La Voz - June 2018

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June 2018 | Vol. 31 Issue 5

San Antonio, Tejas

In this issue. . .

Their Journey is Our Journey: Stories from the Bus Station Ministry How Austin Bombings Fit A System of Racism | El Racismo y las Bombas Que Aterraron a Austin Laura Aguilar, she flew...

Senior/Disabled Tenants Fight wfor Justice vs. SAHA

La Voz de Esperanza June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5

Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez Design: Elizandro Carrington

Contributors

Penny Boyer, Treedy Chapa, Sandy Enders, Tom Keene, Sr. Denise La Rock, Carly Leech, Jan Olsen, Michele Rembault, Norma Longoria Rodríguez, Rogelio Saenz, Pancho Valdez,

La Voz Mail Collective

Richard Aguilar, Alicia Arredondo, Juan Díaz, Claudia Enriquez, Charlie Esperiqueta, Juanita Gallardo, Christina García, Ray Garza, Araceli Herrera, Gloria Lozano, Ray McDonald, Edie Ortega, Lucy & Ray Pérez, Tony Pérez, Mary Agnes Rodríguez, Mike Sánchez, Pearl Sánchez, Guadalupe Segura, Roger Singler, Sandra Torres, Alma Van Nest, Lucila Vicencio, Helen Villarreal

Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza Staff

Elizandro Carrington, Paty de la Garza, Eliza Pérez, Paul Plouf, Kristel Orta-Puente, Natalie Rodríguez, René Saenz, Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Conjunto de Nepantleras

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—Esperanza Board of Directors— 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 Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published.

As summer quickly infringes upon our last days of spring with temperatures now in the 90s, I was prompted to reflect on my childhood upon reading Marilyn Wallner’s poem “That tree.” The mulberry tree (árbol de mora) was a constant presence in our barrio in East Austin. Our mora tree gave us plenty of opportunities to turn our lips and teeth purple and stained our shoes with the berries that we squashed beneath our feet. I remember picking moras and eating them—purple, red, white and green. Purple was the best. Years later, I would sing in jest —Don’t sit under the mora tree with anyone else but me…Anyone else but me, anyone else but me…No! No! No! Of course, my friends would roll their eyes at me. But, sometimes I would fool one of them into thinking it was a real song—then I would remind them that the song was “Don’t sit under the apple tree…”

My 93-year-old father, who was recently in rehab for a broken hip, recalled that when he was in elementary school in Lockhart they had a teacher who did not much care for them so they would sneak out of class to a tree that had a branch that would hold him and his friends (boys and girls) as they rocked up and down together.

I wonder what memories children of today will have as they grow up. Will they be of video games, cartoons, movies and school shootings? Or, do they still have time to enjoy the trees, spring time, rolling in the grass and running barefoot?

In this issue of La Voz, we have a special report on the bus ministry in San Antonio that assists immigrants released from detention centers heading to other parts of the U.S. where they are meeting up with sponsors. At the same time—we are hearing that orders have been issued to deliberately separate parents and children entering the U.S. without documentation.

What memories will these immigrant children hold as their dreams of hope in the U.S. are shattered when taken from their parents. Is this who we really are?

Write your stories, poetry, political insights, etc. Send to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org —Gloria A. Ramírez, editor

That tree

is a Mulberry.

Its symmetry perfect.

Now nearing its seventieth year to heaven, I exult its survival through drought and a fire that destroyed our home and half of it.

Not its better half I guess.

Its trunk’s more interesting than before.

A Fruitless Mulberry

bearing light green leaves it generously sheds on cars and walkways.

These were once food for fat saucy caterpillars my children loved to stroke.

They waited vainly for the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly.

It never happened on their watch then declaring every butterfly in the neighborhood “ours”.

Now though the leaves come there are no caterpillars no butterflies.

They’ve moved on like my children.

—Marilyn Wallner

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.

Their

Journey Is Our Journey

Stories from the Bus Station Ministry—compiled by Jan Olsen

by air.

If you walk by the Greyhound Bus Station The work of the bus station volunteers is in Downtown San Antonio on any day of the greatly supported by the Greyhound Bus Staweek, you will see an amazing sight…..seated tion staff. Everyone from the General Manin one area are mothers and children who ager, the ticket sellers, cafeteria workers and are seeking asylum in the United states after the custodial staff are welcoming and kind their release from Family Detention Centers. to our families. They go out of their to way All their possessions are in two grocery bags to make sure our families receive the support as they await their buses to take them to that they need. sponsors in cities all over the United States.

The Organization that supports this Moving among these families are volunteers ministry is the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. from the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. This is The IWC, a San Antonio area based coalia group of very passionate and dedicated voltion of faith communities, organizations, and unteers who make up the Back Pack Ministry. individuals, works collaboratively to welcome You will find them at the downtown Greyto our community refugees, asylum seekers hound bus station and the San Antonio airport and at risk immigrants, particularly women seven days a week. They are there to welcome and children, and walk along side them in and offer support to the women and children their journey. after their release from the family detention Dedicated bus station volunteers: Jan Olsen, One of the projects of the IWC is the centers at Dilly and Karnes. These families Treedy Chapa, Leslie Hernandez & Sandy Enders Back Pack Ministry which supports their goal have endured unbelievable hardships to get of providing material support for asylum seeking mothers and to this point so expressions of “bienvenido”, smiles, backpacks, children as they journey from the family detention centers to their lunches and explanations of travel are moments of much needed kindness and compassion. In addition to the Bus Station ministry, final destinations within the United States.

These are the stories of some of our volunteers that convey IWC also has volunteers at the San Antonio International Airport the challenges, the joy and the deep satisfaction of this work. where they offer the same support to families who are traveling

I have been an Interfaith Welcome Coalition bus station volunteer for almost one year. My anger and grief over the election results of 2016 were the catalyst that indirectly led me to this touching, fulfilling, yet heartbreaking ministry. Until this time, I was content in my insulated, safe environment, naïve toward the entire immigration process, especially people seeking asylum. The hardships that these women and children endure have humbled me and opened my eyes to the injustices in our world and our country.

Their appreciation of this ministry is very touching. Another

Sandy Enders

volunteer and I frequently take the families waiting for an evening bus on a short stroll along the San Antonio Riverwalk. One mother sincerely stated that this walk was the best thing that she had experienced during her entire two month journey toward asylum.

