La Voz - October 2012 by Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

October 2012 | Vol. 25 Issue 8

San Antonio, Tejas

Inside: • A Victory for Voters p.3 • Middle Class Suffers p.5 • Obama or Romney: It Does Matter p.7 • Jeff Biggers’ Welcome to Arizona p.8 • Día de muertos events p.8 • Politics, San Antonio style wtih Maria Berriozábal p.9 • TX Nursing Homes p.10 • Estamos en la lucha: Immigrant Women light the fires of resistance p.11 • Agradecimientos: Esperanza Donors p.13 Plus! Poems, Calaveras, Deadlines & more events...

La Voz de Esperanza October 2012 vol. 25 issue 8

Editor

Gloria A. Ramírez

Editorial Assistance Alice Canestaro-Garcia

Design Monica V. Velásquez Cover Artwork Mary Agnes Rodríguez

Contributors

Elliot Benjamin, Diana Fernandez, Amanda Haas, Marge Piercy, Bill Stitchnot, Pancho Valdez, Yoly Zentella

La Voz Mail Collective

Stef Cmielewski, Sara DeTurk, Juan Diaz, Angela M. García, Esther Guajardo, Helen Harman, Mildred Hilbrich, Erin Susan Jennings, Gina Lee, Ray McDonald, Sara Melchor, Angie H. Merla, Adriana Netro,Andrew Oxford, Argelia Soto, D.L. Stokes, Elva Pérez Treviño, Ines Valdez, Lucila Vicencio

Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza Staff

Imelda Arismendez, Itza Carbajal, Verónica Castillo, Marisol Cortez, Jezzika Pérez, Beto Salas, Susana Segura, Monica V. Velásquez

Conjunto de Nepantleras

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

-Esperanza Board of Directors-

Brenda Davis, Araceli Herrera, Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Kamala Platt, Ana Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Nadine Saliba, Graciela Sánchez • 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 (on the corner of Evergreen Street)

210.228.0201 • fax 210.228.0000 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 Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published.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 TCA, AKR Fdn, Astraea Lesbian Fdn for Justice, the NEA, theFund, The Kerry Lobel & Marta Drury Fund of Horizon’s Fdn, Coyote Phoenix, Movement Strategy Center Fund, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Fdn y nuestra buena gente.

dia de los muertos,

will have special significance this year. Reports from True the Vote, a national group focusing on voter fraud, claim that the dead who normally visit their loved ones on November 1st and 2nd for Days of the Dead will stay until Tuesday, November 6th to vote in the 2012 US presidential elections. They will most certainly have proper IDs as required in individual states. Question remains, who will they vote for? Currently, Federal law requires that only citizens can vote in US elections. However, Federal law has never explicitly required citizens to be ALIVE! Verifying citizenship and setting up voting procedures is left up to the states. This year, Texas may well want to count these visiting dead by setting up polling places in large cemeteries like San Fernando number II –since one of Texas’ most stringent voter ID laws was just rejected by the courts (see Voz article: p. 3). Ways must be found to get “qualified” voters out to vote! True the Vote is one of several groups currently waging warfare against perceived “voter fraud” even though studies have shown –it is not prevalent. True the Vote, an outgrowth of the Tea Party, is led by Texan, Catherine Engelbrecht, who told a gathering in July about buses carrying dozens of voters to polling places during the recent Wisconsin recall election. Claims have also been made that a phantom bus was seen at a San Diego polling place in 2010 offloading people “who did not appear to be from this country.” However, no bus license plates have been produced to substantiate these claims. [Looking, Very Closely, for Voter Fraud –Conservative Groups Focus on Registration..., New York Times, September 16, 2012] True the Vote, claiming to be non-partisan, also works closely with well-financed groups whose sole aim is to unseat the incumbent in the president’s race. Voter eligibility in the U.S. is determined by both Federal and state law and has historically blocked certain groups from voting. More often, it’s been people of color that have been disenfranchised –Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans and others. Religious groups have also been blocked from voting, especially Jews. The poor, including whites, have been kept from voting with property requirements, literacy tests and a poll tax. Women of all races, citizens or not, could not vote until August, 1920 when the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote in the U.S. When the country was founded, only white men with real property (land) or sufficient wealth for taxation were permitted to vote in most states. With the dead voting this year, one thing is certain –neither skin color, nor gender, nor ownership of property will keep them from qualifying as voters. Busloads of the dead will be departing from local cemeteries nationwide to cast their votes for president this year. There is even the possibility that the undead [zombies!] will join them. However, True the Vote will be out en masse at the polls to check the “legitimacy of voters” casting ballots. The dead may well pass all voter qualification tests as True the Vote supporters eye them. It all depends on who will benefit from their votes. La Katrina in all her finery will no doubt be allowed to vote! But, who will she vote for? Voz readers– The November issue of La Voz will feature Calaveras and Literary Ofrendas for the Day of the Dead. Submit your entries by October 5th! To review past November issues with Calaveras and Literary Ofrendas go to: www. esperanzacenter.org and click on Voz. See p. 8 & 9 in this issue for more. NOTE: The above editorial and accompanying articles in La Voz do not constitute an endorsement of any candidate or legislation by the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, it’s all simply food for thought. – Gloria A. Ramirez ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a correction you want to make on your mailing label please send it in to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. If you do not wish to continue on the mailing list for whatever reason please notify us as well. 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. 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.

Chalk Up A Victory for Voters

O by Diana Fernandez

n August 30th a federal panel ruled against the Texas Voter ID law. This means that the government issued photo ID will not be required to vote in the 2012 presidential election in November. Nor will it be required in other elections unless the decision is changed through the appeal process. Much to the dismay of Governor Rick Perry who commented, “chalk up another victory for fraud” this was the second major strike against efforts that would have diminished the minority vote. Just two days earlier, another three-judge panel in the same federal court also ruled against the Republican-drawn redistricting map for Texas.

was denied preclearance by the federal court in Washington. The trial was held in Washington in January with the judges issuing their decision in August 2012. An interim map created by a San Antonio judicial panel after the initial denial will be used for the November election. It is important to remember that Texas is among the 9 states that must get preclearance from either the Justice Dept. or federal panel of judges for any changes in the voting process. This stems from the state’s history of discrimination against minorities in the voting process thus requiring preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 8 other states that fall under the preclearance requirement include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia in

Underlying all of the attempts to change the voting process, it is clear that voting does count.

