a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
July/Aug 2015, Vol. 28 Issue 6
San Antonio, Tejas
a retrospective of
Liliana Wilson’s ON EXHIBIT @ ESPERANZA July 11 thru end of Aug.
Guest Editorial: Rachel Jennings
La Voz de Esperanza July/August 2015 vol. 28 issue 6
Editor Gloria A. Ramírez Design Elizandro Carrington & Monica V. Velásquez
Contributors
Marjorie Agosin, Gloria Almaraz, Mónica Bruno, Deirdre Fulton, Rachel Jennings, Meredith McGuire, Kamala Platt
La Voz Mail Collective
Olga Crespín, Juan Díaz, Kyler Liu, Sister Patti Lohre, Ana Martinez, Juan Martinez, Olga Martinez, Rachel Martinez, Sandra Martinez, Ray McDonald, Angie Merla, Gary Poole, María N. Reed, Mary Agnes Rodríguez, Tirso & Rosy Romo, Juana Hilda Ruiz, Mike Sánchez, Roger Singler, D.L.Stokes, Rosa Vega
Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez
Esperanza Staff
Imelda Arismendez, Itza Carbajal, Eliza M. Pérez, Gianna Rendón, Saakred, René Saenz, Susana Segura, Monica V. Velásquez Interns: Georgina Cortinas, Elizabeth Joy Delgado, Giovanna Espinoza
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Conjunto de Nepantleras
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-Esperanza Board of Directors-
Brenda Davis, Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Jan Olsen, Kamala Platt, 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 • 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 Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published. Esperanza Peace & Justice Center is funded in part by the NEA, TCA, theFund, Astraea Lesbian Fdn for Justice, Coyote Phoenix Fund, AKR Fdn, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Fdn, The Kerry Lobel & Marta Drury Fund of Horizon’s Fdn, y nuestra buena gente.
The Struggle Against White Supremacy: The Murders at Emanuel AME Church
T
oday is Juneteenth, the date when slaves in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation, which pronounced them to be free. On June 19, 2015, are African Americans free? Where is freedom for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Rev. Daniel Simmons, 74; Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; and Susie Jackson, 87? They were six women and three men, all African American. On June 17, Dylann Storm Roof murdered all of them inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. For an entire hour, Roof, a young white man whom they did not know, sat among the victims at Bible study before opening fire with a semi-automatic pistol he had received for his twenty-first birthday. June 17, the anniversary of an 1822 slave revolt led by Denmark Vesey, was the date of the premeditated murders. Roof must have knowingly chosen to murder church members on that date. Since teaching slaves to read had once been illegal, attacking a Bible study group contributed to Roof’s heinous symbolism. As punishment for their failed revolt to free slaves, Vesey and five slave revolutionists were hanged. Since Vesey was a founding member of Emanuel AME Church, Charlestonians burned the historic church to the ground as further retribution. Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Fox News commentators have refused to identify terrorism or white supremacist ideology as the motive for the murders. They have made clear, too, their opposition to gun control. NRA boardmember Charles Cotton has blamed murder victim Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a South Carolina state senator, for his own death and the deaths of the other eight church members. Rev. Pinckney, according to Cotton, should have supported concealed carry laws and encouraged churchgoers to carry guns. Such obscene criticism of the dead, however, does not mean that conservatives have gone soft. Today, Gov. Haley has announced that she supports the death penalty for Roof. I am appalled and sickened. When will we in this country stop the bloodshed and mayhem? Killing Roof as Vesey was killed will not atone for America’s sins. Each of us must ask what we can do to end racism, white supremacist violence, and carnage. u
Editor’s note: The violence that we so often write about in La Voz goes unabated. Whether against communities of color, against women, against our homes, against Mother Earth or against our spirit—we must continue to fight violence in the most creative and loving ways possible so that we, ourselves, are not consumed by it. Liliana Wilson, Chilean artist, has found a way to counter violence through her art. Having lived through the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet and experienced violence, deaths and disappearances, Liliana found a way to offer hope in the wake of violence by painting and drawing beautiful images filled with political messages—but that offer us hope. Join us at the Esperanza for Liliana Wilson’s Ofrenda, an offering of her artwork that exhibits a lifetime of work on Saturday, July 11th at 7pm. — G. Ramírez 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.
