La Voz - April 2021

April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3 San Antonio, Tejas

April is National Poetry Month

Nation al Poetry Month

Yon Hui Bell Rachel Jennings

Nation al PoetryMonth

Andrea Vocab Sanderson Tricia Cortez

Nation al PoetryMonth

Tom Keene Emmy Pérez

Letter to the Editor of
La Voz de Esperanza

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3 La Voz de February 11, 2021
Esperanza
I’m writing to you because today our organization celebrates the termination of the declara-
April 2021 tion of a national emergency on the southern border.
Vol. 34 Issue 3
Nearly two years ago, on FEB 15, 2019, people who live in Laredo and many other
Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez places along the 2,000-mile border learned that our lives were somehow in danger, and that
Design: Elizandro Carrington the place where we live is somehow a threat to the entire country, a national emergency.

Contributors Upon hearing this stunning news, RGISC and others in the community immediately got
together to discuss and figure out next steps.
Yon Hui Bell, Tricia Cortez, Rachel Jennings,
Tom Keene, Jere Locke, Kayla Miranda, Emmy We quickly realized that this executive order by the former president was to be used as a
Pérez, Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, Victoria Vil- means to take away billions of dollars from the military, and from military bases, to build his
border wall and confiscate lots and lots of land.
laseñor & Lindsey Wieck, Yoania
This was about to place the future of Laredo and our river in crisis.
La Voz Mail Collective What he and his supporters didn’t realize is that this act caused an uprising. It galvanized
a group of people who quickly learned that power comes from the people.
The Collective is sheltering at home due to the This declaration helped a fierce and wondrous group of people to find their voice, and
COVID-19 pandemic but will be returning when call out what was happening: an extreme act of environmental, social, and racial injustice.
Those who were making these plans lived far away from here and had everything to gain
their health and safety can be assured. Extra while we had everything to lose.
funds are being raised to pay for folding La Voz Our fight to Delay and Cancel the wall made a difference. It saved Laredo and brought
Laredo and the future of our river out of crisis. It showed us that we aren’t second class
each month during this time. citizens whose constitutional rights can be suspended at the stroke of a pen by dangerous
political forces.
Esperanza Director We are now in the next phase of this battle, which is to permanently cancel the contracts
and halt the confiscation of land.
Graciela I. Sánchez We are also in the process of envisioning the kind of future that we want here on the
border.
Esperanza Staff Now is the time to formulate solutions that can more adequately address the border’s
many needs, not just security... but security combined with ecology, trade, water, asylum,
Elizandro Carrington, Kayla Miranda, immigration, culture, energy and history.
Paul Plouf, Kristel Orta-Puente, This movement taught us that we can no longer remain silent. It taught us that people on
Natalie Rodríguez, the border have power and can shape their own destiny.
Imgard Akinyi Rop, René Saenz, We thank the Biden Administration for terminating this outrageous act committed against
Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez our people, and against a vibrant and dynamic region of the United States.
Judit Vega, Rosa Vega Tricia Cortez, Executive Director, RGISC (Rio Grande International Study Center)

Conjunto de Nepantleras EDITOR’S NOTE: Along with this letter Tricia sent a poem about the border, the Río Grande
—Esperanza Board of Directors— and its meaning. This poem along with poems from 5 other poets are at the heart of the April
issue of La Voz. We are hopeful as a new administration begins governing the U.S. but must
Richard Aguilar, Norma Cantú, Yasmina Codina, remain ever vigilant and continue to hold all of our officeholders accountable to the people.
Brent Floyd, Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, After all, democracy means demos kratos, power to the people or rule by the people and we
Angie Merla, Jan Olsen, Ana Lucía Ramírez, must make every effort to secure that power in the power to vote that is now in jeopardy.
Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales,
Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba, —Gloria A. Ramirez, editor of La Voz de Esperanza
Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens
ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a mailing address correction please send it to lavoz@
• We advocate for a wide variety of social, esperanzacenter.org. If you want to be removed from the La Voz mailing list, for whatever reason, please let us
economic & environmental justice issues. 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
• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not substantially increased and we need your help to keep it afloat. To help, send in your subscriptions, sign up as a
necessarily those of the Esperanza Center. monthly donor, or send in a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thank you. -GAR