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In the Voter ID case the judges concluded in a unanimous 56-page ruling that the law creates hardships that would disproportionately impact the poor and minorities. The judges called the Texas voter ID law “the most stringent of its kind in the country.” This law could require someone to travel over 200 miles to a Dept. of Public Safety (D.P.S.) office to obtain an official photo ID. As the decision stated “while a 200 to 250mile trip to and from a D.P.S office would be a heavy burden for any prospective voter, such a journey would be especially daunting for the working poor.” If you’ve had the experience of going to the D.P.S. for your license then you know that distance is just one obstacle in addition to the long wait lines and the documentation required. The judges acknowledged costs such as a $22 fee for obtaining a certified copy of one’s birth certificate, one of the documents that would qualify for an Election ID card for those lacking a driver’s license. In the case of the redrawn Texas electoral map, the judges found that the legislature “had intentionally discriminated against minority voters” in redrawing the map. The map was redrawn due to the increase in the minority population (mostly Hispanic) that accounted for 90 percent of the 4.3 million population growth in the last decade according to the 2010 Census. Because of this increase, Texas is entitled to 4 new seats in the legislature. Instead of giving more representation to the group responsible for the population growth, the judges observed that the redrawn map had the opposite effect. For example, the large Hispanic Congressional district in South Texas that includes Corpus Christi would have become a majority Anglo district. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott explained that the map was drawn “to help Republicans maintain power but not to discriminate.” The new map was signed by Governor Perry in the summer of 2011 but

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

addition to counties and townships in other states. Most of the 9 states known as “covered jurisdictions” came under this requirement in 1965 based on the fact that they had less than 50 percent of the population registered to vote in 1964. Texas was added in 1975 because the Voting Rights Act was expanded to include discrimination against “language minority groups” where States with more than 5% language minority population were providing English only election materials. Each year there are numerous preclearance requests ranging from changes in voting places to district maps and most are approved. But in the last couple of years there has been a surge in the states trying to make changes on voter IDs. While federal judges have sided with the Justice Dept. in denying the changes, the appeals will likely end up in the Supreme Court that has tended to favor voter ID laws. Since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Congress has renewed it 4 times with the last being a 25-year extension signed in 2006. But the efforts to change Section 5 persist. The argument for deleting Section 5 and preclearance is centered on the idea that much has changed since 1965 citing an increase in minority voters and elected officials. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in 2009, “Things have changed in the South… blatantly discriminatory evasions of federal decrees are rare.” However, as Judge David Tatel of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wrote in a majority opinion upholding Section 5, “serious and widespread intentional discrimination persisted in covered jurisdictions.” Because of the increase in voter ID laws and efforts to purge voter rolls, it has been suggested that instead of deleting Section 5, it should be extended to all states. For states like Ohio and Pennsylvania that are not subject to preclearance, a challenge to a change in voting would have to go through a lawsuit. Based on a lawsuit filed by the Obama campaign, a federal court recently struck down a change in Ohio that would have eliminated early voting. The results were different in Pennsylvania where a state judge upheld a new voter photo ID law effective for the November election. In response to the Pennsylvania decision, Republican House Majority Leader Mike Turzai said, “this is going to allow Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” The question remains whether the two Texas decisions against the voter ID law and the electoral map will hold up against the efforts of Governor Perry and Attorney General Abbott to reverse them. Shortly after the ruling, Abbott with Perry’s support announced that he would be filing an appeal on the part of the state of Texas. Perry also indicated that he will pursue having Texas released from preclearance through a process known as “bailout” which requires a state to demonstrate nondiscriminatory practices for ten years. So the fight is not over. But for now you can be assured that in Texas you will not be forced to have a state issued photo ID to vote in November. But you should make sure that you are registered in your present county and you should have your voting card with you when you go to your voting precinct. If not, you will be asked to produce identification such as a driver’s license. If you’ve moved you will have to submit a change of address to the election office if it is in the same county or register to vote in the new county and be aware of the deadline. Underlying all of the attempts to change the voting process, it is clear that voting does count. You need only look at the impact of the Tea Party that is often described as a fringe movement and small in relation to the traditional party members. But this movement has found a way to count at the polls, bringing down long-term incumbents across the nation. Both parties understand the implications for the fast-growing Hispanic population. If Hispanics gain greater access to voting they have the potential to change the balance of power. Bio: Diana Fernandez, a former educator who has taught in South Texas, Dallas and Oregon is currently living in San Antonio.

The Appeal Attorney General of Texas, Greg Abbott Went to the Court of Appeals With the new Voter ID laws in hand And plans to reverse the repeals Dreaming of disenfranchised Democrats And eager to hear the decision He hardly noticed The Skinny One Approaching the bench with precision She gripped the gavel with one spindly hand And suddenly had his attention “The verdict is death,” she said with delight While he sputtered, “I need an extension!” “Those laws you propose are the new Jim Crows Your racism isn’t too sly You’re guilty of slaying Democracy And in Texas it’s ‘eye for an eye’” “That’s just not fair!” Mr. Abbot croaked But his cheeks burned bright as a flame The angry mob that filled the court Was chanting, “Shame, shame, shame!” Death, herself no stranger to the pursuit of justices, Decided perhaps he was right “We’ll put it to a vote!” she announced And Abbot’s face went stark white The growing mob writhed as the poll booths arrived And the whole place roared like a riot As Abbot approached the voting booth The courtroom was suddenly quiet Frantic, he rifled through pants and coat pockets His wallet contained only money “My ID is lost!” he wailed to the crowd But they seemed to think this was funny Scanning the room, he was hoping to find A sympathetic white face But all he got were angry glares From every age, gender and race! R IP With Lady Death drawing near Abbot finally turned himself in Against Texas’ 13 million voters He realized he never would win A calavera by Amanda Haas

You (the Worker) May not be Dead - But, You are on Life Support by Bill Stitchnot

“Middle class suffers ‘worst decade in modern history,”

61% 51%

report says (Associated Press, Aug 22, 2012)

29% 25%

20% 14%

Percentage of Individuals by Income Class Aug, 2012, Pew Research Center

not creating jobs. The bottom line is: you may not be dead – but you are on life support. The above chart is from the Pew Research Center as reported by Aaron Smith in his article, The Middle Class Falls Further Behind [@CNNMoney August 22, 2012]. He begins by bemoaning the fact that “America’s middle class has endured its worst decade in modern history.” He adds, “It has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some -- but by no means all -- of its characteristic faith in the future.” You will notice that two income classes increased in size in the last 49 years. The Lower Income Class increased from 25% to 29%. The Upper Income Class increased from 14% to 20%. The rich got richer - the poor got poorer and the Middle Income Class shrank ten percent. Of the 2,500 people Pew surveyed, 85% of those who identify themselves as Middle Class say it is more difficult now than it was a decade ago to maintain their standard of living. The report also found that the Middle Class is a much smaller part of the population than it used to be, while the poor and rich extremes of society are expanding. Marxists would see things differently. There are, in reality, but two classes: the workers, who actually produce things and the Ruling Class, those who own the means of production. As I’ve written before, you, the workers, are just a commodity – like pork bellies. The price the capitalist pays you rises and falls, just as the price of pork bellies rise and fall. You are simply the product of supply and demand. Right now, with the

