October 2018 | Vol. 31 Issue 8
San Antonio, Tejas
Everyone Needs a Place to Call Home
La Voz de Esperanza October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8 Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez Design: Elizandro Carrington Photo: donated by Isabel Sánchez
Contributors
María Antonietta Berriozábal, Penelope Boyer, Bárbara Renaud González, Greg Harmon, Randi Romo, Michelle Rumbaut
La Voz Mail Collective Alicia Arredondo, Paxton Batchelder, Pauline Enriquez, Charlie Esperiqueta, Mary Esperiqueta, Paco García, Gloria Hernández, Sa Huynh, Juan Martínez, Lucy D. Martínez, Angie Merla, Edie Oetign, Tony Pérez, Mary Agnes Rodríguez, Yolanda Salazar, Guadalupe Segura, Roger Singler, Justice Society, Tomasa Torres, Alma Van Nest, Ileana Viramontes,
Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez
Esperanza Staff
Elizandro Carrington, Yaneth Flores, Sarah Gould, Eliza Pérez, Paul Plouf, Kristel Orta-Puente, Natalie Rodríguez, René Saenz, Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez
Conjunto de Nepantleras —Esperanza Board of Directors—
Norma Cantú, 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 Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published.
On September 13th, the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group went before the Texas State Supreme Court challenging the City of San Antonio’s right to “governmental immunity” that allowed the City to sell land that the Group had arranged for as a donation when they were in the process of raising funds to preserve the historic bridge. The Group’s belief was that the city would hold the land for a park that would enhance the bridge’s value as an historic public space. The City, ignoring a community contract, saw the donation as their property to do with as they wished, ultimately selling it to developers. The land at 803 N. Cherry is now slated for development with a 5-story apartment complex. Whether the City breached a contract or is covered by governmental immunity, as they claim, will be decided by the higher court in 3-4 months. The judges seemed to understand well the issue at hand and listened intently to the arguments the Group’s lawyer, Amy Kastely, presented—but, we’ll see. ¡Ya veremos! If community wins, all are invited to dance with us on the bridge! As we enter the fall season, we remind folks that next month, November, is the celebration that honors our dearly departed, Día de los muertos. The Esperanza celebrates the event on November 1st in the Westside venue of El Rinconcito de Esperanza, 816 S. Colorado. Expect to see La Casa de Cuentos, La Casita and the MujerArtes adobe building full of ofrendas and exhibits for Día de los muertos. If you would like to build an ofrenda or altar in memory of your departed soul or family members, please call the Esperanza at 210.228.0201 to reserve a space. On November 1st from 3-9pm we will be celebrating with music, pan de muerto, tamales, face painting, an exhibit of altares and a procession through the Alazán Apache Courts. Be sure to join us! La Voz de Esperanza has celebrated Día de los muertos every November since 1999 by publishing CALAVERAS and LITERARY OFRENDAS. Calaveras gives everyone a chance to poke fun at family and friends in verse or to use satire and wicked lyrics to kill off live personalities that are not worthy of our reverence and respect. Literary ofrendas, on the other hand, are a way of remembering those that we do cherish with stories, poems or written memories. Calaveras and literary ofrendas can be sent to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org or dropped off at 922 San Pedro Ave. in San Antonio. I have been known to pick them up—if you call 210.228.0201. Calavera artwork is also needed! Join in the fun! In this issue of La Voz, María Berriozábal reports on the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force and Greg Harmon asks Who Owns CPS Energy? They, with the writers of Stories of the Bus Station Ministries, remind us to stay involved and make a difference! —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.
María Antonietta Berriozábal Reports on her Service on the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force August 2017 – September 2018 San Antonio, Texas Editor’s note: This report is from a member of the Housing Policy Task Force of San Antonio who is reporting to her community of accountability. It was written before the recent vote that City Council took accepting the report. María shares some insights on the report her that she and her colleagues on the Task Force finalized with Mayor Nirenberg’s blessing. She has also written an addendum in this issue of La Voz reflecting on the Report
after the vote to accept the report was passed by City Council on September 6th. —The Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force consisted of five (5) advisors appointed by the Mayor to assist with the development of a comprehensive and compassionate policy framework to address the pressing affordable housing challenges that our city faces with input from community stakeholders.—
____
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
In August of last year, MayI believe our final report or Ron Nirenberg named me reflects a consensus of our to the Mayor’s Housing Policy diverse group. It may not be Task Force (MHPTF) along with what any of us would have Lourdes Castro Ramírez, Chair written completely on our of the group, Jim Bailey, Gene own, but the report incorpoDawson and Noah García. We rates recommendations that worked for a whole year to be are the most important to in a position to present the final each one of us and the comreport to the Mayor and Council. munities, perspectives and (Links to the report and to experiences we represent. SA 2020 summaries in English Each of us agreed on the and Spanish are at the end of most important point and that this missive. Also, note Page 11 is how it should be impleof the report where all recommented. mendations are listed.) Instead of simply recomMayor’s Housing Policy Task Force Member María Antoinetta Berriozábal introduces While it has been a year mending what our City herself at the first Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force meeting. BONNIE ARBITTIER / RIVARD REPORT of hard work, I am grateful to should do, we also specified Mayor Nirenberg for creating this task force, naming me to serve how to implement those recommendations, as described in what and giving us his support throughout our process. I am also grateful we called the implementation strategies. to each member of the City Council who took time to meet with Of all our recommendations we believe that “Develop[ing] us. I appreciate the work of our consultants, of the mayor’s staff A Coordinated Housing System” is the most needed. And we and city staff. Above all, I greatly value everyone”s participation believe the most effective implementation strategy is to “Immediin our bottom up effort of which I am very proud. Our efforts have ately create an executive position in the City Manager’s office to seen that for the first time in the history of our city we have a data lead housing and neighborhood-related activities and integrate driven housing policy framework that describes not just how seriwith all city functions. [Page 28 of our report.] Not having a ous our housing problems have become—but we are also making very-high-level executive to coordinate a housing system is a recommendations on beginning to address some of these issues. critical reason why excellent recommendations made in the past I say “beginning” because our work is just that. Our task force decades have not yet been executed. Here’s why: will dissolve and it will be up to the people of San Antonio to assure 1. At least for the past three decades that I have been monitorthe implementation of the report. I do not want this to be one more ing and have been engaged in housing issues of San Antonio, report that sits on some shelf. I do not want it to be a list of action including the entire decade of the 1980’s when I served on the items where someone picks and chooses what parts are implemented City Council, work that affects residents’ housing security has and which are not. My four colleagues and I believe the urgency of been performed across many different departments, commisour housing situation for San Antonio residents demands immediate sions, and city funded housing entities operating on behalf of action. Fortunately, you will be able to participate again in a year the City of San Antonio. Currently, there are over thirty such when a report is made to the public on implementation.
