La Voz - September 2020

September Vol. 33 Issue 7 San Antonio, Tejas

1920-2020

YEARS OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

In This Issue

Articles on the 100-year anniversary of women’s right to vote
in the USA , Androcentrism, Beyond Black and White, 1983-The
KKK Marches in Austin, Natural Medicine in the Time of Corona,

Que Florezca la Luz, San Antonio & Notas y más!

100 years have passed since women in the U.S. received the

right to vote with the ratification of the 19th amendment on August

18, 1920. The history surrounding and leading up to this right and

La Voz de its subsequent implementation is complex with roots extending into
Esperanza
the birth of the United States and even going back to the suffrage
SEPTEMBER 2020
Vol. 33 Issue 7 movement in England.

Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez In this month’s La Voz article, “100-year anniversary for wom-
Design: Elizandro Carrington
en’s right to vote in the USA...” , author, Susan Guerra, notes that
Contributors
American suffragists were inspired by Native American tribes of
Tarcisio Beal, Bonnie Ilza Cisneros, Susan
Morales Guerra, María Limón, Dr. Julio Noboa, the Great Lakes that “afforded women political power.” In addition,
Madhu Sridhar (League of Women Voters of the
it is also a well known fact that the idea of women’s suffrage was
San Antonio Area), Loretta Van Coppenolle
influenced by the work of the abolitionist movement that sought to
La Voz Mail Collective
free enslaved Africans in the U.S. A journalist and anti-lynching
The Collective is sheltering at home due to the
COVID-19 pandemic but will be returning when Many suffragists within the Abolitionist movement found that activist, suffragist Ida B.

their health and safety can be assured. Extra they were considered less than full human beings and not deserv- Wells received a posthumous
funds are being raised to pay for folding La Voz ing of the vote—something black people already knew. As women Pulitzer Prize in May, 2020.

each month during this time. became more active in the abolitionist movement, many of their fellow antislavery activ-

Esperanza Director ists disapproved of them as speakers. In 1840 the World Anti-Slavery Convention refused

Graciela I. Sánchez to seat female delegates. Cartoons and editorials filled newspapers deriding women who

Esperanza Staff dared to speak for abolition.

Elizandro Carrington, Paul Plouf, The beginnings of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement is usually attributed to the first
Kristel Orta-Puente, Natalie Rodríguez,
public gathering for women’s rights at a convention in Seneca Falls, New York in July,1848
Imgard Akinyi Rop, René Saenz,
Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez where suffragettes like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott became politically en-

Conjunto de Nepantleras gaged through their work for the abolition of slavery.
—Esperanza Board of Directors—
However, the history of Women’s Suffrage in the U.S. does not highlight the work of
Norma Cantú, Rachel Jennings,
Amy Kastely, Jan Olsen, Ana Lucía Ramírez, women of color suffragists who were prominent in the 19th century but not always accepted
Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Tiffany Ross,
in organizations. In fact, the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession relegated black women to the
Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba,
Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens back of the parade in order to placate Southerners and white women not comfortable with

• We advocate for a wide variety of social, asking for “universal” voting rights for women. Black suffragettes like Ida B. Wells refused
economic & environmental justice issues.
to go along with this and joined their state’s delegations marching alongside them.
• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not
necessarily those of the Esperanza Center. In spite of the treatment of black women in the movement, the suffragettes did endure

La Voz de Esperanza harsh treatment in their efforts to secure the vote. The 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession
is a publication of
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• in Washington D.C. held the day before Woodrow Wilson was sworn in as President saw
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
922 San Pedro, San Antonio, a number of men in town for the inauguration lining Pennsylvania Ave. during the parade
TX 78212
210.228.0201 who began to physically attack the women at the end of the march. More than 100 women
www.esperanzacenter.org
Inquiries/Articles can be sent to: were hospitalized. In 1917, suffragettes calling themselves “Silent Sentinels” picketed along
[email protected]
Pennsylvania Ave in D.C. demanding the vote. They were arrested and charged with “block-
Articles due by the 8th of each month
ing traffic”. They were sent to the “workhouse” in Occoquan, Virginia where they were
Policy Statements
subject to torture— “beaten and hurled against walls and floors”. When the women refused
* We ask that articles be visionary, progressive,
instructive & thoughtful. Submissions must be to eat “worm ladened” food and went on a “hunger strike” they were force-fed with tubes
literate & critical; not sexist, racist, homophobic,
violent, or oppressive & may be edited for length. being rammed down their throats. Despite these abuses, the women’s suffrage movement
* All letters in response to Esperanza activities
prevailed 3 years later with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Full universal suffrage
or articles in La Voz will be considered for
throughout the U.S. took many more years and continues to be an issue in 2020.
2 publication. Letters with intent to slander
individuals or groups will not be published. It is these stories of people and movements seeking equality and social justice that La

Voz de Esperanza tries to bring to readers. Now we must all get behind the Black Lives Mat-

ter movement so we can all move forward. Let’s share each other’s stories so we can suc-

ceed in making this a better world for all. Send your stories to: [email protected]

—Gloria A. Ramírez, editor of La Voz de Esperanza

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
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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.

Beyond Black and White

by Dr. Julio Noboa added struggle for land, legacy and
language to a much greater extent

Like most Americans of conscience, than for Blacks.

I am profoundly disgusted with the Whereas Blacks suffered the in-

blatant displays of racist violence comparable devastation of slavery

from the police. Nevertheless, I am and Jim Crow over generations,

also affirmed by the historic and Latinx people in this nation were

widespread emergence of peaceful differently impacted by the dispos-

antiracist protest throughout our session of our land and property,

nation and the world. Thankfully, in the suppression of our culture

this age of ubiquitous videotaping, and language and the erasure of

it is no longer possible for police to our contributions to the known

secretly assassinate unarmed Black and celebrated history of America.

people with impunity in their homes Beyond that, the Latinx community

or in the streets of our towns and cit- has long tackled issues of citizen-

ies. However, I recognize with painful ship, immigration and national

shame that after all these centuries identity, which thankfully, do not

the powerful in America still have to concern most American Blacks.