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hat was the screaming headline I awoke to. What the media and politicians like to call the Middle Class is nothing more than a large segment of society that just keeps their heads above water when the seas are calm. Sort of like floating in the Gulf off of Padre Island when the weather is nice. These beach goers are not rich, so they can’t swim far. Nor are they poor, the calm waves do not pull them under. No, the Middle Class is just bobbing in the water on a calm day. They are so happy they are not part of the Lower Class. The media and the politicians have taught them that the Lower Class are the dregs of society: they are poor, minority, mostly women and children. They have limited education and little ambition. I read one poet, who summed up their plight as such: “They are not people – like corporations.” Nobody is worried about them because, while they can’t swim very well, they do have life-preservers on, which will protect them while the seas are calm. Plus, they stay mostly out of sight. The problem, of course, is that the seas are not calm. There is a hurricane in the Gulf. Not only is it dragging down the poor, with their flimsy life preservers, but it also decimating the ranks of the Middle Class who cannot stay afloat and are joining the ranks of the Lower Class. The media wail and gnash their teeth at this predicament. They have never seen such a thing (although they did read about it in the history books – something about the Great Depression). Each major political party is blaming this hurricane on the other guy. “If only they would only have______,” you fill in the blank. But we know, the media and the politicians are only doing the Capitalists’ work. The Capitalists and their minions would have us believe it is the Poor vs the Middle Class vs The Upper Class. It is class war. Warren Buffet was right when he declared something like “It is class warfare and our class has won.” So why, after all these years (since 2008) have things not improved? I wrote an article in the February 2011 issue of La Voz de Esperanza that suggested that, while Obama submitted a stimulus plan, the plan was too small. It did not pump enough money into the economy to get people back to work. The second concern that I pointed out was that Obama bailed out every millionaire he could get his hands on. Obama, to his credit, put forth a second stimulus, in the form of a jobs bill, a year or so ago. It died in the Democratically-controlled Senate. Now we see that these companies are doing fine, thank-you, and are sitting on tons of money, not wanting to invest it just yet, thus

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average unemployment rate stuck above 8% for months, those of you in the Middle Class are falling into the Lower Class. Your standard of living has fallen due to the fact that many of you are no better off than you were 10 years ago (the lost decade). As I have stated, Marxists see things differently. There is no “Middle” or “Lower” class. Those are just myths the Capitalist-controlled media and politicians would have you believe. It’s the same myth that says, “Anyone can grow up to be just what they want to be – if they try hard enough.” Sure the media will parade a person or two, who courageously came out of poverty and became America’s Idol, for a day. As Thoreau wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The real chance of you becoming President is about the same as winning the Power Ball or being struck by lightning. Look at the odds. There have been hundreds of millions of people who have lived in the US, but only 43 different men have been President. So our two classes –the wage slave and the slave owner are not members of the above described three classes. Indeed, we Marxists merge the Middle and the Lower class, to make up the Working Class (those people who actually produce something). And, when we merge the two classes, we see that 80% are workers. The remaining 20% can not be described as bosses. Remember these class titles are mere figments of the Bourgeois media and politicians. As what we protested about last year (and are still demonstrating against, here in Hawaii), we can cut the 20% Upper Class down to its reality of 1%. One per cent telling us myths and lies that we all soak in. It is as if we were 8-year-old kids and were told that Santa Claus would give us gifts if we just tow “the man’s” line. Yes, we are told anyone can grow up to be President. While we think the chance of being President is less than winning the Power Ball, we still like playing Power Ball. It is fun to believe in – the same as believing in the American Dream. But most people won’t know what to do when they realize the Dream is but a myth. I mean, what are our choices? Revolt? Heaven forbid, we’d be labeled a Socialist! Now, fewer of us, workers, really believe that hard work will allow us to get ahead in life. Families are now more likely to say their children’s economic future will be the same or worse than their own. What needs to be done? First, we workers have to face reality. From Aaron Smith: “Who is to blame? The Middle Class blames Congress as the leading element for its demise and blames itself least of all. While 62% of Middle Class respondents to the survey blamed Congress for their worsening state, 54% blamed banks or financial institutions, 47% blamed corporations, 44% blamed the Bush administration, 39% blamed foreign competition and 34% blamed the Obama Administration. Just 8% of all respondents blamed the man (or woman) in the

6 The Rich Get Richer, The Poor Do the Work –Diego Rivera

The Poor Are No Longer With Us No one’s poor any longer. Listen to politicians. They mourn the middle class which is shrinking as we watch in the mirror. The poor have been discarded already in the oblivion pail of not to be spoken words. They are as lepers were treated once, to be shipped to fortified islands of the minds to rot quietly. If poverty is a disease, quarantine its victims. If it is a social problem imprison them behind high walls. Maybe it’s genetic: how often they catch easily preventable diseases. Feed them fast garbage and they’ll die before their care can cost you, of heart attacks, strokes. Provide cheap guns and they’ll kill each other well out of sight. Ghettos are such dangerous places. Give them schools that teach them how stupid they are. But always pretend they don’t exist because they don’t buy enough, spend enough, give you bribes or contributions. No ads target their feeble credit. They are not real people like corporations. –Marge Piercy

he other night

Obama or Romney:

I went to hear veteran peace activist Kathy Kelly1 talk about our decadelong war in Afghanistan. I have been a persistent critic of Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan2, and I certainly agreed with all of Kathy’s poignant descriptions of the unspeakable immorality of this war. At the end of the talk, questions from the audience were invited, and I raised my hand to ask the question that was engulfing me during the whole talk.

It DOES Matter! by Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D.

This was the whole voting for Obama or going Green party/ Independent in November issue that progressives are heatedly divided upon3. For me though, this is not an issue, as I fully believe that Romney is a far more disastrous choice than Obama, and I have accepted “the lesser of two evils” reality4, justifying this to myself with the philosophy of Van Jones and the Rebuild the Dream movement5. In regard to Obama and the November election, this philosophy can be succinctly described as getting Obama elected in November and then demonstrating against his non-progressive policies in December6.

and as I expected, Kathy Kelly responded by saying that it doesn’t matter who is president, as the president is controlled by the big corporations. This common progressive and Occupy philosophy8 that “it doesn’t matter” is consistent with the Green Party philosophy nominating Jill Stein for president9, and this has been supported by influential progressives such as Chris Hedges and Medea Benjamin10. But I went up to Kathy Kelly afterwards and I got into a bit of an argument with her about my perspective and disagreement with her perspective that “it doesn’t matter.” I left the talk feeling frustrated, but also charged up as a result of having forcefully expressed my views.

