a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
APRIL 2016, Vol. 29 Issue 3
Somos custodios de la naturaleza, de la tierra y sobre todo de los ríos –Berta Cáceres 1973 – 2016
San Antonio, Tejas
La Voz de Esperanza April 2016 vol. 29 Issue 3 Editor Gloria A. Ramírez Design Elizandro Carrington Contributors
Margot Backus, Itza Carbajal, Mario Carbajal, Rodney Klein & Eduardo Juárez, Colin Kloecker & Shanai Matteson, Beatrice Macin, Rachel Jennings, Joan P. Reese, Elva Pérez Treviño
La Voz Mail Collective (April)
Olga Crespin, Juan Diaz, Mary Esperiqueta, Charlie Esperiqueta, Araceli Herrera, Saúl Ibarra, Gloria Lozano, Christina Luna, Rosauro Luna, Josie M. Martin, Rachel Martínez, Ray McDonald, Angie Merla, Davina Merla, Ray & Lucy Pérez, Maria N. Reed, Mary A. Rodriguez, Guadalupe Segura, Roger Singler, Cynthia Spielman, Helen Suárez, Sandra Torres, Cynthia Szunyz, Helen Villarreal
Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez Esperanza Staff Imelda Arismendez, Elizandro Carrington, Eliza Pérez, Gianna Rendón, René Saenz, Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3•
Interns
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Paz García, Alexuss Green, Rachel Hanes, Nick Kim, Cameron King, Natalie Rodríguez
Conjunto de Nepantleras
-Esperanza Board of DirectorsRachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Jan Olsen, Ana Lucía Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Tiffany Ross, Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba, Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens
So, what is the theme of this month’s Voz?—I often get asked. I reply that we don’t have themes. Articles, poems, artwork and announcements are sent to La Voz monthly and they seemingly fit together. I have tried to explain this process but can only credit the universe for bringing together each issue. Take this issue, for example. When I heard about the assassination of Berta Cáceres, I knew that we had to pay tribute to her on our front page. We already had an article, written by Itza Carbajal and her father, Mario, Hondureños, about the Garifuna killings in Honduras (one being a trans person) and the oppressive conditions they endure with corporate land grabbing, violence in their communities and drug cartels. I asked Itza if she would also write about Berta. She immediately said, yes. Beatrice Marin, , who assists us by writing texts in Spanish—also agreed to write an article in Spanish on Cáceres. While reading about Berta I found out that she not only worked with the Lenca indigenous community in Honduras but also with the Garifuna. Oddly enough, the February and March issues of La Voz had had a story about a Garifuna woman, “Maribel”, who had fled the violence of Honduras only to be incarcerated in harsh conditions in a detention center in Texas. In February, we also published articles on Campus Carry and Open Carry laws in Texas that will permit people to carry guns—even on college campuses beginning in August. In this issue, we highlight professors who are openly protesting guns in their classrooms. In February, Nadine Saliba wrote about “Connecting the landscapes of a refugee crisis” reminding us of the Kurdish Syrian toddler, Alan Kurdi, that was washed ashore trying to cross from Turkey to Greece with his family. In the March Voz Randi Romo followed up with a poem for Alan and all Syrian refugees. In that issue we also had an article about the water crisis of Flint and parallels to San Antonio. In this issue, we began a two-part interview with Gianna Réndon about the water issue in San Antonio. In this issue of La Voz we began to look at the Supreme Court and the Fisher case (Part I of II) that will decide the fate of affirmative action in U.S. colleges and universities. We also have an article on San Antonio’s non-discrimination ordinance that may be affected by Supreme Court rulings in the future. We have come full circle making connections with issues of immigration, gun violence, racism, homophobia, environmental injustice, and so on. So, if we need to look for a theme in issues of La Voz, we will find it in one word: “intersectionality”— that is, that multiple forms of oppression are related and occur on multiple levels, locally and globally—and that these connections will continue to overlap affecting us directly. As such, when we hear about the killing of Berta Caceres, we mourn her death, but pay tribute to her life by continuing to work for social justice. ¡Berta Cáceres vive! —Gloria A. Ramírez, editor
Historias/Viajes New works by Marta Sánchez Dallam and Liliana Wilson
Opening Thursday April 14 @ 7 pm On display through July 2016
• 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.
Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections The University of Texas at Austin
La Voz de Esperanza
Dr Norma Cantú will moderate a plática with the artists.
is a publication of Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212
210.228.0201 • fax 1.877.327.5902 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.
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.
Berta Cáceres
1973 - 2016
—Beatrice Macín, buena gente de Esperanza
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3
El jueves 3 de marzo fue asesinada Berta Cáceres en La Esperanza, al oeste de Honduras. Una vez más vemos con rabia y dolor cómo se apaga una voz, voz de mujer, que decidió hablar por todos, los jamás escuchados, los ignorados, los marginados de Honduras, de Centroamérica, del mundo. Berta era una líder lenca, la etnia indígena más numerosa de Honduras, y defensora de los derechos humanos en su país. Durante años fue objeto de amenzas contra su vida y la de sus familiares y allegados, incluyendo sus cuatro hijos. Ella sabía, estaba consciente, de que vivía en el país más peligroso del mundo para los activistas ambientales, con una de las poblaciones más desprotegidas y un capital en recursos naturales al que hace tiempo se le fijó un precio y se vende al mejor postor, por supuesto, extranjero, ajeno. La fuerza y valor los aprendió Berta de su madre, Doña Berta, partera y defensora de los derechos humanos. Tuvo la fortuna de crecer en una familia en donde predominan las mujeres como cabezas de familia; son las que deciden, emprenden, resuelven y celebran; las que protegen y exigen, las que alzan la voz. Generosamente Berta incluyó en su voz a sus vecinos, amigos, compañeros y hermanos de raza y sangre. Entre las creencias del pueblo lenca, quizá la más significativa, está la de que en los ríos habitan los espíritus femeninos y las mujeres son sus guardianas. Probablemente esta fue la razón por la que Berta se entregara tan amorosa, decidida y fevientemente a la lucha ambientalista. En 1993, Berta fue cofundadora del Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras. “Somos custodios de la naturaleza, de la tierra y sobre todo de los ríos”, afirmó en una entrevista de la BBC en 2015, después de haber recibido el Premio Medioambiental Goldman, que es el equivalente al Nobel para los ambientalistas. En 2006, el gobierno hondureño y grandes consorcios transacionales iniciaron los trabajos de construcción de la represa de Agua Zarca sobre el río Gualcarque, el pueblo lenca se acercó a Berta para solicitar su ayuda y detener el ecocidio que acabaría con muchos de sus recursos. Se organizaron y tomaron diferentes medidas de acción civil y comunitaria. Finalmente el proyecto fue suspendido. Con su muerte, Honduras se queda un poco huérfana. La madrugada del jueves 3 de marzo varios hombres entraron de manera violenta a la casa donde vivía Berta y la asesinaron. El móvil que determinó la autoridad fue el robo. Seguramente continuará con su lucha, para ella no había otra opción, desde los mismos ríos, con sus compañeras guardianas, protegiendo la vida, arrullando a los bosques, cantando a la noche, animando a los que quedaron, ofreciéndoles esperanza.