La Voz de Esperanza VOZ VISION STATEMENT: La Voz de Esperanza speaks for many individual, progressive voices who are
is a publication of 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
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center recapturing the powers of alliance, activism and healthy conflict in order to achieve interdependent economic/
922 San Pedro, San Antonio, spiritual healing and fuerza. La Voz is a resource for peace, justice, and human rights, providing a forum for
TX 78212 criticism, information, education, humor and other creative works. La Voz provokes bold actions in response
210.228.0201 to local and global problems, with the knowledge that the many risks we take for the earth, our body, and the
www.esperanzacenter.org dignity of all people will result in profound change for the seven generations to come.
Inquiries/Articles can be sent to:
[email protected]

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

2 publication. Letters with intent to slander
individuals or groups will not be published.

100 Years, Later:

San Antonio’s 2021 Arctic Blast Reminiscent
of the Great Flood of 1921

By Victoria Villaseñor & Lindsey Wieck

In the wake of the recent Texas arctic experienced during and after the flood,

blast in February that shut down the the Anglo-dominated City Council’s main

city for a week and left residents concern was the rehabilitation of the

scrambling for basic resources, we are city’s commercial and wealthy districts.

reminded of a long history of environ- The City Council initiated one of the

mental catastrophes in our city. Ineq- most extensive public works projects in

uitable, shortsighted infrastructure has the city’s history, the construction of the

existed in San Antonio for centuries, Olmos Dam, which diverted water away

and neighborhoods like the Westside from San Antonio’s north and central

have been disproportionately impacted districts.

by floods, and most recently by snow. Out of the millions spent to protect an

Last year, we began to research water Downtown San Antonio at Travis & Broadway streets during the already elite area, city leaders allocated
in San Antonio, with the goal of shar- 2021 Arctic blast. only $6,000 for the beautification of the
ing histories of the big 1921 flood for Alazan and San Pedro Creeks. Cutting

its 100th anniversary this fall. brush along the creeks offered no reha-

On September 9, 1921, a series bilitation or protection for Mexican com-

of heavy rainstorms moved across a munities; city leaders made clear which

woefully unprepared central and south communities mattered in San Antonio.

Texas. The torrential rain brought on Decades passed before federal funding

a catastrophic surge of water, leading would be allocated to meaningfully ad-

to the greatest flood in Bexar County’s dress flooding concerns in the Westside,

recorded history. Several news outlets and even these came with ramifications,

captured images of the downtown area changing the creeks and other spaces

of San Antonio that looked like Venice, people in the Westside used.

Italy, with water filling the city’s To research this history of flooding

streets. The flood of 1921 created at in the Westside, we delved into histories

least $3 million in damages, destroying Downtown San Antonio at Travis St. looking west from Navarro St. of water, inequitable development, and LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3

the city’s electricity, communication, during the great flodd of 1921. social and political justice in San Antonio

and infrastructure, which left citizens scrambling for resources. by authors like Lewis Fisher and Char Miller. We also relied on

While the downtown business and northern districts received historical newspaper articles and photographs, and a 60+-page

most of the news coverage in the aftermath of the flood, it was the brochure, “La Tragedia de la Inundación de San Antonio,” pub-

west and south sides of San Antonio that experienced the greatest lished in Spanish after the flood revealing the expansive damage

devastation. The Alazán and Martínez Creek tributaries burst, allow- to the Westside.