The reality of the possibility of the world coming to an end much sooner with Romney as our president compared to Obama is just something that I cannot ignore. Robert Reich recently put out an extremely effective 2-3 minute video that illustrates the dire reality of Romney winning the election, from an economic perspective, emphasizing the disastrous outcomes of a Romney/ Ryan administration in regard to significant increases in unemployment and decreases in jobs, and devastation for senior citizens, social service programs, and education7.

For me this is the Ralph Nader syndrome all over again, which I believe contributed significantly to Bush getting elected in 2000, and why we’re currently living in the midst of such chaos, violence, and war. The upcoming election is going to be so close and so dangerous. It frustrates me tremendously to see votes “wasted” on a candidate that takes precious votes away from Obama and makes it more likely that we will have President Romney and Vice-President Ryan for the next 4 years. I feel basically helpless to do anything about this, but at least I can express my point of view, and this I have now done.

But someone beat me to the punch and asked essentially the same question I was going to ask;

Bio: Dr. Elliot Benjamin, from Maine is a writer, musician, philosopher, mathematician & teacher. Footnotes can be requested from: lavoz@ esperanzacenter.org This article does not constitute an endorsement.

a business. But let us not forget: It is the Capitalist’s job to maximize profits. Sure the Capitalist needs workers to run his factory but it is to his advantage to pay you as little as possible. That’s the business model - keeping cost (entitlements) down. And that is how he would say he would run America. Or your choice is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has no problem flying over sovereign nations, usually our allies, and bombing them. The human rights community, including Amnesty International, decries, daily, the operation at Guantanamo. It is that very site he promised to close his first day on the job. The President talked about “Change We Can Believe In.” We don’t hear that anymore. Because, for a whole lot of reasons, he can’t produce. Or we can take responsibility for our plight, gather together and make plans to take our country back. Reject the lies of “stick with me and things will get better”. History has shown if you stick with them and their myths, things get worse. You have the choice of spending the rest of your life bobbing in the Gulf, often going under. Or, you can choose to come together with the rest of your amigos(as) and strike a blow for your own freedom. Don’t vote - occupy. It’s up to You. Bio: Bill Stitchnot, an Esperanza supporter since 1992, currently lives in Hawaii. His article is written as an opinion and does not constitute an endorsement by La Voz or the Esperanza.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

mirror.” In short 92% of us blame someone/thing other than ourselves. The facts are, we all are free to choose and we are all responsible for our choices and outcomes. Stephen Batchelor writes, “Freedom entails responsibility: Freedom from selfcentered craving is freedom to realize the possibilities of the world for others.” Steven Hagen tells it like it is, “You are the final authority. Not me. Not the Buddha. Not the Bible. Not the Government. Not the President. Not Mom or Dad. You. No community of philosophers, scientists, priests, academics, politicians, or generals – no school, legislature, parliament, or court – can bear responsibility for your life, your words, or your actions. That authority is yours and yours alone. You can not get rid of it, nor escape from it.” (The You emphasis is mine). So, you see where you are –i.e. 92% of you blame someone else. Question is, what do you want to be –a wage slave or part of a community? I, for one, do not believe a Nobel Prize Winner should have a “kill list.” I don’t believe a car company CEO should have such a position if s/he has never even driven a screw into a car on the assembly line. I believe in the idea of, “Just do it!” Complaining and blaming others hasn’t worked. This election presents us with the starkest of choices. Usually the Capitalist Class will run a Presidential Candidate. Now we have a real live Capitalist going for the Gold Ring. He says he has a jobs plan. He is going to run the Country like

Based on his new book, State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream, Biggers opens a new window into the complex history of American immigration conflicts with this

take-no-prisoners and funny theatrical performance about the myths, facts, and contradictions in Arizona history. State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream is the award-winning journalist and historian’s riveting account of Arizona, whose conflict over immigration and state’s rights has become a national bellwether. Biggers shows how Arizona’s long history of labor and civil rights battles, its contentious entry into the union, as well as cyclical upheavals over immigration rights, place the state front and center in a greater American story playing out across the United States.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

Biggers shows that the state is ground zero in the clash over a historic demographic shift taking place across the country with the rise of a newly empowered and media-savvy Latino electorate. But Arizona is not only home to some of the most virulent anti-immigration legislation in the country—it is also the birthplace of a new movement of young Latino activists and allies who have challenged the self-proclaimed architect of SB 1070 in a historic recall election, and are also mobilizing to defend the state’s education system from censorship and the outlawing of Mexican American Studies.

with a special introduction by San Antonio’s poet laureate, Carmen Tafolla

A lasting and important work of cultural history, State Out of the Union vividly unveils the showdown over the American Dream in Arizona— and its impact on the future of the nation.

dia de los

muertos November 2012

Thursday, Oct 25th 7:30pm @ Esperanza Donations Accepted jeffbiggers.com

CALL FOR ENTRIES

CALAVERAS & LITERA

for the november issue

Start writing your Calaveras [satirical poems making fun of living personalities, politicos or friends] for the November issue of La Voz . Check www.esperanzacenter.org for examples of calaveras in previous Nov. issues of La Voz Time for poems of satire Altars, tombs & pyre Choose someone alive Then Death will arrive Killing them in a gaffe Making everyone laugh

Tiempo de calaveritas Descoge tu objectivo Pero debe estar vivo Lo matas de mentiritas Pa’ que se ría la gente y calacas pele su diente

Maria Berriozabal talks politics, & reads from her new book, Maria, Daughter of Immigrants

San Antonio style

San Antonio is now the seventh largest city in the nation. Yet we still consider

growth for growth’s sake as “economic

development.” We have not stopped to

Friday, Oct 12th 7pm @ Esperanza

analyze how this kind of growth—which typically provides material benefits to

Donations Accepted

wealthier people and low-wage service jobs to working people, with indirect

costs to all—impacts the overall health

and wellbeing of our city. We have never

assessed the long-term consequences of our unsustainable growth patterns.

What has long been clear is that “we, the people” are not making these decisions. As is true in many other places

in our country and around the world, we too have a ruling class—an establishment, movers and shakers, leaders. p. 235

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center’s deadline: october 5th

ARY OFRENDAS

e of la voz de esperanza Remember the dearly departed with a memory, a poem, story or a simple tribute. Entries should be 200 words or less. Photos, artwork or graphics may accompany your submission. Send to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

Thursday, November 1, 2012, 6-9 pm @ Casa de Cuentos, 816 S. Colorado Community Ofrendas Exhibit* Pan de muerto Ponche de muerto Reading of calaveras and literary ofrendas y musica en vivo