3
Disinvestment • Everyone needs a place to call home • Gentrificatio direct ways for residents to communicate with their government and it can foster more public participation and trust. It also promotes accountability. Additionally, there are other factors that make this report different and I want to cite some successes that have been already achieved.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
places tasked with housing matters, programs and processes that affect the preservation, rehabilitation and production of housing, all essential pathways to close the housing gap for all income levels. Critical in this is the focus on affordable housing. Because our challenges will intensify as we experience more growth and more stress on our neighborhoods, time has run out for continuing to do what we have always done, which has led to our current housing security gap. Additionally, those most affected negatively by lack of good communication are those who have the most serious problems and the least resources. We no longer can allow housing to be addressed in silos with people not being able to communicate properly.
4
2. Some of what we are recommending are more improved ways of doing what is already being done, but much of what we recommend are new ways of addressing old issues and being innovative in addressing them. We need more staff capacity and more expertise in housing matters. It is only through the vision of an executive with a comprehensive and complete view of all housing functions and needs as well as with sufficient authority to identify appropriate human resources that we can assure an effectively run housing system. 3. Because housing and neighborhood development are impacted by zoning, historic preservation, planning issues and direct services such as repairs having a coordinated housing system led by a high-level-executive, can create improved and more
1. Our bottom up process included 588 unduplicated participants in working groups, public meetings and working meetings. Our reach was into the diverse communities that make up our city. This outreach is essential as one of the areas of government that will become even more critical in the coming months and years as issues become more complex. It is a much better way for the City to communicate with its public. 2. Housing and particularly affordable housing has been made a top-level issue at City Hall. This is historic. At their budget goal setting session a majority of the City Council members asked that it be made a priority in the 2019 – 2020 budget. 3. A majority of the Council members supported our efforts, although all had questions, as they should. Because of this, the budget discussion City Council had last month included a housing section, and data from our report was used in the staff’s presentation which recommended increased funding for affordable housing. As I have indicated, I learned about housing needs from my own District-1 thirty years ago. It was the needs that I saw every day and the requests for help from my constituents that led the way to my deeper understanding and concern for housing. Unfortunately, housing was not a city priority at that time. I spent years working with many of my wonderful constituents engaged in struggles protecting our housing and dealing with major disinvestment in our inner city. That was the time when leaders in our older neighborhoods – that precious protective layer around our downtown – started the creation of Neighborhood Master Plans hoping that those plans would protect their neighborhoods in an uncertain future. Those were years when we had a much stronger investment in federal monies (CDBG) coming into the city and some of that investment went into low-income housing.
Most definitely just as water, transportation and energy are part of our city’s infrastructure, housing is also infrastructure. Government has the responsibility to address it.
on • Affordable Housing • Housing, A Human Right • Displacement
María Antonietta Berriozábal, September 3, 2018 This is a link to our report and to the SA 2020 summary in English and Spanish. http://bit.ly/SA_housing_PDF http://bit.ly/SA_2020_reports
After the Vote. . . On September 6, many members of our San Antonio community came to City Council and waited more than three hours to voice their support for the recommendations of the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force, and share their concerns about the state of housing in San Antonio. All but one citizen testified in favor of Council passing the resolution to accept the report, which they did in a 8 - 1 vote, with one member absent and one not in the Chamber at the time of the vote. As community members pointed out in their remarks, the challenge now is to implement the Task Force’s recommendations. We can’t allow this report to sit on a shelf as has happened with so many past housing initiatives. We need Council and City staff to act, and for that to happen, we need to act. We need to educate ourselves, stay informed, and stay engaged on housing issues. We need to advocate alongside our most vulnerable neighbors, and recognize that housing discrimination is a fact of life for immigrants, LGBTQ residents, seniors, and low income families and individuals. The most urgent action now, in my mind, is the implementing of recommendations to protect people from displacement. As our city continues to grow, our neighbors who have been, or are at risk of displacement, will continue to be the most vulnerable people in our city. The City is leading a process to create a displacement prevention policy and mitigation fund, and the voices of those impacted by displacement need to be included in that process. There is a great deal of work to be done in order to achieve our vision for safe and affordable housing for all San Antonians, and it will require us to push policies forward, and hold our elected leaders and public servants accountable to make it happen. It will also require transparency in the tools we have now, including the Housing Trust and Housing Commission, and a laser focus on housing for the most vulnerable. Our work is just beginning and I hope you’ll join me in making our city a community for all. —MAB
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
The COPS organization took advantage of that and the housing investments in the south side and west side were made thanks to those funds and that leadership. In the future, however, those funds will probably be reduced. Through our efforts the City created a neighborhood department that operated for a while but at some point it closed. With the help of COPS, I was able to lead in the creation of the San Antonio Housing Trust. That is a great vehicle with much flexibility that can be used to meet a variety of housing needs. Today, it is in much need of review so that it can fulfill the goals for which it was created. In those years we had no comprehensive housing policy and we still don’t. It is with this lens that I have viewed our effort this past year. As far as our housing problems, we are not where other cities are today with tent cities along major roadways, but we have serious signs of what is coming. Already in areas in the south side and in my own near downtown, north side neighborhood there are encampments that the homeless have set up. Some people have already set up tents. And there is the history of the tragic displacement at Mission Trails where about 300 people were displaced. Today, there is also the displacement at the Soapworks/Towncenter. For many people homelessness is one paycheck or an illness away, but