ing the flood waters to ravage the Westside’s structurally unsound As we develop some materials helping us remember the flood

neighborhoods. Mexicans and Mexican Americans on the Westside of 1921 and continued flooding throughout the 20th century, we

and Southside made up the vast majority of the 80 deaths accounted are seeking to preserve and share community memories about

for, and many more people remained missing and never discovered flooding or your experiences with Alazán, Apache, and Martínez

after the flood. The city’s long history of disinvestment in these creeks throughout your lifetimes.

communities left the west and south sides to deal with menial re- NOTE: Lindsey Wieck, Asst. Prof. of History/Dir. of Public His-
sources and unsanitary conditions that magnified the damage of the tory at St. Mary’s Univ. & Victoria Villaseñor, St.MU student, are
storm. Those who did not die from drowning died under collapsed researching the 1921 San Antonio flood & will be collecting sto-
buildings or were struck by loose material carried in the streams. ries to share for the 100th anniversary commemoration this fall .

Despite the great devastation Mexican American communities

Remembering the Great Flood of 1921 in San Antonio

Share your memories and stories: of the creeks of San Antonio, 3

of floods you have experienced, of flood prevention efforts in the 70s & beyond or stories you’ve heard of the Great Flood of 1921!
A brochure of these stories will be available at the Esperanza Center as well as a digital site with the stories and our research.
Email stories to [email protected] or mail them the Esperanza Center, 922 San Pedro Ave., San Antonio, TX 78212.

Coming Fall 2021!

From “Let it snow” to “I hate snow”...
the week the lights went out in Texas

By Kayla Miranda

I remember the first time I saw snow. My family is originally from food or supplies. Families huddled together for collective body

Danville, Illinois, but we moved here to San Antonio when I was warmth. Houseless and homeless individuals suffered out in the el-

a baby and my dad was stationed at Lackland AFB. When I was ements, while rich investors made millions and politicians went on

twelve, we moved back to Danville for a few years before vacation. I will caution the com-

returning to Texas. I was at my aunt’s apartment, where munity to not forget this on May

I spent nights with my younger brother while our dad 1st when we go to the polls for the

worked graveyard shifts. I woke up around 6 am, hap- leadership of this city. Remember

pened to look out of my cousin’s window, and there it was. this when we vote again, and every

A perfect, undisturbed first snow. Everything looked so time we go to the polls. We must

magical. With a steady fall of large white flakes, I imag- hold those responsible, account-

ined that I woke up in a snow globe. I had already been able. We must incite change. Not a

dazzled by the autumn leaves and their vibrant colors. But single life should have been lost in

this—it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. That this city, state or country because

feeling was short lived. they froze to death. 

An hour later, I was ushered outside I was reminded of why we are

to wait for the school bus in three feet called Texas Strong. When disaster

of snow. Over the winter months of my strikes us, we come together.

first year up north, I learned that melted While anger was my ruling emo-

snow turns to ice. Kids are mean and tion, my heart was full of pride as

throw snowballs packed with that ice. It The snow outside my front door. I saw my friends, family, commu-

gets dirty and looks like mud, every- nity jump into action with water

where. No matter what you do, your and food distribution, supplies and blankets delivered to those

pant legs will get soaked. Snow will who needed them. Even charging stations were set up at houses

leak into your shoes, making your socks and businesses who still had power. I was on text chains, email

wet and toes freeze, and it’s so cold your chains, phone calls and social media watching the planning

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3 face gets wind burned. All the images and execution and participating myself. I saw people brave the

of Santa with rosy cheeks were really SAHA Interim CEO, Ed Hinojosa, weather to go out and deliver goods where they could. I saw
almost the same effects as sunburn— delivering food to Alazan/ Apache neighbor, helping neighbor. Community looking out for their
only from the cold, instead of the sun. tenants during the Arctic freeze. own—all across the city. Even some folks from out of state

When my family returned to Texas, the best part for me was no filled up their vehicles and made the drive here. After the weather

snow. Every time we get a little powder down south, everyone gets had passed, there was even more of an outpouring of help.