*To reserve a space for an ofrenda honoring loved ones who have passed, call Esperanza at 210.228.0201 * A workshop on setting up ofrendas or altars will be offered at the Esperanza. For details see back page.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

a power elite. But they are not our elected

by Frank Valdez NOTE: In the May, 2009 Voz I wrote an article entitled; “A Different View of National Nursing Home Week”. Now that my 88 year old father is in a nursing facility, I felt compelled to write a follow up.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

s a result of last year’s state budget “crisis,” Texas is now near the bottom in nursing home staffing and ranks 49th in the union in Medicaid reimbursements. Coincidence? Not hardly. Texas has a long history of being cheap when it comes to the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. Hardly a fact to be proud of, especially when a good solution would be to impose taxes on corporations doing business in the state. My father, a World War II veteran, entered a nursing home in late February of 2012 due to advanced Alzheimers. While I would prefer to care for him at home, Medicaid directs families to nursing homes where the cost is much higher. (The nursing home lobby is far more powerful than the voices of ordinary citizens.) When Medicaid reimbursement is reduced or frozen, staffing is affected as nursing facility management starts laying off or reducing hours beginning at the bottom of the totem pole. The bottom includes CNAs, housekeeping, laundry and dietary personnel. These are the least paid and least appreciated, yet they are the back bone of any nursing home.When staff is cut, worker morale declines. When worker morale declines, the quality of care

While I would prefer to care for him at home, Medicaid directs families to nursing homes where the cost is much higher than caring for an elderly person at one’s place of residence. also declines. Cutting staff adversely affects the overall quality of care provided by nursing home personnel. When quality of care declines, elderly, frail residents are at risk for pressure ulcers, dehydration, and other detrimental effects of neglect. Why does reduced Medicaid reimbursement affect quality of care? We must all understand that the number one priority of most nursing home owners whether owned individually or by large corporations is to make profit. Making a profit takes priority over quality care as the vast majority of nursing home owners have absolutely no connection to the needs of elderly people in their nursing homes. Since February of this year I have spoken to many family members of residents at Pecan Valley Rehab & Healthcare Center, a fairly new facility on the far Southeast side of San Antonio. Far too many of these family members repeat to me the same concerns: no one responds to the call light in a timely manner, CNAs do not assist in providing oral care upon the resident’s awakening in the morning, residents are not checked every two hours as is accepted practice to see if they need changing, and the list goes on. While many nursing home owners, management and even employees downplay the importance of these concerns, those of us who have loved ones in a nursing facility take this very seriously. At Pecan Valley I have joined

the Family Council, as is our right under federal law. The Family Council at this particular facility, while having enthusiasm, lacks much experience and tends not to be forceful enough with the management of the facility. However, one must realize that the Family Council is even newer than the facility. Under federal law, nursing homes are required to meet and address concerns of the Family Council. Just how strict this law is enforced is up to the Family Council’s level of tolerance in being put off, snowballed and/or ignored. This is where the Department of Aging & Disability Services (DADS) comes in to play. Infractions of nursing home law, practice or quality of care is subject to enforcement by DADS. Unfortunately far too many inspectors tend to be hard-nosed over petty nit-picking as serious issues are either swept under the rug or lightly enforced. I have seen one nursing facility closed due to DADS intervention, however that was inevitable since the owner could not secure credit for the food needed to feed the residents, an issue DADS had no choice in, but to intervene as it did. The Texas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents is an organization founded to assist in reforming Texas nursing homes. Since the early 1980’s TANHR has been involved in educating nursing home resident family members, lobbying the state legislature and other advocacy on behalf of nursing home residents across the state. It is my goal to eventually have the Pecan Valley Family Council affiliate with TANHR in the near future. A bigger goal is to organize family councils at other facilities and have them come under the umbrella of TANHR. Nursing homes are intentionally understaffed. I have seen one certified nursing assistant (CNA) expected to care for 1535 residents by him/herself. Only a superman or superwoman could handle such a load with any semblance of tenderness or compassion. As mentioned previously: nursing homes exist primarily to make a profit for the owner(s). Quality care is a convenient slogan, but seldom delivered consistently. Staff to resident ratios do not exist in the state of Texas as per a Texas Department of Aging & Disability Services nurse/ inspector. In light of this, how can quality care be delivered? Nursing home staff are for the most part underpaid, overworked women of color. Their job, while key to the overall quality of care in any nursing facility, is seldom appreciated. In Texas 99% of nursing home staff are not organized in any union, thus they have NO voice, NO protection and are powerless to make any effective change. Where there is no justice, there can be no peace. Abusive work loads, low pay, minimal opportunity for upward mobility only encourages resentment and poor morale. Again, I must emphasize justice in nursing homes can be achieved, but it takes vigilance, sacrifice, and unity with nursing home staff and above all –well planed struggle! Bio: Pancho Valdez has worked over 8 years in local nursing homes. He is a 47 year veteran of civil rights, labor and peace activism. He can be reached at: mestizowarrior59@yahoo.com or 210-422-8000

Estamos en la lucha: Immigrant REVIEW

women light the fires of resistance

- Christina Lopez (Seattle: Radical Women Publications, 2012) “Economic integration is not simply a geographical process that connects different regions, it is a method that capital has used to create and control cheap sources of labor” (Chomsky, 2008, p. 304)

n general and across time,

women have been kept out of the limelight and been assigned powerless roles rendering them dependent on the patriarchal state and its laws. Exceptions have, however, challenged the role of victim, moving instead toward personal goals or to lead causes where they exhibit the abilities, intelligence and articulation skills they innately possess. This is the case of immigrant women, living and working in the U.S., documented or not, who have experienced but have not accepted victimization and manipulation, instead advocating and organizing for immigrant and worker rights.

A quick history lesson shows that the American continent was and still is an indigenous space in which its descendants live, create community, travel and hold memory, despite borders and walls, albeit under the shadow of globalization. As these voices continue to create history they tell their stories, those of manipulation, exploitation for profit, abuse and deportation. Immigrants of both genders make their voices heard as subalterns, advocates and activists. A running theme in such stories is their natural right to traverse the land of their ancestors, to work, provide for their families and continue traditions and culture within the space of the Americas. But the space has been controlled for some time by the nonindigenous mandate of Manifest Destiny. Estamos en la lucha: Immigrant women light the fires of resistance is a smooth reading, absorbing, dynamic little tome that gives the reader a quick snapshot of the power of immigrant

Lopez unites various struggles against exploitation and injustice into a feminist front. agenda that immigrant women in the U.S. have undertaken and the leadership that they have assumed in advocating and organizing for immigrant and worker rights despite obstacles posed by business and government. López exposes cases of intimidation, criminalization of the immigrant status, the terror induced by the practice of racial profiling, and the denial of social assistance programs that reduce many women and their families to levels of poverty. She describes the conditions of sweatshops where women often work over 12 hours a day and retaliations against them when efforts are made to organize, including threats of deportation, immigration raids and arrests that tear families apart. Separation exposes family members to emotional and potential physical and sexual abuse, incarceration, the removal of children to foster homes, and deportations. This scenario extends to all of us Mexican looking individuals, residents or citizens. In Arizona some individuals prefer to stay home at night for fear of being stopped by the police, “Even those with papers, we don’t go out at night at certain times