be reminded that Black Lives Matter. We have to arrive at the recog-

Yet, it is very discouraging as a nition that though sharing com-

woke Latinx to observe the tidal wave mon obstacles, each community

of commentary about race and rac- of color has their own history and

ism on TV and social media and feel agenda vis a vis the White power

somewhat left out of the discussion. structure. Our nation has to mature

We have long been ignored, over- in its understanding of race to go

looked and made invisible during Protestors on May 30, 2020 denouncing George Floyd’s murder beyond a bipolar Black and White

these vital debates simply because at the San Antonio Public Safety Headquarters and in support of view to adopt a more inclusive and LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•
race and racism in America has been Black Lives Matter. Photo: Gloria A. Ramirez
accurate multipolar perspective
seen mostly in Black and White terms.
that includes all People of Color.
This dichotomy is reflected in multiple arenas of our cul-
Some of this understanding includes the recognition that
ture be it in TV news commentary, in feature and documentary the Latinx community is the largest and most diverse pan-eth-
films, in bestselling books and even in the teaching of Ameri- nic group in our nation. We are not only multigenerational, but
can history in schools.
among ourselves we are also multiracial, multilingual, multi-
One recent example of the many emerging is a recent
cultural and multinational to a much greater extent than any
article in Woman’s Day magazine on June 5 offering “15 Kid-
other People of Color in our nation. We are a massive blending
Friendly Movies to Help Build a Conversation About Race and of European, African and Native American ancestors which for
Racism.” Every single one of these worthy films focused exclu- centuries until this day, has generated racism and color preju-
sively on the Black experience.
dice within our own communities and nations of origin, as any
Another recent example was a PBS Special on June 12
Indigenous or Afro-Latinx person could attest.
focusing on New Voices of Generation Z, wherein about a dozen
In conclusion, as Americans we must recognize the more
young people, White, Asian and mostly Black, were featured
complex and nuanced aspects of racism in our nation before
speaking in clear and articulate language. Frankly, I was very
we can begin to effectively address them. This is not to mini-
impressed and felt hopeful listening to them. However, it did
mize or delay our response to the realities of Black oppression
not occur to the producers of this program to include any Latinx in America; but as we advocate for Black Lives Matter let us be
voices, despite the fact that there are Gen Z Latinx leaders active mindful of all the other People of Color who have benefitted
in a variety of struggles, most notably in defending the rights of from, but also supported, the Black struggle for dignity and
student Dreamers.
human rights.
As a nation we will not find effective ways of address-

ing issues of race if we continue viewing it predominantly or Bio: Dr. Julio Noboa is a freelance writer currently living in

simply in Black and White. It is clear that Latinx people share Costa Rica. A former resident and writer in San Antonio and
with Blacks the multiple burdens of poverty and discrimina-
boardmember of the Esperanza he continues to write about
tion affecting every aspect of their lives, but for us there is an social and environmental justice issues.
3

1983

The KKK Marches in Austin

It Happened Then, It ‘s Happening Now . . . Police Brutalize Protestors

by María Limón and Velma Roberts who were with the Black Citizens Task Force

and feeling righteous in our cause. I remember the police pointing

Editor’s Note: As this issue of La Voz goes to print, protests at those of us who’d protested against police brutality. I remember
continue denouncing George Floyd’s brutal killing by police in how a provocateur looking to pick a fight shoved me as Adela
Minneapolis. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter move- and I stood between them and Paul, the hot-headed leader of the
ment continue despite state sanctioned violence... Brown Berets. I remember panicking when I got separated from
Jesse, Ramón, Mary Sue and Julie. I remember someone pass-

ing me a gun telling me to hold onto it. I remember the yelling.
A body—as strong as it can be—is supremely delicate. The skin I remember the crush of bodies running to chase the klan out of
covering the skull splits easily; a police baton swung at the right town. I remember the hate. I remember the wave of protestors
angle, with the right force, parts the flesh precisely.
pushing me into the line of cops in riot gear. I remember their rage

In February of 1983 the kkk decided to take back Texas. They as they yelled at us to get back. I remember screaming at them
held one event per month including a cross burning on land adja- we couldn’t because people behind us were running downhill. I
cent to a Black family. They rallied against Black History month remember Paul yelling that it was a free country and that we could
cross the street if we wanted. I remember the shock. I remember
at the state capitol; the historical society displays photos of its
throwing my arms up to protect my head. I remember the gray
construction by Black “prisoners” that docents consider a must-
sweatshirt that had to get cut off of me because my arm swelled
see for thousands of children on field trips. The capitol crowns
Congress avenue which also happened to be the gentry’s preferred to the size of a football. I remember the terror seizing my dia-
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• phragm, squeezing the air out of my lungs.
location for holding a lynching back in the
day. I remember feeling like I couldn’t breathe. I
remember a cop yelling at me to ‘just drop to
There was no way I could stay home
the ground.’ I remember thinking he wanted
as the k marched in my hometown. Texas’
the beating to stop. I remember the pave-
long history of cloaking white supremacy
ment. I remember the dizziness. I remem-
under the banner of ‘law and order’ includes
ber screaming for Adela who went down
the Texas Rangers, or pinches rinches, who
with one hit. I remember my indignation.
expanded the King family’s control of south
I remember yelling “You’re going to kill
Texas through extrajudicial murders and
him!” as 8 officers beat Paul who weighed
displacement of Mexican and First Nations
125 pounds. I remember an officer yanking
landowners. The spirit of twelve-year-old
me out of the way. I remember people help-
Santos Rodríguez—murdered by Dallas
ing me to the curb. I remember the blood
police as they tried to scare him into confess-
pooling at my feet. I remember Ramón
ing for a burglary he didn’t commit—would
dropping to his knees beside me. I remember
have haunted my friends and I had we not
his green canvas medic bag. I remember
protested.
being grateful that we’d helped him graduate
I met Jesse Johnson, Ramón Hernández,
from nursing school by writing his papers
Mary Sue Galindo, and Julie Garza at UT
for him. I remember wanting to laugh. I
where we plotted our revolution while smok-
remember his tenderness as he wrapped my
ing mota outside the Texas Union. The day of
wound. I remember going limp with relief
the rally we met at Julie’s place on the East
when Jesse, Mary Sue, and Julie found me. I
Side for a smoke and breakfast tacos. Ramón,
remember screaming at the governor who’d
the RN, packed his medic bag, and I loaded
come into the ER to check on wounded of-
the pockets of my khaki pants with 35 mm Flyer against the 1983 Austin,TX KKK March...
ficers. I remember laughing when the x-ray
4 film. - Bazillion Points Books. technician asked if I had a gun in my pocket
I remember standing by Dorothy Turner

and was able to show him it was just film. I remember

laying on Julie’s waterbed that night as the fundraiser for

the Venceremos Brigade went on as planned in the living

room. I remember people coming into the dark room to

check on me. I remember Yvonne had to leave because

she was crying so hard. I remember the Berets giving me

props. I remember being furious because it wasn’t until I’d

been bloodied in a beating that they recognized my work.

I remember Ramón, Jesse, Mary Sue, and Julie running

into the bedroom squealing because Ntozake Shange had

arrived. I remember them making me get up to go see. I

remember how everything hurt. I remember the fog. I re-

member Ntozake’s beauty. I remember taking deep breaths

as I lay back down in that little house on the East Side

with Jesse, Ramón, Mary Sue, and Julie sitting on the bed.

I was safe.