Las Imágenes de / The Images of
Liliana Wilson by Marjorie Agosín, Translated by Mónica Bruno | Texas A&M University Press
cielo como si recobrara una cualidad mítica misteriosa. La concha es sonido luz intimidad, es pequeña es una imagen movediza y circular que desafía los confines del tiempo y del espacio pero a la vez está ahí soberana del espacio del cielo de la tierra ocupándolo todo y negándolo todo. La pintura se
La diosa del amor (2002)
asemeja a una meditación a una evocación de la naturaleza en su materialidad más pura como a la vez la luminosidad que el mar y la naturaleza nos brindan, como la dependencia de la naturaleza en su magnanimidad y el ser humano. A pesar de que las imágenes aparecen desconectadas la concha y el niño hombre conviven, existen en la hibridez de las presencias como de las ausencias. La obra de Liliana Wilson continua creciendo explorándose a sí misma y transformándose de acuerdo a las inquietudes de una Historia y de un imaginario que va mucho mas allá de las cosas inmediatas pero abarca espacios metas e imágenes que transfiguran el hoy día para acentuarse plenamente en el único espacio posible la creatividad que existe en la intimidad de las personas. La pintura titulada El camino (2001) o la extrañamente hermosa titulada La diosa del amor (2002) [arriba] son capaces
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as imágenes son constantes en el proceso de desvelar y revelar miradas. Personajes desplazados inciertos viajeros se insertan en el espacio en busca de luz de sombra de los objetos transitorios que aprisionan como las rejas pero a la vez revelan un deseo de habitar en el mundo que los deshabita que los expulsa. Las imágenes de Liliana Wilson son principalmente rostros que miran y no miran que se cubren los ojos con tabiques con simbólicas mordazas pero al igual permanecen suspendidos en un instante en un momento del pincel cuidadoso que les permite asomarse al mundo decir y ser. Es esta pintura de aguda sensibilidad hecha con cuidado casí con una devoción al detalle. Pareciera que la pintora busca en la técnica cuidadosa de cabellos labrados en forma de hebras de oro oscurecido o en la perfección del cuello de la mujer que mira hacia el horizonte (Bearing Witness (2002)) un deseo de armonizar la belleza de los detalles con el insólito paisaje que los enmarca. En estas pinturas de Liliana Wilson cada uno de sus personajes nos cuenta una historia se revelan ante nosotros con transparencia y recato. Es decir la artista logra captar por medio de imágenes enigmáticas capciosas la complejidad de estar y ser en la vida. Sorprende que tan solo Las amantes (2002), sea una de las pocas imágenes en que aparecen dos figuras humanas. Pero aqui son mujeres que no representan a la figura tradicional de la pareja edénica de un hombre y una mujer. Aqui nos encontramos frente a la presencia de las dos Evas que miran valientemente hacia la inmensidad de un horizonte indefinido pero no obstante un horizonte. Es imposible olvidar estas pinturas insertadas en un imaginario simbólico postmoderno que se inserta en la violencia civil como en la imagen, War (2001), o se plantea como un desacato en Las amantes. Las pinturas parecen pulular en espacios más allá de la memoria y del tiempo motivadas por una existencia etérea y surreal. El camino (2001) es una obra de extraordinaria belleza y profundidad acentuada por la mirada de una mujer que no se ve que está de espaldas pero no obstante está rodeada de una belleza que solo presagia y augura futuros de mágia y esperanza. La pintura titulada La concha (2002) pareciera cobrar sugerencias y enigmas innombrables. La concha sugiere una plenitud de cosas. No ocupa el espacio del mar pero sí el del
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La caída del ángel (2004)
de trascender y recrear el potencial humano por medio de colores y formas centellantes pero más que nada por medio de lo que estas pinturas no dicen. Wilson magistralmente es la maga de la sugerencia, de lo que no dice y su pintura es como una hada que en la penumbra enhebra imágenes. only need to close my eyes to clearly remember the images created by Liliana Wilson. The memories of her art are everlasting because her art narrates stories. Related to the popular art of Latin America and social protest art, Wilson is a painter of exquisite sensibility as well as deep and creative aesthetics. Wilson’s paintings contain multiple universes. Her work is essentially narrative in nature. The adolescents that appear in her paintings seem to tell us stories; they have the ability to beg for our gaze and wish to be recognized. Liliana is obsessed with marginality and the innocent desire for money that these defenseless beings have. Paintings such as Lottery Dreams
(2000) demonstrate a complex desire to possess money in a stratified world. This is the world of Chile, of Latin America, and now that of Latinos in the United States. The figures may change slightly, but the themes and dangers touching upon these themes remain the same. That is to say, they are figures, suspended on the edge of the abyss, but they also are creating and weaving hope. Her work always surprises, disconcerts, elates, and saddens us. The spectator always wants to know more, understand and feel more. The viewer wants to get closer to those paintings that always seem to tell a story that warms our hearts. The level of empathy and compassion that her paintings engender is part of her greatness as an artist. Wilson belongs to a generation of Latin American artists who had to or who wished to abandon their countries due to the dictatorships that dominated them, as was the case of the Southern Cone. I think the most significant element of her work is the departure from Chile, represented in her broken
Her painting belongs to the magical thinking of the indigenous Latin American cultures... [Wilson’s] departure from Chile recovers the Latin American imaginary in its full splendor and vast pain. within the female imagery; it represents the secret and occult, women’s sexuality. Having the shell in hand is a powerful message. It reminds me that women, from an early age, possess the gift, mystery and secret. Seashells are examples of that which is hidden: they are cavities and secrets, memories and histories. They also represent women’s confinement, the spiral of their bodies. In Liliana Wilson’s paintings, the seashells are a symbol of liberation. In the triumphant hands of her protagonists they resemble the images of Eve in paradise, holding a snake in her hands and being the one in complete control of it. Wilson’s paintings show complexity, from her beginnings as an exiled woman who recovers her history to the woman who can so audaciously retell her story. We observe the evolution of her art from the marginality of exile to the communion with dispossessed beings she finds at the border, uniting her experiences with that of other disappeared and dispossessed beings. The reader will find a world filled with color, movement, and history of beings in search of hope. Wilson’s paintings are a call to this search that begins with the need to denounce social injustice and learn about the struggle of minorities. In the twenty-first century, Wilson’s topics are even more poignant in their full gamut of images, from the desolate exile to a geography of pain symbolized by poverty. Wilson is without doubt one of the most exceptional Latina artists in the United States. She has skillfully linked the stories of Chile with the stories of the border towns. Her art is at once deeply individual and collective. She reveals, with absolute authenticity, a world of wonder and confusion. I need only close my eyes to dream of her vast imaginary, the power of her art, so unique in retelling stories of invisible and forgotten beings that become grand. u Note: This article was used with permission from Texas A&M University Press, publishers of Ofrenda—Liliana Wilson’s Arts of Dissidence and Dreams. Artwork by Liliana Wilson used with permission of the artist.