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Immigration is among the most difficult acts of change that an individual can undertake. Relocating to another area of the world with different values, language, and cultural systems –leaving one’s native place, community and family can be emotionally charged. However, when migration occurs within one’s own cultural space, and one is criminalized for doing so, the experience can be traumatic. This is the case for Mexican and Central Americans migrating to the U.S.

women in the U.S. from a socialist feminist perspective. Author Christina López, a Chicana activist from Arizona, acknowledges the power of all women, not only those of indigenous ancestry but all who work in the sweatshops, factories, in service positions - Mexicanas, Filipinas, Africans. Lopez unites various struggles against exploitation and injustice into a feminist front. As big business rarely discriminates in its quest for profit, unity is essential. She discusses a variety of topics that form the basis of the immigrant experience, linking these to other threads, weaving for the reader the vast scenario of globalization, or capitalism at a faster speed. The clear message here is the

There is also direct relationship between immigration, racial profiling, globalized big business and the manipulation of the food available to Americans from all walks of life.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

there’s so much fear (of police). You can’t just sit back and relax” (Protests go on despite ruling on immigration law, 2010, para. 8-9). Legislation such as the State Bill 1070, that put Arizona on the map of blatant racism, has added fuel to immigration practices that are reminiscent of blanket deportations of Mexicans, both citizens and undocumented, during the difficult economic times of the 30’s and 40’s. Other states have followed Arizona’s example.

There is also direct relationship between immigration, racial profiling, globalized big business and the manipulation of the food available to Americans from all walks of life. The tainted, genetically manufactured (GM) foods found on grocery shelves and in the produce and dairy section place all of us at health risk. This is augmented by the unwillingness of big business to label GM foods despite animal studies and reports that describe alarming findings. Despite cultural differences, the average American and the Mexican campesino, farmer, are players in the same scenario of globalized business. Beside health risks posed by GM foods, the campesino is often forced to leave home and land to become part of the masses of unemployed and exploitable laborers in Mexican and American cities. This flight is connected to the flooding of the Mexican market with American GM corn and other products, and the imposition of GM corn planting on the campesino by the Mexican government and business. Such designs are destroying a traditional planting culture, and enticing the younger generations toward the NAFTA maquiladoras and migration to the U.S. (Fitting, 2011). Upon closer examination the issue is not a flood of immigrants into the U.S. that take away jobs from Americans; it is the economic system in place that cares neither for the citizen nor the immigrant. When businesses downsize and outsource, profit, not worker citizenship status, color, gender or nationality is its main concern. This is a central issue for labor and immigrant rights activists. The U.S. has a dynamic, yet suppressed, labor history. The 19th century witnessed union organizing in the textile mills of New England, where women organizers, although fewer in numbers than males, occupied central positions. Anne Burlak, the “Red Flame,” was one of many personalities who formed the backbone of a rising White American radicalism between World

War I and II (Chomsky, 2008). Mary Harris, or “Mother Jones,” was a tireless labor leader known for organizing women and advocating on the behalf of children working in mills and mines, and union organizing for mine workers during the early decades of the 20th century. Luisa Moreno, a Guatemalan immigrant, organized her co-workers into a garment workers’ local union during the Depression in Spanish Harlem, New York City and actively encouraged women to become leaders and organizers. In the contemporary southwest, Dolores Huerta, active in organizing migrant workers in California, and Shirley Otero, land grants activist in Southern Colorado, instantly come to mind as leadership icons and powerful speakers with an ability to link causes and issues resulting in “aha” moments for the audience. The women presented in López’ tome, Emiliana Aguilar Reynosa and Elvira Arellano, both immigrant rights activists, continue the tradition of organizing and advocacy without consideration of color, cultural orientation, and immigration status, reminding us that we are all in the same boat, and that business employs those that can be manipulated and shaped to their own purpose: profit! The support of immigrant women by labor locals, the publicizing of their circumstances through documentaries, e.g., Made in L.A. (Lopez, p. 10), and development of organizations such as Sweatshop Watch (p. 9), and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee in northern California (p. 13) are parallel to the New Mexico Worker’s Center, founded by Somos Un Pueblo Unido. This is “the only community based and immigrant led organization actively committed to preparing immigrant leaders to promote worker and racial justice” (Somos Un Pueblo Unido, para 1) . Estamos en la lucha: Immigrant women light the fires of resistance is not an analytical, intellectual, academic treatise. This is not its purpose. Rather it is a primary piece that addresses and ties together complex areas underlined by globalization and its attack on the human rights of individuals, families and communities across the globe, in particular of immigrant and working women in the U.S. Lopez provides glimpses of women activists easily overshadowed by sensational, conservative mass media headlines. The many threads of thought that this little tome addresses makes it an excellent springboard for more in-depth reading by individuals and reading groups. It serves as a primer for consciousness raising and advocacy and organizing training. A thorough 35 page narrative, Lopez’ tome is clearly written and relatively jargon free, presenting a complex topic succinctly and capturing well a political consciousness that creates the solidarity described here, “In October 2011, thousands of immigrant workers in Alabama, with support from African American and white workers, held a wildcat, one-day strike over new xenophobic legislation” (López, p. 23). Bio: Yoly Zentella, an independent scholar, clinician and faculty member focuses on the psychology of place and Chicano historical trauma. She has published on Northern New Mexican Hispano land loss in academic journals. Contact her at: yzentellnm@yahoo.com

Agradecimientos: Esperanza Donors*

As the year ends, we count our blessings with supporters like these who continue to invest in the work of social justice and cultural preservation that the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center does. In spite of attacks, lawsuits and pleas that more often than not fall on deaf ears, our community has continued to keep us afloat with monetary donations, time, energy and ideas. Our community is our source of inspiration and gives us the desire (ganas) to continue even after 25 years. If you are not yet a monthly donor and would like to sign up or would like to make an end of the year contribution, completely tax deductible, please contact us at esperanza@esperanzacenter.org or call Jezzika or Graciela at 210.228.0201. Join us in community as we strive to bring about social change in San Antonio, Texas. No contribution is too small. Mil gracias from staff, board and buena gente serving the Esperanza. Dennis Poplin Diane Lewis & Michael Papish Doris Rips Dwayne Bohuslav Edith Speert Edward Ried Edward Vela Elena Guajardo Elena Oviedo Elvia Niebla & Norma Cantú Ernestine G. Moore Esther Barrera Eugenia Silva Eva U. González Evergreen Garden Fabiola Torralba Fanny Mayahuel Thomas Felix Padrón Frances Herrera Franco Mondini Ruiz Friends Meeting of San Antonio Geeta Patel Gilberto & Gloria Hinojosa Gilbert & Yolanda Patino Ginny Timmons Gloria A. Ramírez Grace Rosales Graciela García Gustavo Sánchez Hazel Browning Henry Joseph Gutiérrez Hilda Arevalos Imelda Arisméndez Imelda DeLeon Isabel & Enrique Sánchez Isidore Flores & Ann Milard James Kammerer Jan Olsen Jane Grovijahn Jane & Charles Tuck Janet Vásquez Janice & Robert Cole Janie Barrera

