Joaquín

Our mission is to provide the latino community of california’s central valley with an unbiased mirror of our society, to advocate civic duty and participation, to celebrate the successes and achievements of our peers, and to provide a tribune for emerging latino leadership.

Personnel

Editor-in-Chief

Roberto A. Radrigán radrigan@joaquinmag.com

Contributors

Sonya Fe, Art Editor

Las Cruces, NM

Andy Porras

Sacramento, CA

Richard Soto

Tracy, CA

Thomas Block

Lorain, OH

Dave Wellenbrock

Lodi, CA

Ed Ramírez

Linden, CA

David Stuart

Sacramento, CA

Editorial boa rd

Inés Ruiz-Huston, PhD

Gene Bigler, PhD

Richard Ríos, MA, MS

Paula Sheil, MA

Manuel Camacho, MA

Jeremy Terhune, BS

Candelaria Vargas, BS

Mercedes Silveira, MA

Composition, Layout & All Illustrations (unless noted)

Gráfica Design

Translations roberto radrigán & ronald Godoy

Offices/ Advertising

1 North El Dorado Stockton, CA 95202 (209) 513-7749 info@joaquinmag.com www.joaquinmag.com

Joaquín is an English & spanish bilingual publication addressing relevant Latino issues in the California’s northern Central Valley. it is published monthly by Gráfica Design, LLC. a Stockton-based diversified advertising & bilingual services.

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Disclaimer: t he views and opinions expressed in this issue are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Joaquin Magazine

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APRIL 2023 cover art

Frida’s tree OF l iFe by antonio rael West Hollywood, ca

En Este Número

Porrazos

Pepa

Current Issues / Actualidad

Guns, Otherism, and Windmills: america’s crisis of spirituality armas, Molinos, y los Otros: la crisis de espiritualidad en eeuu

Poetry / Poesía the Policeman / el Policía

Open Letter / Carta Abierta to: J.H. Powell chairman, u.s. Federal reserve a: J.H. Powell, Presidente de la reserva Federal SUSD limited or Prohibited items at susd schools artículos limitados o Prohibidos en escuelas del susd

Chican-izmos

Barrio Justice / Justicia de Barrio

Art Focus /Enfoque Artístico antonio rael: Ominous art arte y Presagio

Current Issues / Actualidad

Homelessness on the Move: a Problem for Public transit? sin techo y en tránsito: ¿un Problema para el transporte Público?

Latino Literature /Literatura Latina

Once i was You / una vez fui tú

Latino Veterans / Veteranos Latinos

“Mexican americans and the Bataan death March” e xcerpts: Obituaries tell tales Fragmentos de “Mexicoamericanos y la Marcha Mortal de Bataan”: esquelas testimoniales

Public Health / Salud Pública

Glyphosate doesn’t stop with c ancer el glifosato no se detiene en el cáncer

andy Porras, sacramento, ca

ow I wish my Mom, Pepa, was still around. not just so i could honor and worship her, no, I’wish she could be here to see how much ‘la mujer’ has progressed on her own terms, that would encouraged her to take me by my arm, squeeze it and tell me, “¡¿Ya lo vez, Andres?! Que te dijo tu madre, que algun día...”

H(“What did I tell you! That some day….”)

Pepa was the one who encouraged my Dad to open a small Mom & Pop store back in the day. If Pepa had had an opportunity to have had her own résumé, under “Positions Held,” she would have listed Migrant Camp Cook, Transportation Director (she’d drive my teammates and I to baseball, football, track, band and basketball practice), storekeeper, March of Dimes volunteer, high school parents club president, flood victims volunteer, prom dance volunteer, etc., etc.

PO rraz O s Pepa

Pepa would probably keep squeezing my arm and tell me in her own way, “We’ve come a long way, M’ijo! today i see women running for office at all levels, young women trying to save our planet and proving to the world just how tired they are of being under-appreciated

Yeah, in our barrio, Pepa helped pave the way for my buddies’ moms to become involved in their families’ education, sports and help push them to attend a college or university.