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bodies, divided women, and pained spaces. Exile allows Liliana to imagine Chile but at the same time allows her to be free of concepts, techniques, and forms of painting. If the tortured body and truncated heads are permanent representations, there is also a way to paint them with blues and golden hues so they appear innocent. Her painting belongs to the magical thinking of the indigenous Latin American cultures, and her figures have a profound complexity. The preoccupation with social justice is the unifying and redeeming thread for Wilson’s work. Her departure from Chile recovers the Latin American imaginary in its full splendor and vast pain. I am moved by her paintings of the heavens, the disappeared bodies, suspended in a colorful landscape where golden hues predominate. There are sleeping bodies, dead bodies, and unclaimed bodies. The concept of heaven seems extraordinary to me because it alludes to an imaginary heaven where the bodies of persecuted youths find their place. The images of beings displaced by state violence and poverty perturb me and fascinate me. The image of a fallen angel, La caída del ángel (2004), a fragile child from some Latin American nation, falling abruptly to earth, seems to indicate that even the messenger spirits of angels have abandoned them. The image of enormous protective wings also appears in the painting Rodrigo Rojas (1988), the youth who at the age of nineteen was set on fire in Santiago and later died. The violence of the military dictatorships is always accompanied by victims with angels’ wings, innocent countenances that seem to linger beyond death. The horror and violence in Wilson’s work are generally accompanied by animals that are completely white, almost surreal, projecting a false transparency, a false order linked to deception. The dispossessed are always light; their bodies resemble fallen angels who have yet to lose their faith. We see a surreal element, almost a magical realism, in the objects that levitate, in the faces of men filled with an animal’s cruelty and the reinterpretation of myths such as Bella durmiente (Sleeping Beauty) (2004) or Alma (Soul) (2009). Wilson has a genius for storytelling as well as detail. Immigrants and borders belong to a period related to her own escape from her country, her sense of history and belonging. Now Liliana Wilson, as one of the few plastic artists in Latin America, identifies with the souls of Mexicanos who cross borders, with broken bodies, and arrive in a country that promises to be a paradise. Her work represents history and symbols, the border crossing between Latin America and the United States. The faces of immigrants, the wounded, and the constant presence of marginality are recurring themes in Wilson’s paintings. They are always rounded out by beauty, color, details, dream-like qualities, and hope that surpasses death—like the painting of the disappeared in heaven. The women are another essential element of Wilson’s work. Her feminine imaginary is varied and complex. The images always seem to be surrounded by mystery as well as figures in movement floating on a blue background. At other times they are angels in the immensity of the universe, where each figure seems to encompass the vastness. In these imaginary visions of women, I am surprised by the girls, in all their purity and complex innocence, as in the painting of Alma (2009). The child is suspended in a clear, open space, as if floating on a shell. There are several images of girls with seashells. I stop to observe the image of the shell, its sweet roundness. I also think about what the seashell signifies
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Our Water Future Is Not For Sale By
Meredith McGuire, Co-Chair of the Alamo Sierra Club Conservation Committee
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San Antonio’s business-as-usual is putting our water future at risk. Last week Brooks City Base sought rushrush rezoning approval to allow Niagara Bottling to put San Antonio’s water in plastic bottles to sell nationwide. This, while San Antonio Water System (SAWS) wants us to spend $3.4 billion on the Vista Ridge pipeline to bring incredibly expensive additional water to San Antonio. City Council fortunately paused the zoning deal, but it did not kill it. It should; it is a bad deal for our community. The first problem is the very idea of having a bottling company in San Antonio. Despite recent rains, we are not a water-rich region. No water bottling company is sustainable here, no matter how much water we pipe in from other areas. Niagara is trying to get out of the Los Angeles region precisely because of California’s water crisis. Why should San Antonio allow Niagara to come here to hasten our own? If we are to be prepared for the impacts of climate change and the very real likelihood of severe droughts, San Antonio must protect our water supply vigilantly. We live in a semi-arid region that is going to experience, in the foreseeable future, what researchers call “unprecedented drought conditions.” New data, reported this March in
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San Antonio’s Sacred Water
the New York Times, suggest the strong probability of a 35-year-long drought before the end of this century. How can we withstand such a drought? Not by increasing consumption of water. Not by exempting existing commercial, industrial, and institutional SAWS customers from having to take appropriate measures to increase their water-efficiency. And certainly not by allowing water to new businesses whose profits come only from selling our water elsewhere. SAWS’ “solution” to our regularly dry circumstances is the costly Vista Ridge pipeline, which would bring supposedly “excess” water from Burleson County at a much higher price than water we already have. SAWS expects current residential rate-payers to pay for that pipeline, while giving new businesses like Niagara cut-rate access to the water that is already here. SAWS calls Vista Ridge water “drought-proof.” That is a gross misrepresentation. Water from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is already being overcommitted and might not be there for us if drought conditions persist. Rather than encouraging increased conservation and water efficiency – especially from San Antonio businesses – SAWS and the
of this place’s water and her peoples’ relationship to her. Understanding this, as a newcomer in 1997, I perceived I was a straggler on an ancient waterway. After I decided to find a house here, I spent time in the neighborhoods I favored and found that in the heart of the city’s west side, on an island and along the shores of Elmendorf By Kamala Platt Lake, a gathering of herons, egrets, and There are strong environmental, social cormorants roosted in justice-based and economic reasons for front of Our Lady of City Council to reject plans to bring a the Lake University. California Water Bottling Co. to San These birds may Antonio, but my words below speak to the have helped me find deep history of waterways— interactions a house 6 blocks of peoples and water— in an attempt to away because once understand what is more deeply at stake. I noticed them I I came to live in San Antonio to teach The Blue Hole at the University of the Incarnate Word kept returning and at the University of the Incarnate Word. eventually saw the “for sale” sign on my home, of now I had not been there long when someone told me about nearly 14 years. Over the years, the herons at the lake have the Blue Hole—an ancient deep, deep spring on what is offered a sense of solace when I was sad and celebration now UIW campus that has been visited for centuries by when I was happy, a sense of belonging to a world ordered those seeking to live in league with the earth. The rising by a balance of natural and cultural integrity; this “place of flow of waters —Yanaguana springs— reflect the health
Chamber of Commerce are promoting San Antonio as a place of “abundant” water. That is a recipe for water disaster. Picture San Antonio in 2035 with another 800,000 residents, mainly living in sprawling suburban developments with lush mega-lawns and water-gulping landscaping. Imagine many new businesses – resort hotels with golf courses and luxurious spas, refineries, and bottling companies – all attracted by this so-called “abundant water,” subsidized by city residents. Then severe drought hits. The city can’t get any of those profitable water-guzzling businesses to cut back their water usage significantly. Residents who have never learned how to live with drought are furious about watering restrictions. The city finds itself using more water than projected from the Edwards Aquifer, just when the amount of water coming from Vista Ridge is reduced by 50% or more, because the Carrizo-Wilcox is overdrawn. We must not wait until we are 10 years into a megadrought to start preparing for living with drought as our “new normal,” thanks to climate change. To deny the possibility – indeed probability – of serious, prolonged drought is to set our city up for a water crisis more disastrous than that facing Los Angeles right now. Such a drought in our community would not be a “natural disaster,” but rather a humanly caused one. The Vista Ridge deal was a bad decision in the first place, because it puts San Antonio at serious financial risk. But more serious is the fact that the mirage of “abundant” Vista Ridge water is preventing our community from investing its effort and money in local measures that could truly prepare
Bio: Meredith McGuire, Ph.D is professor (emerita) of Sociology and Anthropology at Trinity University. Note: This article appeared previously in the Rivard Report on June 8, 2015.