“Whenever we do not understand what’s happening in life, just close our eyes, take a deep breath and say: “God, I know you have a plan. Just help us through it”.

I offer this prayer for the mothers and children and all the volunteers.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Simple but profound a joyful walk

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A day in the bus station ministry

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Serving at the Greyhound Bus Station offers help and support to asylum seeking mothers and children, most of whom are fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. This direct service is very rewarding so it is difficult to know which of us receives more from the ministry, the families or the volunteers.

The Bus Station Ministry is part of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. The IWC gives me travel money to share with families who will be on a two or three day bus trip.

Recently, a few women were in touch with their families to request money through Western Union. All but one was able to receive the transaction. I took that one aside and gave her some money because she had none. I was concerned about her long trip with her children and having no money. I offered her the money and she asked how she was going to be able to pay me back. I told her it was a gift from the churches. She began to cry and hugged me and cried in my arms.

Later that day, I received a call from American Airlines.

One of the mothers seeking asylum and traveling by plane was

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Sister Denise La Rock

at the airport and was too sick to travel and had to be taken to the emergency room. I met up with the mother and her child there. After being tested and treated for strep throat and tonsillitis, she was released from the hospital. I provided overnight shelter at my house to her and her son. My job at the hospital was at first to calm the mother and entertain her 2 year old. I enjoyed playing with him. As his energy became too much for his Mom’s ER room, we went for a walk after buying some Doritos. After he ate most of them, we walked outside for a while. He was very inquisitive as we walked and tested out every bench. Several times as we were walking, he placed his hand in mine for me to hold it. In holding his hand, I felt that connection that unites all of us.

It is such a blessing to know that in our outreach, we can support others so they feel safe and cared about.

Sister Denise La Rock of the Daughters of Charity is the Director of the Bus Station Ministry

Sister Denise La Rock, of IWC, speaks with one of the families at the station in late September. Source: Jose Arredondo/folomedia.org

Reflections and memories of the Greyhound bus station I started volunteering with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition’s Bus Station Ministry around December 2016. This was my response to the election results. I shared with my family some impressions from those early days.

Reflections from yesterday’s shift…

I arrived at the bus station at 1pm, fresh from Travis Park United Methodist Church, which serves as our group’s supply unit. My trunk is filled with backpacks and sack lunches and the rolling suitcase filled with clipboards, itinerary and map sheets, over the counter meds, toys and diapers.

I sit down in “my spot” to the side and away from the main hub. I settle in, organize my stuff, wonder who might show up today…….I look around and, holy cow, there is a mass of women and children refugees sitting right there in plain sight, somehow I miss them walking in! So I walk over, introduce myself and what I am doing and begin the now familiar pro-

Michele Rembault

cess of “triaging”, figuring out which ones have busses leaving soon, then working through individual intakes and conversations. Just as I finished that group, I look up to see incoming new refugees. Just as I finished that group, my new friend, Robert, the station manager, gives me a heads up, there are about 30 who just landed. The work is non stop for hours.

Here are some of the memories I took home with me from the dozens I served yesterday….

So many adorable, curious, eager, beautiful children The boy with the huge, gorgeous brown eyes The ten year old girl with no front teeth and a big grin The teenagers, the babies None seem to complain, just accept The 30 year old Guatemalan women who was going to see her mother. Wonderful, I said, when is the last time you saw her? Twenty -seven years ago. She had to leave when I was three.

The young mother with the grinning ten year old tells me

that she had to leave her home in Honduras. The man who had been trying to kill her had been let out of jail and she know her chance to survive was to leave. The stateside friend who offered to sponsor her told her she could bring only one child so she decided to bring the ten year old and leave behind her seven month old with her fifteen year old daughter. It was either that or certain death for her and probably all of her kids.

Around 5pm, most had already departed and only three families were left. I took them to eat at the bus station cafeteria….fried chicken and hot dogs. Just then a new family

arrives and I am out of backpacks, medicines, and exhausted.

I try to give then the best advice possible and then I leave. It’s like the kid who is trying to save starfish on the beach – you can only do so much and hope that you could at least make a tiny difference to that one.

Throughout the day, the constant CNN news flashes about making America Safe Again, securing our borders, ensuring terrorists are returned home. There are no terrorists here, only mothers and children seeking safety and survival.

This work breaks my heart, but also heals it After I learned that most of the women leaving the immigration detention centers are dropped off at the bus station with next to nothing, having exhausted their travel funds, there was no turning back for me. I need to show up for them. It’s hard work, but the women bring me strength and keep me from drowning in my own personal struggles. One woman who I will never forget was dropped off late in the afternoon by ICE with her two children. I had already been there for hours helping other families, and I had run out of sandwiches. Luckily, I still had two backpacks with supplies and snacks. When she realized she had to take three buses and would not reach her destination for two full days, she panicked, tears rolling down her cheeks. Immigration officials had somehow given her the impression she would only take one bus and arrive the same

Carly Leech

day. She didn’t know what city we were in. She had no idea how far away California was from Texas. She had no money and had no way to get money to feed her children. Desperately, she showed me the commissary number on her immigration identification, wanting to be able to spend her remaining balance. I explained to her that it only worked in the detention center, which only increased her panic. Then suddenly, she rallied, calmed herself down, and told me, “Voy a aguantar con esta comida.” ...I will get by with this food. She was finally able to smile and she thanked me. She said she didn’t know what she would have done if I hadn’t been there. This work breaks my heart, but also heals it.

Treedy Chapa

I was raised to believe in compassion for those in need. I language, customs, culture and community in hopes for a betlearned of the Bus Station ter life for themselves and their children Ministry almost a year ago.