so excited. I’m usually thinking, “ If they only knew”.  There were a lot of flaws, too. There should have been a plan

I knew the reports of cold weather and snow just before Valen- to deal with this arctic freeze, but no one expected it. I was most

tine’s Day would cause some problems. I figured there would be happily surprised when SAHA came out and delivered hot meals,

a lot of closures because the roads were not prepared as they are door to door. It gave me hope for the future. Change truly is in the

up north. So I went to the grocery store on the 14th to make sure air. Just four months ago, if someone had asked me if I believed

I wouldn’t have to venture out, later. I set my faucets to a slow the SAHA Interim CEO would personally deliver hot food to the

drip so the pipes wouldn’t freeze and burst. I told my neighbors to Alazán/Apache residents, I would have called them crazy. My hat’s

do the same. I thought it would be no big deal. Never did it cross off to SAHA, especially Ed Hinojosa and all the staff who worked

my mind that we would be without power and water in freezing so hard to get help to the residents. My total gratitude and respect

temperatures. This is the United States in 2021—not a third world to Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Historic Westside Resi-

country, or a hundred years in the past. We have laws in place that dents’ Association, Texas Organizing Project, Party for Socialism

don’t allow utility companies to shut off services during extreme and Liberation and many other non profits who rushed to our aid.

weather—don’t we?  Beautiful things happen when everyone can put their differences

We know what followed. Some parts of the state went without aside for the common good. That is something worth fighting for.

power for 4-5 days while others didn’t experience any power out- BIO: Kayla Miranda, a housing justice advocate organizing in the
Westside of San Antonio, resides at the Alazán/Apache Courts.
4 ages at all. People died. People were trapped without power, water,

Nation al Poetry April is National Poetry Month. Budding
This year the challenges of
2020 and the hopes for 2021 are Vivid hues, perfumed budded bloom,
reflected in poems by six poets my fingers feel fuzz greening on your stem.
who share the work of social I sink deep within soil from whence you came, 
justice & cultural preservation Escape in my brain to sunbaked landscapes. 
with the Esperanza Peace &
Justice Center. Blossoms surround. 
Unfold my heart,

individually gathering emotions into one bouquet. 
—Andrea Vocab Sanderson
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3
The Path of Friendship
Month
It coursed, accelerated tempo, it paused only to sigh with relief for the connection. It serenaded us like
star dust stippling the sky with elutriated bursts of melody.

It spoke without words at times, because the silence said everything for us. It calmed us

down with anticipation that rose into the rafters of our thoughts. It shook us like tremors rippling through

fault lines,

sobering our minds.

It showed us iridescent pathways that lead us to sanctity and surrender.

It held us close like bonds that can only be formed through separation. It shed tears through our eyes and let
them saturate our memories.

It coaxed us past acquaintance and made us comfortably bare our souls in its safe space.

It painted us in more colors than black and white, male and female, and denominations. It took us beyond.
Gender and culture combined couldn’t exasperate our progress. We dared to push past
boundaries, offense, & differences to learn and celebrate
each other simply because our hearts told us it
was the right thing to do.

From A to

Z and every letter
in-between,

I love you.

—Andrea Vocab Sanderson

BIO 5
Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson is the first black Poet Laureate of San
Antonio 2020-2023. She serves as a Teaching Artist for Gemini Ink
and artist-in-residence with The Carver Community Cultural Cen-
ter. Her debut book is entitled, She Lives In Music, Flower Song
Press, February 2020. Her music is available on all music stream-
ing platforms. See www.andreavocabsanderson.com for more info.

“Stardust” artwork used with
permission from the artist,
Philippe Fernández:
bit.ly/philippe_f

Nation al PoetryMonth Oak Ridge, 1961

“The enemy is looking for past the watchmen
information. Guard your talk.” of Elza Gate

“What you see here, who searched us
What you do here, for missing intelligence
What you hear here, from morning till night

When you leave here, the rest of our lives.