I could breathe. An archival photo from a 1983 anti-Ku Klux Klan march in Austin, Texas, taken from the ATX
A news videographer captured the beatings. The foot- Barrio Archive Instagram account on March 13, 2017.

age was damning. The police panicked and launched an place. His apartment was tiny; the three of us slept on his king size

‘investigation’ to craft a justification for their actions. I refused to waterbed together.
speak to them. They staked out my apartment for several days. I
I could breathe.
parked my car a few blocks away and walked home the back way.
The city hired an expensive legal team to prosecute the case
They terrorized my mother who’d flown in from El Paso when she against us. Adela and I were acquitted. We tried to sue, but the
wouldn’t tell them where I was. Amá and I had the worst fight.
city had way more money than we did. The police who beat us got
“Me estás matando!” she hollered when I said I wouldn’t go back paid time off ‘to deal with the trauma they’d experienced’. I grew
to live in El Paso. “Lleva años diciendo que la estoy matando y no quieter in spite of my efforts to be the revolutionary hocicona,
se ha muerto!” I yelled back. I’m not proud of the hell I put her
malhablada, lesbianota I knew I was meant to be.
through. She went to every protest and stood by me wanting to rip
Ten years after that beating, I was preparing to address a group
the throat out of the cops that had hurt her baby.
protesting yet another klan march at the capitol. Dottie Curry of-
The mayor called us hoodlums so often that years later I met fered to help me think; I didn’t know what to say. I tried to articu-
people who were surprised I wasn’t the deranged, violent person late the lesson I was supposed to take from that experience. Dottie
the mayor and cops made me out to be. Adela, Paul, and I were
told me to stop. “You didn’t learn anything you didn’t already
charged and arrested three weeks later. The jail workers were sym- know. You already knew police violence exists. You already knew
pathetic and didn’t cage us. Tom Kolker and Malcolm Greenstein it was wrong. Period.”
with the National Lawyers Guild stepped in to represent us. They LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•
As awful as that experience was, I know it would have been
were fired by the Beret’s leadership in what I now know to be an worse if I were Black. I only felt like I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t
act of bald-faced anti-semitism.
in a chokehold.
Mr. and Mrs. Aguallo insisted I stop by their flower shop once a
A formerly incarcerated Chicano now working on prison aboli-
week to give me a giant bunch of flowers; this went on for months. tion once said, “Chicanos are becoming the new white pipo; it’s
Las Manitas fed me for free for a long time. I wouldn’t feel calm
Chicano cops shooting at Blacks.” I know he’s right.
until I crossed the bridge into my East Side neighborhood—02 p/v.
I trace the scar along my scalp absentmindedly a few times a
Jesse and I moved in with Ramón just down the street from Julie’s day. I’ve turned it into a reminder of a few good things. If Dot-

tie were still around, I’d argue that I had indeed learned

something that day—about love, solidarity, and gratitude.

Ramón died of AIDS. Heart disease took Julie before

her time. Cancer got Dottie. Racism cut Velma and Doro-

thy’s lives short. My mom made my siblings promise to

take care of me on her deathbed. They all come along

with me to the vigils and protests. When I feel like I can’t

breathe, I remind myself that it’s only a feeling, and I take

a big ass deep breath.

I’ll see you on the streets.
Ni Una/o Más

Mi Lucha es tu Lucha
Black Lives Matter

The Women’s March on Washington in January, 2017 prompted more than 300 sister marches Bio: María Limón, a native of El Paso, has worked with
across the country, including one in Austin, Tx attended by the author, Maria Limón. the LGBTQ, Family Violence and Latinx communities in

5Austin, TX. She currently works at the University of Col-

orado in Denver for the Center on Domestic Violence.

Androcentrism Weakens
Church and Society

by Tarcísio Beal

If there is anything that has weak- female to the male is a law of nature

ened the Catholic Church and most because it parallels the subordination

human societies for many centuries, of the body to the spirit. His writings

it is institutional androcentrism. The portray the woman as God’s image

males’ denial of equal rights and op- only in her rational soul, not in her

portunities for women has been turned sexuated body. He adds that after

into a major component of society the Fall/original sin, marriage is the

and still continues to be so—West inferior way and virginity is intrinsi-

and East, North and South. Worse cally superior to marriage. St. Jerome

yet, androcentrism has often been (31-420) went to the point of advising

turned into misogyny, that is, hatred/ young ladies to stay away from home

despise of women. It is so widespread if their mothers were still sexually ac-

and so resilient mostly because it tive, that is, polluted. Since up to the

has received the blessing of religions There was a time when a witch hunt led to the deaths of thousands 12th century, most clergymen were
wholly controlled by males. of innocent people, mostly women. The term “witch hunt” has now married, they were advised by Rome
become synonymous with men’s fear of being unjustly persecuted to live as if they were not married and
Christianity inherited androcen- or “hunted” for crimes they claim they did not commit. Image: to deny their spouses the sexual plea-
trism from both the ancient Hebrews, Witchcraft at Salem Village. Engraving. The central figure in this 1876 sures. In fact, Pope Leo I, who ruled
who borrowed it from tribal Mesopo- illustration of the courtroom is usually identified as Mary Walcott. the Church from 440 to 461, already
tamia, then from the Greco-Roman –Wikimedia Commons

culture, especially from its mythology. Mesopotamian tribes tried to implement such order in the 6th century.

viewed sexuality from the male viewpoint, namely, as a form of The Middle Ages inherited the androcentrism of the Church

domination. The woman was seen as an abnormality, her vagina Fathers and added even more anti-female arguments, even some

as a wound, and her menstrual bleeding as a form of castration. malicious injunctions. Pope Gregory I (d. 604) allowed clergy-

Tribal patriarchy restricted the social relations of women to the men to marry if they could not control their sexual desires, but

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• point of prohibiting her from seating at the table with the males they were to abstain from sex at least 24 hours before administer-

so as not to curse the food that fed their power. These tribal ing the sacraments or celebrating mass. In the year 600, he sent a

taboos were adopted by the Torah and the Talmud, the major law letter to Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury, repeating the Old

codes of ancient Israel. Testament’s anti-female injunctions: that women, after giving

The community of ancient Israel mirrored the rights and privi- birth to a boy, must stay away from the church for a minimum of

leges of the males in all laws that carried religious duties (Ex. 33 days; and 66 days if the newborn was a girl. Gratian’s Decree

20: 19; 22: 22-24; Lev. 13: 9, 40; Numbers 6: 2), and society was (1140), which became the basis of Canon Law, states that “the

defined as a religious community of adult males (Ex. 19: 14-15; woman is not created after God’s image.”