in many instances the road to homelessness starts with problems in some part of our housing ecological system. Absence of good housing policy is a main culprit. Today in our housing ecological system there are areas in serious need of attention. There is a great need for housing rehabilitation in large areas of the city, especially in those neighborhoods where the oldest housing is situated. There is a need for affordable and low-income housing to be constructed. There is a need for people to obtain help so they can stay in their homes. This is particularly true for seniors who wish to age in place. In addition to all these, vigilance and action is needed in fair housing. Most definitely just as water, transportation and energy are part of our city’s infrastructure, housing is also infrastructure. Government has the responsibility to address it. We have shown the problems. We have made some recommendations in which our government leaders need to take the lead. As San Antonians we must push for implementation. But in my heart of hearts I feel that ours is just one step in a long process that goes into the future. The responsibility belongs to all of us. We need to see housing as a human right and a matter of justice. We help people with their housing needs because it is the right thing to do. The mantra of our task force has been: Everyone needs a place to call home. I hope it will be adopted as a mantra for many of you for today and for the future. Thank you, again, for your participation.
5
Who Owns CPS Energy? Decision to exclude nearly 40 percent of CPS Energy emissions from evolving Climate Action & Adaptation Plan revives long-standing debate.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
Greg Harman
6
million tons of emissions from The seats are pulled up in private industry, also initially a large circle at the Esperanza excluded, have since been added Peace & Justice Center as back, thanks to strong pushback so often happens in activfrom the various CAAP citizen ist spaces. Nuclear power. working groups.) Community organizing. Solar The Navigant consultant deployment. Green spaces. guiding the process explained Climate destruction. the decision by saying that All things energy are attorneys for the City and CPS on the table at Climate AcEnergy, and the Office of the tion SA’s first community Mayor had agreed to the excluconversation—a climate sion. Among the justifications plática—about City-owned for exclusion is the suggestion CPS Energy’s vision for that San Antonio doesn’t have the future. “operational control” over the “What do you mean that Mary Agnes Rodriguez represents at historic climate justice rally last summer during the utility it owns—and certainly city’s mayor runoff. windmills are the same as not the 37 percent of the power gas plants?” asks one participant of another, digging into one it sells to communities outside City limits. more brief debate, intended to target local relationships with The assertion by representatives of the Office of Sustainability energy and energy justice. and Navigant Consulting cuts to the heart of long-standing commuThe event is inspired by the recent release of CPS Energy’s nity grievances over how the utility is—or rather, is not—managed. “flex plan,” suggesting coal power up to 2042 and possibly beyond To smooth anticipated agitations, the draft emissions invenand a remarkably slow investment in new renewables (the soonest tory stated: “CPS Energy will track emissions for their broader serious investment occurs in solar in the mid-’30s). It’s a vision the service area and will have comprehensive initiatives to reduce Alamo Group of the Sierra Club has come out strongly against. emissions to benefit the entire area.” While the council and mayor were invited to the event, only It was an accounting recommendation met with skepticism by John Courage (Council District 9) is among us—without doubt one some steering committee members. of the most progressive and accessible councilmembers. “To keep with Paris on a global scale, I don’t know how relAfter patiently listening for more than 30 minutes, Courage evant the City of San Antonio’s boundaries are,” steering member offers that City Council has very limited control over CPS Energy. Peter Bella said. “I consider CPS Energy owned by the City and “All we can do is approve their rate increase requests,” he says. operated by the City.” He’s not alone in his misunderstanding of the relationship beCAAP managers seemed to be going against best practices tween the City and the utility it purchased in 1942. And that has defined by some greenhouse protocols, such as the US Community begun to cause complications in the Climate Action & Adaptation Protocol, which requires inclusion of “all emissions from energy Plan (CAAP) process. production and energy use in energy industries,” as well as “all Last summer, the San Antonio City Council announced it emissions from the generation of energy for grid-distributed elecwould pursue a pathway to meet the non-binding international tricity, steam, heat and cooling.” Paris Agreement. The hope: That even without the support of the The top three questions the Protocol asks cities to consider U.S. President, the rest of the nations of the world—and commitwhen identifying areas over which they have most influence, ted U.S. cities and states—would hold global temperature rise to include: Do I own it? Do I have operational control? Do I have under two-degrees Celsius. regulatory authority over it? In July, climate planners presented volunteer members of the The lack of transparency and community engagement at CPS CAAP steering committee and various technical working groups Energy have been sore points for clean energy advocates and social a plan to catalogue existing emissions. We were creating a target, and environmental activists for decades. So, in many ways, this so we knew how much emissions needed to reduce to meet our question of emissions is a perfect opportunity to hash that out. required contribution to “meeting Paris.” Let’s start with the broad strokes of this power dynamic at One problem leapt to the fore. Texas Government Code Section 1502.070, “Management and Nearly 40 percent of CPS Energy’s 11.34 million tons of annual Control of Utility System.” greenhouse emissions were not included in that inventory. (Over a There we see that while CPS is indeed a City-owned utility,
day-to-day management and many other key tasks are assigned out to an appointed Board of Trustees, composed of four members and San Antonio’s sitting mayor. This Board appoints and manages CPS Energy’s executive officers— the CEO, COO, various VP’s, etc. Like a corporation, the CEO and management oversee day-today operations. The Board receives regular reports from management and holds monthly meetings. However, it is the San Antonio City Council that appoints those trustees and defines the scope of their duties and authority. It is the San Antonio City Council that controls utility rate adjustments, the issuing of bonds, decides cases of eminent domain, and sets policy at a broad level. It is the City that placed power in the hands of a Board of Trustees—power they can also take away. If sufficiently motivated, the Council could adopt an arrangement whereby the City Council becomes the Board of Trustees, such as is practiced in Austin. It could be argued that the board arrangement, often used to define the utility’s distance from the Council, is actually a tool of