Let it stay here.” We guarded our talk.

—World War II-era billboards, Oak Ridge, TN “The History Bowl is not
for girls like you,” your teacher
So still in junior high school said,
and wholly night

when you were born, not hiding his contempt,

the oldest of us, knowing you had top grades,

tiny harbinger knowing you had secrets

of our blossoming that could not be declaimed.

nuclear family. In those growing-up years,

Sister, the night we learned that silence,

you were born, fog rose not science, scientia,

from the Clinch River– is a slow death.

spongy yellow Sister,
birthday cake
to fill your mouth, the pen and the tongue
muffle your squalls.
Silence equaled security can be weapons.
even as you crowned
in our mother’s canal. 1943 Oak Ridge Wise Monkeys billboard encouraging secrecy amongst Let us write

and tell it true.workers during the World War II Manhattan Project. (Department of Energy
archives/Ed Westcott photo)
Who, us?

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3 Sister, Yes, us.
what would blind us
what would deafen us We will sing
what would silence us as we work.
(was done to us)
—Rachel Jennings

our parents took from that place

and carried home
with their flowers, gifts, and you

Two Women and a Child

The card I send my friend shows they sit on the ground
Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus. in plain skirts
Printed inside: the Magnificat. like a Giotto painting
God fills the hungry, the Virgin says. or not. They are silent.
Empty, the rich must walk. One cradles a sleeping
infant. A small arm
In the New Year, flops behind her waist. Two Women & A Child, 1926 by Diego Rivera
Each woman faces the other,
the mail carrier delivers looks at the other. BIO
The blue hills, angels Rachel Jennings is a San Antonio educa-
a post card stamped on the horizon, tor and poet. Currently, she is working on
sing hosannas. a chapbook, Cancer Hat, which explores
the last day of December. through poetry the inner journey of can-
—Rachel Jennings cer patients.
A reproduction—