The majority of them are under 5 years This was a venue to practice of age. compassion and share my I have witnessed the strength and time. resilience of the young women, their I joined the group of volcharacter and humility. One example is unteers that help the asylum when one of the mothers asked me how seekers that cross the Texas to buy a soft drink in the restaurant and border and stop at the San when I showed her how she immediately Antonio Greyhound Bus asked if she could buy me one as well, Station. We assist the Mothshe who has so little and I who have so ers and their children reach much. Many women have shown some their next destination in the of their vulnerability and fears yet they Treedy Chapa, one of our volunteers, handing out a travel backpack US safely. The majority of the fight for a better life for their children to one of our mothers at the bus station. women are young, vulnerable and themselves. These women are and very frightened. Sadly, there are many people out there amazing and a testimony of the value of human life and the ready to take advantage of them during their journey. Many of pursuit of safety and well-being . Please don’t forget the value them have been traveling for months with little or no food or of human life and the worth of our youth. means of transportation. Once being released from the detention center, having been sponsored by a family member or friend, they begin their journey to the unknown. These ladies have left everything that was familiar to them; family, friends,

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

An Act of Compassion

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Everything Heals

Jan Olsen

One of the memories that will always be with me is of a mother who came up to me and asked, “Do you have any medicine to erase from my memory all the horrible things I have seen?” - Jan Olsen I have been a volunteer with the Bus Station Ministry for about a year and a half. I tell my family and friends that the time spent at the bus station is the most peaceful and joyful of my day since it is the chance to “live compassion” in these most troubling times.

One of my jobs at the bus station is to give out medicines. One of the memories that will always be with me is of a mother who came up to me and asked, “Do you have any medicine to erase from my memory all the horrible things I have seen?” I told her this is the only medicine I can offer and I just stood and held her while she cried. She then smiled at me and said thank you.

My heart and my spirit are healed every day at the bus station by witnessing the courage, resilience and joy and that I see in these women and children in spite of all they have endured to get to this point. My hope is that what we have to offer them in this brief encounter will heal a little part of them.

Please go to www.interfaithwelcomecoalition.org to find out how you can begin to make a difference in the lives of these mothers and children. You can become involved in Bus Station and Airport Ministry, Advocacy and Education and Fundraising. You are needed!! Please join us!

Jan Olsen (3rd left) wtih some of the Greyhound staff.

Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

A retelling of an old tale by Tom Keene

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Editor’s Note: The Wolf of Gubbio, according to the Fioretti di San Francesco, terrorized the Umbrian city of Gubbio until it was tamed by St. Francis of Assisi. In this retelling the wolf may well represent any number of people who nowadays are being cast as “wolves” without any redeeming human value.

The story goes that Francis and some companions in their wayfaring ways spent a few months in the village of Gubbio, With traditional hospitality, the villagers welcomed them to their homes and tables. However, one thing troubled the people: a mix of fear and anger that strangled much of their joy in life.

Their chickens, lambs and sheep were being killed, one by one, because of a wolf that haunted their woods. Hunts and traps for the wolf always failing.

After reflecting on this, Francis went into the woods expecting to happen upon the wolf himself. Amid the trees, he found a grass covered clearing where he sat down to meditate and wait.

After some hours, Francis gradually began to feel, welling up within himself, a Presence that enveloped him, the woods, the villagers and then the wolf all together and at peace.

Within minutes, Francis felt himself being watched. Moving only his eyes to scan the edges of the clearing, he saw the wolf.

They held eye-to-eye contact. Soon the wolf came into the clearing and hunkered down holding eye contact with Francis.

Thus, they stayed beholding each other.

His thoughts rambling, Francis became aware he was getting hungry. Something he shared with the wolf. Francis mused how all life hungers for life and that all life feeds life. In that, he and the wolf were one. Soon, the wolf rose and walked half-way to Francis, paused and returned to the woods. With that, Francis walked back to Gubbio and its people. It was dusk, night came.

The next evening, Francis had his companions invite the village families to gather in the market square to consider their thoughts on the wolf, her hunger and theirs. After sharing feelings and beliefs, the people reflected in silence. A girl, sitting on her mother’s lap, spoke up. “Maybe, we can share our food with the wolf.”

Some talk followed. An agreement came. Over the next few years, the families came to know the wolf as one slowed by age, where mice and rabbits out ran her. Now they understood.

One day, the wolf did not come to the evening feeding. Villagers searched for her and found her body. They buried it. The children passed on the story to their children.

Laura Aguilar, she flew...

Three Eagles Flying (1990) was part of the Esperanza’s 1996 exhibit Engendros, a photo exhibit about gender & sexuality

by Penny Boyer

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Two names--first and last--fit chant-like in the mouth. One sounds like the inside of the other. The latter starts the first. La-Ra-Ah-Ghee-LaRa-Ah-Ghee-La-Ra-Ah-Ghee-La-Ra. An incantation. Conjuring the primordial. Coming up from stones. Desolation. Isolation. Bodies fallen but floating, heavy though heavenly. Muted arroyos. Seco. Sepia tones turned, tuned black and white. Mumblings rumbling rumpled earth.

She found her bird inside the flag, then wore it. That’s how she flew.

Laura Aguilar came to San Antonio several times. First to Esperanza. I knew her name from artist rosters I remember from working in Washington, DC at the National Endowment for the Arts on the first funding cycle for an Inter-Arts category called Artist Projects: New Forms. If only Jesse Helms knew then to look there for ‘trouble,’ he might have found it in Laura Aguilar: a Xicana queer taking pix of other California queers of color when she wasn’t defining and outrageously glorifying the act of ‘selfie’ long before cell phones. Her self-portraits are magnificent, majestic landscapes that in San Antonio extended into group shots in wildernesses where the subjects come in and out of focus like mirages meant to confuse. Those works were for Artpace, her residency there, where she was called difficult by staff, but her show stunned..

Whenever she came here, she bathed in my tub. She loved my tub. It’s claw-footed and longer than average and she’d soak for a long time, a pleasure she considered rare. When she worked at Esperanza she stayed at my house as part of an artist-run project I ran with Michael Marinez called VāN (as in vein or ARTery, vain as in vanity, or vane as in which way the cultural winds are blowing or ven

as in Spanish for ‘they come’ or ‘they see’ or even an artist-driven van). Even when she came to town and didn’t stay at my house— like when she was in residence at Artpace--she’d visit my tub. She quizzed me repeatedly on the fact that I didn’t know her and that I’d take her, a stranger, in and befriend her and provide for her—something I didn’t think twice about at the time (meaning, I guess, I think a little more about that these days than I did which is sorta sad).

She said from the start that I reminded her of her friend Sandy.

Sandy from one of her most iconic photos, In Sandy’s Room (1989).