Jennifer Niño Jennifer Till Jesus Alonzo Jim Spickard Joaquin Castro Jo Ann Herrera John Stanford John W. Watson Jose Barrón Jose Jiménez Jose Rodríguez Jose I. Sosa Jose Tovar Josef Sifuentes Josefa Noriega Josephine & Jesus Campos Josie Mendez Negrete & George Negrete Judith Cashin Lerma Judith Norman Judith Sanders Castro Katherine Romich Keta Marie Miranda Kirsten E. Gardner Larry Skwarczynski Laura Parra Laura E. Burt Laura Saldivar Luna Lee Morales III Lena Jennings Leonard D. Lusk Leticia Sánchez Letitia Gómez Leslea Newman Liliana Wilson Linda D. Beddingfield Linda Tedesco Liz Helenchild Louis Escareño Lupe Morales Lutecia González Margarita M. Muñiz Margie Rodríguez Margot Oviedo Maria Alejandro Maria & Manuel Berriozábal

Maria Felix-Ortiz Maria Magdalena Trujillo Maria Ojeda Maria Salazar & JoAnn Castillo Mario & Esmeralda De Los Santos Maricela Oliva Mariana Ornelas Mark Lee Hickman Martha Prentiss Mary & Thomas Crofts Mary Ghory Mary Lou Miller Matt Weissler Melissa Rodríguez Meredith McGuire & Jim Spickard Michael Gross Michael Villarreal & Jeanne Russell Michelle Myers Mike Rodríguez & Brad Veloz Monica Garcia Monica Velásquez Moses Sandoval Nasrin Piri Natalie Goodnow Nicki Valdez & Deb Myers Patt Saliba & Linda Libby Patricia Castillo Patricia Jasso Patricia Trujillo Patrick Lalley Penelope Boyer Peter Haney & Laura Padilla Peter Maher Petra Mata Raquel Marquez Ray McDonald Rebecca Barrera Rebecca López Rebecca Montalvo Rene Saenz Rhett Smith

Richard Hernández Richard Pressman Rodolfo Rosales Rogelio Saenz & Judith Linneman Roger Durand Ronald Anderson Rosalynn Warren Rosie González Rose Provenzano Rosemary Catacalos Rusty Barcelo Ruth Lofgren Sandra & Raphael Guerra Sharyll Soto Teneyuca Sidney & Rita Mitchell Stanley Thomas Stella & Frank Anaya Susana Segura Suzanne Pharr Tatjana Walker Teresa Barajas Teresita Aguilar Teresita Garza Terris Thompson Terry Schneider The Fund Theresa A. Billeaud Tiffany Ross Tim Duda Tim Palomera Tina Garza Moore Tom Edmonson Tom Keene Tomas Heikkala Tomas Ybarra Frausto & Dudley Brooks Veronica Castillo-Salas Veronica Cruz Viola Cásares Virginia Raymond William Stichnot William Thomas Walker Yoly Zentella Yulanee McKnight

*If you made a donation between Aug 2011-Sept 2012 and are not listed let us know! 210.228.0201 • lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

Al Salazar Amanda Haas Amy Kastely & Graciela Sánchez Ana Lucia Ramírez Ana Maria González Andrea & George Velásquez Andrea Greimel Andrea Mota Angela Pliego Angelita Merla & James Kitchen Anonymous Ann Huddleston Antonia Castañeda & Arturo Madrid Araceli Herrera Arturo Jiménez Arturo & Susan Vega Barbara Imboden Barbara Miles Belinda Acosta Bernard Sánchez Bett Butler & Joel Dilley Betty Stapp Phillips Bill Stichnot Carmen Mares-Kelly Carmen Tafolla & Ernesto Bernal Carol Rodríguez Carri B Wells Carrie Morales Celeste Cavazos Celia Pérez Booth Choco Leandro Coyote Phoenix Cristina Ramírez & Lavonna Dietering Cynthia Bonner Cynthia O. Guerrero Cynthia Muñoz Cynthia Spielman Daniel Macias David & Karen Stokes Deanne Cuellar

* community meetings *

Amnesty International #127 meets at various sites during the year. Contact Arthur Dawes at 210213-5919 for details. Anti-War Peace Vigil every Thursday (since 9/11/2001) from 4-5pm @ Flores & Commerce Contact Tim Duda at 210.822.4525 or timduda@aol.com Bexar Co. Green Party info@bexargreens.org or call 210.471.1791. Celebration Circle meets Sundays, 11am @ JumpStart at Blue Star Arts Complex. Meditation, Weds @ 7:30 pm @ Quaker Meeting House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533-6767 DIGNITY S.A. mass at 5:30 pm, Sun. @ Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church, 1101 W. Woodlawn. Call 210.735.7191. Energia Mia meets every 3rd Sunday, 4 - 5:30pm @ Oblate School of Theology, 285 Oblate Dr. Call 210.849.8121 Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo, Hwy. 210.927.2297, www.lafuerzaunida.org Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteer orientation, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

S.A. International Woman’s Day March & Rally planning meetings are underway! Check www.sawomenwillmarch.org or 210.533.2729

LGBT Youth Group meets at MCC Church, 611 E. Myrtle on Sundays at 10:30am. 210.472.3597 Metropolitan Community Church in San Antonio (MCCSA) 611 East Myrtle, has services & Sunday school @ 10:30am. Call 210.599.9289.

Be Part of a

PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs @ 7pm, 1st Unitarian Universalist Church, Gill Rd/Beryl Dr. Call 210.655.2383.

Progressive Movement

PFLAG Español meets 1st Tuesdays @ 2802 W. Salinas, 7pm. Call 210.849.6315 Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy each Thursday at 7 pm at 325 Courtland. Call 210.736.3579.

in San Antonio

¡Todos Somos Esperanza!

Start your 2012 monthly donations now!