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El rio llora con dolor por la muerte de Berta Cáceres
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March 4, 1973 - March 3, 2016
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The river cries with pain for the death of Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores. On the morning of March 3rd in 2016, unidentified gunmen entered the home of Berta Cáceres and shot her dead. News quickly spread through the unreliable Honduran media of an attempted robbery, but Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro Soto saw what happened. As he played dead in front of the hitmen, he knew that his work in Honduras had only begun. Days after the assassination, more stories continued to pile up: allegations of a tampered crime scene by the Honduran government, discovery of past threats weeks before the incident, as well as countless articles of indignation and protest from Hondurans and the rest of the world. The life of Berta and the lives of the Lencas in the departamento of Intibucá has come to the forefront. The Honduran community first started hearing about Berta Cáceres in the early 1990s when she along with other Lenca leaders such as Tomás García, Tomás Gómez Membreño and Aureliano Molina began the Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH). In 2013, the Honduran military assassinated García in broad daylight as the military broke up a peaceful protest against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam, owned by Honduran company Desarrollo Energético Sociedad Anónima (DESA) and the multinational Chinese corporation SINOHYDRO. García and Cáceres had joined the resistance against the DESA dam through their work with COPINH in an effort Photo: Berta Cáceres speaks to the Lenca and Garifuna community to support the Lenca community in protecting the Río Gualcarque. This same struggle continued after García’s death and ultimately led to the assassination of Cáceres and the continued aggressions towards the Lenca people of Río Blanco and northern Intibucá. For Berta, the struggle against companies such as DESA and SINOHYDRO represented more than just a struggle against privatization and removal. Berta along with the Lenca people saw their natural resources especially the rivers as part of themselves. When Berta won the prestigious Goldman environmental prize in 2015, she reminded us of this connection:
“I’m saying goodbye to her for the last time, but the truth is that Berta hasn’t died. Berta lives on in our hearts. They haven’t actually killed Berta; they haven’t killed her. Berta is a seed that we’ve been left with. For us, that seed will germinate day after day, and we, as women, will continue the fight. We are not scared.” —Lesley Flores
“In our cosmovisions, we are beings who come from the Earth, the waters, and the corn. The Lenca people are ancestral guardians of the rivers, protected in turn by the spirits of young girls who teach us that through giving our lives in various ways in defense of the rivers, we give our lives for the well-being of humanity and of this planet.” Berta may no longer walk among us as a physical being, but her spirit pushes us to continue this fight. For the Lencas, the fight happens every day, but for many of us sitting comfortably at home, this fight takes on a different meaning. We fight to keep the spirit of Berta and Tomás alive. We fight to support the Lenca people through time, attention, and funds. We fight by confronting our non-indigenous privilege. Despite not knowing you Berta, I admire and respect your role and contributions to the struggles happening each day in Honduras. As a Honduran living outside the country, I struggle to find ways to help, but I know that by keeping your memory alive I can at least help protect the light you helped create. —Itza Carbajal, Hondureña, and former staffmember of Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Currently, she is a graduate student at UT-Austin. For more on what you can do go to: http://bit.ly/RioLlora
The Garifunas of Honduras Endure By Itza Carbajal and Marío Carbajal
Photo: The Garifuna protested killings and the presence of armed forces sent to quell protests.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3
of 2015, a group of Honduran military The people of Afro-Arawak officers fired countless shots at a group descendents known as Garifuna of individuals with a car stranded in the live in the country of Honduras edges of one of the beaches of Iriona, a and in smaller number in Guatemala, town in the northern department of Colón Belize and Nicaragua. For years, the local and in Honduras, killing one young male national government have dedicated efforts to belittle, ignore, or Garifuna and injuring another another— erase their existence. As the war on drugs continues to plague our who passed away shortly after arriving at country and more private corporations seek to exploit this land, the hospital. the Garifuna along with other indigenous communities face some Contradictory accounts by military of the most harmful results. officers and media outlets ensued after The history of the Garifuna people represents the interaction the incident with at least two instances of of people from two continents: the Arawak of South America retracted statements from the officers as to who migrated to the Caribbean islands and intermarried with how the event unfolded. The initial story claimed that the caribs. Later, in 1635 two Spanish ships carrying West Africans military officers confused the group with a drug ring exchange wrecked near St Vicente, an island near Venezuela.The Africans despite the fact the region lacks evidence of being a drug escaped and swam to shore and were welcomed and protected by exchange point. Other accounts from locals included the fact the Caribbean Indians. They that the military officers had remained on those two islands been watching the incident until 1797 when the British for a period of time, giving took control of the island and them multiple opportunities to exiled 4,338 people to Roatan, deduce the situation. Despite one of Honduras’s Bay Islands. the confusing nature of the Around the early 1800s the incident, the murders of these majority of the Garifunas left two young men remains the island and sailed to the true and the probability of mainlands seeking better fertile impunity towards the officers grounds. remains high. Since their arrival in For years, the Garifuna Honduras, the Garifunas have people, as a part of their embedded themselves into the spiritual beliefs, have resisted Photo: Garifuna women pay tribute to Berta Cáceres, another murder they suffered. community, but many have peacefully to discrimination, faced countless struggles that continue today. The following harassment and disrespect—but their peaceful resistance faces incidents are some of the many that the Garifuna have suffered. countless acts of violence so tensions continue to rise. Over the In September 24, 2008 the fisherman Guillermo Morales was last years, the black Honduran community had sought ways assassinated by Honduras Army members. On May 23,2014, to build connections with the Black Lives Matter movement in Trujilla, the north coast of Honduras, a march was dispersed in U.S. These sorts of alliances hope to stop the violence not with tear gases, sending 6 children to the hospital. On July, only against the Black Honduran community, but the rest of 2014, Miriam Miranda, coordinator of the Honduras Black the population including workers, farmers, lawyers, journalists Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH) was kidnapped with about and the indigenous people including the Lencas who also face 20 more Garifunas because they denounced the rebuilding of a neoliberal projects aimed at robbing them of their ancestral secret runway by organized crime. On 2015, along the Atlantic lands and waters. It is imperative and urgent to continue to foster coast of Honduras, Garifunas were forced out from their land alliances with communities in the interior of this country and to create mega-tourism projects such as Indura Beach and Golf international organizations and countries. Neoliberal politics can Resort. These projects funded by the United States government, be defeated through transnational coalitions in order to build a aim to privately develop the beaches and richly soiled lands of more democratic society with opportunities for everyone. Honduras into playgrounds for the rich and elite while pushing out the people who have long inhabited the land. This year, along with the constant aggression of placing militarized police under the guise of combating drug crime, the Garifuna people faced yet another loss to their livelihood, this time in the death of two youth. Typically, the holiday festivities in the Garifuna regions of Honduras usually consist of ferias and festivos with plentiful food such as casabe and caracol and the non stop dancing of Punta, a traditional native dance. Instead, in the last days of December