Ju. 7: 2; 4: 13); the spouse was seen as the exclusive property St. Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274) repeats Aristotle’s nonsense

of the husband (Lev. 20: 10, 14); and circumcision was only for that “the woman is a defective human being because she is the

boys, not for girls. offspring of a fall suffered by the spermatozoid while trying to

Androcentrism, although not present in the Epistles of Paul, become a male.” For him, Eve’s seduction of Adam was punished

appeared as very strong among the Church Fathers, who con- by placing her under the domination of the male. Furthermore –

cocted the silliest arguments to justify what they believed to be adds Aquinas – during the sexual act, which must always carry

male superiority. Tertullian (d. 245) criticized women who wore the intention of procreation, the woman must remain totally

colorful dresses by arguing that if God had wished them to do passive. This reminds me of the only statement from my Manual

so, He would have created scarlet sheep. He also claimed that of Theology (authored by the Austrian Hieronymus Noldin) that

women wore cosmetics and fancy clothes in order to trap men escaped the censor (all other pages dealing with sex were glued

more easily into sexual relations. Clement of Alexandria (150- together): “Mulier succumbat, et vir incumbat” (The woman

216) contended that Adam was seduced by Eve in paradise before underneath, and the man on top).

God had a chance to unite them in matrimony. So Eve was the No surprise, then, that anti-female prejudices and nonsense

prostitute, and Adam the victim. St. Augustine (354-430), the became part of Church’s legislation and definitely shaped its insti-

most influential of the Church Fathers, was, during his younger, tutional behavior, shutting down women from their rights within

Manichean days, an abuser of young women. Manicheans viewed the Catholic community, including the priesthood. In 1089, Urban

sex and material creation as the work of Satan. He identified II ordered expelled from the priesthood those who kept meeting

monism and spirituality with the male and dualism and femininity Continued on Page 10

6 with corporeality. So – says Augustine - the subordination of the

100-year anniversary

of women’s right to vote in the USA 1920 - 2020

by Susan Morales Guerra, In recent elections, voter turnout rates for
writer and facilitator, Oslo Norway women have equaled or exceeded voter turnout rates
for men. Women, who constitute more than half the

Editor’s note: Passed by Congress June 4, population, have cast almost ten million more votes
1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th than men in recent elections.
amendment granted women the right to vote. August
18, 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the Particularly in every presidential election since
passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and 1980, the proportion of eligible female adults who
protecting women’s constitutional right to vote. voted has exceeded the proportion of eligible male
adults who voted. In all presidential elections prior
to 1980, the voter turnout rate for women was lower

In order to transform law, you need than the rate for men.
When it comes to numbers, the number of

a political voice. In order to have a female voters has exceeded the number of male LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•
political voice, you need to exercise voters in every presidential election since 1964.
the right to vote. —Anne D. Gorden, (https://bit.ly/cawp-pdf)
Professor of History, Rutgers
University, 2016. It is logical to assume that due to the increase of
women in the work force, the issues brought up by
the feminist movements and civil rights legislation

can be accredited with this increase of female voter

Last March, while I was attending an international activity. This implies that as an electorate voting
seminar outside of Oslo, there were seven American group, women have exercised their power and that

women present. I asked them to share their thoughts may be a reason for attempts to revise voter acces-

with me about the centennial anniversary of the sibility in another manner.

right to vote for women in the USA. Five of these I realized how little I knew about suffragette

were students in their twenties from a small mid- Above: Elizabeth Cady Stanton history as well. One thing I do know is that women’s
western liberal college. Each one responded with: Below: Lucretia Mott right to vote and women’s rights in general are not

“Really?. I wasn’t aware. I haven’t thought about an isolated gender issue. Women’s access to the

it.” Their professors who were also there, mentioned that it gets right to vote is directly tied to the issues of personal economics,

more difficult to arouse attention to women’s issues alone but personal education, personal health, our laws’ interpretations of

they integrate this into their classes of history, political science, law and practice of what the laws allow.

literature and media studies, among other disciplines. There have always been very clear threats to this right from
its ratification until today, through the revisions and reversal of
The fact that the fight for women’s right to policies and through national and state amendments and laws.
vote for women took nearly 100 years and So, we can celebrate this centennial by learning some history and
hard struggles by many women did not gain awareness of what systems and policies affect the right to

occur to the young women. This is not a vote for women, and others today.

surprise as this story is overlooked unless 100 hundred years of the fight
you are a political science or women’s for voting rights for women
studies student / scholar it seems.

After one hundred years, it can be that women’s right to vote The women’s suffrage movement is known as a decades-long 7
is taken for granted. For young people, it has always been there fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States,
and we women do use this right, right? having its official beginnings at the first public gathering for

the USA as a nation and the first generation
of suffragists. ( ref. The Women’s Suffrage
Movement)

Seneca Falls - first women’s rights
convention:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia

Mott, together with others, penned

the amendment to the declaration

of independence: “We hold these

Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy Matilda Joslyn Gage, honorary member of its Wolf Clan truths to be self-evident, that all

women’s rights at a convention in Seneca Falls, New York in men and women are created equal;
July, 1848. that they are endowed by their Creator with

The leaders of this convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and certain inalienable rights.” – re-write of The

Lucretia Mott, became politically engaged through their work Declaration of Independence, 1848.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• for the abolition of slavery. But as women, they were not able Disagreements over strategy threatened to cripple the move-
to take part in public meetings or organizations. They later ment more than once and the campaign was not easy. In 1890 two
realized how the law considered slaves and married women groups merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage
“dead” as citizens, and defined them only as property of man, Association. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the organization’s first
without any personal privilege or rights. They were, under the president.
law, forced to obey their “masters” (read “owners”) at the risk
of punishment for disturbing domestic life. Stanton and Mott, By then, the suffragists’ approach had changed from before
with other activists, believed this was wrong thinking about any the Civil War. Instead of arguing that women deserved the same
human being, including women. rights and responsibilities as men because women and men were
“created equal,” the new generation of activists argued that wom-
In a recent anthology from 2019, The Women’s Suffrage en deserved the vote because they were different from men. They
Movement, (Penguin Classics), the scholar Sally Roesch could make issues of domesticity into a community of interest for
Wagner extends the timeline of suffrage in this part of the mobilization and organizing. (bit.ly/women-suffrage)
world by nearly a thousand years. She begins with the found-
ing of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, when the Onondaga, The diversity of the voting-rights advocates is less shocking
Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, and Cayuga nations, later joined than the diversity of voting rights themselves. One of the last, and
by the Tuscarora, gathered in the land around the Great Lakes most telling objects in another recent book covering the suffrage
to form an egalitarian society that afforded women political movement, Why They Marched, (Belknap Press, Harvard); is a
power. Haudenosaunee women helped select the chiefs who handbill titled, “Seeing Is Believing” which features three maps
together governed by council, and they had a say in matters of the United States.
of war and peace. Political historians have long described
the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as the oldest continuously The first map is from 1869, when Wyoming was the only state
functioning democracy in the world; Wagner reminds us that that allowed women to vote. The second is from 1909, when, af-
ter four decades, just three other states had enfranchised women:

those democratic principles extended to

women, called a Matriarchate. The plat-

form of the Matriarchate is recognized

in this anthology as to where the con-

cepts of inherent rights, natural equality

of condition and the establishment of a

civilized government based upon these

practices is found.