In the image, Laura reclines naked in a midcentury chair beneath windows flung wide open, left leg bent upward, both feet on an ottoman, one hand holding a cup, the other on the bent leg; an electrical fan raised on three-legged stand or stool a foot from her feet is aimed right at her. This image irked right-wingers like local writer Roddy Stinson whose attacks of the photo and Laura were among the incidents that led to the Esperanza’s historic de-funding in 1997.

Ironically, Sandy (Laura’s friend) moved to San Antonio in the 2000s and we met and were remote friends—she lived on the far north side of town and I live just south of downtown—but she moved back to California though far from Long Beach where Laura lived. She didn’t get to see Laura again during those last days when they ended dialysis and put her in hospice. A trip was planned, but not in time. Sandy was who let me know Laura died.

When Laura was at Artpace, I loaned her a book I treasured and after I handed it to her I wondered if I’d get it back. It’s a German book of photographs of women wearing very little, some none, in calisthenic poses. It dates from during World War II and it’s stamped indicating its having passed a censorship standard by the United States as a book about health and fitness. It’s intriguing and I knew it would appeal to Laura’s interest in the female

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Laura Aguilar

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Laura blowing bubbles during a panel discussion at the Esperanza’s exhibit, “motions” & “center” in 2003

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form and corporeality. She also borrowed during her Artpace residency a summer straw hat, vintage with flowers, something of a little girl’s hat, wide-brimmed and happy-making. While Artpace made sure I got the book back, I never saw the hat again. When I saw Laura’s Facebook page during her dying days, there are pictures of her (selfies?) in big white-framed sunglasses that give her an endearing insect-like look.

I think the hat held that same sort of fun for her. It lightened her. It lit her up. A photographer needs light.

I remember on one of her visits to San Antonio driving her to every edge of town visiting cemeteries—she was seeking angels to shoot. She found her Sandy’s Room (1989) was part of Esperanza’s 1996 exhibit, Engendros, a photo exhibi favorites on the Southside, though we scoured Eastside and Westside ones as well. Angels. Aguilar. was left. Alone in a place meant for many. She took us to a PolyneOnce my partner and I visited her home on the outskirts of sian restaurant for lunch—somewhere with umbrellas and mermaids L.A. She lived in the home she grew up in with her parents and her in tall narrow frozen drinks. That’s why we went—for those drinks. brother who she loved deeplh—but they were all gone. Only she Those were what she wanted to share with us.

She had long wanted to photograph my partner, but my partner wouldn’t have it. Laura did a series of photos of us in various stages of undress—it was her attempt to make my partner comfortable with the idea of being photographed. Well, my partner turned around and insisted Laura never use those images for exhibition—she even made Laura sign something to that effect. One day we joined a group going to a State Park for some shots in a river; my partner hung back from the group, not wanting to be peer-pressured into the pictures.

Laura asked me to pose, so I did. Lying naked in the rush of water was wonderful. When my partner caught up and saw what was happening she chided me and told Laura she couldn’t use those images either. Laura said, “Your wife is a caveman.” I was not happy.

But when we visited Laura, she showed me the contentious shot. It was gorgeous. I laid eyes on it only once but it has stuck with Nature Self-Portrait, 1996

1959-2018

The Esperanza expresses our

Plush Pony #2 ,1992 was part of a series of portraits taken at the Plush Pony, a bar popular among working-class lesbians of color in eastside Los Angeles. Aguilar’s photos rebelled against repressive stereotypes of beauty and body representation.

condolences to Laura’s familia and her friends in the arts and LGBTQ community.

We were honored to have had her photos and presence at the Esperanza since the 90s. Esperanza staff and friends in San Antonio joyfully accepted her invitation to pose for her photos in the Texas hill country and assisted her as she took photos in San Antonio cemeteries in the East, West, and Southsides. Laura was a champion who put herself out there fighting for her own visibility and that of marginalized women who rarely find themselves the subjects of a camera lens. Her photos are an irrefutable historical legacy.

Laura Aguilar,

¡siempre presente!

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

me hard. I should have offered a sum for it then and there. I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe because my partner was there. Several years later I asked Sandy what she thought I could do to get that image. She said Laura could use money.

I contacted her and was prepared to make an Motion #56 (1999) was part of the 2003 Esperanza exhibit, “motions” & “center”new bodies of work for Laura Aguilar offer, but Laura said her eyes had gotten so bad she Then suddenly I was hearing about a wave of high profile exhibiwould not be able to find it. No, the way she tions of her work. I celebrated one of those on Facebook only to said it was far more dire, clearly the condihave it turn into an obituary within a week. tion had persisted for some time.

She found her bird inside the flag, then wore it. That’s how I had heard in recent years she’d been she flew. active with a women’s empowerment group, An incantation. Conjuring the primordial. Coming up from that she had lost a lot of weight and that she stones. Desolation. Isolation. Bodies fallen but floating, heavy was producing new work. But this new stage though heavenly. Muted arroyos. Seco. Sepia tones turned, tuned where she had lost her eyesight and could black and white. Mumblings rumbling rumpled earth. not photograph was a whole new world for her. Then I heard she was active with an Two names--first and last--fit chant-like Episcopalian support group, I think it was, it about gender & sexuality in the mouth. One sounds like the and she had a new identity that had nothing inside of the other.

The latter starts the first. La-Ra-Ah-Ghee-Lato do with her photographer past it seemed.

Ra-Ah-Ghee-La-Ra-Ah-Ghee-La-Ra.

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How Austin bombings fit a system of racism El racismo y las bombas que aterraron a Austin Rogelio Sáenz, For the Express-NewsPublished 12:00 am, Saturday, April 14, 2018

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

ENGLISH

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ESPANOL

Was it racism and terrorism that threatened Austin’s people of ¿Fue un acto racista y terrorista el que atentó contra la cocolor? munidad de color de Austin?

The question about the Austin bombings is foolish. ¡Hasta la pregunta es necia!

There have been two responses to this query.

Sin embargo, hay dos respuestas a la cuestión. La respuThe official response for nearly a month was a firm “no” until, esta oficial en un principio fue firmemente “no,” hasta que on March 29, Interim Police Chief Brian Manley demurred that the el 29 de marzo el jefe interino bombs were domestic terrorism. de la policía de Austin Brian Yet, many people from the AfricanManley lo calificó de terrorismo American and Latino community of doméstico.