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Supreme Court Crisis Why the next appointed Supreme Court Justice matters in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, et. al
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3•
Elva Pérez Treviño
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Author’s Note: This article (Part I of II) was meant to certainly to raise the reader’s concern, about the future of aforiginally just discuss the Fisher v. University of Texas at firmative action and education especially now when an appearAustin, et. al case and its possible implications and impact on ance of a constitutional crisis has arisen. Here is the situation: affirmative action and education. But two things have changed Affirmative action is now dependent on seven (7) justices to since the Supreme Court heard this case at its December 2015 survive or fail as a social national experiment meant to remedy session. Justice Anthony Scalia, a seating Justice at the time past discrimination against minority race citizens excluded from who heard the equal protection case, has died. under the law, The Senate equal opportunow refuses to nity at ecoproceed forward nomic freedom with voting, from poverty and ultimately and freedom selecting, a new of movement, Supreme Court and access to Justice to reinformation and Who? place him, from knowledge. Will replace the candidates Racial Justice Scalia? to be sent to Equality, then, them by Presifor us, rests on dent Obama. our trust that The facts of the government Fisher case, will continue to and the Senate’s honor our hisrefusal to obey tory and legacy With Supreme Court Justice Scalia’s recent death and Justice Kagan (in grey) recused from the Fisher v University of Texas the constituof theft, death @ Austin, et. al case—the final decision may rest on the shoulders of only 7 justices if Justice Scalia is not replaced. tion puts us, as and pain that has a country, smack in the middle of a constitutional crisis right led, brokered, financed and maintained this country from its before a major national election for president. Given the birth through its wars to the present wherein education is not circumstances, the author would like to take an opportunity to free and it costs a fortune to get schooling. explain who the Supreme Court is, what it does, how it does it, Racial equality, then. rests, too, in the hands of Congress and why it does things the ways it does, all within the context, and the Senate as created and given their powers under Article and juxtaposed to the Fisher case. It will help illustrate this I of the Constitution of the United States; on an Executive apparent constitutional crisis, our dire straits as a country Branch, the President, authorized under Article II; and on a and why, likely, the best scenario for us as a nation should be Supreme Court, whose creation, powers, and authority are a presidential contest between the likes of Bernie Sanders and all outlined in Article III. Racial equality, then, is a reality Donald Trump that will lead us to decide, finally: Are we a that can only manifest itself as long as these three branches country of reactionary racists, or are we a country willing to of government continue to provide for us the consistency and join the rest of the world in peace and cooperation? continuity of a progressive national political character of law and order based on the higher good for all. Here is why the next Justice matters: The Supreme Court’s his article is not meant to be a comprehensive overview, main function is as arbitrator of what the constitution, law and nor a deep analysis, more appropriate for another type of legislation mean, and their validity and legality in application, journal article, about affirmative action programs and their inresult and effect. In combination these three Branches of Governtersection with access to education by racial minority students. I ment are to balance each other out, help keep order, structure and attempt to present enough information concerning this interfunction in government. No one Branch can try to be superior to section of forces to at the least raise the reader’s curiosity, and the other. Under this scheme the President gets to nominate who
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sits on the Supreme Court and the Senate gets to decide by vote which of the nominees sent to them by the president is selected. By announcing that the Senate will not consider any candidate pushed forward by President Obama the present Senate is trying to name the next Justice to seat on the Supreme Court by illegal means but hiding behind procedure and protocol. Early on in the development of these United States the Supreme Court usurped the authority to review the government actions of the legislative and the executive branches of govern-
perspectives, will interpret and rely on these for his or her ongoing own political experience, values and moral bearings—in a word, their personal politics to form the dynamic relationship and the job of doing justice. So then who is this Supreme Court? It goes about its business by selecting text, interpreting text, and reaching collective decision where language is traded like a commodity, words are bargained for meaning, and weight, and nuance, and effect; all just like money. A Supreme Court opinion is not written by any one person, it is instead made up of the collective mind of the Court. It is a language of consensus politics, at times intentionally broad or vague and at other times, too specific. Thus we come to consider “what the law is”, as well as, “what is the law”. The task becomes more difficult because it becomes a task of interpretation. What eventually becomes a ”law” that is, what rule will regulate certain perspectives or certain applications, becomes a political weapon to be wielded by perpetrator against victim until the next time the issue comes before the court in a question form it likes. And so at times it becomes impossible to apply “this law” to all situations and still be able to reach a reasonable understanding of why we get the results we get. Added to this is that, anytime anyone tries to write about the “law”, meaning the rule in question, or any other legal topic, then our social, political lives must grapple with the concepts of ‘justice”, “equal protection” and “due process” in our daily lives. That, again, another matter of perspective and what we want the “result” to be, how we want to process that result, and how we get there by a certain way. ment, it took on the task of being the ultimate decision maker Who gets selected as the next Justice matters because the of deciding what is the “law of the land”. Whoever seats on the language the justices finally select and use in their collected opinCourt then has a lifetime to influence and have a direct effect on ion as one unified voice of the Court, at the end, is a language our lives, the conditions of our lives, and whether lawful means that decides the “whom” [i.e. for whom it