in the presence of water in the Blue Hole. Was Owen’s Lake, now named the dustiest place on the continent, also a sacred place for millennia? I found my answer at http:// bit.ly/OwensLake. “For 800,000 years the 110-square-mile lake held water, though its shores changed drastically along with the climate,” said Ted Schade, air pollution control officer for the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, a government agency that oversees the area. “Owens Lake … was always shallow,” he said. “A drop of one foot would expose lots of shore. History shows that Native Americans were living here, and when the lake was low they spread out.” Few would argue that sacredness lies in how we treat earth, our home, and each other everyday. The balance that the peoples of this continent kept for thousands of years was upset in water decisions of the 20th Century and is all the more at stake in our water decisions today. Bio: Kamala is a local educator, author and activist.
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herons” has made patterns of profound beauty —markings that read like a map to lead me home. Given these experiences, it was not surprising that when sitting in support of the residents at a Council meeting deciding the fate of the Mission Trails Trailer Park, I connected with descriptions of their place along the river particularly when a woman in a bank-side trailer stated, “I go down to the river, when I feel depressed, and I’ve been by the river a lot lately.” I knew that the proximity of the river beckoned developers to Mission Rd., too, as I know that the money-making potential of water beckons those who have negotiated quietly with Niagara, a California water company from the Los Angeles vicinity. They would invite Niagara to San Antonio to partake in the planned spoilings of the Vista Ridge pipeline, a purchase made possible by raising water rates, potentially putting city water out of range for our city’s least compensated residents. San Antonio’s current water hogging plans remind me of LA’s decades of piping water that devastated Owen’s Lake. That comparison, ironically, led me back to Yanaguana, and the ancient sense of wellbeing preserved
us for the future. I describe some of those measures in “ReFraming San Antonio’s Water Future,” which is available online (http://bit.ly/reFraming). Brooks City Base must not be allowed to offer Niagara Bottling access to San Antonio’s water. If Niagara is allowed to build its bottling plant, we will be stuck with a waterguzzling company that refuses to cut its production when San Antonio is in another drought. San Antonio should allow only sustainable growth. Niagara and similar businesses are certainly not sustainable. Those of us who have studied water issues appreciate the Council’s postponement of the zoning decision about Niagara, which the Brooks staff tried to sneak through without notice. And we agree with Councilmember Ron Nirenberg (D8)’s assertion, as quoted by the Rivard Report, that “the implications for our water supply need to be discussed in full public view.” That’s a good start, but it’s not enough. Council must take ample time to consider the policy issue of whether to allow new so-called “development” that would gobble up our community’s precious water. Vista Ridge must be reconsidered in light of a better vision for our community’s water future. Council must also listen to the people about this policy matter. In the past, time and time-again, our community has defended our water. We want to be part of protecting our water future.
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Get the
Editor’s note: The following is a letter that circulated within the Edinburg community organizing in response to the Royal Production Company’s submission of a new natural gas well permit application that was scheduled to be heard by the Edinburg City Council on July 7th, 2015. As this issue goes to press, Royal has delayed its permit application. However, as we all know, fracking companies often find a way to drill where they wish by biding their time and working clandestinely to get what they want.
out of
g r u b n Edi
DRILLING POLLUTES THE WATER, SOIL, AND AIR: • A fracking well can pump up to 4,500,000 gallons of toxic fluid into the land and water.
• These chemicals cause cancer, illness, and even death: lead,
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•
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There is a plan to permit and place an oil / fracking well in our neighborhood in Edinburg! This well is to be situated near the corner of Canton and Jackson Rd. between Freddy Gonzalez and Canterbury Elementary schools. Fracking works by drilling a well down into the Earth and then drilling horizontally (or sideways) beneath the other properties around the well. The wells can drill over 1 mile sideways! These wells pump on average 4.5 million gallons of toxiclaced fluid into the ground, release toxic gases, and cause explosions, spills, and earthquakes. It will leave millions of gallons of toxic liquid and tons of air born pollutants behind—much of it directly beneath our homes and all of it centered right between two elementary schools. This will not only damage our health but our property values, also.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
• Join & invite friends to the Facebook group ‘Say No to Oil Drilling and Fracking at Canton and Jackson.’
• Email and call the Edinburg mayor, city council, and the planning and zoning director. Tell them not to permit this well. Their information is at the end of this letter. • Watch the film ‘Gasland’ on Netflix, Youtube, or DVD to learn more the dangers of oil and fracking wells.