Austin clearly believe it constituted racLa opinión de muchas persoism andterrorism from the outset. nas en la comunidad afroameriThe answer to whether racism moticana y latina es claramente “sí”. vated the bomber is that the two responses Dos respuestas que reflejan reflect two distinct worlds and divergent dos mundos y lugares distintos places — but, yes, within a system of dentro del sistema del racismo. racism.

Los hechos malvados a mano The evil deeds by Mark Anthony Conditt, who terrorized the city of Austin de Mark Conditt, quien aterfor nearly three weeks — and the official rorizó a la ciudad de Austin por actions in the case — illustrate that system casi tres semanas, y las acciones of racism. oficiales ilustran el sistema de Let’s review some key sociological racismo que persiste en los Estapoints about racism. dos Unidos.

First, racism is a system that depends Vamos a repasar unos puntos on the myth that racism does not exist. This del conocimiento sociológico illusion suggests that we are colorblind — Authorities say Conditt blew himself up in his car (center) as sobre el racismo. authorities closed in. Officials, after reviewing a video on his cellthat we do not see skin color differences phone, described him not as a terrorist but as troubled.

Primero, el racismo es un — and that we are all equal. The myth Source: Jay Janner /Associated Press sistema que depende del mito de prevents people, especially many of those que el racismo no existe.

Este mito evita que mucha gente who enjoy white privilege, from seeing inequalities based on race. vea desigualdades basadas en la raza.

Second, the system of racism produces, regenerates and justiSegundo, el sistema de racismo produjo, reproduce y fies racial inequality. The persistence of racism relies principally on justifica la desigualdad racial. La continuación del racismo institutional laws and practices, and on the passivity and the belief depende principalmente de leyes y prácticas institucionales, of ordinary people that racism does not exist.

As Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a sociologist at Duke University y de la pasividad y la creencia de personas ordinarias de and president of the American Sociological Association, explains: que el racismo no existe. Como dice el sociólogo Eduardo “Racism is a system without racists.” The system of racism relies Bonilla-Silva, “el racismo es un sistema sin racistas”. strongly on the passivity and denial of common people.

Tercero, la continuidad del sistema de racismo depende Third, the continuity of the system of racism depends on a de un marco donde las personas anglosajonas representan lo framing in which white people get to say what is normal, what is normal, lo conocido y lo simpático mientras que las personas known and what is empathetic, while the views of people of color de color personifican lo extranjero, lo ajeno y lo cuestionrepresent what is alien, what is unknown and what is questionable. able. Resulta claro que es más probable que los anglosajones Accordingly, whites are much more likely to be seen as objects sean objeto de compasión y reciban el beneficio de la duda of compassion and people who receive the benefit of the doubt que las personas de color. more than do people of color.

Regresemos a la ciudad de Austin.

Fourth, in the system of racism, people and organizations that El 2 de marzo temprano por la mañana, Mark Conditt, un insist and document that racism is real are seen as malcontents, hombre anglosajón de 23 años de edad, dejó un paquete en agitators and people on the fringe.

Let’s return to the city of Austin.

ENGLISH

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Key sociological points about racism 1. First, racism is a system that depends on the myth that racism does not exist. This illusion suggests that we are colorblind — that we do not see skin color differences — and that we are all equal. The myth prevents people, especially many of those who enjoy white privilege, from seeing inequalities based on race.

2. Second, the system of racism produces, regenerates and justifies racial inequality. The persistence of racism relies principally on institutional laws and practices, and on the passivity and the belief of ordinary people that racism does not exist. As Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a sociologist at Duke University and president of the American Sociological Association, explains: “Racism is a system without racists.”

The system of racism relies strongly on the passivity and denial of common people.

3. Third, the continuity of the system of racism depends on a framing in which white people get to say what is normal, what is known and what is empathetic, while the views of people of color represent what is alien, what is unknown and what is questionable. Accordingly, whites are much more likely to be seen as objects of compassion and people who receive the benefit of the doubt more than do people of color.

4. Fourth, in the system of racism, people and organizations that insist and document that racism is real are seen as malcontents, agitators and people on the fringe.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Early on March 2, Conditt, a 23-year-old white man, left a packla entrada de la casa de Anthony Stephen House, un hombre age on the porch of Anthony “Stephan” House, a 39-year-old man afroamericano del este de Austin. House abrió el paquete from a prominent black family living on the East Side of Austin. detonando una bomba. House, con su cuerpo sangriento lleThis is an area where African-Americans and Latinos are no de fragmentos de metralla, murió un poco después. La inconcentrated. vestigación policiaca sugirió que la tragedia se trataba de un House opened the package, detonating a bomb. Bleeding and full incidente aislado y que no había ninguna evidencia de terof shrapnel, he died shortly afterward. rorismo. La indagación The police investigation sugse enfocó en House, la gested that the tragedy was an víctima misma, insinuisolated incident and there was no ando que quizá el difunto evidence of terrorism. Part of the estaba involucrado en inquiry focused on House, the victim himself, insinuating he was involved malos asuntos o que él in illicit matters or had put together mismo había construido the bomb. Investigation directed at la bomba. La investigthe victim is common within the sysación dirigida hacia la tem of racism, and is congruent with víctima es algo común stereotypes and the lack of empathy dentro del sistema de toward persons of color. racismo y es congruente No? Recall how, too many times, con los estereotipos y la after police have killed an unarmed falta de empatía hacia African-American, the investigation quickly centers on the victim rather Miguel Hernández, 17 años, y Thelma Manzano, 19 años, en una vigilia el 27 de marzo las personas de color. en honor a su amigo Draylen Mason, la víctima de 17 años que murió en el segundo Recordemos tantos casos than the killer. atentado con bombas en Austin. AMANDA VOISARD / ¡AHORA SÍ! donde la policía mata But the death of House was not a una persona de color an isolated incident. desarmada seguido del enfoque de la investigación en la Ten days later, early in the morning, Conditt dropped off víctima y no en el asesino. another package on the East Side of the city. While he prepared to Pero, por el contrario, la muerte de House no fue un go to school, Draylen Mason, a 17-year-old from another prominent African-American family, opened the mysterious package. It incidente aislado. exploded, killing him and seriously wounding his mother, Shamika Diez días después, tempranito por la mañana Conditt Wilson. Mason was a talented youth who recently had been acdejó otro paquete en otra casa del lado este de la ciudad. cepted to the University of Texas at Austin and to a prestigious Cuando se preparaba a ir a la escuela, Draylen Mason, un university in Ohio to pursue his studies in music. joven de 17 años, abrió el paquete misterioso que explotó, Conditt continued his evil, again on the East Side of Austin, matándolo a él e hiriendo de gravedad a su madre, Shamika that same morning. He left another package at another residence.