ICLEI, is an acronym for the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, now known simply as Local Governments for Sustainability. Perhaps operational control is in the eye of the beholder. More likely, historical “misunderstandings” have simply served a council that likes to take refuge in the shelter it allows. While adjustments have been made in response to feedback on the initial inventory, such as roping in the massive emissions from the cement batching plants, the CPS matter remains as it was. In this, the generators of the “flex” plan, and those suggesting the lack of operational control, are saying: “Trust us.” Those laboring for a clean-energy future, such as the many volunteers at Climate Action SA, of which Esperanza Peace & Justice Center is a member, aren’t waiting for the utility reportback. We recognize we are morally obligated to do everything we can to slow and reverse climate change for those families being devastated by increasingly violent weather events right now and for those generations to come who we have already overburdened with an exis-
San Antonio City Ordinance
“operational control” on behalf of the City. It is indisputably the Council that leads in this dance. If San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared tomorrow, “We’re taking San Antonio to net-zero carbon on all energy generation by 2030,” CPS would be forced to swing into action. The U.S. Community Protocol for Accounting and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, suggests time and again that cities go deep and broad with estimating climate emissions. It is anticipated “but not required” that cities like San Antonio focus their work on “emission sources and activities over which they have significant influence.” They may also choose to widen their scope to those areas they don’t have regulatory authority over—such as “emissions that result from activities such as the use of energy, materials, and services by all members of the community. These emissions may be occurring within or outside of the community boundary.” ICLEI, which developed that protocol, is skeptical of decisions to leave out these broader emissions, since failing to do so “provides a much less complete story of how the community contributes to climate change, as many community activities ... contribute to emissions from trans-boundary sources.”
tential challenge. To accomplish this, we must clearly identify the largest culprits, the coal and gas plants powering the city, as well as the cement kilns, gas-guzzling transportation, military bases, and our landfills. Barring that, without a clear target, there is no way to know at what point our effort has been successful—that we have achieved, indeed exceeded, localized Paris-level reductions. Given that uncertainty, Climate Action SA’s campaign to eradicate San Antonio’s worst offender—CPS coal power—by 2025 becomes even more critical. From there we can move confidently to a net-zero energy sector by 2030. All the while, this shift from an extractive polluting economy must advance and evolve in San Antonio until we are not only not polluting, where we absorb more greenhouse pollution than we emit, but grows a just and regenerative economy serving all our residents. This is the justice vision at root in Paris and one that must be tended and cultivated in San Antonio consistently all along the climate action process. Note: A version of this article was previously published at http://deceleration.news | Website: climateactionsa.com
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
The Board of Trustees, in exercising the management powers granted herein, will ensure that policies adopted affecting research, development, and corporate planning will be consistent with City Council policy, and policies adopted by the Board of Trustees pertaining to such matters will be subject to City Council review.
7
Snippets from San Antonio’s Bus Station Ministry Editor’s Note: The Trump administration took steps on September 6th toward withdrawing from a court agreement limiting the government’s ability to hold minors in immigration jails, a move that could lead to the rapid expansion of detention facilities and unlimited detention for children. The proposed changes attempt to change the Flores Settlement Agreement that limits children’s detention to 20 days. The Trump administration and the state of Texas are actively attacking legal limits meant to protect migrant children from indefinite detention and substandard conditions. Such a move could impact the work of San Antonio’s “bus station ministries”.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
From: Penelope (Penny) Boyer’s Facebook Post, July 2, 2018
8
people had met in the U.S. outLast Thursday, I joined the side the detention centers. Some Backpack Ministry aka the Bus of us dispensed over the counter Station Ministry, a project of meds while others of us distribthe Interfaith Welcome Coaliuted toy trucks and flirty finger tion here in San Antonio which puppets. Diapers and sanitary trained me the week before to pads were readily received. go to the Greyhound Station Blankets, water bottles, coloring to hand out backpacks filled books and crayons, came in the with sundries and essentials for backpacks which, in addition families being released from to the one or two recyclable detention centers in Karnes grocery bags each family aland Dilley on their way to their ready had for all of their earthly sponsors across these allegbelongings, became their only edly United States of America. luggage—that and the clothes I had also been trained to sit on their back. Sack lunches were with these folks, mostly moms with no English traveling with circulated. I stole a small stack The Interfaith Welcome Coalition visits the families in detention, feeds and clothes at least one child from fraught of paper bags from the bus stathem after they are released and puts them up in temporary shelters around San Antonio. Jeremy Photo: Redmon/jredmon@ajc.com circumstances including who tion’s cafeteria counter to give knows how long holed up in who knows what conditions at to a mom for her listless son’s vomit. A mom asked me if I could these detention centers after fleeing who knows what traumatic loosen her ICE-issued “ankle bracelet”--the women called them situation in who knows what country south of the Texas border. I shackles—she showed me how it was clearly bound too tightly; I was to sit with these moms and map their journey from here over could not help her, even though I wanted to cut the damn things the next few days. Four of us, from 10am to 5pm, distributed 55 off. I got a hug around my legs from a little girl, and saw several knapsacks representing 55 families consisting of 2+ people. Over women cry then stare distantly as their sobbing stopped. Some 100 individuals’ tickets were analyzed and explained, maps were would sit there well into the evening before their first bus came. diagramed showing where each ticket went, charts were filled in Most had several connections over the next few days; some with arrival and departure times explaining layovers and when wouldn’t reach their destinations until Sunday night. This was to change buses and when not to. We were the first people these Thursday. Every so often a few families would be mobilized
and moved to the priority area for boarding a bus that had just arrived. This would happen quickly with no time for goodbyes, swiftly off to the next leg of their journey. The ministry’s phone was passed around for short calls to sponsors, informing them of
arrival times. These rituals at the San Antonio Greyhound Station happen daily. Fifty to seventy-five families passing through there a day. Seven days a week.