The Rape Crisis Center, 7500 US Hwy 90 W. Hotline @ 210.3497273. 210.521.7273 or email Drominishi@rapecrisis.com The Religious Society of Friends meets Sundays @ 10 am @ The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. 210.945.8456. San Antonio’s Communist Party USA holds open meetings 3-5 pm 2nd Sundays at Bazan Public Library Meeting Room, 2200 W. Commerce. Contact: juanchostanford@ yahoo.com S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursdays, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Community Church, downstairs. www.sagender.org Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Center classes are on Tuesdays at 7pm, & Sun. at 11:30 am. at 1114 So. St. Mary’s. Call 210.222.9303. The Society of Latino and Hispanic Writers SA meets 2nd Mondays, 7 pm @ Barnes & Noble, San Pedro Crossing. S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Contact Barbara at 210.725.8329. Voice for Animals Contact 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org for meeting times

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. When you contribute monthly to the Esperanza you are making a long-term commitment to the movement for progressive change in San Antonio, allowing Esperanza to sustain and expand our programs. Monthly donors can give as little as $5 and as much as $500 a month or more. What would it take for YOU to become a monthly donor? Call or come by the Esperanza to learn how. ¡Esperanza vive! ¡La lucha sigue! Call 210.228.0201 or email esperanza@esperanzacenter.org for more info

Make a tax-deductible donation. $35 La Voz subscription

for more info call 210.228.0201

Please use my donation for the Rinconcito de Esperanza

Notas Y Más October 2012

Brief news items on upcoming community events. Send info 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.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness P.E.A.C.E. Initiative. www.sawomenwillMonth. Contact the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative march.org or 210.533.2729. @ 210.533.2729 for a calendar of events. S.A. Communist Party USA will meet Border Ethics, an evening of commentary Sun., Oct. 14, 3-5 pm with a panel on the & insights on issues related to living in the 2012 November General Elections @ Baunique transnational region of Texas & zan Public Library. (more info on p.14) Mexico, is Wed., Oct. 3rd from 6-8pm @ Institute of Texan Cultures, 801 E. César The Texas Commission on the Arts E. Chávez Blvd. www.TexanCultures.com (TCA) has a call out for nominations for the 2013 and 2014 positions of Texas State Contact: 210.458.2300. Musician, State Poet Laureate, and State Rethinking Power & Resistance: Gen- Visual Artists 2-D & 3-D. Self-nominations der & Human Rights from Texas to the are also welcome. Deadline: October 15th. Transnational convenes in Austin, Oct. See: www.arts.texas.gov/nominate. 5th & 6th for scholars, organizers & community who use human rights language to The 2012 Recovering Hispanic Literary address issues of gender justice. Contact: Heritage in the U.S. Conference, “Literatures of Dissent, Cultures of Resistance” genderandhumanrights@gmail.com will be held Oct. 19 & 20, 2012. Contact San Anto Cultural Arts’ 2012 Huevos 713.743.3128 or artrec@mail.uh.edu Rancheros’ Quinceañera is Sat., Oct. 6th at Plaza Guadalupe from 9am-12pm University of Cincinnati College of honoring King and Queen Huevo, Alex Law’s Center for Race, Gender, and SoRubio and Dr. Carmen Tafolla. Contact: cial Justice Conference, Social Justice Feminism is on Oct. 26th & 27th. Contact 210.226.7466 or huevos@sananto.org 513.556.1220 or kristin.kalsem@uc.edu. Mujeres! Call for Entries for visual art y más for 23rd International S.A. Women’s American Indians in Texas at the SpanDay March & Rally. Deadline Oct 7th ish Colonial Missions present the 3rd anvia email or drop off by 5pm, Oct. 8th @ nual “Noche de Recuerdos,” the Illumi-

nated Floating Altars Exhibit on Sat., Oct. 27 at 7pm in the casting pool of Woodlawn Lake. Event starts at 4pm with Native activities. Contact Ramon Vásquez y Sanchez at 512.517.5583. The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Minority Issues is soliciting articles for its Spring 2013 symposium on immigration. Email katemeals@gmail.com by Oct. 31st or check thescholarlawreview.org/ The Tejas Foco of NACCS (National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies), Chican@ Studies, ¡Ahora! convenes on Feb. 21-23, 2013. Proposals due Dec. 1st to mas@utpa.edu. Check www.naccs. org/naccs/Tejas.asp for more. The 2013 Lozano Long Conference, Refashioning Blackness: Contesting Racism in the Afro-Americas on Feb. 20-22, 2013 will be held at UT–Austin. Contact refashioningblackness@gmail.com. Arcos Iris’ Earth Care Project is collecting funds to buy a used truck for their land trust work. Donations are tax deductible. For info & for Pay Pal donations go to www.earthcareproject.wordpress.com

October 13th @ La Villita Plaza, 6PM

www.conjuntoheritagetaller.org • 210.212.8560 Co-sponsored by Esperanza Peace & Justice Center & Save Lerma’s

Monica Palacios celebrating 30 years as an out queer Chicana lesbian writer/performer opens Queer Chicana Soul, Oct. 12 & 13. 2012 at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, CA.

Felicidades! www.monicapalacios.com

Carol Ann Aguero, People’s Advocate Consumer

Disputes • Contractual

Indigenous Dignity Day Human Rights march

Saturday, Oct 13th, 2012 @ Columbus Park (W. Martin & San Saba) Assembly 1:00pm March to Main Plaza 3:30pm Program 5:30-7:30 pm Info: 210.542.9271 Stop Deportations & Removals • Respect Indigenous Human Rights • Humane Immigration Reform • End Show Me Your Papers Law

(210) 416-8837 • CAguero@mail.com || Passports • Social Security • Naturalization • Neutral Third Party Review and Resolution • Application process for simple divorces • Assembly Motivator

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8•

Conjunto Heritage Taller 10th Anniversary Baile!!!

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 8• 23rd Annual

Mercado de Paz / Peace Market

Nov 23rd & 24th, 2012

Oct DEADLINE for Literary Ofrendas y 5th Calaveras for Nov issue of La Voz p.8 Oct Maria Berriozabal talks politics, 12th San Antonio style p.9

Vendor Applications

Due Oct 1st

Oct Jeff Biggers’ - “Welcome to Arizona 25th Libre,” performance & reading p.8

available at www.esperanzacenter.org or

at Esperanza, 922 San Pedro, M-F 10am-7pm, 210.228.0201

La Voz de Esperanza

Noche Azul La Mujer Indigena

Nov Esperanza’s Annual Día de los 1st muertos celebration p.9

922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212 210.228.0201 • fax: 210.228.0000 www.esperanzacenter.org

Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID San Antonio, TX Permit #332

Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address? TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org CALL: 210.228.0201

– Cantos

MujerArtes

Dia de muertos workshop

Clay Cooperative Dia de muertos Exhibit & Sale!

October 20-27, 2012 Monday thru Friday 10am-4pm & Saturdays 10-2pm Buy sahumerios (incense burners), candleholders, calaveras & calacas for your ofrendas and altares!!! @ La Casita de MujerArtes, 1412 El Paso across from Guadalupe Church 210.223.2585 | 210.228.0201

October 24th 6 pm Remembering your loved ones: Los elementos de una ofrenda

•

BUILDING AN ALTAR

with Verónica Castillo of Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mx

@ Esperanza Peace & Justice Center • 922 San Pedro Ave. 210.228.0201