Wilson. Mason, un joven talentoso que recientemente había As noon approached, Esperanza “Hope” Herrera, a 75-year-old sido aceptado a la Universidad de Texas en Austin y a una Latina who was visiting her mother, opened the package. It exprestigiosa universidad en Ohio para seguir sus estudios en ploded, seriously wounding her. música, perdió su vida a la mano malvada de Conditt.

Four victims — all people of color and residents of the East Side Conditt continuó con sus maldades en el este de Austin of Austin. Two of them dead. These were not random acts, even if Continued on Next Page / Continúa en la siguiente página

11

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Austin Bombings, Continued from Previous Page / Continuado de la página anterior

12

ENGLISH

ESPANOL

Conditt would ultimately plant bombs outside of Austin’s East Side.

Many people of color in Austin lamented that the police did not treat the explosion that took the life of House more seriously.

What would have been the police response if the first explosion had occurred on the West Side, where the city’s white population is concentrated?

Six days after terrorizing people of color on the East Side of Austin, Conditt shifted to random attacks, first on the Southwest Side of the city, where he used a trip wire across a sidewalk that resulted in the wounding of two white men. Two days later, he wounded a Federal Express worker in Schertz, a suburb of San Antonio approximately 60 miles from Austin.

By then, police had a significant amount of data on Conditt, leading to a slow chase and then to him taking his own life in Round Rock by detonating a bomb in his vehicle.

The police searched Conditt’s cellphone trying to pinpoint a motive for the horror he unleashed on Austin. They discovered a video that Conditt had recorded on his cellphone hours before his death.

The police declared that no words wee found to suggest that Conditt had committed a racist or terrorist act. With seeming compassion for Conditt, the police described him as a troubled and anguished youth.

Where was that empathy and compassion toward Stephen, Draylen, Shamika and Esperanza, and toward people of color on Austin’s East Side who were traumatized by Conditt?

The premise that Conditt’s bombings were not racist rests with the fact that people of color were not exclusively the victims, though they were the ones who directly received packages with bombs at their residences and they accounted for all the deaths.

Question: Why choose the predominantly minority East Side and specific homes at the outset? Conditt could not reasonably have had any expectation that minorities wouldn’t be casualties.

Yes, he moved on to where that was less likely, with more apparent randomness, but that doesn’t negate his initial targeting — specific homes of people of color in a predominantly minority community.

The system of racism persists without racists, as Bonilla-Silva reminds us.

The people of color of Austin, the victims and the innocents who lost their lives demand respect and justice.

esa misma mañana, dejando otro paquete en otra residencia.

Como a mediodía, Esperanza “Hope” Herrera, una mujer latina de 75 años de edad que visitaba su madre, abrió el paquete que explotó, hiriéndola de gravedad.

Cuatro víctimas —todas ellas de color y que vivían en el este de Austin— dos de ellas muertas. ¡Digan lo que digan, estos no fueron actos al azar!

Mucha gente de color se lamenta el por qué la policía no tomó más seriamente la explosión que le quitó la vida a House, la cual puso en riesgo a nuestra gente. ¿Cuál hubiera sido la respuesta policiaca si la explosión inicial hubiera ocurrido del lado oeste, donde está concentrada la población anglosajona?

Seis días después de aterrorizar a personas de color del este de Austin, Conditt cambió su táctica para atacar al azar primero en el suroeste de Austin donde hirió a dos hombres anglosajones y dos días después hiriendo a un trabajador de Federal Express en Schertz, localizado a 60 millas de Austin.

Para entonces, la policía ya tenía muchos datos sobre Conditt lo que resultó en este quitándose la vida en Round Rock.

La policía hizo su búsqueda para tratar de encontrar el móvil de Conditt tras el horror que este desató. En su rastreo, la policía descubrió un video que Conditt había grabado horas antes de su muerte. La policía declaró que no había encontrado ningunas palabras que sugirieran que él había cometido un acto racista o terrorista. En su investigación del video, con una gran compasión hacia Conditt, lo que describió la policía fue a un joven trastornado y angustiado. ¿Dónde estaba esa piedad hacia Anthony, Draylen, Shamika, Esperanza, y hacia nuestra gente a quien Conditt traumatizó?

El sistema racista persiste.

Nuestra comunidad, las víctimas y los difuntos que inocentemente perdieron sus vidas exigen respeto y justicia.

Bio: Rogelio Sáenz is dean of the College of Public Policy and holds the Mark G. Yudof Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at San Antonio. A Spanish-language version of this op-ed was published in Ahora Sí, the Spanish-language newspaper of the Austin American-Statesman.

Bio: Sáenz es decano de la Facultad de Políticas Públicas de la Universidad de Texas en San Antonio.

Puntos sociológicos clave sobre el racismo 1. Primero, el racismo es un sistema que depende del mito de que el racismo no existe. Este mito evita que mucha gente vea desigualdades basadas en la raza.

2. Segundo, el sistema de racismo produjo, reproduce y justifica la desigualdad racial. La continuación del racismo depende principalmente de leyes y prácticas institucionales, y de la pasividad y la creencia de personas ordinarias de

que el racismo no existe. Como dice el sociólogo Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, “el racismo es un sistema sin racistas”.

3. Tercero, la continuidad del sistema de racismo depende de un marco donde las personas anglosajonas representan lo normal, lo conocido y lo simpático mientras que las personas de color personifican lo extranjero, lo ajeno y lo cuestionable. Resulta claro que es más probable que los anglosajones sean objeto de compasión y reciban el beneficio de la duda que las personas de color.

Senior/disabled tenants fight for justice vs. Saha

By Pancho Valdez

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

In early November of 2014, I moved ance procedure that we voted down unaniinto the Lofts of Marie McGuire of the mously. Again, SAHA bosses we’re upset.