will be decided] behind are ultimately left to us the citizens with which to grieve and con- the “who” shall win the case. front a wayward legislature intent on paralyzing this country into The next Justice matters because, as it reaches decisions antiquated times and a supreme court leading us into dangerous momentous to our lives, the Supreme Court is engaged in a type thinking on race, intelligence and equality. if collective bargaining, bartering over “words”, their implicaSometimes the Supreme Court is accused of making up tions, their inferences, their twirls and turns of double meaning, rights out of whole cloth that don’t exist, at others, it struggles to at times intentionally vague or over broad, at others, intentioncorrect untenable situations for us as citizens coming ally limited before it with our grievances in hand asking it to try to fact or case cases that are really the provenance of politics and specifics. It is a legislatures. certain lanAt other times the Court works very hard at cutguage whereby ting away and limiting the rights we do have. No one certain “points decision, no one case, no one set of facts can possibly of view’ or always deliver justice or equal protection or due pro“perspective” or cess, that is a given—but when the Court who claims certain “historito be anti-social engineering, like the current Roberts cal lenses” are Court does, starts doing exactly that type of social adjusted; others engineering of which it complains, then we have a are fought over; Supreme Court that has been compromised by the and some are politics of Congress as we see currently happening just sacrificed with the death of Justice Scalia and President Obama National Action Network members demonstrate outside the Supreme Court on for the greater appearing to be unable to move forward with replacing Dec. 9 as the court heard oral arguments in the Fisher case. (Cliff Owen/AP) good or the lesser this Justice. evil. All this is Who ultimately gets to nominate the next Justice of the Suthe Supreme Court’s effort to present a perspective that appears preme Court matters more because there is a connection between as the most unified voiced legal opinion it can present to the Law and Culture. Culture is a precondition for the possibility of country that is “equitable, fair and just”. They render decisions human meaning engaged in the work of reproducing social order. Continued on Page 10 Within the context of culture, this person will select ideas and
In other words, who gets to select the
next justice gets to select the next person who will bring legal meaning into our
lives. That person will be acting through more than a cultural institution,
that person will be a reflection or a
reproduction of a particular culture.
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San A ntonio’s hydrosoc ial landscape An interview with Gianna Rendón of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in San Antonio (part I of II) Gianna Rendón is a community organizer at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas. She is a proud Westsider and sees herself predominantly as an advocate for justice for—and with—her community. We asked Gianna to share her thoughts on San Antonio’s hydrosocial landscape. This interview is part of the catalog for ‘Blue Star Ice Company,’ an exhibition by Works Progress Studio and collaborators in the project space at Blue Star Contemporary in San Antonio, Texas. Blue Star Ice Company is open March 3-May 8, 2016.
Salaries.” It was a real honor to make that into a sign and present that to city council during November’s struggle. I am really grateful to all my grandparents who taught [us] about conserving everything. My grandmother is Italian and was in Italy during
••• Gianna, what is the mission of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center? The people of Esperanza dream of a world where everyone has civil rights and economic justice, where the environment is cared for, where cultures are honored and communities are safe. The Esperanza advocates for those wounded by domination and inequality — women, people of color, queer people, the working class and poor. We believe in creating bridges between people by exchanging ideas and educating and empowering each other. We believe it is vital to share our visions of hope… we are esperanza.
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How did you find yourself organizing around water? What’s your personal connection to water?
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I remember being a small child when the vote around putting fluoride in our water was a big thing... I remember [my dad] going to community meetings...coming home and speaking to me about the importance of protecting our aquifer. My dad’s favorite slogan—that he created—was “SAWS: Stealing All Worker’s
WWII and her house was destroyed in the war. Harsh wartime conditions as well as being raised by a single mother...caused her to know the importance of not only the earth but everything she had. She never wasted anything, food, old clothes, water — nothing. Same thing goes to my other 3 Mexican-American grandparents. My dad’s dad was a farm laborer. My other grandfather
— Spanish Summary of the Hydrosocial Landscape —
Extracto de la entrevista a Gianna Rendón, organizadora comuni-
taria en Esperanza Peace & Justice Center en San Antonio, Texas. Gianna pertenece orgullosamente al Westside y está comprometida con la justicia para y con la comunidad. En esta ocasión habla sobre el panorama hidrosocial de San Antonio. Esta entrevista está incluida en el catálogo de la exposición Blue Star Ice Company, de Works Progress Studio, que estará abierta al público del 3 de marzo al 8 de mayo . Según la platica, Gianna en Esperanza defienden a los afectados por la dominación y la inequidad, como mujeres, personas de color, homosexuales, trabajadores y gente en condición de pobreza. “Creamos puentes entre las personas”, dice, “mediante el intercambio de ideas, la educación y el fortalecimiento de unos y otros” Gianna comenta que su conexión personal con la defensa del agua surge cuando era niña y sus padres participaban en reuniones comunitarias en las que se hablaba sobre el floruro que estaban poniendo en el agua; después su papá llegaba a casa y le hacía ver la importancia
de proteger el vital líquido. Se siente agradecida con todo su núcleo familiar por enseñarle la disciplina de la conservación; le inculcaron que no debía desperdiciar absolutamente nada. Gianna es de ascendencia italiana por parte de su madre y méxicoamericana por parte de su padre. Recuerda de manera especial un año en que la sequía fue realmente grave y las restricciones sobre el consumo del agua eran bastante estrictas. Todos en su vecindario se sentían impotentes al ver morir a sus plantas y jardines, “Cada planta tenía una historia”. Sus vecinos están enterados del cambio climático, y han creado conciencia respecto a ello. Los antecedentes familiares y la convivencia con sus vecinos han formado su punto de vista sobre la conexión que existe entre ella y los otros, y entre ella y el planeta. Gianna asegura que en los movimientos para el cuidado del agua son las mujeres quienes más participan e incluso
involucran a sus familias y amigos. Los hombres cuestionan más antes de enrolarse y en muchos casos deciden mantenerse al margen. El asunto del agua también genera un incremento en su costo y no todas las familias pueden afrontarlo. “Las mujeres cercanas a mi, en mi familia, mi vecindario y en mi trabajo, tienden a ser más cuidadosas respecto a sus familias y su comunidad, que los hombres”. Ellos se llegan a preocupar pero solo por su entorno familiar. Para Gianna, si algo afecta a su comunidad, le afecta a ella; esta es la razón por la que es activista y organizadora comunitaria. Ella percibe la conexión entre la opresión de los otros y la propia. Conoce el racismo ambiental, sabe que hay quienes creen que unas vidas son menos importantes que otras. “Puedes ignorar esta realidad, puedes permitir que te trague, o puedes luchar contra ella”, dice. Ella decidio ser luchadora. —Beatrice Macín, buena gente de Esperanza