From: Michelle Rumbaut Our group of volunteers is organized under the passionate leadership of Sister Denise and the grassroots umbrella of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. The outrage over family separations has sparked a backlash from immigrant supporters with hundreds of volunteers stepping up to help. A few, like me, started this work in direct and immediate response to the ’16 elections. The debacle of the separated families and mandated reunifications impacted our corner of the world. During the court mandated acute phase of reunifications, we received urgent emails from the IWC and Catholic Charities that we needed to
rev up our process to accept what was projected to be hundreds of reunified families going through the San Antonio bus and airport systems. The Karnes detention center had been converted into a reunification center, and recently was repurposed again for fathers and sons. Dilley continues to operate as a “regular” detention center with an increasing number of both moms and dads and their kids coming directly from McAllen, Texas, across from Reynosa, Mexico. A night in detention at these for profit Core Civic centers is about $350 per family. A snippet from a typical shift at the bus station follows:
Continued on Next Page
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
Today we had 68 families, or about 30 moms mostly with one I assured her that I had more cash in the car and that I would be child each and a few with two. I right back. was one of two volunteers, and I did come right back, with the only Spanish speaker until $40 dollars folded for her. I 3pm. I prepared this morning didn’t typically give more than with a LOT of $10 and $20 $20 at a time since there isn’t bills, courtesy of many genermuch opportunity to buy much ous donors including several along the way but I thought of my brother’s colleagues. I she needed extra assurance. started putting those $10 and No doubt, every woman could $20 bills to good use distributeasily use $100 just to get ing to moms without money. started in their new home, but I’m always struck by what I if I were to do that then the believe to be pure and consistent cash wouldn’t spread as far. I honesty from these moms. I always second guess myself also skimmed through my kids’ later and wish I’d given more, books that I used to read to my but that can be an endless loop. then-young sons, and found a There was so much commobeautiful one of hidden animals A child sleeps early one morning at the bus station while waiting for a bus to take tion going on then at that spot, him to stay with his family while they fight to stay in the U.S. in the forest. I was later so glad Jeremy Redmon/jredmon@ajc.com that I asked her to step about for both the bills and the book. 15 feet away by a column so One event really stood out for me, though. While we were it would not be SO obvious that I was giving her cash in front dealing with the two busloads from Dilley, Catholic Charities of others. Normally, I slip them the cash while talking about the called around 1pm to say they would be dropping off a newly itinerary, or shake their hand, or other motion. I kick myself now reunited mom and her 7-year-old boy so they could catch their that I didn’t do something similar with her, instead of asking her 1:50 bus heading to New York City. She stood out among the to step away. other moms who were all in Civic Core standard issue solid color Within that 2 minute time-frame, the boy looked up and t-shirts and dark jeans. She was wearing “civilian clothes” from noticed that mom was gone and fell to pieces. Mom returned a selection of clothes recently donated. She appeared to be in her immediately, and hugged him tightly, assuring him she would not late 20s—pretty, dark haired and very anxious. leave him, but it took a lot to bring him down emotionally. A man I reviewed her six-bus itinerary with her explaining the path at the detention center had told her that she and her son would and times and that she would be arriving to NYC on Sunday need psychological care for the rest of their lives. afternoon, where her sister would pick her up. I asked her if she In the midst of this storm I find the hidden animals book had been separated from her son, and she said yes, for 40 days. that I had brought and start looking at it with the boy, Brian. He She said she did nothing but cry those 40 days. She said she was enjoyed it, hunting for animals, maybe even laughing. Then mom nervous about this trip before, but that after that trauma she is bends down and tells him she needs to go to the bathroom. He now terrified. And she mentioned she did not have a dime, and freaks out again, shaking his head, saying no! So I offer to go to didn’t know how she would be able to feed her boy. I had just the bathroom with her, and him and the book. While mom uses given my last bill from my purse to a mom I had spoken with, but one of the stalls, Brian and I delve into the forest book by the
9
OLLU to mark 50th anniversary of 1968 Civil Rights Hearings
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
Conference will examine the progress of civil rights for Mexican Americans
10
A native of El Paso, Texas, Our Lady of the Lake University Avena attended the 1968 hearings (OLLU) will host a national conferon assignment for the U.S. Comence in November that reviews a mission on Civil Rights. He was landmark 1968 hearing on Civil supposed to spend six months in Rights issues facing Mexican AmerSan Antonio. He never left. icans and examines the progress that Avena serves as a co-spokeshas been made for the nation’s largperson for the “50 Years Later” est minority over the past 50 years. project, along with Rosie Castro “Holding Up The Mirror: The who attended the 1968 hearings as 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Civil a student at Our Lady of the Lake Rights Commission Hearing on MexCollege. She is the mother of Julián ican Americans in the Southwest,” and Joaquín Castro. will be held Nov. 15-17, 2018, in The 2018 conference will Chapel Auditorium. Speakers include feature civil-rights leaders, higherformer U.S. Housing Secretaries education leaders and historians Julián Castro, Henry Cisneros and discussing current issues, such as Congressman Joaquín Castro. changing civil rights, demographics, The conference will include a Left to Right: Maria Antonietta Berriozábal, Mario Compean, Congressman immigration, political participation retrospective look at the six-day, 1968 hearing — held at Our Lady of Joaquín Castro, Ignacio Pérez, Irma Mireles, Rosie Castro and Richard Avena and voting rights, as well as the —Photo taken at Castro’s office in San Antonio, January 2016. critical issues of 1968. the Lake University on Dec. 9-14, At that time, for example, Bexar County had nine school dis1968 — as well as a contemporary review of the civil rights challenges tricts. All of them, except one, were led by Anglo male superintenfacing Latinos in education, employment, economics and the admindents. Today, Latinos and other minorities serve as superintendents istration of justice. The chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in the San Antonio ISD, Edgewood ISD, Judson ISD, East Central Catherine E. Lhamon, and the staff director, Mauro Morales, will ISD and other area school districts. attend the conference. The 1968 hearings drew severe criticism from the established “The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was the first federal leadership in San Antonio. But the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, presiagency to spend resources in an attempt to examine the rights of dent of Notre Dame University and vice chairman of the commisMexican Americans in the Southwest,” said J. Richard Avena, sion, offered this response: “All we do is hold up a mirror to the retired Southwest Regional Director of the U.S. Commission on community and let them tell us if there are any problems. And that’s Civil Rights. “Fifty years later, a group of former employees of the commission, as well as academicians, legal experts and community what we’re doing here.” For more information visit: www.50yearslater.org. leaders, will come together to see what changes have been made and what still needs to be done.”
Bus Ministry Continued from Previous Page sinks. It works, he’s ok. I gift the book to him, knowing it will keep him occupied during the next 48 hours. The three of us hug several times and I tell her how ashamed I am of how they were treated, and how many people across the US are outraged and sad and are supportive of them. After a big group of moms leave on the 1:50pm bus, the next bus out isn’t until 4:30pm so I offer the River Walk tour. Almost all of the remaining moms take me up on it. The kids’ eyes light up at the waterfalls and fountains and ducks and tall buildings. The moms look relaxed and this provides a bit of time for chatting. One mom told me that had she known what the journey would be like before she left home, she would not have done it. It has been horrible. Like waiting in Reynosa for three days and nights with no food or water, as the Mexican police took every-
thing she owned. And that once, the border patrol found her and put her in the Hielera (icebox), where the best that was provided to them was frozen sandwiches literally thrown at them as though they were dogs. None of the moms I met yesterday had been separated from their child to another location. Those that I asked replied, I would die if that would have happened. Some of the most vulnerable are those who don’t even speak Spanish, who speak an Indian dialect from deep rural Honduran or Guatemalan villages, who often cannot read and rarely have a dime. Imagine how they feel. So glad for this opportunity to help these brave women, though I have no plausible solution for how to fix this broken immigration system surrounded by so many broken countries. On the way home from the bus station, NPR was running stories about how credible fear interviews are increasingly difficult to pass, and that immigrants are being deported at the border itself in increasing numbers within the past few weeks. I guess the moms I am seeing are the lucky ones. For now.
Update on DACA after the August 31, 2018 Court Decision in Texas v. U.S.
application now.
What is this case about?
What happens next in
What happens next for DACA?
The question whether DACA is legal, and whether the Trump Administration properly announced a phase-out of DACA in September 2017, is still moving through federal courts around the country. Although DACA continues to be in effect for renewals, the lawsuits are likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final decision on DACA.
What should I do if I have DACA? If your work permit expires in one year or less, MALDEF recommends you submit your renewal
Where can I read the decision for myself? You can access the decision here: bit.ly/ daca_ruling
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
In May 2018, almost six the Texas v. US case? years after DACA began, Texas and the other states Texas filed a multi-state challenging DACA are lawsuit, Texas v. U.S. likely to appeal to the against the federal govU.S. Court of Appeals for ernment. The Texas lawthe Fifth Circuit, which suit seeks to end DACA will review Judge Hanen’s and declare DACA ildecision. legal. Because the Trump Judge Hanen concluded Administration will An Austin Youth Walkout Rally for a Clean Dream Act Now was held in front that even if Texas and the not defend DACA and of U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s downtown Austin office at 221 W. 6th St. on other challenger states seeks to end it, MALDEF November 9, 2017. The event was held to bring attention to Congress to remedy President Trump killing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals “may ultimately prevail represents 22 DACA (DACA) program. RALPH BARRERA / AMERICAN-STATESMAN and prove [that DACA is recipients who have illegal], given the delay entered the case to defend DACA. The first thing in confronting DACA, and given that the interthat Texas and the other plaintiff states asked of the court was to block DACA immediately (this is ests of the Defendant-Intervenors and the public outweigh those of the Plaintiff States, the Court known as a preliminary injunction). denies the request for preliminary relief.” (Opinion at 115). What did the court decide on Judge Hanen ruled in our favor on three of the August 31st? four elements of the preliminary injunction test Judge Andrew Hanen denied Texas’s request for which is enough for the Fifth Circuit to affirm this a preliminary injunction. This means that DACA ruling on appeal. It is also important to note that is not blocked. Other courts around the country have ordered DACA to continue for renewals. As a we have strong arguments about the legality of result, DACA continues to be in effect for renewals. DACA. If Texas appeals, the Fifth Circuit will take a fresh look at our legal arguments.