San Antonio Housing Authority that In August of 2017 a young, Black houses elderly and disabled residents. The disabled war veteran moved to our buildbuilding is located on N. Alamo between ing. He had graduated from West Point and Travis and Third about two blocks from served in Afghanistan as a licensed physithe Alamo. cian’s assistant. Within two weeks SAHA Nice building, I love being downtown gave an eviction notice on false allegations and it was perfect, so I initially thought. of subleasing his apartment. At Precinct 4, In February 2015 we had an “election” the Justice of the Peace Court judge, Yolanda to select officers for our Resident Council.

Acuña Uresti, refused to even hear his case.

Despite SAHA management meddling, I This forced him to dish out $1,500 to appeal was elected vice president.

Uresti’s denial of due process. He won his SAHA management pretty much decidappeal, but SAHA found another sympathetic ed who they wanted as president and even judge and won on false facts from SAHA took the ballots to the office to “count” management. Last I heard, he’s homeless and them. Yes, very wrong, very much against blacklisted by SAHA. the interests of those who reside at Marie Last November, a lesbian tenant named McGuire. Problem was only management Carla died. Immediately SAHA manager Pris“Too often the landlord- tenant knew the rules. A practice that I learned is cilla Salazar issued Carla’s spouse (Brenda) relationship is unbalanced with all very prevalent at SAHA. an eviction notice refusing to acknowledge As vice-president my first act on the power on the side of unscrupulous their marriage. Brenda is awaiting a court date behalf of my members was to contact a on this eviction that violates local ordinance landlords” TV reporter when our elevator was broken prohibiting discrimination against gay tenants.

— Lydia Velazquez, for 5-6 days in September of 2015. No fun In February we held an election for the US District 7 Congresswoman Executive Board that was challenged by in older people having to climb stairs as housing authority bureaucrats take their sweet time repairing our SAHA bosses. They falsely accused us of failing to give the tenelevator. Turns out several of us notified the media and SAHA ants a 30-day notice of the election, despite notices being posted was upset. Of course SAHA management doesn’t have to climb not less than six weeks before! Their next objection was that no stairs, so our attitude was screw them! one from SAHA “oversaw” the election as we learned to hold our

By October, 2015 the entire Executive Board minus mymeetings on Saturday to prevent SAHA interference. self resigned in frustration. As vice-president I stepped up and Finally, as punishment for electing a new board they changed organized a new election. Problem was the only candidate for the locks on our Community Room and it is no longer available to president, while an intelligent man, was also a racist and misogy- us seven days a week from 9am to 9pm as before. Basically SAHA nist who groped women; disrespected older people and referred management feels it has the right to determine who our leaders are, to Black tenants by the “n” word. and that we must adhere to by-laws written by them, not written by Within three months the tenants demanded his resignation us, the residents! In other words, the inmates haven’t the right to a handing him written notice in a group as per our by-laws. In March genuine management-free tenant organization! of 2016 he resigned and I became president. For a good year or so On May 17 we go before a mediator at the Bexar County I had a good executive board and more members getting active. We Dispute Resolution Center as HUD was ordered to resolve the confronted issues like the use of rotting produce sent for our use by dispute by Congressman Lloyd Doggett after HUD chose to the Food Bank, violation of no smoking rules and younger tenants ignore our calls for help. selling cocaine, heroin and meth. Every two months we would We need the San Antonio community’s support and assisconfront the SAHA CEO with real issues adversely affecting our tance. Let HUD know that SAHA denies tenants’ rights and must people like when the building manager and her “Born Again” assis- be held accountable. tant stormed into our apartments under the pretense of a houseSend email messages to: SAHA CEO David Nivisiccia at keeping inspection writing us up for violations that didn’t exist. By David_Nivisoccia@saha.org. exposing them, the ludicrous violations “disappeared.”

Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

After a loud and boisterous meeting at the SAHA office I was accused of inciting a riot as tenants from my building and other Bio: Frank “Pancho” Valdez is a San Antonio based activist. He buildings expressed our disgust with SAHA’s disrespect towards has been involved in the “struggles for civil rights, labor and us. SAHA tried to suppress us with a long, tedious written grievpeace” since 1965 and can be reached at 210-430-2490.

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oasanantonio.worg | 210.492.5400.

Be Part of a

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.

Progressive Movement

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

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

* community meetings *

Amnesty International #127 Call Arthur @ 210.213.5919 for info.

14

Adult Wellness Support Group of PRIDE Center meets 4th Mon., The Religious Society of Friends 7-9pm @ Lions Field, 2809 Broadway. meets Sunday @10am @ The Friends Call 210.213.5919.

Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. | 210.945.8456.

Energía Mía: Call 512.838-3351 for information.

S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursday, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. Metropolitan Community Church. www.lafuerzaunida.org | 210.927.2294 SA AIDS Fdn 818 E. Grayson St. Habitat for Humanity meets 1st offers free Syphilis & HIV testing | Tues. for volunteers, 6pm, HFHSA 210.225.4715 | www.txsaaf.org.

Office @ 311 Probandt.

SA Women Will March: www.

LGBTQ LULAC Council #22198 sawomenwillmarch.org | (830) 488meets 3rd Thursdays @ 6:45pm 7493 @ Luby’s on Main. E-mail: info@ SGI-USA LGBT Buddhists meet 2nd lulac22198.org Sat. at 10am @ 7142 San Pedro Ave., NOW SA meets 3rd Wed See FB | Ste 117 | 210.653.7755. satx.now for info | 210. 802. 9068 | Shambhala Buddhist Meditation nowsaareachapter@gmail.com Tues. 7pm & Sun. 9:30am 257 E. Pax Christi, SA meets monthly on Hildebrand Ave. | 210.222.9303.

Saturdays. Call 210.460.8448 S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy meets those Abused by Priests). Contact Thurs. 7pm, 325 Courtland.

Barbara at 210.725.8329.

Metropolitan Community Church Voice for Animals: 210.737.3138 or services & Sunday school 10:30am, www.voiceforanimals.org 611 East Myrtle. Call 210.472.3597 SA’s LGBTQA Youth meets Tues., Overeaters Anonymous meets 6:30pm at Univ. Presby. Church, 300 MWF in Sp & daily in Eng. www.