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3
have any thoughts on why this may be and can you talk about also... This generation did not have the privilege of just tossing how women are fighting for water in San Antonio? things aside. They taught me how to catch the rainwater and how much better it is than the water from the hose. They taught ...for this answer I can only speak through experience. In the me how to grow food, and how [it] is much more alive than the Summer when I went around getting signatures to try to tell city pesticide rich food at HEB. ...growing up [with] the mainstream council that [we] were opposed to the SAWS Rate Structure and the consumerist culture could rate increases that would pay for the Vista Ridge Pipeline and not compete with the culture the pipeline itself—it was mostly women who’d get excited and around me... not only sign the petition but get their entire family and friends... I remember one year to sign the petition as well. Although I did get some signatures when there was a really bad from men, they would ask me 50 questions...and often wouldn’t drought. Everything was sign anyway. The women (mostly Mexican/Mexican-American) dead. Water restrictions would usually interrupt me...and ask to sign. They did not like were really high so no one the idea of having to pay more for water... Some of them knew watered...much. Talking how it felt to have their water turned off...or they knew friends... to some of my neighbors who would be affected by the rate hike. especially the viejita...next to ...it has been hard to try to convince men to care about my grandma, they were all someone other than heartbroken that their gardens themselves or their died. Each plant had a story, immediate families. For “that was given to me by my me, when I see somemother-in-law,” and their gardens’ deaths killed a piece one in my community of them. On the northside when there’s a drought they hurt, I hurt. And that can just paint their grass. is why I’m a commuMy neighbors know about climate change. They nity organizer and an know how the weather used to be...it used to snow more. activist. I can see the They know that it hasn’t always been this hot or this dry. connections between They can remember life events depending on weather, oppressions of people “Oh that was the year it flooded,” or “That was the year and my own oppresof the worst drought, and all my roses died.” sion. I can see how Photo: Local activists protest the Vista Ridge Pipeline carrying a My family’s history and their relationship with when we mess up the representation of a pipeline that reads, “Water is Life.” water...has shaped the way I view the interconnectedness earth it has real effects. of my life and others and the earth. In our story circles, some... In my area there was a chemical dumping ground and there have elders remember growing up without running water and...their been many cases of liver and kidney cancers in that area. My grandmothers bathing them in large metal tins. They remember grandma died from kidney cancer. ...it was my first encounter their mothers washing clothes by hand either in a tin or down by with environmental racism. We live in a working class Mexican/ Apache Creek. These are the stories...that people don’t hear. These Mexican-American area and I learned from a young age that we are the same stories people will give to explain why they will fight don’t matter as much as other people—that it’s ok to contaminate for our water. our ground and poison our water because our lives are less important. And I think from that come three options: you can ignore From our experience in Minnesota, and from what we’ve seen this reality, let this reality—that you are worthless—eat you up here, it seems like women are often on the front lines of fighting inside, or you can fight back. I decided to fight back... for clean, affordable water and environmental justice. Do you
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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3•
consider any minority perspective on the matter. As a whole the Continued from Page 7 majority of the justices on the Supreme Court are skeptical or are that seem on the surface, to be well reasoned, amorally applied, downright hostile to affirmative action. aesthetically argued and decided and that, in practice, are neuLets look at the Court’s action in the selection of text, that tral in application and impact to our individual rights as citizens is the case it chose to hear. As mentioned earlier, it is important of these United States, as Human Beings, and as members of to note text and context because specific, identifiable protected this determines the question the classes under color of law. Supreme Court takes on for review So who is this Supreme for its decision making and laying Court? It is the most conservadown the law, a very paternalistic tive court that has ever sat in endeavor, indeed. The Court semodern times. The fight for the lected the Fisher case even though Supreme Court and the fight to there are major problems with it. sit as many conservative justices The question presented to the as possible has been an on-going Court in the Fisher case is more very public battle since George a political question than a legal Bush I. But the Supreme Court question. The U.S. Constitution can never seem conservative prohibits the Supreme Court from enough because the country of the hearing political questions and also conservative right has shifted into from issuing political opinions. The reactionary fanaticism and the political question no one dare ask, Court remains too liberal for this is the one that asks whether or not political element. The Fisher v. U.T. el al case, reargued on December 9, 2015, will be decided at we are going to acknowledge that the end of the 2015–2016 term. People will queue up once again to hear it. The Supreme Court that historically, skin color has been a currently sits does not adequately badge of shame and glory, and that life can be grand in America if reflect this county’s diversity of population, thought, philosophy you are white in America. Dare we as a nation discuss racism for nor cultural influences and backgrounds. This is the reason there is the political weapon that truly separates us into warring camps a constitutional crisis on-going with regard who gets to vet, nomithat cut deep into the fabric of our national unity. Do we finally nate and deliver to the senate the next potential justice to sit on the stop ranking oppression and just unify and fight oppression. Supreme Court. With all this in mind, I submit that the Supreme Court Bio: Elva Pérez Treviño, an Attorney at Law, is a native of San headed by chief Justice Roberts selected the Fisher v. University Antonio, Texas. Part II of this article continues in the May Voz. of Texas @ Austin, et. al because it wanted to review affirmative action without the facts getting in the way, and without having to
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Guns In The Classroom
Misinterpreting the Constitution Jen Knox, Adjunct Professor at San Antonio College The Second Amendment was passed in 1791 in an America that did not have the legal infrastructure that it has today, and it was designed for the purpose of self-defense and resistance to cruelty. The Second Amendment was not designed to lead to oppression or to deny the rights of educators and students who are holding class in a public venue. A law that allows students to carry concealed firearms is, in fact, denying my right to feel safe and free to speak about tough issues. College is place where ideas should be open and shared, not censored. Free speech allows students and educators to explore the ideas of the world and challenge notions that have been long held. Guns in the classroom, however, invite violence in such a well-documented way that I no longer want to teach in face-to-face settings.