Lucretia Mott stayed in a Seneca com-

munity while doing relief work with the

Quakers, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton ob-

served the Oneida Nation around Seneca

Falls, and activist Matilda Joslyn Gage

not only met with people of the Mohawk

Nation but was an honorary member of its

Wolf Clan. These early activists saw first-

hand that Haudenosaunee women could

own property, initiate divorces, and voted

in community matters and leadership.

The comparative equality they discov- Suffragettes known as the Silent Sentinels picket holding banners in front of the White House. One banner
reads: “Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty”. (Photo/Library of Congress) ©1917
8 ered among these neighboring societies
most likely influenced the first leaders of

Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. The last, I strengthened awareness of the value

from 1919, shows a complicated of the contributions of women during

patchwork of the various voting rights the war, thus lending power to their

held by women around the country. By argument.

then, fifteen states had passed constitu- Activists presented their case by

tional amendments allowing full female using the experiences of women during

suffrage; others had partial suffrage, World War I as a major part of the con-

allowing women to vote in school or tinued political pressure, which in 1918,

local elections. The handbill, along forced President Woodrow Wilson’s

with many other artifacts from the endorsement of women’s right to vote.

time, demonstrates the steady advance “We have made partners of women

of women’s suffrage while also com- in this war. Shall we admit them only to

plicating the standard portrait of it: the a partnership of sacrifice and suffering,

right to vote is less a switch than a dial, and not to a partnership of privilege

one that can be turned up or dimmed and of right?” – Wilson, speech before

down. (ref. Why They Marched) congress 1918. (ref. www.crusadeforth-

The generation of suffragettes, in evote.org/wilson)

early 20th century, had many issues Finally, on August 18, 1920, the

on the agenda like ending child labor, 19th Amendment to the Constitution

worker’s rights in industries where was ratified. On November 2nd of

most workers were women, curbing Woman Suffrage Monument in Centennial Park, Nashville, TN that year, more than 8 million women

corruption, and equal quality education dedicated on August 18, 2020. Tennessee was the 36th and final across the United States voted in elec-
for children. Without the right to vote, state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. Artist: Alan LeQuire. tions for the first time.

there was no power to influence policymakers. They therefore The 19 Amendment granted women the right to vote, and

organized militant protests and, mobilization was done by holding reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not

parades, pickets, marches, town hall meetings gathering a broad be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on ac-

sphere of women through state-by-state organizing of working count of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by

women and also women-of-color, as well as those not employed appropriate legislation.” [1687]

were able to be reached. A fraction group, known as the Silent

Sentinels, held their tongues while they held their banners. Some New organization for women

had taken to burning Woodrow Wilson’s speeches in tiny urns and

even burn an effigy of him, too. The League of Women Voters (LWV), a civic organization; was

Criticized and condemned as “ aggressive militants,” women formed to help women take a larger role in public affairs after

who stood vigil in front of the White House were the first people they won the right to vote. It was founded in 1920 to support the LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•

ever to stage a protest there, and dozens of them were sent to new women suffrage rights and was a merger of National Council

prison. Many more were heckled or spat upon by passersby, of Women Voters, founded by Emma Smith DeVoe, and National

had their banners and sashes torn to pieces by mobs, and were American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Carrie Chapman

knocked down by police. Catt, approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment

Although the Civil War was a to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote.

period which put the struggle for The League of Women Voters began as a “mighty political

women’s rights on hold, World War experiment” aimed to help newly enfranchised women exercise

their responsibilities as voters. Originally,

only women could join the league; but in

1973 the charter was modified to include

men. LWV operates at the local, state, and

national level, with over 1,000 local and

50 state leagues, and one territory league

in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (ref. www.bit.ly/

women-voters)

With this centennial, it is worth con-

sideration of not only what women were

fighting for then but why they had to fight

so hard, and who, exactly, was fighting

against them.

Challenges then and today

Challenges to voting rights, as women and

Suffragettes marched up Fifth Avenue from Washington Square to Fifty-Ninth St. on October 23, 1915 in New York others experience in our country today, 9
City demanding voting rights for women. Part of the George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). are hardly a 21st-century invention.

Irene L. Moorman Black Suffragettes Sarah Jane Smith
Thompson Garnet
After the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, Black women voted in elec-
tions and held political offices. However, many states passed laws that discrimi-
nated against African Americans and limited their freedoms. Black women in the
Women’s Sufferage Movement often found themselves excluded in conferences.
And, while black suffragettes worked for issues such as anti-lynching laws, the
women’s sufferage movement did not. Full voting rights for African Americans
were not achieved until the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• In the late 1700s the right to vote began when only white sive burden on municipalities.” (ref. The Woman’s Hour)
male landowners were granted this right. All others were not These new histories; as told in the books, The Woman’s Hour,
considered in position to have this right. Since those times, the
women’s suffrage movement broke open the path for the 19th The Women’s Suffrage Movement, Why They Marched; suggest that
amendment, to remove barriers to voting rights for all citizens the struggle for women’s suffrage does not just extend further into the
over the age of eighteen. past than we thought; it also extends to the present, and the future.

The book, “The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the The struggles behind the suffrage victory foreshadows the
Vote” (Viking), by the journalist Elaine Weiss, describes the steps vulnerability of voting rights today, when even those who have
forward and back again, that took place in the weeks leading up the right are often prevented from exercising it. Disenfranchise-
to the suffrage victory. Political strategic considerations of how ment can take many forms, and its manifestations are unfortu-
the female vote could sway political agendas and policies, was nately common: purging voter rolls, passing voter-identification
done by members of both parties in government. These politi- requirements, understaffing or closing polling places, gerryman-
cal agendas became more important than the vote to enfranchise dering voting districts. Under the circumstances, perhaps the best
women as full-fledged citizens with inherent rights. The book way to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth
also gives account to the other ideas which prevailed causing Amendment is to remember all those who cannot vote, not only
opposition, many recognizable even today. Opponents invoked those who can. After all, it is only through our privileged right to
the ideas of women’s supposed emotional instability and intellec- vote and to organize that we can keep up with democracy.
tual deficiencies, the danger to society of anything that distracted
them from their domestic duties as wives and mothers, and the In 1919, the Senate passed the Nineteenth Amendment and it
threat to the moral order should they bother themselves with poli- was officially ratified on August 26, 1920.
tics. “Some argued that most women did not even want the right
to vote, others that the expanded electorate would be an expen- Bio: Susan M. Guerra a native of San Antonio, Tx and a founder
of the Esperanza lives in Oslo, Norway where she is an author
and facilitator for social sustainable community development.