Bushnell Ave. | www.fiesta-youth.org

in San Antonio

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Notas Y Más June 2018

The Story of El Laredito: Historical Reenactment by cultural anthropologist Dr. Maria Citlali Zentella & Un Dia en El Mercado, a culinary experience inspired by the Chili Queens takes place on June 8th from 6pm to 9pm at Centro Cultural Aztlán, 1800 Fredericksburg.

Free! And on July 13th, The Story of El Laredito: Visual Art Exhibition, Poetry, Music and Dance by renowned local artists takes place at Centro Cultural Aztlán from 6-9PM. Call 210. 432.1896 or check: www.centroaztlan.org/current-events The Pearl will sponsor a commemorative 300th anniversary workshop on June 18-22 & June 25-28 | 9am-3pm at The Southwest School of Art, 300 Augusta St. on the tradition of creating Cabezudos and Gigantes that are used in Spain for celebrations. Taught by Maestro David Ventura and his wife Neus Hosta, the

Brief news items on upcoming community events.

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

The deadline is the 8th of each month.

workshops are free but attendance at all 9 sessions is required. It will culminate with a celebratory parade on June 30. Call 210.200.8227 or email classregistration@ swschool to pre-register.

Gemini Ink is holding its 3rd annual Writers Conference July 20-22nd at the historic downtown El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel. The conference theme,“Writing the New Century” will explore the role writing plays in shaping the personal, social, and political consciousness of our 21st century. See: geminiink.org/writers-conference/ The MALCS Summer Institute—Convivencia Y Resistencia: Fronterizas for Social Justice— takes place at The University of Texas, El Paso from August 1 - 4, 2018.

See: malcs.org/blog/2018/02/17/2018malcs-summer-institute-cfp/

Amidst the Silence, a Loud Protest Ensues

The American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) announce the Outstanding Dissertations Competition (ODC) for 2019. The ODC is open to anyone who has completed a dissertation that focuses on Hispanic(s) in higher education or Hispanic individuals who have completed a dissertation in the social sciences between December 2016 and August 1, 2018. The top 3 winners will be sponsored to attend the 14th Annual AAHHE National Conference (February 28-March 2, 2019) in Costa Mesa, CA to receive awards and present their dissertations. Deadline for submissions is August 12, 2018. Contact: Dr. Patricia Pérez, AAHHE Dissertation Chair, at: pperez@fullerton.edu or check www. aahhe.org/dissertation/

Del silencio surge una protesta en voz

by Norma Longoria Rodríguez El Big Bend es una area grande en el oeste de Tejas que tomó su nombre por la curvatura del Río Grande. Es un sitio primitivo de belleza sin igual y muy alejado de los problemas fronterizos.,Por siglos los habitantes, las historias y las culturas de esta región han sobrevivido, a veces pacificamente y a veces no. Muchos dialectos se han tejido en dos idiomas de palabras híbridas.

Despues de muchas tribulaciones el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo se finalizó en 1848, haciendo el Río Grande la frontera de dos países, o sea de una tierra se hicieron dos. En el fondo del desierto y de vista muy pequeña por la altitud de las montañas, corre el río serenamente hacia la Laguna Madre en el Golfo de Méjico, aún en oblivio de las angustias internacionales causadas por su existencia.

El Big Bend es un santuario espiritual, lejano y místico.

Los colores de azul, verde y morado de las montañas suben al cielo y luego caen suavemente en una cascada, sobre los tonos cenizos del desierto de Chihuahua, asi como el ADN de nuestro mestizaje. Y pues, así es que existen dos países magníficos, pero sólo una tierra eterna y un río bravo: un sitio donde el esplendor no tiene fronteras y el único muro es el de la maravilla de las cordilleras y las escarpas, obras de Dios.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Big Bend in West Texas is appropriately named after a large bend of the Rio Grande. Though vast in area it is a sparsely populated primitive place of pristine beauty and geographically removed from the angst of major border politics. Through hundreds of years inhabitants with their interwoven histories and diverse cultures have coexisted and survived here, sometimes peacefully and sometimes not, and many tongues have blended into a tapestry of dual languages with hybrid words.

After years of wars, bloodshed, turmoil and finally the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, one land became two. Between them on the desert floor, dwarfed by the rugged limestone canyons of Santa Elena, the Río Grande flows ever so serenely to the Laguna Madre in the Gulf of Mexico, oblivious to the historical, political, social, environmental and international issues that were unknowingly created when it became the border of two countries.

Big Bend is a stunning, remote sanctum of spirituality, solitude and mystique. The refreshing colors of green, blue and purple creep up the mountainsides and then softly fall in a cascade onto the ashen hues of the Chihuahuan Desert palette, much like the blending of our mestizo DNA . Two magnificent nations but one timeless land and a mesmerizing river: a place where splendor is incognizant of boundaries and the only wall is that of daunting canyon cliffs and mountain peaks, created by the hand of God.

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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • June 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 5•

Monthly Concert Series June 16 - Sat.

Noche Azul de Esperanza

Second Saturday Convivio Gather your photos from the Westside (18801960) and bring them to La Casa de Cuentos every 2nd Saturday at 10 am for scanning and story telling.

Casa de Cuentos • 816 S. Colorado St. Call 210.228.0201 for more info Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

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Coming soon! Esperanza’s Summer Film Series!

True Stories, True Lives Shattering LGBTQ Stereotypes

June 9th 2018, 5-8pm @ Esperanza Center, 922 San Pedro 5:00-6:00pm Resource Tables, Testing, Skits, Artwork with sponsoring groups: Beat Aids, Trans Allies SA, TSEU, TOP, Spectrum-UTSA and more!

6:00-6:15pm Opening Reception

6:15-7:45pm Panel presentations (pending confirmation) 6:15-6:30pm Negotiating pay at the Capital, TSEU 6:30-6:45pm Self-worth training, Ana Andrea Molina, Latina Trans Tejas June 9 - Sat. 6:45-7:00pm Update on & history of San Antonio’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance, Dan Graney & Eduardo Juárez 7:00-7:15pm Paid sick time/family leave, Joleen Garcia, TOP 7:15-7:30pm Sharing LGBTQ experiences, Jamie Zapata 7:30-7:45pm Sharing LGBTQ experiences, community member 7:45-8:15pm Q&A Session

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center • 922 San Pedro Ave • SA, TX 78212 • 210.228.0201 • esperanzacenter.org