“Remember your wife, when she was your girlfriend? Do you recall she told her counselor she wanted to be a teacher and she was told that it was best to become a hair-stylist so she could start earning money right away and help her family out?”

By today’s standards, Pepa was a born leader. She hated to be told to “Speak English!” by those who did not know her nor that she could. Many times she’d translate business correspondence or make a necessary call to a doctor, city office or place long distance telephone calls for her neighbors or store customers.

During a city election, my Dad begin to tell her who to vote for. she grabbed the sample ballot from his hand and politely told him that (1) she knew how to read, and (2) not to tell her who to vote for, that she would choose candidates she thought would do the best job.

My Dad simply looked at her twinkling brown eyes and stated, “OK, Pepa,OK.”

When my Dad ran for the school board, Pepa would remind our store’s customers not to forget to vote and, if they thought José (Dad) was the better candidate, to vote for him. She also reminded them to always vote, “Tu voz es tu voto! ” Your vote is your voice, she’d remind them.

When the store went under due to many of their customers’ unemployment woes, it was Pepa who explained to my Sis and I that Dad had made a decision for us to leave the border and seek employment in the fields of California. And it was Pepa who immediately took a Migrant Camp Cook’s job so we could live

Cómo me gustaría que mi mamá, Pepa, todavía anduviera por aquí.

No solo para honrarla y quererla. No, ojalá ella pudiera estar aquí para ver cuánto ha progresado ‘la mujer’ —en sus derechos. Eso la animaría a tomarme del brazo, apretármelo, y decirme “¡¿Ya lo vez, Andrés?! Que te dijo tu madre, que algún día…”. Fue Pepa quien, años ha, animó a papá a abrir una pequeña Mom & Pop Store (miscelánea familiar, o “tiendita”). Si Pepa hubiera tenido que componer su propio currículum, en “Ocupaciones”, hubiese tenido que incluir: Cocinera de Campamento Migrante; Directora de Transportes (nos llevaba a nosotros y mis compañeros de equipo a las prácticas de béisbol, fútbol, atletismo, banda, y baloncesto); tendera; voluntaria de March of Dimes; Presidente del Club de Padres de la escuela secundaria; voluntaria de víctimas de inundaciones; voluntaria para baile de graduación, etc., etc.

Probablemente Pepa seguiría apretándome el brazo y me diría, a su manera: “¡Hemos avanzado mucho, M’ijo! Hoy veo mujeres candidatas a todos los puestos, mujeres jóvenes que intentan salvar nuestro planeta y demostrarle al mundo cuán cansadas están de ser menospreciadas.

Sí, en nuestro barrio, Pepa ayudó a allanar el camino para que las mamás de mis amigos se hicieran parte en la educación y los deportes de sus familias, y ayudarlos a estudiar en un colegio o universidad.

“¿Recuerdas a tu esposa, cuando era tu novia? ¿Recuerdas que le dijo al orientador de la escuela que quería ser maestra —y éste le dijo que lo mejor era convertirse en peluquera para poder comenzar a ganar dinero de inmediato y ayudar a su familia?”

Para los estándares de hoy en día, Pepa era una líder nata. Odiaba que aquellos que no la conocían le dijeran “Speak English! ” porque ella podía. Muchas veces, cuando se necesitaba, continúa a la vuelta continued on next page

Pepa

PO rraz O s

continued from the previous page on the ranch in an actual house that kept us away from living in tents or worse, in cars.

When I went home one semester wanting to “join my friends in San Diego to become a Marine,” Pepa reminded me that an educated recruit had a better opportunity to become an officer and continue his schooling.

Thus, when Pepa contracted Alzheimer’s it was extremely hard for all of us to witness her suffering and gradual loss of family recognition. on the eve of her burial our children staged a memorable Life Celebration in Pepa’s honor. t hey also gave the attendants a printed booklet recalling their neighbor and relative.

When asked to honor Pepa by telling the audience of a favorite Pepa moment, one former neighbor’s daughter stated that Pepa’s sole concern regarding her store was that the families living in their barrio had whatever they needed. Profit was not a priority.