Androcentrism Yet, a proper reading of the true meaning of the Old Testa-
Continued from Page 6 ment tells a rather different story.

with their wives, a decree which was mostly ignored in Great Brit- Keep in mind that the male monotheism of ancient Israel grew
ain. Benedict VIII (1112-1124) added such decree to the Canon out as a reaction against its neighbors’ worship of the goddesses
Law and justified the selling of the priests’ children as slaves. The of fertility that were identified with nature, the earth, the moon,
Synod of Clermont (1130) stated that priests are “God’s temples,” fertility, etc. However, the Old Testament presents God with many
adding that to lay in the conjugal bed offended their dignity and feminine traits. His mercy, for instance, is spelled out as “raha-
made them impure. The Second Lateran Council (1139) made mim,” a term derived from “rehem,” i.e., the woman’s uterus.
celibacy mandatory in the West. The clergymen who resisted were Even Pope John Paul II used the term “rahamim” in reference to
to have their children sold as slaves. Many of these children were, God’s unbound mercy (encyclical Dives in Misericordia 8: 23-31).
then, sold to members of the clergy. One can see why priestly celi-
bacy is being defended to this day and the trashy arguments used We shall see, in my following article, how a proper reading
to deny women equal rights in the Church and in society at large. of all the Old Testament contradicts the androcentrism of ancient
Israel, then how the example of Jesus and of the Apostle Paul
Furthermore, women were the main targets of the Inquisition, present a quite different and positive view of women and of their
mostly because they were charged with being the major source role in Church and society.
of witchcraft. So Exodus 22: 18 (“Thou shall not allow a witch
to live”) was applied to them and they were burned at the stake. Bio: Tarcísio Beal, STL, PHD, Professor Emeritus of the Univer-
That’s how the Inquisition ended up, during the 16th and 17th sity of the Incarnate Word, where he taught for 41 years was also
centuries, killing women in the proportion of 50 to every one co-founder of the old Archdiocesan Justice & Peace Commission
headed by Rev. Bill Davis, then Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish.
10 male. In Central Europe, 83% of its 100,000 victims were women.
NOTE: Opinions expressed here are solely the author’s own.

Natural Medicine benefits for Covid-19. There is a strong plausible biological hypothesis
in the Time of and evolving epidemiological data supporting a role for vitamin D in
Corona Covid-19.”

by Loretta Von Coppenelle Yet another paper, issued by the medical news website Medscape,
“Vitamin D: A Low-Hanging Fruit in COVID-19?” (May 17, 2020,
While washing hands and keeping distance from others are worthwhile https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/930660) states: “Observational
endeavors, there is more that can be done to guard against the coronavi- data comparing outcomes from various countries suggest inverse links
rus. And that involves some fairly simple dietary changes. between vitamin D levels and the severity of COVID-19 responses, as
well as mortality, with the further suggestion of an effect of vitamin D
Mainstream medical practitioners are often unaware of the science on the immune response to infection . . . .
and efficacy of natural medicine – which largely uses nutrition as its
base - because it is not part of their training. And it is not part of their “And while some researchers and clinicians believe people should
training perhaps because there is more profit in drugs and specialized get tested to see if they have adequate vitamin D levels during this
equipment and procedures than in ordinary food and supplements. And pandemic – in particular frontline healthcare workers – most doctors
since commercial TV news is largely supported by pharmaceutical say the best way to ensure that people have adequate levels of
advertising, word is not getting out via that route. vitamin D during COVID-19 is to simply take supplements at cur-
rently recommended levels.
This is unfortunate, since there are many anti-viral and immune-
system supports in the natural arsenal, all readily available to the Amer- In the U.K. and in Scotland, the British Frontline Immune Support LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•
ican consumer. Two that are very important are vitamins C and D,
frequently lacking in many diets. Up to 3000 mg daily of C in divided Team is providing National Health Service workers with free liposo-
doses and about 2000 IU of D3 can be taken by adults (proportionally
less for children) to guard against viral infections. mal vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc in order to support their immune

Low vitamin C levels are fairly common in the U.S.   Several re- systems. An effort like that could make a difference here.
cent studies have pointed to C as critical to immune function.  Vitamin Darker skinned people tend to be more deficient in vitamin
C supports neutrophils and lymphocytes, two kinds of immune cells
which fight both viral and bacterial infections. A 2020 meta-analysis D than lighter skinned people. This is a well-known fact but the
published in the Journal of Intensive Care «found an average reduc- FDA, CDC, and other federal health authorities are not publicizing
tion in ventilator time of 25% among patients who received 1-6 grams it, even though those who are dying the most from COVID are darker
of intravenous or oral vitamin C per day.»  This is vital information as
only 30% or so of patients on ventilators survive. skinned people. We don’t get much D

A great deal of information has come out recently regarding from our diets – A lot of it comes from the
vitamin D: Research in other countries is finding a correlation between
D levels and morbidity from COVID: People with higher levels of sun, and many cannot access that D. One
vitamin D have lower mortality rates from COVID than people with
low levels of D. People in those countries are being informed of this, study said, “About 42% of the U.S. popu-
but that is not happening here.
lation is vitamin D deficient. However,
The French National Academy of Medicine put out a press release
on May 22, 2020, which acknowledges that D may be useful as an this rate rises to 82% in black people and
adjunct therapy in COVID-19. It recommends vitamin D supplementa-
tion, reimbursed by the French National Health Insurance, for those 70% in Hispanics.”
both over and under age 60 who test positive for COVID. South Asians are also often found Garlic

A paper published in Nutrients, a Swiss based journal, whose to be low in D, as are Islamic women
title describes its content: “Evidence that Vitamin D Supplementa- who are covered much of the time.
tion Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and
Deaths,” recommends vitamin D supplementation for those at risk The minerals zinc, magnesium Broccoli 11
of contracting COVID-19. Another paper of note is “Vitamin D and (citrate), and selenium “have been shown Sweet Potatoes
Inflammation: Potential Implications for Severity of Covid-19” in the to strengthen the immune system against Citrus Fruits
Irish Medical Journal, vol. 113; No. 5; P81. Its abstract says in part: viruses”, according to Jonathan Landsman Turmeric
(NaturalHealth365). They can be taken as
“Recent research has indicated that vitamin D may have immune per label directions.
supporting properties…. We hypothesize that vitamin D status may
influence the severity of responses to Covid-19 and that the prevalence Garlic is a powerful anti-viral. If
of vitamin D deficiency in Europe will be closely aligned to Covid-19 fresh is available, one can chop up one
mortality. clove of raw garlic before a meal and
swallow with water. Otherwise, one can
“Optimising vitamin D status to recommendations by national and take garlic tablets.
international public health agencies will certainly have . . . potential
Other immune enhancers include
almonds, asparagus, avocados, beets,
blueberries, broccoli, kale, onions,
oranges, red bell peppers, sweet pota-
toes, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric (active
ingredient: curcumin), and pomegran-
ate. Less well known immune enhancers
include medicinal mushrooms (especially
Chaga, Coriolus, Ganoderma, Agaricus,
Cordyceps, Umbellatus, and Maitake),
beta glucans (derived from bran, mush-
rooms, and yeasts), modified citrus pectin
(derived from citrus peels), ), L-carnitine
(an amino acid that helps boost immune

Continued on Page 15

Que Florezca la Luz, San Antonio

(after a ceremonial song discovered in the dark)

The light bloomed for three hundred years. Editor’s Note: In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, we offer our readers
Que florezca la luz por trescientos años más. this special poem by Bonnie Cisneros dedicated to the city of San Antonio, the largest
Hispanic-majority city in the U.S., with 807,000 Hispanics making up 61.2% of its
The light bloomed for three hundred years. population. Our cultural and historical heritage is one we celebrate daily.
Que florezca la luz por trescientos años más.

Look east,
Feel the pride of generations, historic homes and hallowed ‘hoods, families and friends, culture and church, soul and song.
The east is overflowing with history: St. Paul Square, Mount Zion First Baptist, a cluster of cemeteries. Composed of close-
knit community who keep the dreams alive despite the setbacks and in the face of so much redevelopment. From the
Hays St. Bridge, the east sees everything: city lights, starlight, fireworks, the flash of a lighter on a blue ink night.

A pecan tree beside a beauty shop.
A turtle wandering homewards towards the river.
A cardinal singing a spiritual at dusk.

May the light bloom,
The sun rises first on the people of the east.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• Turn north,
From Crossroads to Ingram, from North Star to La Cantera, the north is a mecca of malls, as well as jobs, the Medical Center
and USAA, Fiesta Texas and Sea World. UTSA, a campus carved out of limestone. Subdivisions and more subdivisions,
vivisected by freeways, suburbia intermingled with ranchland. The north is about new beginnings, for the families who
left the inner city not that long ago, to the recent arrivals from all parts of the planet who come to San Antonio for the very
same reasons everyone comes here: to work hard and raise children and find a home in a city built atop bones.

A patch of bluebonnets on the side of a congested freeway.
A white-tailed deer following a path behind an apartment complex.
A red-tailed hawk flying, stealthily, overhead.

May the light bloom in the north,
Polaris flickers faithfully through a canopy of oak trees.

Look south,
It’s the closest we can get to the border, nearest to Mexico, four Spanish missions testify to the timeline this Tricentennial
celebrates. U.S. Air Force bases and facilities, mini military cities within the city. Southside community is puro corazón, alive
with pulgas that buzz with ancient hustle, it bustles with fruterias that fizzle the sweet heat of fruit cups and cumbias. Three
words: Southwest Military Drive. The major artery of commerce and cruising, pawn shops and taco spots,
legends and chisme. Que más quieres, there are even healing hot wells and haunted railroad tracks.

A mesquite tree bursting with pods despite the drought.
A goat romping in a rowdy vecino’s backyard.
Chicharras composing entire symphonies at twilight.

12

Que florezca la luz,
Full moon beaming, the radio on, and the windows down as we drive south.

Now turn west,
Go down Commerce, Zarzamora, Guadalupe, to the botanica, the panaderia, the taqueria, the cantina.
Cruise all the way down, armed with flowers for familia out at the chain of San Fernando cemeteries. See the
dried up creeks, spy spray painted concrete. The west is rich with shrines to Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Little Flower,
ripe with the history of los Courts, and blessed with a constellation of Chicanx cultural arts centers. Peep the glorious murals
that illustrate the beauty of the west as precisely as a tattooed teardrop.

The ancient aloe vera, planted by an abuela, behind a chain link fence.
A pack of scrappy dogs running up, then down the street.
The rooster crowing boldly in the shade of a pomegranate tree.

Que florezca la luz,
Praise the pinks, the purples, the golden light of the sun as it rests in the west.

Finally, turn now towards center.
Downtown, el centro, where all the sides convene, legends and landmarks, tourists and transportation, arenas and every
single side that composes the story of the Alamo. Pásale, amiga, let’s admire the landscape of the Riverwalk and its
reaches, let’s walk the luminous Hemisfair grounds, maybe travel up the Tower of the Americas, a structure that rises like an
exclamation point on the city’s modern chapter.

The sway of cypress trees, centuries old, from their nooks along the riverbank. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•
The slow clop of horses, in ribbons and blinders, pulling glowing Cinderella carriages.
A colony of bats under the freeway, flying out like clockwork into the electric night.

May the light bloom, San Antonio. BIO: Bonnie Ilza Cisneros, a 4th-generation educator
Que florezca la luz, San Anto. in a line of S. Texas schoolteachers, is a mother of two
who earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State
We see ceremonial firelight, University. A member of the Macondo Writers Workshop,
we hear ancestral voices echoing back Bonnie moonlights as DJ Despeinada consciously spinning
ten, eleven, twelve thousand years, vinyl records that center women artists of color and musi-
all leading now, cians of the borderlands.
all leading here, www.bonniecisneros.com/dj-despeinada
to this mosaic of light once called Yanaguana,
now named San Antonio,

a story as amazing as a falling star over Houston Street.
The light bloomed for three hundred years.
Que florezca la luz por trescientos años más.

The light bloomed for three hundred years.
Que florezca la luz por trescientos años más.

– Bonnie Ilza Cisneros

13

YOUR VOTE, YOUR VOICE

By Madhu Sridhar, President, League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area

In 1920, six months before the ratification of the 19th Amend- comprehensive information about registering and voting in Bexar

ment to the U.S. Constitution that secured the right to vote for County. The League’s nonpartisan Voters Guide provides candidate

women, suffragists who shared bold vision, personal courage, responses—in their own words—to questions about where they

and unwavering commitment founded a nonpartisan, grassroots stand on issues important to voters and is available in print a few

organization—the League of Women Voters—to help women weeks before the start of Early Voting. The interactive, online ver-

carry out their new responsibility as voters. Now celebrating its sion of the Voters Guide is available at VOTE411.org. The League’s

100th birthday, the League continues to encourage informed and brochures in English and Spanish—including the Texas Voters’ Bill

active participation in government and fights to remove barriers of Rights; FAQ about Voting and Elections; and Vote: It’s in Your

to voting to help build an inclusive democracy for all people. Best Interest—are available for download and distribution.

In Bexar County, close to 80 percent of the eligible population Your conversations can make the difference between a person

is registered to vote, yet only 22.5 percent of registered voters ac- choosing to vote or deciding to relinquish their power and sit out

tually made it to the polls for the primary election this past March. an election, letting others decide the fate of their community.