11
Dear San Antonio: I’m gone but not lost. Letters to the World from Your Voting Rights Hero Willie Velasquez on the Occasion of His Rebirth.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
By Bárbara Renaud González
12
Over 50% of the public schoolchildren in Texas are Brown/Black. More than 2 ½ million students. Yet, they don’t know their stories. Illustration by Feda Zidan 2018, Auris Project The young need to see themselves as (s)heroes in their story as they navigate their way in the world. The (s)heroes story teaches the moral value of generosity, humility, and the power of love. “We know the stories of the Holocaust. World War II. The Alamo. But we don’t know the stories of Texas’ cultural, artistic, and political (s)heroism.” These (s)heroes are the Tejas the young need to know about so they can make even richer contributions, says Bárbara Renaud González, a published writer (first Chicana novel to be published by the University of Texas Press, 2009—Golondrina, why did you leave me?) Now a non-profit, Alazan Arts Letters & Stories (AALAS) from San Antonio, a 501(c)3 founded by writer Bárbara Renaud González, is determined to tell the greatest stories of her community that deserve to be widely known by the young and the young “forevers.” Willie Velasquez died thirty years ago at the age of 44. “God (‘the Big One’) has told Willie Velasquez that it’s time for him to examine his life. And on the 30th anniversary of his death, the late voting rights champion does, in a series of heartfelt letters to his community, his wife, and the world. Based on a true story, the letters recount Willie’s childhood memories, dreams, confessions, and most of all, his landmark achievements in democracy.” From the barrios of San Antonio, Texas, Willie
Published by Alazan Arts Letters & Stories www.alazanstories. org (AALAS)-Facebook page $14.99 Paperback Available October 28th on Amazon
Velásquez transformed the national electoral landscape through his voting rights efforts on behalf of Latina/ os. As founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), he organized 1000 voter registration drives in more than 200 communities across the Southwest and beyond. He won 85 voting rights lawsuits and doubled the number of Latino elected officials from about 1500 in 1974 to more than 3300 in 1988. In 1995, he posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Clinton at the White House. “As a Latina writer, I believe we have to tell our great stories – greatly. AND we must also greatly reach our community…If we don’t reach our young, we risk our democracy if they don’t know about Willie Velásquez,” says Ms. Renaud González. The National Launch of Dear San Antonio: I’m gone but not lost. is scheduled for November 2, 2018 at the Guadalupe Annex. The introduction from this new publication follows:
“A buoyant, instructional, timely, and offbeat biography.” -Kirkus Review
A Collection of Poetry by Randi M. Romo Published by Sibling Rivalry Press This book is dedicated to ALL who have been “Othered”, by policies, laws, institutions, pulpits and bullies. It is in memory of those who did not survive the struggle; those who died silent deaths in the throes of the consequences of being seen and treated as “other”. Those taken by violence and those by their own despair, because they were “othered”. This book is for all those who have survived and those who remain in struggle. It is a hope that we can learn to truly see one another and find our most common element, human. This book is also dedicated to my beloved daughter, whose life was deeply impacted by the penalties of “other” and who paid the ultimate price, with her life.
This watch tells time decorates my wrist weighty in its gold and silver presence but it’s neither
IN TIME
jewelry nor timekeeper it’s forgiveness the first taste of understanding it’s an exhale a moment when I knew that my mother truly saw me
when shopping one day she took me—her only daughter to the counter where men shop for watches and helped me pick out this watch
that tells time very well both hands pointing right at the moment that I knew my mother saw me and loved me completely
. . . Othered is more than a collection of poetry; it is proof positive that becoming one’s true self is still the most revolutionary act that any human being can undertake. Randi M. Romo shows us how it’s done—with courage, great care, and community.” — JAMES LECESNE, co-foundor of The Trevor Project
Distributed by Ingram and Sibling Rivalry Press • info@siblingrivalrypress.com
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
O t he r e d
13
* community meetings * LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
14
Amnesty International #127 Call Arthur @ 210.213.5919 for info.
oasanantonio.org | 210.492.5400.
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., 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
¡Todos Somos Esperanza! Start your monthly donations now! Esperanza works to bring awareness and action on issues relevant to our communities. With our vision for social, environmental, economic and gender justice, Esperanza centers the voices and experiences of the poor & working class, women, queer people and people of color. We hold pláticas and workshops; organize political actions; present exhibits and performances and document and preserve our cultural histories. We consistently challenge City Council and the corporate powers of the city on issues of development, low-wage jobs, gentrification, clean energy and more. It takes all of us to keep the Esperanza going. What would it take for YOU to become a monthly donor? Call or come by the Esperanza to learn how.
¡Esperanza vive! ¡La lucha sigue, sigue! FOR INFO: Call 210.228.0201 or email: esperanza@esperanzacenter.org
Start your 2018 tax-deductible donations to Esperanza today! I would like to donate $________ each month by automatic bank withdrawal. Contact me to sign up.
I would like to send $________ each ___ month ___ quarter ___ six-months through the mail.
Name _____________________________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip ______________________________________________________________________________ Phone ____________________________Email_____________________________________________________ For more information, call 210-228-0201 Make checks payable to the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center. Send to 922 San Pedro, SA TX 78212. Donations to the Esperanza are tax deductible.