Yeah, I miss Pepa and her lessons she taught me and my family. Pepa was one of a kind.

Pepa viene de la vuelta traducía cartas de negocios o hacía llamadas al doctor, a una oficina del Ayuntamiento, o procesaba llamadas telefónicas de larga distancia para sus vecinos o clientes de la tienda. t he ease of access to the guns is what makes them the great fetish of our time, and if by the unlikely case that they are not around at home, just drop by your local vender to get the instruments of mass murder on the way to the kill zone as was practically the case in Nashville last week. They say the crime is mental health of the shooter, not the guns, but Cervantes taught us more than 400 years ago that banality is the danger. Alonso Quijano was a model citizen until proliferation of all the books and stories about chivalry propelled the Don Quixote in him to tilt at windmills.

Durante una elección en la ciudad, mi papá comenzó a decirle por quién votar. Ella le retiró la boleta de muestra de su mano y, cortésmente, le dijo (1) que sabía leer, y (2) que no le dijera por quién votar, que elegiría a los candidatos que pensaba que harían el mejor trabajo.

Mi papá simplemente miró sus brillantes ojos marrones y dijo: “Está bien, Pepa, está bien”.

Cuando mi papá se postuló para el Directorio Escolar, Pepa les recordaba a los clientes de nuestra tienda que no se olvidaran de votar y, si pensaban que José (mi papá) era el mejor candidato, que votaran por él. también les recordó siempre que votaran: “Tu voz es tu voto! ”, les conminaba.

Cuando la tiendita quebró debido al problema de desempleo entre muchos de sus clientes, fue Pepa quien nos explicó a mi hermana y a mí que papá había tomado la decisión de que nos alejáramos de la frontera y buscáramos empleo en los campos de California. Y fue Pepa quien de inmediato aceptó un empleo de cocinera en un Campamento de Migrantes para que pudiéramos vivir en el rancho, en una casa de verdad —que nos mantuviera libres de vivir en tiendas de campaña o, peor aún, en coches.

Cuando volví a casa un semestre queriendo “unirme a mis amigos en San Diego para convertirme en Infante de Marina”, Pepa me recordó que un recluta educado tenía una mejor oportunidad de convertirse en oficial y continuar sus estudios.

Así, cuando Pepa contrajo Alzheimer, fue muy trágico para nosotros ver su sufrimiento y su paulatina pérdida de memoria y de reconocer familia. En la víspera de su entierro nuestros chicos llevaron a cabo una memorable Fiesta de la Vida en honor a Pepa. también entregaron a los asistentes un folleto impreso que les recordaba a su vecina y pariente.

Cuando se le pidió que honraran a Pepa contándole a la audiencia cuál era su momento favorito con Pepa, la hija de un antiguo vecino dijo que la única preocupación de Pepa con respecto a su tienda era que las familias que vivían en su barrio tuvieran todo lo que necesitaban. La ganancia no era prioridad.

Sí, extraño a Pepa y las lecciones que nos dio a mí y a mi familia. Como Pepa no había dos.

With the overlapping of important religious commemorations in April this year, I was hoping that we might be rewarded with a return to that rare and peaceful conjecture of Easter with Ramadan and the Passover which we last enjoyed in 1993. This desire was spurred because of the dramatic increase in gun violence that we have been experiencing in the u s since 2020 and the already more than 130 mass shootings – those with more than four dead -- we had had this year before we even got to April. Instead, the month exploded yet again with more senseless violence and the dreadful events at the school in Nashville, the birthday party in Atlanta and several others, but the worst of all was the shooting of young Ralph Yarl when he rang the wrong doorbell in Kansas City.

America has been overrun with senseless fears and color coated hatreds and guns in every fist and waist band and on every night stand and t V table. We used to be bothered at all the missionaries and religious tracts or holy books being thrust at us. We were a more religious nation than most, but now our tradition of gun-toting frontierism has been wrenched by fear mongering into a brutal form of suspicion and animosity toward many of our neighbors, and we are more likely to wave guns than bibles at others today.

Without the

Guns, Otherism, and Windmills: