitholes, U.S. history— started but also designating Victims of the El Mozote Massacre (Photo by Susan Meiselas, Magnum Photos/ Creative Commons pushing the MS-13 them as counties ready Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States) and 18th Street gangs to both receive hunto escalate the warfare between them. The Rampart division’s dreds of thousands of deportees and lose billions of dollars sent well-documented tactics —planting guns for false arrests, taking home by them is also a logical —and tragic— fallacy, another a young man in gang from one neighborhood into the hostile policy failure. But if the President is going to use such language, territory of rival gangs, shooting and even killing gang members he should back up his words with policy that recognizes U.S. and make it seem like rival gangs did it— did much to foment responsibility for the foreign war and immigration policies that violence among the gangs. create catastrophes. In other words, I would prefer Trump walk Most damaging for El Salvador and its shitholes was the way the shithole talk—and can give him the hiking boots to do it with.

LAPD then broke sanctuary laws designed to protect people fleeRoberto Lovato is a writer and journalist based at the San ing extreme violence and other disasters from deportation. In the Francisco Writers’ Grotto.

13

* community meetings *

Amnesty International #127 Call Arthur @ 210.213.5919 for info.

Bexar Co. Green Party: Call 210.

471.1791 | bcgp@bexargreens.org

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

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

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

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

Rape Crisis Center, 4606 Centerview Suite 200, Hotline: 210.349.7273 | 210.521.7273 Email:sschwab@ rapecrisis.com

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

Energía Mía: Call 512.838-3351 for information.

Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. www.lafuerzaunida.org | 210.927.2294 Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteers, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.

LGBTQ LULAC Council #22198 meets 3rd Thursdays @ 6:45pm @ Luby’s on Main. E-mail: info@ lulac22198.org rd

NOW SA meets 3 Wed See FB | satx.now for info | 210. 802. 9068 | nowsaareachapter@gmail.com

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1•

Pax Christi, SA meets monthly on Saturdays. Call 210.460.8448

14

Be Part of a

org | 210.492.5400.

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

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

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

SA Women Will March: www. sawomenwillmarch.org | (830) 4887493 SGI-USA LGBT Buddhists meet 2nd Sat. at 10am @ 7142 San Pedro Ave., Ste 117 | 210.653.7755.

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

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

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

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

Voice for Animals: 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org

Overeaters Anonymous meets MWF in Sp & daily in Eng. www.oasanantonio.

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

Progressive Movement in San Antonio

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Notas Y Más February 2018

Trinity University’s Alvarez Seminar 2018 organized each spring by the MAS program will feature Latina Poetry Across the Americas with poet, writer, performer and educator, Denice Frohman, presenting In Between Worlds: Poetry of Reclamation on Thursday, February 1st at the Holt Center from 6-8pm. On Thursday, March 1st, Amalia Ortiz, Tejana poet and playwright will present an excerpt from The Canción Cannibal Cabaret at Northrup Hall, Room 040, 6-8pm. Both events offer refreshments at 5:30pm.

For more information see MAS Alvarez Seminar on Facebook.

VOZ, Selections from the UTSA Art Collections hosted by the City of San Antonio opens on Thursday, February 8, 6pm to 9pm, at Centro de Artes, 101 S. Santa Rosa Ave continuing through June 10. Curated by Arturo Infante Almeida, the exhibit spans two floors featuring 222 works of art acquired by UTSA in the last three decades. Admission is free. Check facebook.com/GetCreativeSA/

7-9pm ($20 fee) and Tuesday, February 27 from 7-9pm the film, Roxanne, cosponsored with the Muslim Cultural Heritage Society, will screen followed by a discussion, Rising Against Hate with Shahid Iqbal & Atif Ali. Classes take place at University Presbyterian Church. Check: upcsa.org/sol-calendar/

Program each year. Deadline is Friday, February 23, 2018 at 4pm. See: www. sanantonio.gov/MLK/MLKScholarship.

Opening Reception: The Other Side of the Alamo, a group exhibit, curated by art historian, Ruben C. Cordova seeks to counter mainstream myths of the Alamo through traditional and non-traditional paintings, sculptures and installations. It opens Friday, February 23 at 6pm at Galeria Guadalupe, 723 S. Brazos St. See: www.guadalupeculturalarts.org

Cesar E. Chávez on March 24 starts at 10am from S. Brazos & Guadalupe St. proceeding to Hemisfair.

Contact Esmeraldo “Indio” Pruneda at 210.724.8908 or see: www.CECLEF.ORG

The National Association for Chicana & Chicano Studies Tejas Foco statewide conference, Strategies of Resistance: Dismantling Legalized and Ideological Violence against Our Communities-takes A Public Plática on the current state of place on February 16-17, 2018 at Texas the literary arts in San Antonio with the Lutheran University in Seguin. David debut reading of Literary San Antonio Maldonado, Jr., of Seguin, author of, edited by Bryce Milligan (TCU Press, $34.95) will take place at the San Antonio “Crossing Guadalupe Street: Growing Up Public Library Thursday, February 22 at Hispanic and Protestant” will keynote.

6:30pm. Dr. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto will See: naccstejasfoco2018.com lead the discussion on: Where are we now The 22nd March for Justice in as a literary city?

San Antonio honoring the life of

The MLK, Jr. Commission administers a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship

Cinco Puntos Press, an Indie Publisher in El Paso is offering big discounts on bulk purchases in order to trim down their inventory. Call John at 915.838.1625 for specifics. Go to www.cincopuntos.com or instagram @5puntosbooks for a look at their new bilingual children’s books!

2018 Esperanza Internships AVAILABLE The Esperanza Peace & Justice Center advocates for those wounded by domination and inequality: standing up for women, people of color, queer and working class communities, the poor, and the earth itself. Interns are integral to this mission of social and environmental justice, cultural preservation, and community engagement.

We are committed to the professional development of Esperanza’s interns and strive to provide them with a quality-learning environment that will help foster skills needed for job placement in various nonprofit, arts, social advocacy, and community organizations. As an Esperanza Intern you will be able to: • Increase awareness and promote the values of the Esperanza Center

• Develop as conscious individuals and improve personal and professional skills • Explore career options and sharpen skills within the social justice field

• Develop into lifelong community activists, leaders and Buena Gente (Good People) Internship Requirements: a minimum commitment of 120-150 hours per academic semester (roughly 10-15 hours a week) Positions are limited on a semester basis with a rolling deadline.

Please send the following: Letter of interest, Resume/CV, Schedule of availability and Letter of Recommendation by mail, via our website (bit.ly/EPJC_intern), Email: esperanza@esperanzacenter.org (Subject: Internship.) or regular mail to: Esperanza Peace & Justice Center / 922 San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio TX 78212 / Attn: Intern Coordinator. Walk-ins are also welcome!

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1

The SoL Center has posted classes for 2018 Winter/Spring. On Wednesday, February 21, The First Texas Artists: Art & archaeology in the Lower Pecos Canyons with Jim Sievers is offered from

Brief news items on upcoming community events.

Send items for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org or mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212.

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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • February 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 1

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