Those who believe vehemently that they have a right to bear arms in 2016 have fought to have access to guns on college campuses and, therefore, have fought to deny me a right to feel safe in my classroom. They have fought despite myriad documented and horrifying reasons that begin with the endless news stories about school shootings, such as Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, and end with innumerable news stories about accidental gunfire, even by our country’s own Vice President in February of 2006. Those who tout the Second Amendment as a reason to bring guns—which were intended for self-defense and to oppose tyranny—to places of learning are misunderstanding the constitution and, in fact, violating my First Amendment rights.
A Quiet Change with a BIG Impact
By Rodney Klein & Eduardo Juárez
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3
classes. Is it protected, too, under federal employment law? With all the publicity surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Short answer: Yes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and straight persons on gay marriage, the passage of the City of San Antonio’s non-disare protected from employment discrimination. crimination ordinance, and the unfortunate repealing of the City of Slightly longer version: Again, it involves sex. In July 2015, Houston’s non-discrimination ordinance, the steps taken by the U.S. after carefully analyzing years of federal court decisions, the EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to protect concluded that sexual orientation is covered under Title VII as sex. LGBTQI workers from employment discrimination has gone largely The EEOC’s reasoning is very direct. In explaining its position, the unnoticed by the mainstream press and quite possibly by many agency says that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientaworkers in San Antonio. But, just because those steps have not gottion is, “inherently” and “necesten the same notice as other recent sarily” sex-based. In other words, events, does not mean they will not the connection is obvious. Sexual have a significant impact. orientation discrimination is sex So, what did the EEOC do? I discrimination. will give you the short explanation, Let me give you three then I’ll give you a slightly longer examples of how this works. Exversion. ample one, let’s say I am being The short version: Transgendiscriminated against on the job der employees and applicants for because I (a man) am attracted to employment are protected from men. This is sex-based because if discrimination. I were a woman attracted to men, The slightly longer version: it wouldn’t be a problem. Wait, transgender applicants and Example two involves employees can’t be protected, right? something known as associaWe all know the federal civil rights tional discrimination. This is a statutes protect employees and theory of discrimination that has applicants for employment from been recognized by the EEOC discrimination based on race, color, Photo: Community Alliance for a United San Antonio (CAUSA) and other civil rights groups eventually pushed SA’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance through at City Hall. and federal courts for years, but religion, sex, national origin, age mostly in regards to race. It works like this. Let’s say I’m discrimi(40 and over), disability and genetic information. Gender identity is nated against on the job because my wife is Black (and I’m not not explicitly on that statutory list, so how is it protected? Black). This amounts to race discrimination because I have a close Sex is protected. It is protected under Title VII of the Civil association with a person who is Black. Well, if this works for race, Rights Act of 1964. And, it has two definitions under Title VII, it should also work for sex. In other words, if I (a man) am being disthanks to a precedent setting decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. criminated against on the job because I have a close association with, The first definition, as you would expect, is biological sex. The secor married to, another man, then that is sex discrimination. ond definition, though, involves the idea of “gender.” The Court said Example three goes back to the gender stereotyping concept we that our society creates norms and stereotypes around the concepts discussed earlier. If we can say that being attracted to people of the of masculinity and femininity. It concluded that when people are same sex does not conform to certain socially constructed gender steharmed in their employment because they don’t meet these stereoreotypes, then being discriminated against because of that attraction types – or in other words, are judged by others as not meeting a “masculine” or “feminine” ideal, given their particular biological sex must be sex-based and actionable under Title VII. These protections are important and far reaching, even if they – then they are being discriminated against because of sex, which is don’t get as many headlines as some other high profile issues that a violation of federal law. are, for obvious reasons, very important to our community. This is Since that decision, this legal concept, known as gender particularly true in Texas, where, as we know, State law does not stereotyping, has been increasingly applied to cases of employprotect people from employment discrimination based on gender ment discrimination against individuals who are transgender. So, identity or sexual orientation. So, know your rights, be your own best in 2012 the EEOC adopted a public position saying that employers advocate, and call us at the EEOC if you need us. who discriminate against employees or applicants because they are If you would like to speak with an EEOC staff member about transgender are discriminating against them because of their sex. a workplace issue, or about possibly filing a charge, call 1-800-669This includes individuals who express gender in a non-stereotypical 4000, for a video call with an American Sign Language interpreter call fashion, individuals who have transitioned or are in the process of 1-844-234-5122. Or, if you would like some additional education on transitioning from one gender to another, and individuals who identhis topic or any other law enforced by the EEOC, call me, Rodney tify as transgender. So what about sexual orientation? I’m sure you noticed that sex- Klein, Outreach and Education Manager, at 210-281-7666 or my cell 210-693-9618 or through e-mail at rodney.klein@eeoc.gov. ual orientation also is not explicitly on the statutory list of protected
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No Guns in My Classroom by Margot Backus , Department of English, University of Houston
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3•
[Note: Here is what I wrote when the UH Campus Carry Working Group was soliciting feedback from all campus stake-holders. However, I would no longer assert that I would quit my job rather than teach in a classroom in which guns are allowed. Much of the activism I most admire could never have gone forward if people had given up when state-sponsored gun-toting was introduced into the equation. The analysis below stands, but my current decision is to stay in the classroom and try to do what I do best. -MB]
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My position toward guns and violence evolved early, shaped by nonviolent theorists and practitioners, and later by my experiences as a practitioner of nonviolent disobedience in the anti-nuclear/antiwar movements of the 1980’s. Throughout my life my philosophy concerning guns has been consistent: I don’t want anything to do with them. My husband, however, grew up in a family that has always owned guns, shot recreationally, and served proudly in the U.S. military. We married knowing we hold different attitudes toward guns, and our differing stances never caused any problems until the day my husband bought a gun. The day my husband brought that gun into our house, I discovered exactly where I draw the line with guns. I didn’t object to his owning one. I didn’t object to his teaching our daughter how to shoot one, since she was game. But I will not have a gun in my house. If someone were to force me to accept a gun in my home, clearly it is not my home. I clearly don’t have control over that space; someone else does. This was manifestly true even when the person who wanted to have a gun in my space was a life-partner who has established his sanity and decency and trustworthiness over nearly three decades. He’s a wonderful man, and I would have divorced him in a hot minute rather than let him keep a gun in our home because my right to live, sleep, and raise a child in a gun-free home is what defines that home as mine. This principle also holds true concerning my classroom, but with greater urgency. I know my husband very well; if he were armed in our house, his position of enhanced power would be purely symbolic. This alone is unacceptable — whether or not my husband would actually use a gun to win an argument, guns in my home against my will place me in a newly subordinate position. The same would be true in my classroom; if the state of Texas requires me to accept guns in my classroom, my posi-