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uranium, mercury, ethylene glycol, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, and formaldehyde. There have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling as well as cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water. There are likely many times more unreported and hidden cases. See the below picture of the water on fire for a sense of this pollution. Other pollutants released into the air and land include: benzene, toluene, xylene and ethyl benzene (BTEX), particulate matter and dust, smog, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and heavy metals—exposure to these pollutants is known to cause short-term illness, cancer, organ damage, nervous system disorders and birth defects or even death. The Associated press reports that Wyoming’s air quality near drilling sites is worse than Los Angeles’—with Wyoming ozone levels recorded at 124 parts per billion compared to the worst air day of the year for Los Angeles, at 114 parts per billion. The Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum healthy limit is 75 parts per billion. Drilling is noisy! The highest noise levels would occur from drilling and flaring of gas. Noise from drilling has been measured as 115 dBA at the source to above 55 dBA at distances 1,800 feet to 3,500 feet from the well. Drilling noise would occur continuously for 24 hours per day for one to two months or more depending on the depth of the formation.
WELLS CAUSE EXPLOSIVE BLOWOUTS, SPILLS, AND EARTHQUAKES:
• In the Dallas Forest Hill neighborhood a recent blow-out by the drilling company XTO killed one neighbor of the site and caused the evacuation of 500 homes. • In Denton, a recent blow-out caused the employees to be
evacuated from the site because of the danger of explosion and the release of toxic gases, some of them illegal and banned. EagleRidge fracking company did not notify or evacuate residents until 12 hours after its own people had been evacuated to safety. In total at least 46 different toxic chemicals were in constant release into the air. • There were 7,662 oil spills in the U.S. in 2013 with thousands more unreported. Over 20 per day. What would happen to your family, home, and property value if that happened here? • Since fracking has started earthquakes above magnitude 3.0 in Texas went from 1.5 earthquakes a year to over 900. What damage would a tremor do to your house’s foundation?
DRILLING LOWERS HOME VALUES AND DAMAGES HOMES: • In a 2013 University of Denver survey of 550 people in
Texas, Alabama and Florida, a strong majority said they would decline to buy a home near a drilling site. The study, published in the Journal of Real Estate Literature, also showed that people bidding on homes near drilling locations reduced their bids up to 25%. • Bottom line conclusion of the study is that drilling reduces prices by 5 to 15% on average. • Insurance policies exclude anything having to do with “industrial operations” so you are out of luck getting them to reimburse damages to your walls and foundation from drilling vibration and earthquakes as well as blowouts, leaks, etc.
DRILLING HURTS JOBS AND INCOME WHILE RAISING CRIME: • The Headwaters Institute article entitled “Oil and Gas
THE BOTTOM LINE:
• Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, assessed health risks to those residents living near fracking operations. Their basic conclusions were: the closer you live to drilling operations, the greater your health risk. • We do not want classrooms, bedrooms, and backyards to become home to toxic land, water, and air. • Fracking companies will tell you that they have health experts and inspections but that is not true. A 2012 paper was published in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives. The researchers found that there was not one health expert among the 52 people comprising the various state and federal commissions and boards, even though public health was specified in the executive orders creating the committees.
On June 14th, “Royal Production said it needed more time to address concerns raised by neighbors .... City officials said residents would be sent written notices when the permit will be heard by the council in the future... “We welcomed all the public input at the June 9th meeting and need more time to address all the issues raised adequately,” wrote Matthew Hammer, geophysicist and exploration manager at Royal Production Company in a recent email. ‘We still have a permit on file, but we’re not going to be on the July 7 agenda,’ Hammer said later.” —(Natural gas company delays application for Edinburg well, TheMonitor.com)
what you can do:
• Keep the heat on Edinburg City Officials to ensure that they will not quietly approve drilling in the future. Call and tell them you oppose the permit for drilling at Canton and Jackson! - Mayor Richard Garcia and the City Council: (956) 383-5661 :: aozuna@cityofedinburg.com - Edinburg City Council: (956) 388-8204 :: citysec@cityofedinburg.com • Get involved! On Join & Follow: - www.facebook.com/saveRGVfromLNG - Say No to Oil Drilling and Fracking at Canton and Jackson! Facebook group n
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Extraction as an Economic Development Strategy” looks at the impacts of drilling booms since the 1980s in six states from 1980 – 2011. They found that: • For counties that experience increases in oil and gas production, income declines over time by as much as $7000 a person with longer specialization. • The longer the duration of oil and gas specialization, the higher the crime rate. • Educational attainment declines with longer specialization.