Each one of us can play an important role in addressing this par- Because you care about your civil rights, your healthcare,

ticipation gap and empowering voters to have their voices heard. your educational and economic opportunity, your environment,

Commit to talking to friends and relatives about the upcom- and the promise of democracy for all people, be a voter, and

ing election, and get them the information they need to make a empower others to be voters, too.

plan to vote. The League’s online Voter Toolbox has up-to-date,

SU VOTO, SU VOZ

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7• Seis meses antes de la ratificación de la 19a enmienda a la con- actual sobre cómo registrarse y votar en el condado de Bexar. La
stitución de los Estados Unidos, que aseguró el derecho de votar a Guía de Votantes (Voters Guide) no partidista de la Liga propor-
las mujeres en 1920, fue fundada una organización de base no par- ciona respuestas de los candidatos, en sus propias palabras, a
tidista: la Liga de Mujeres Votantes. Sus fundadoras compartían preguntas sobre temas importantes para los votantes. La guía está
una visión audaz y valiente y se caracterizaban por su compromiso disponible en forma impresa algunas semanas antes del comienzo
inquebrantable de ayudar a las mujeres a llevar a cabo su nueva re- de la Votación Anticipada. La versión interactiva en línea de la
sponsabilidad como votantes. Ya que celebra su centenario, la Liga Guía de Votantes está disponible en VOTE411.org. Además, los
continúa fomentando la participación de la gente en el gobierno y folletos de la Liga en inglés y español, incluso la Declaración
lucha para eliminar las barreras a la votación. de Derechos Electorales en el Estado de Texas; Preguntas Más
Frecuentes sobre la Votación y Elecciones; y Vote: Le Conviene a
En el condado de Bexar, cerca del 80 por ciento de la población Usted Votar, están disponibles para su descarga y distribución.
elegible a votar está registrada, sin embargo, solo el 22.5 por ciento
de los votantes registrados llegaron a las urnas para las elecciones Usted puede influenciar a través de sus conversaciones si una
primarias de marzo pasado. Cada uno de nosotros podemos jugar persona elige votar o decide renunciar su oportunidad de participar en
un papel importante para asegurar la participación de los votantes. una elección, dejando que otros decidan el destino de su comunidad.

Comprométase a hablar con amigos y familiares sobre las Porque a usted le importan: los derechos civiles, el cuidado
próximas elecciones, y obtenga la información que necesitan de la salud, las oportunidades educativas y económicas, el medio
para hacer un plan de votación. La Caja de Herramientas de ambiente, y la promesa de democracia para todos, sea un votante,
Votantes (Voter Toolbox) digital de la Liga tiene información y ayude a otros a que sean votantes también.

14

Notas Y Más Community meetings and art events are currently on hold
due to COVID-19. Check websites, FB or call for virtual
September 2020 meetings and arts programming in September, 2020.
www.esperanzacenter.org

Call for Calaveras, Literary Ofrendas & SECC
Artwork for the November La Voz! FEDERAL
CAMPAIGN
DEADLINE: October 5th!
Give to the Esperanza
Calaveras: Satirical poems mocking the Peace & Justice Center at
your workplace, today!
Submit to: lavoz@ death of a living person or of a timely
esperanzacenter.org situation. 350 words or less. Artwork accepted. Artwork by Aleida Use the appropriate code:
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Literary Ofrendas: Tributes dedicated to
La Voz editor
deceased loved ones. 350 words or less.
922 San Pedro Ave.
SA, 78212 Photos accepted.

Visit esperanzacenter.org Artwork: Copies of drawings or other artwork of City of San Antonio: 8022
to see previous issues of
the November La Voz de calaveras or calacas. Bexar County: 8022
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August 29 - October 3, 2020 State of Texas Employee
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Santo Niño Migrante call 210.228.02021
Berta Flores Carlos Lowry by Lilliana Wilson or email esperanza@
Participating Artists Gilbert Flores Michael Menchaca Stephanie Ortiz esperanzacenter.org
Sergio Garcia Delilah Montoya Adriana Perez
Laura Lopez Cano Mary Jane Garza Felicia Morin Yolanda Petrocelli
Louis A. Cano Alex Guerra Amanda Muñoz Marta Sanchez
Yreina Cervantez Fernando Muñoz Liliana Wilson
Marti Ontiveros
Cecilia Colomé Suzy González LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•

Teodoro Estrada Diana Kim Edward Ybarra

Ian Etter Angela M. LaPorte Sylvia Orozco

Yreina Cervantez Dorotha Grace Lemeh Peter F. Ortiz Santa Barraza
Contact: (361) 360-5788 or [email protected]

Natural Medicine one stores and definitely avoid drugs like acetaminophen that can cause
glutathione levels to plummet.”
Continued from Page 11
Mark Menolascino, M.D., Director of the Meno Clinic in Wyoming,
function), and Astragalus (a Chinese herb that boosts immunity). adds that probiotics play a crucial role in healthy immune defense. Pro-
Metabolic cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D., mentions the impor- biotics in good yogurts and kefir, sauerkraut, kim chee, and in capsule
form, are available at most supermarkets..
tance of taking licorice root tincture (20 drops under the tongue, twice
daily), resveratrol (found in the skin of grapes or as a supplement), and Refined sugar weakens the immune system. This may be unwel-
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), which Sinatra describes as an amino acid that come news to sugar-addicted Americans, but avoidance of sugar may be
“serves as a building block for glutathione, your body’s most natural needed by those hoping to avoid infection, particularly if their diets are
immune-supporting antioxidant.” Sinatra also believes everyone should sub-optimal. Avoidance for the time being of alcohol and caffeine may
start off with a high-quality daily multivitamin/mineral. also be advisable.

Sinatra recommends black elderberry as well, saying, “Available in Why aren’t we hearing all – or even some - of this from those lead-
syrup and gummy form, elderberry is a convenient immune booster for ing the discussion of COVID-19? It must be repeated that much of this
children and pill-averse adults. “ information is not on the radar of conventional medicine or the press/
media, for reasons suggested at the beginning of this article. This should
The afore-mentioned glutathione is vital in maintaining immunity. nonetheless not prevent one from trying things that could, after all, help
The title of a May 2020 article in the journal ACS Infect Dis. proclaims and do no harm. And meanwhile, we all should be getting adequate
its importance in fighting COVID-19: “Endogenous Deficiency of Glu- sleep, not freak out over corona fears, get some sunshine, and eat right to
tathione as the Most Likely Cause of Serious Manifestations and Death maybe enhance our survival at this difficult time.
in COVID-19 Patients.” Michael Murray, N.D., says that “Lower levels
of glutathione result in the combination of an impaired immune re- BIO: Loretta Van Coppenolle is certified in holistic nutrition
sponse, decreased protection against the virus and cellular damage, and
an increased inflammatory response. The bottom line is that if you want 15and functions as a pro bono nutritional consultant and natural
to survive this pandemic, you need to take steps to boost your glutathi-
health advocate.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2020 Vol. 33 Issue 7•

Women & Activism

in the Westside

Arcadia López Join our ongoing project to tell the stories of

Westside activist Mexican-American women
activists and culture bearers

ONLINE EXHIBIT: www.museodelwestside.org

Noche Azul Esperanza Peace & Justice Center Non-Profit Org.
922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212 US Postage
in Casa Sessions 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org PAID

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Sept. 27 @ 2pm Permit #332

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The OATS/Senior Planet Catalyst
Partner Program with Esperanza will
be offering a variety of workshops
for low income 60+ persons who are
interested in enhancing their social,
economic and civic engagement
through technology especially during
this pandemic.

SEE seniorplanet.org/san-antonio
OR oats.org FOR INFO.