Enclosed is a donation of ___ $1000 ___ $500 ___ $250 ___ $100
___ $50
___ $15
___ 10
___ $25
La Voz Subscription ___ $35 Individuals ___ $100 Institutions ___ other $ _______________ I would like to volunteer Please use my donation for the Rinconcito de Esperanza
Notas Y Más October 2018
San Antonio College will host Gabby Rivera, writer of Marvel’s new comic, AMERICA—the first Latina lesbian superhero created by a major publisher. “Inspiring Radical Creativity: An Evening with Gabby Rivera,” will take place Monday, October 1st at 7pm in McAllister Auditorium. The event is part of SAC’s Raza Heritage Month and LGBTQ History Month. Free! Three Centuries of Latino Writing and Resistance in San Antonio, a plática with Raúl Coronado, Carmen Tafolla, Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, and Gerald Poyo takes place on October 4th from 6-8pm at the Central Library, 600 Soledad. The final chapter of a public talk on San Antonio’s Tricentennial and the literary history of the city brings together writers, literary scholars and historians to examine the development of Latino literary identity and sensibility, from the 1800’s to now, highlighting San Antonio’s position as a “Lettered City,” the Chicano Movement, and more. Raúl Coronado will be sign-
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.
ing copies of his award-winning book A World Not to Come. Free. geminiink.org San Antonio College will host a panel discussion on the book, Queer Brown Voices for LGBTQ History Month with Gloria Ramirez, Dennis Medina, Brad Veloz and Luis Mercado, moderator, at the Lecture Hall 101 in the Longwith RTF Building (Main @ Courtland) on Wednesday, October 10th at 10:50 am. Free event & parking. The Other Side of the Alamo: Art Against the Myth, an exhibit of selected Chicano/a artists’ works countering mainstream myths of the Alamo’s iconic status, continues through October 12th at the Guadalupe Galeria, 723 S. Brazos St. A Symposium and Catalog Signing will take place on October 8th @ 7pm. Check www.guadalupeculturalarts.org/events
Author and historical reasearcher, Edna Campos Gravenhorst will present “My Tejano Roots” on October 13th at 2pm at the Central Library speaking about her family history and ranching in South Texas. She will also sign her most recent book, San Antonio’s Historic Market Square and her book, Té de Canela, A Mexican American in the United States. Guests may bring old family photos to scan onsite. Contact: excritora@att.net
1800 Fredericksburg Rd # 103, SA, TX 78201 www.centroaztlan.org
In collaboration with the Westside Preservation Alliance, the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center invites you to a speaker series highlighting recent efforts in community history & historic preservation in communities of color. Speakers will deliver a short presentation followed by an open conversation. Free to the public. OCTOBER 10, 2018 Roundtable on the History & Symbolism of Alamo Plaza with Dr. Richard Flores, author of Remembering the Alamo: Memory, Modernity, and the Master Symbol
NOVEMBER 8, 2018 Preserving African American Sites in Austin with Dr. Fred McGhee
OCTOBER 23, 2018 Resisting Barrio Displacement in El Paso with Dr. Yolanda Chávez Leyva
DECEMBER 6, 2018 Escuelitas & the Emergence of a Mexican American Identity in South Texas with Dr. Philis Barragán Goetz
Refreshments at 6:30pm, Speakers at 7pm.
@ Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, 922 San Pedro Ave. Call 210-228-0201 or see www.esperanzacenter.org
Dr. Yolanda Chávez Leyva, Director of UTEP-Institute of Oral History, who was instrumental in the creation of the community museum, Museo Urbano in El Paso, will be one of the series’ speakers.
This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and support of la Buena Gente de Esperanza.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
WESTSIDE COMMUNITY HISTORY & PRESERVATION SPEAKER SERIES
15
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2018 Vol. 31 Issue 8•
-Inside This Issue-
p. 3 - 5
¡Mú
p. 8 - 10 Immigration: Bus Station Ministry Stories & MALDEF update on DACA
muer s o l to de CELE
BR
AT
IO
si
ca
,
po
nc
he
y pa n!
fr O . 10:30 pm 1 s t 4S Thur .
Nov
@ Rinconcito de Esperanza 816 S. Colorado St.
e
a nd
s
Sat. October 20th
8pm • doors open @ 7pm
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org
N
ym
Noche Azul
New books by Barbara fresh from her new Renaud González & Randi Romo and info CD release on Westside Community History & Preservation Speakers’ Series
$7 más o menos | @ Esperanza 922 San Pedro Ave,. San Antonio TX
s
Día
City Politics: María Berriozábal on the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force & Greg Harmon on Who Owns CPS Energy?
p. 12 - 13
Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID San Antonio, TX Permit #332
Haven’topened Haven’t openedLa LaVoz Vozinina awhile? while? Prefer Prefertotoread readititonline? online?Wrong Wrongaddress? address? TO CANCEL AA SUBSCRIPTION SUBSCRIPTIONEMAIL Email:lavoz@esperanzacenter.org lavoz@esperanzacenter.orgCALL: CALL:210.228.0201 210.228.0201
ás
2018
210-228-0201 / www.esperanzacenter.org
Call for Calavera poems, Literary ofrendas + Art for November La Voz Deadline October 8th. Send to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org or come by Esperanza, 922 San Pedro.
29th Annual Mercado de Paz • Peace Market • 2018 Fri. & Sat., Nov 23 & 24 • 10am–6pm Sun., Nov 25 • 12pm–6pm global to local handmade gifts • arte • comidita • hourly raffles • live performances • 100 artesanos y más • free! Over 100 local & international vendors offering: traditional indigenous wear including huipiles, rebozos & quechquemitls; textiles of Chiapas, Puebla, Oaxaca & from Guatemala; folk art including alebrijes, retablos, milagros, nichos, santos & arboles de vida; the ancient arts of popotillo & feather paintings; Zapotec weavings & fine embroidery from Toluca; ancestral remedies & plants; artwork in clay, tin and canvas; natural body products & remedios; jewelry of chakira, metal & gems; leather & fiber arts; collectibles; Aztec calendar readings and products from Peru, Panama, India & more!
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center • 922 San Pedro Ave. San Antonio TX 78212 • www.esperanzacenter.org