UPDATE
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Get Ready for Round.. GOP and White House Work to Revive Fast Track
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Reprinted from Common Dreams, Deirdre Fulton, staff writer, June 15, 2015 www.commondreams.org/
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Anti-Fast Track actions continued in Washington, D.C. powerful interests and politicians could not outdo the massive on Monday, June 15. Even as they celebrated last week’s popular opposition that we have all demonstrated against Fast quasi-victory against clandestine, corporate trade deals, civil Track and backroom corporate deals.” society groups warned the fight over Fast Track was not over. But some warn that such opposition risks being overcome They were right. by procedural gimmicks. As Sutton further explained: Indeed, Friday’s defeat of Fast Track, or trade promotion Not willing to give up, the Republican House leadership authority, could be reversed as early as this week, with the voted to force yet another vote on TAA next week. If TAA U.S. House of Representatives reportedly considering a passes next week, all of these parts could still move together number of options for reviving the legislation. As Bill Moyers as a single package, straight to the President’s desk. If the and Bernard Weisberger wrote in an op-ed published Monday TAA fails next week, then Fast Track will move back to the at Common Dreams, Friday’s vote was “only Round One.” Senate to see if it can pass without TAA—giving us another “The unholy trio of Republican Senate Majority Leader chance to oppose it. Mitch McConnell (who has vowed to keep any of Obama’s Now it’s going to take somewhat of a miracle for the nominees from being confirmed), Speaker of the House John President and House Republicans to change their mind on Boehner (who has thwarted just about every Democratic TAA by such a large margin (around 180 votes) by Tuesday— legislative proposal of the past several years), and President that’s their deadline on holding that second TAA vote. But we Obama (a Democrat, in case you are having trouble know that the White House and proponents of these secretive, remembering) are as undemocratic one in a desperate agreements are effort to rescue their willing to do almost Frankenstein-like anything to pass creation,” Moyers these deals with even and Weisberger less oversight from wrote. Congress. Congressional Politico reports rules required that on some of the the House approve options available to both Fast Track and House Speaker John Trade Adjustment Boehner (R-Ohio) Assistance (TAA) in and his pro-Fast order for the overall Track leadership trade package to team: move forward as Boehner could Anti-Fast Track actions continued in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Photo: @BXEAction/Twitter) it did in the Senate. schedule another vote Thus, Friday’s on TAA for Tuesday, overwhelming “No” vote on TAA—which went down 126but under the current legislative rules, he needs to make 302—meant defeat for those angling to hand over trade a decision by Monday afternoon. Even if he decides to go negotiating power from Congress to President Barack Obama. ahead with another vote, it’s unlikely to succeed. He would Many Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy have to flip roughly 75 Democratic votes. Pelosi (D-Calif.), voted against TAA in an express effort to The speaker could also try to pass fast-track authority derail Fast Track. on its own, without TAA attached. But at least some of the Writing for Electronic Frontier Foundation, Maira Sutton 29 Democrats who voted for fast track might oppose the described the outcome as “a strong signal that even these legislation if help for workers displaced by trade isn’t part of
.. Two! and their citizens, and it is crucial that different interests are taken into account, which can only be done by democratically elected representatives,” the letter read. “However, the proposed Fast Track Package would allow the Administration to legislate bypassing the will and opinion of Congress, undermining the principle of separation of powers. So is the current situation in the European Union, whereby the European Parliament has no voice in the negotiations led by the European Commission.” The 42 signatories continued: “We, members of the European Parliament, have never been asked if we wanted to allow the executive branch to negotiate without regard to our position. Our voice and the voices of those we represent are ignored. On the other hand, you, the members of Congress of the United States, have the opportunity to preserve that constitutional right, and we urge you to keep it.” That window of opportunity is swiftly shutting, however. In her analysis of the congressional machinations, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch director Lori Wallach noted that while the path to enactment of Fast Track remains muddy, “the corporate coalition, White House and GOP leaders remain hell bent on finding it.” “The final chapter for Fast Track,” she wrote, “will be written in the coming weeks.”
Gilbert I. Patino, June 2,1940-May 28, 2015 Gilbert and his wife, Yolanda were always together attending and volunteering at cultural and community events. Gilbert, an avid researcher into his family history was proud of his roots tracing his family back to the original 16 families who came to San Antonio in 1731 and established the first civil government. He was also a direct descendent of Alejo de la Encarnación Pérez, the youngest known person in the Alamo during the battle and the last known survivor who lived until 1918, at the age of 83. Gilbert was buried in the Westside alongside Alejo who rests at San Fernando Cemetery #1 among other historic figures buried there. An active member of groups like Los Bexareños Genealogical and Historical Society, he was also very involved with the cultural arts especially at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. He and Yolanda would often attend Esperanza events, also, and supported the programming at El Rinconcito de Esperanza. Our heartfelt condolences to Gilbert’s family, particularly his wife, Yolanda, and their three daughters—Rowena Sancho, Regina Castillo and Patience Lares, their families and his many friends. Que en paz descanse.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
the package. Senior aides doubt the Senate can pass a fasttrack bill without the job training piece. Another alternative for Boehner would be to try and combine TPA and TAA into one bill, but GOP leadership sources say that would not pass the chamber. A less plausible option would be to try to insert TAA into another must-pass bill. But Democrats seem ready to oppose any legislation that includes TAA. Of course, none of these options would make corporatefriendly trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) more appealing to progressives who oppose such pacts for their negative impacts on the environment, jobs, and democracy. “Let’s be clear, we do not need a ‘do over’ vote for Fast Track, we need an entire ‘redo’ of U.S. trade policy,” said Erich Pica of Friends of the Earth in a statement on Monday. Members of the EU Parliament on Monday added their voices to the chorus of opposition to Fast Track, urging U.S. legislators—like these 28 Democrats who voted for Fast Track—not to abdicate their responsibility to constituents. “It is clear that TPP and [TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] are far reaching treaties which would have deep consequences for all countries involved
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....And the e r A s r e n n i W by Gloria Almaraz with photos by Gloria Romero*
“You’re all winners.”
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
These are the inspiring words that the 36 young couples at Edgewood 1st Place Winners I.S.D’s district-wide ballroom dancing competition heard Gabriel Aldana & throughout Saturday morning, May 23, 2015 when they Gianna Ramírez competed. The 36 couples, primarily third graders representing six EISD elementary schools (Roy Cisneros, Gardendale, Henry B. González, Las Palmas, Loma Park, and Stafford), were competing for the coveted titles of first, second, and third place winner for the entire school distict.
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As part of their motivational efforts, dance coordinators wanted to insure that these 72 children understood that, although only three couples would be selected from the group for the championship titles, the fact that they were in the competition made them all winners and that no one should consider themselves to be losers. According to Executive Director Jorge Alonso Pérez, the Dance Therapy—Dance Your Depression Away Program has been in existence for 15 years, but has functioned as the Dancing with the Children Program in EISD for the past seven years. At the beginning of the current school year, 182 students began taking weekly one-hour ballroom dance lessons on tango and merengue. The end result, after in-school competitions in early May were held to select six couples per elementary school, was the final group of 36 couples. As adults, we can only imagine the weekly sessions that included the initial problems of getting familiar with a dance partner, touching hands with the opposite sex at the awkward age of nine or ten, learning the dance format that includes the boy putting his hand on his partner’s back, and learning to dance the intricate steps of the tango and merengue. More than three hundred family members, friends, school administrators, district board members, community leaders, and the media attended the early morning event at the Neighborhood Place. For those of us who are not early morning risers, especially on Saturday mornings, the event was riveting and worth the loss of sleep. A special demonstration of two variations of the tango was performed by Adriana Araujo Bruton and Robert Ramírez, the two instructors who have volunteered their time to give these students tango and merengue lessons throughout the current school year. Both instructors are professional ballroom dancers. Two dance elimination rounds were held to reduce the number of competing couples. After the first round, three couples per school
were selected. In the second round, the remaining couples were named first, second, and third-place winners of each competing school. For the final round, only the first-place winners per school competed for the three district-wide championship titles. It was exciting to watch these young dancers exhibiting their dance abilities to the music of tango and merengue. As young and inexperienced as they are at ages nine or ten, the dancing styles of these young couples were amazing. One could see and sense their competitiveness as they danced for the championship—something they had worked and trained hard for since September 2014. Amidst cheering from family and friends and encouragement from the dance instructors and judges, the difficult decision was made on who would be the top three couples in the district. The judges included DA Nicholas LaHood and his wife, Davida; EISD board member, Mary Lou Mendoza; Baldemar Pérez of Dance Therapy; A.J. Abrahms; Mayra Gamino; and Elizabeth Aleman. They had the difficult task of judging the couples as they danced the tango and merengue at the first two elimination rounds. U. S. Congressman Joaquin Castro, a major supporter of the dancing program, was in attendance and delivered a stirring tribute to the nation’s veterans in recognition of the Memorial Day observance. Famed Las Vegas performer and entertainer, Lola Falana, made a special appearance and judged the final round of the dance competition. With the 36 couples gathered near her, Ms. Falana spoke to the children about her beliefs and stressed that they can accomplish any goal they may set for themselves. Now living in San Antonio, she spoke about her life as an example of someone who came from a humble background but who was able to achieve fame, stardom, and financial success. In a special ceremony, Ms. Falana was recognized for her continued support of EISD’s ballroom dancing program. As for selecting the 2014-2015 top ballroom dancing couples
Championship winners (L to R): Executive Director Jorge Alonso Pérez; 2nd Place – Valerie Santos and Adam Islacve from Roy Cisneros Elem.; 1st Place – Gabriel Aldana and Gianna Ramírez from Las Palmas Elem; 3 rd Place - Juan De La Cruz and Stephanie Contreras from Stafford Elem; and dance instructor, Robert Ramírez. Henry B. González
for the EISD, Ms. Falana stated that it was “hard to pick a winner.”But, in the long run, the judges selected the following:
First Place:
Gabriel Aldana and Gianna Juliana Ramírez, Las Palmas Elementary
Second Place:
Adam Islacve and Valerie Santos Roy Cisneros Elementary Juan De La Cruz and Stephanie Contreras Stafford Elementary
Gardendale
Henry B. González
Las Palmas
All winners received a trophy and a gift certificate. First-place winners were also given stuffed animals. In addition, the school of the first-place winners will be allowed to display the large district championship trophy for the upcoming school year. For the second consecutive year, Las Palmas Elementary School produced the firstplace winners. At this year’s ceremony, the school was given a permanent trophy for winning last year’s competition. As word has spread of the ballroom dancing program at EISD, there has been an increasing awareness and support by local ballroom dancing aficionados. Among them has been community leader Edith McAllister, widow of Walter McAllister, Jr. A lover of ballroom dancing, Ms. McAllister is known to have been an excellent dancer in ballroom dancing circles. She has been a generous supporter of EISD’s ballroom dancing program for several years, and this year donated the gift certificates that were given to the students. Executive Director Jorge Alonso Pérez and Adriana Araujo Bruton and Robert Ramírez, the two dance instructors, are to be commended for sharing their passion for dance, in this case ballroom dancing, with future ballroom dancers. Is there a future Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers in the making? N * See the June 2015 issue of La Voz for the first article on Dancing with the Children.
Las Palmas
Dancing with the Children
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Third Place:
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People’s Power Coalition meets last Thursdays | 210.878.6751
Bexar Co. Green Party: Call 210. 471.1791 or bcgp@bexargreens.org
PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs. @ 7pm, University Presbyterian Church 300 Bushnell Ave. | 210.848.7407.
* community meetings *
Amnesty International #127 For info. call Arthur @ 210.213.5919.
Celebration Circle meets Sun., 11am @ Say Sí, 1518 S. Alamo. Meditation: Weds @7:30pm, Friends Meeting House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533.6767. DIGNITY SA Mass, 5:30pm, Sun. @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1018 E. Grayson St | 210.340.2230 Adult Wellness Support Group of PRIDE Center meets 4th Mon., 7-9 pm @ Lions Field, 2809 Broadway. Call 210.213.5919. Energía Mía: (512) 838-3351 Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. www.lafuerzaunida.org | 210.927.2294 Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteers, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt. LULAC Council #22198, Orgullo de SA, meets 3rd Tues. @ 6:45pm @ Papouli’s (Meeting room), 255 E. Basse Rd. To join e-mail: info@lulac22198.org
NOW SA Chapter meets 3rd Wed’s. For time and location check FB/satx.now | 210. 802.9068 | nowsaareachapter@ gmail.com
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Pax Christi, SA meets monthly on Saturdays. Call 210.460.8448
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Progressive Movement in San Antonio
Parents of Murdered Children, meets 2nd Mondays @ Balcones Heights Community Ctr, 107 Glenarm | www. pomcsanantonio.org.
¡Todos Somos Esperanza! Start your 2015 monthly donations now!
Rape Crisis Center 7500 US Hwy 90W. Hotline: 210.349.7273 | 210.521.7273 Email: sgabriel@ rapecrisis.com The Religious Society of Friends meets Sunday @10am @ The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. | 210.945.8456. S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursday, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Community Church. SA AIDS Fdn 818 E. Grayson St. offers free Syphilis & HIV testing | 210.225.4715 | www.txsaaf.org. SA Women Will March: www. sawomenwillmarch.org|(830) 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.
Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy meets Thurs. 7pm, 325 Courtland.
S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Contact Barbara at 210.725.8329.
Metropolitan Community Church services & Sunday school @10:30am, 611 East Myrtle. Call 210.472.3597
Voice for Animals: 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org
Overeaters Anonymous meets MWF in Spanish & daily in English | www. oasanantonio.org | 210.492.5400.
Be Part of a
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.
SA’s LGBTQA Youth meets Tues., 6:30pm at Univ. Presby. Church, 300 Bushnell Ave. | www.fiesta-youth.org
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Notas Notas YY Más Más
July/Aug 2015
Four major exhibits devoted to the artwork of Chicano artist, Mel Casas, will be on view throughout San Antonio now thru October 2015. Getting the Big Picture: Political Themes in the Art of Mel Casas 19681977 is at The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 723 S. Brazos St. and Mel Casas: The Southwestern Cliches, 1982-1989 is at Texas A&M University San Antonio Centro de Artes, 101 S. Santa Rosa Ave. See: www.melcasas.com In anticipation of a favorable ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, Unity Church of San Antonio (UCSA), 1723 W. Lawndale St. is planning a Freedom to Say I Do event on July 4th where same sex couples can get married from 9:30 am to 5pm. At that time couples must present a marriage license obtained 72 hours beforehand. Contact: reception@unityofsa.org to reserve a time for a $25 fee. For more, visit unityofsa.
Bil Haus Arts located at 2803 Fredricksburg Rd. presents a gallery talk by Dr. Lisa Zottarelli, Denature by Design: A Sociological Exploration of Disasters, about the human response to disasters exacerbated by climate change on Sat. July 11 at 2 pm. Also, on Sat., July 18th there will be a reading with a line-up of poets reading at 2 pm organized by Mobi Warren, founder of 350SA. Check: www.bihlhausarts.org/ The 2015 MALCS Summer Institute is on for July 29th to August 1st at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Hosts/organizers are Alma Rosa SilvaBañuelos, Director of UNM LGBTQ Resource Ctr and Rosa Isela Cervantes, Director of the UNM Centro de la Raza and
Special Advisor to the President on Latino from www.RedLetterPress.org Affairs. For more check: institute.malcs. Using qualitative research on Mexican/ org or malcs2015unm@gmail.com Mexican Americans and their historias The 3rd Biannual Sal Castro Memorial that center on concepts such as buen traConference on the emerging historiogra- bajador, bien educado, and buena gente, phy of the Chicano Movement takes place Octavio Pimentel reveals that when social Feb. 26 & 27, 2016 at the University of networks guide personal goals in these California, Santa Barbara. Graduate stu- communities, goals become communitydents and faculty who are writing on Chi- oriented rather than personally-oriented in cano history or the movement may submit his new book, Historias de Éxito within a 5000 word proposal and short CV. to Mexican Communities—Silenced Voices. Prof. Mario T. García at Gracia@history. Online at www.palgrave.com ucsb.edu. Deadline: Sept. 1st. A son of migrant farm workers in CaliA new anthology, Talking Back: Voices of fornia, Juan Felipe Herrera will be the Color (Red Letter Press, 2015), presents an next U.S. poet-in-chief. The Library of unusually diverse group of writers speak- Congress announced Wednesday, June ing out on issues affecting communities 10th, the appointment of Herrera as the naof color. Nellie Wong, Bay Area poet and tion’s 21st poet laureate for 2015 through social justice activist, is the book’s editor 2016, beginning in September. Herrera, and author of the introduction—a striking 66, whose parents emigrated from Mexico, meditation on the importance of “talking will be the nation’s first Latino poet laureback” in asserting identity and power on an ate since the position was created in 1936. individual and collective level. Available
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Poet Barbara Jane Reyes will teach a poetry workshop, Poetry and Poetics of “We,” at Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro on Sat., July 11th from 10am to 3pm. Cost is $95. Her work tends to revolve around issues of identity, place, and the hidden memory of places we’ve been. She will also give a free reading with novelists, Bob Flynn and Rod Davis, on July 10th at 7pm. Both the reading and workshop will be at Gemini Ink. Go to www.geminink.org or call 210.734.9673.
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.
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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
Noche Azul de Esperanza
Summer Concert Calendar 3rd Saturdays 8PM @ Esperanza, $5 Join us for
Tangos July 18
Africa Latina Aug 15
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org
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Gather your photos from the Westside of San Antonio (1880 -1960) and come share your stories during our monthly En Aquellos Tiempos Convivio. Scanned photos may become part of future fotobanners and the 1st photobook of the Westside!
Saturday July 11 & Aug 8
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • July/Aug 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 6•
10am @ Casa de Cuentos, 816 S. Colorado
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En Aquellos Tiempos: Fotohistorias del Westside
Exhibit
a retrospective of
Currently, we have 100+ installed photobanners throughout the Westside of San Antonio
Liliana Wilson’s ART
check out our new BANNERS with fotohistorias on Guadalupe St. and on Brazos St. celebrating the history of the AlazanApache Courts en aquellos tiempos. Call 210.228.0201 for info.
Opening Reception
Sat., July 11, 7PM thru Aug. @ Esperanza Books, Originals & Giclee prints will be available for purchase
OFRENDA
Book
Liliana Wilson’s Art of Dissidence and Dreams | Norma E. Cantú, Editor Liliana Wilson’s art of resistance and protest, dissidence and dreams, consistently calls attention to injustice reflecting the political turmoil and repression of the 70s and 80s of her native Chile. In this volume, her most representative works are reproduced, along with personal background and scholarly interpretations of her art offered by leading names in the field. | 8x10, 160 pp. 65 photos. Bib. Index. $60.00 | Available from www.tamupress.com • 800-826-8911