tion in the classroom is drastically altered. My authority in the classroom becomes contingent, held unless and until someone else in the room decides that I or someone else in the room constitutes an intolerable threat. While we have seen many on-campus bloodbaths precipitated by fanatics and mentally ill persons who view society or particular groups as intolerably threatening, until now such slaughters have had to be planned in advance. A person has to be seething with fanatical hatred or desperately mentally ill over an extended period to wind up shooting people on campus. They have to obtain weapons and ammunition, select targets, and find a way to smuggle these weapons onto campus in order to launch an assault. Should UH allow concealed guns into the classrooms, offices and labs where highly emotional questions of what constitutes evidence, what constitutes a valid, wellsupported argument, and what constitutes excellent, acceptable, or failing work are a normal and indispensable part of the learning process, this would vastly lower the threshold for how mentally ill or fanatical a person would need to be in order to use a gun against staff, faculty, or fellow students. What had required a burst of hatred or aggression capable of being sustained over days or weeks now need only be sustained over minutes or even seconds. I want nothing to do with this. Just as I will not allow a gun in my home, I will not allow one in my classroom either. If we can work out a means for folks on campus to protect themselves in parking lots and walking around campus while placing their guns securely in lockers before proceeding into the offices, labs and classrooms where heated discussions and debates are the necessary norm, and where the only kind of power that can or should count is the capacity of each individual to back up their arguments with reasoned evidence, then that’s fine. I can live with that. That’s how my husband and I worked it out; he has a secure locker outside our house where he can stow his guns. If the University of Houston can and will work out some analogous arrangement with the state of Texas, all is well, or least tolerable, so far as I am concerned. If not, I would view the University of Houston to be making an outrageous and irresponsible alteration to the fundamental conditions of learning on its campuses and to be actively setting the stage for on-campus violence. And just as I was willing to walk away from a happy marriage to protect my right to live in a home without guns, I am, should the need arise, willing to walk away from a dream job, doing work I love with and for the best students I could ever imagine if doing so represents the only way I can avoid teaching in a classroom where guns are permitted.
The Garden Inn, Dallas
April
by Rachel Jennings
National Poetry Month After a day of delays and missed connections, Twilight Zone mix-ups of time and place, my flight arrives in Dallas late this July evening. For a few, Big D is their journey’s end, while we in mid-transit trudge to the big van sent by The Garden Inn. In the dead of night, I see clichés and crime scenes out the bus window: the office building where Kristen shot J.R. on Dallas and the street where Officer Cain killed twelve-year-old Santos in a game of Russian roulette. (He held a .357 Magnum to the back of the boy’s head.) Praise music plays on a Christian radio station. A group sings a new arrangement of “Amazing Grace.”
Plenty of room, refreshments at The Garden Inn, but what I need more is sleep, so here I stand, God help me, in a lobby cum bar inspired by disco and pop art— a paradise of plastic, chrome, velvet, vinyl. Two Warhol portraits hang on the wall: Jackie Kennedy, 1964, the canvas, it seems, dipped in lipstick or blood, coupled with John Wayne, Stetson-hatted star of Rio Bravo, Red River, The Comancheros, The Alamo. Gripping his revolver, he looks
Gun-toting students scary
grim—hellbent on owning Jackie OO O.
In Dallas—! Who designed this studio? In ’68, I recall, Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol, piercing his spleen, lungs, windpipe, stomach, liver.
“Too droll,” says the clerk my angel. I hand him the voucher but in silence be g: “Listen—I am tired of the night, the flashing orange barrel of the gun. Evict me from the Garden. Bounce me from your Disco Inferno. Shuttle me out of here. Fly me home.”
Guns In The Classroom
by Joan P. Reese who was an associate professor of English at Collin College for more than a decade. I was horrified and frightened when I read that Texas legislators are on the verge of granting people the right to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. Can you imagine the carnage that could ensue as the result of untested gun owners attempting to subdue a potential shooter on a college campus? What are these people thinking? I can’t believe that intelligent politicians consider this law to be fundamentally sound. It is a proven fact, based on research of the brains of young adults,that before the age of 25, certain areas of the brain that deal with effective decision-making are not fully formed. These same young adults tend to make many impulsive decisions that have the potential to end in disaster. In what way does giving these individuals, along with everyone else from janitors to other professors who want to do so, the right to carry a firearm into my classroom make me “safer”? If Texas legislators pass a law that allows students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, I will have no right to deny them in my classroom. Who speaks for me? —Joan P. Reese, Plano
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3
“Yes, grant us grace,” I think to myself, smiling, but the voice I hear is Rock Hudson’s saying “Ice cream it shall be” in his role as grandfather Bick Benedict in Giant.
Grant us grace— if not, at least a US Airways voucher providing a toothbrush, comb, ham and cheese, Dr. Pepper, Fritos. Like the bandito in his bandolier and sombrero, I demand your Fritos. Sarge, too, says, “Fritos it shall be.”
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* community meetings *
Amnesty International #127 For info. call Arthur @ 210.213.5919. Bexar Co. Green Party: Call 210. 471.1791 or bcgp@bexargreens.org Celebration Circle meets Sun., 11am @ Say Sí, 1518 S. Alamo. Meditation: Weds @7:30pm, Friends Meeting House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533.6767.
Rape Crisis Center 7500 US Hwy 90W. Hotline: 210.349.7273 | 210.521.7273 Email: sgabriel@ rapecrisis.com
Adult Wellness Support Group of PRIDE Center meets 4th Mon., 7-9 pm @ Lions Field, 2809 Broadway. Call 210.213.5919.
The Religious Society of Friends meets Sunday @10am @ The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. | 210.945.8456.
Energía Mía: (512) 838-3351
S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursday, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Community Church.
Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. www.lafuerzaunida.org | 210.927.2294
LULAC Council 22198, Orgullo de SA, meets 3rd Tues. @ 6:45pm @ Papouli’s. E-mail: info@lulac22198.org NOW SA Chapter meets 3rd Wed. See FB/satx.now|210.802.9068|nowsaare achapter@gmail.com Pax Christi, SA meets monthly on Saturdays. Call 210.460.8448 Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy meets Thurs. 7pm, 325 Courtland. MCC services & Sunday school @ 10:30am, 611 East Myrtle|210.472.3597
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3•
Parents of Murdered Children, meets 2nd Mondays @ Balcones Heights Community Ctr, 107 Glenarm | www. pomcsanantonio.org.
DIGNITY SA Mass, 5:30pm, Sun. @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1018 E. Grayson St | 210.340.2230
Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteers, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.
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PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs. @ 7pm, University Presbyterian Church 300 Bushnell Ave. | 210.848.7407.
SA AIDS Fdn 818 E. Grayson St. offers free Syphilis & HIV testing | 210.225.4715 | www.txsaaf.org. SA Women Will March: www. sawomenwillmarch.org|(830) 488-7493 SGI-USA LGBT Buddhists meet 2nd Sat. at 10am @ 7142 San Pedro Ave., Ste 117 | 210.653.7755. Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Tues. 7pm & Sun. 9:30am 257 E. Hildebrand Ave. | 210.222.9303. S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Contact Barbara at 210.725.8329. Voice for Animals: 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org
Overeaters Anonymous meets MWF in Spanish & daily in English | www. oasanantonio.org | 210.492.5400.
SA’s LGBTQA Youth meets Tues., 6:30pm at Univ. Presby. Church, 300 Bushnell Ave.|www.fiesta-youth.
People’s Power Coalition meets last Thursdays | 210.878.6751
Contact Veterans for Peace at: BeEthical@yahoo.com
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¡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.
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Notas Y Más April 2016
Celebrate ideas, books, libraries and literary culture on April 2nd at the 4th Annual San Antonio Book Festival. FREE and open to the public. Readings, exhibits, food and drink will be available beginning at 10am on the grounds of San Antonio’s Central Library. Schedules available at: www.saplf.org/festival.
just manner, while focused on the public wellbeing. For more: http://www. eventbrite.com/e/smart-decarcerationre-entry-what-does-leadership-look-liketickets-22559207196.
NALCAB’s 2nd national training, Breaking Ground, will be held May 2326 at the Westin Dallas Downtown. This training uses a unique “train-the-trainer” format to provide nonprofit practitioners serving low-to-moderate income Latino and immigrant communities with best practices and emerging innovations in the field. Registered by May 16. For scholarships or info, contact cbuitrago@ nalcab.org Call for Papers on Archives and Public History: Places, Pasts and Identities—A special issue of Archives and Records seeks to explore approaches to the public use of archives in all fields of study. Prospective authors may contact Victoria. hoyle@york.ac.uk to discuss potential articles. Submissions deadline: July 31st. Check: www.tandfonline.com Check out the new bilingual offerings at Cinco Puntos Press opened in 1985 in El Paso, TX. It is one a few independent publishing companies that is still operating. and that offers a complete selection of bilingual books for all ages and diverse communities! See:http://www.cincopuntos.com/ or call 915.838.1625.
Severy e cmonth o n ford photo S ascanning t u randd story a ysharing
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ustom orders, priced to c , s t f s el gi l mic
Gather your Westside photos, 1880 -1960 & bring them to El Rinconcito de Esperanza, 816 S. Colorado Saturday, May 14th 10am @ Casa de Cuentos, 210-228-0201
Become a social media champion for Esperanza and spread the word like crazy!
The Esperanza is part of the BIG GIVE S.A. 24-Hour Day of Giving Challenge— Make a donation to Esperanza on May 3rd at thebiggivesa.org
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3
The UTSA Downtown Campus will hold a Child Care Initiative Rally on April 11th from 11:30am to 1:30pm at Life and Death on the Border 1910-1920 the UTSA Main Campus Sombrilla that is on exhibit at the Bullock State Plaza. Student-parents of the downtown History Museum in Austin ends on April campus pay the same tuition as Main 3rd. Check: http://www.thestoryoftexas. Campus students but do not have access com/visit/exhibits/life-and-death-on-theto the same services including child border or Refusingtoforget.org care. Support Student-Parents check: utsadtchildcareinitiative@gmail.com. The Chicana Great Books Series moderated by Patricia Portales continues Right To The City Alliance & Homes with Chicana Falsa and Other Stories For All (HFA) campaign will come by Michele Serros on Tuesday, April together in Chicago on April 14 - 17 to 5th at Barrio Barista Coffeehouse at get grounded, deepen connection with 3735 Culebra Rd. On May 10th the series each other and to channel our collective returns to Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro brilliance to craft a winning strategy for St. with Sonnets to Human Beings by the next phase of the Homes For All Carmen Tafolla. Events begin at 6:30pm. campaign. Check www.righttothecity.org Free. Check http://geminiink.org. “Nuestra Gente: Celebrating People Smart Decarceration & Re-entry: What Past and Present,” an exhibit of painted does leaderrship look like?, a talk by portraits and digital photographs by Glenn Martin from JustLeadershipUSA, Carolina G. Flores and Mario C. followed by a panel discussion will take Garza, continues through May 8th at place at U.T.-Austin, School of Social the Texas A&M University-Centro de Work, Utopia Theatre, 1925 San Jacinto Artes located in downtown San Antonio’s Blvd. It will take place on April 8th Market Square. Free! Call 210.784from 6-9:30 pm. Smart Decaceration 1105 or email Joseph.Bravo@tamusa.edu focuses on innovative solutions to reduce the number of people currently Gemini Ink, based in San Antonio, is incarcerated in the U.S. in a socially seeking proposals for literary panels for
our Writers Conference to be held July 21-24, 2016. The theme is: The State of the Book. Proposals should include a full panel (1 hour) and address the theme. Submit proposals via Submittable at: https://geminiink.submittable.com/ submit/49644 by May 15, 2016.
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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2016 Vol. 29 Issue 3•
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Paseo Por El Westside * * Saturday May 07 @ 9AM
How would you plan San Antonio’s Future? Saturday April 23, 10am to 2 pm
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free event for the whole family!
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de Esperanza
Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID San Antonio, TX Permit #332
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Pedro Infante Saturday, April 16th An homenaje to one of the greatest cantantes and actors of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
salsa • cumbia raffle • y mas
Tickets $7
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Doors open 7:15pm • Program 8pm $5 Mas O Menos at the Door
with DJ
l a r e n e El G d
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For an n tickets i u e F r call Isabel 68 Scholarship 210.227.68
Saturday, April 9th-8pm Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro Ave.