6 Two Women and a Child
by Diego Rivera.

Dark-skinned, black-braided,

a quarantined lent

i in the beginning 16th century. some call it genocide. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3
lent – the catholic priest who gave the first televised mass during the
lent – i don’t know what it is exactly though i grew up catholic. i think it is quarantine died. i didn’t know who he was and i didn’t watch the mass. years 7
the period when christ is dead before he is risen, a space of reflection and ab- ago, i remember reading about a couple honeymooning at a tropical location
stinence though i have never given anything up for it. people give up pleasures who were washed away by a tremendous wave as they walked hand in hand on
like soda and chocolate. meat on fridays. i recently learned about ramadan. the beach at sunset. i would like to catalog all the beautiful deaths that happen
imagine not drinking or eating from sun up to sun down. jesus fasted in the naturally and call it poetry.
desert for forty days and nights. cuaresma.
quarantine – enforced isolation in order to not spread disease. not martial iii and forever shall be
law, yet. and this one will be televised. the plague of justinian in 541 ce during
the byzantine empire killed 30 to 50 million people, about half the world’s quarantine – my mother if she were still alive would not understand what
population. 800 years later the black death arrived in europe and 200 million was happening. she lived alone in the house i grew up in, isolated by physical
in 4 years died. the term comes from this time period when people starting pain and memory loss. our frequent visits retaining less significance than the
thinking maybe proximity was part of the problem and started keeping sailors pounding feet of my children in the upstairs bedroom which caused her to ask,
in isolation for 40 days. cuarenta. what the hell are the boys doing upstairs? her boys rambunctious teenagers
lent – i just googled it. christ is not dead, but tempted by the devil for 40 always.
days in the desert. once upon a time devotees did fast all day and eat only a lent – we’ve become numb, our emotions as glazed as our eyes. makeshift
simple vegetarian meal in the evening. you can still feast twice a day outside of morgues in the streets in the countries that have the resources to build them. in
the sun’s presence during ramadan. in both though foregoing physical pleasure the ones that don’t, the corpses lay in the streets. for most of us, though, we are
forces you to focus on your spiritual state. still experiencing this moment in history through rose colored lenses meant to
quarantine – how life creates new words, the language of living in keep the blue glare of our screens from damaging our eyes.
constant flux and the rules by which i can connect tongue, palate, brain or quarantine – civilization is on the brink of collapse. no jobs, no money,
keyboard, fingertips, brain – all those guttural noises and squiggly lines – now long lines of desperation. another depression, more severe than even the great
include six feet of separation. when the walls of our houses and the screens of depression. we are safer resuming our old lives than trying to build a new one
our devices become our pages, what do we do? do we wish they were padded, they say. which is what abusive partners say. your life would be worse without
or are we glad we’re home? are you safe, or trapped? do you feel returned to me than with me.
some womb, or are you screaming to get out? lent – fasting purges the body of toxins and damaged cells. it decreases
lent – a time of preparation for baptism and penance for sinners. is this inflammation. eating aligned with the circadian rhythm boosts overall health.
pandemic an act of god against the sins of humanity? is it nature recoiling in like mother used to say, eating at night causes nightmares. obesity, a product
rage at our gluttony and slovenly ways? is it the toppling over of a capitalist of a capitalist system that depletes food of nutrients and people of meaning,
ponzi scheme? i wonder how the buddhist see this. there are pictures of wildlife appears to be a factor in the fatality of the virus. the body needs to rest.
returning to spaces emptied by humans. quarantine – the entire world shut down. it was agreed that war was non-
quarantine – my friend says she is trying to keep her agoraphobia at bay. i essential. though some countries and states are squabbling over medical resources,
say i am trying to remind myself that this is not my real life, that i am not going many are sharing medical personnel and equipment. only the wall street people
to be allowed to live slowly, that i will need to put on make-up monday morn- are looting the coffers. we ordinary people are working to feed one another, to
ing and face the camera and smile. educate the children, to keep the hospitals running, to keep the roof over our heads
and the lights on.
ii is now lent – in the ideal world where all our imperfections are benign and all our
intentions are realized, there are forty entries, each testimony to wisdom and
quarantine – i’m doing away with capitalization. and i’m going to spell creativity, profound reflection and renewed spiritual commitment, each witness
amerikkka the way it should be spelled. i won’t go all finnegan’s wake on you to forty days in the desert, temptation defeated. we exit better than before,
though. i was never convinced feigning schizophrenia counted as art, all these stronger than before, more united to god and one another than before.
privileged white people trying to decipher some privileged white man’s ram- —Yon Hui Bell
blings to his daughter or from his daughter. sometimes the things that make
me white surprise me. james joyce. shepard’s pie. BIO
lent – as a young teenager i believed i was going to hell because i could not Yon Hui Bell, a local educator, activist & writer, believes the
keep the fourth commandment. in the same way some animals feel barometric personal is political & true change comes from careful ex-
pressure in their bones before natural disasters, i knew there was something amination of that interplay. Mother of 3, she is committed to
rotten in denmark. confession could not help me either. transgressions are only a world that takes care of all its children so they grow to be
forgiven if they are repented and i was not sorry. though i could easily dismiss healthy adults and mindful citizens. A Quarantined Lent first
salvation, it would take me another two decades to deconstruct sin. appeared in SAC’s Multicultural Conference Journal.
quarantine – some estimate that 90% of the indigenous population of the

western hemisphere died of diseases brought by the europeans when
they came to the americas. some call this the american plague of the

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3 al Poetry Month

NationGeorge Floyd mural in
downtown Brownsville, TX
by Marcos Castro.

Pandemic Solstice the people surviving COVID-19

And so we will call this home someone else’s love song instead. but killed by others’ hands
our heaven, our heaving, I could with guns and knees with
our harm, and our justicia. kneelings-on
paint my paint over the murals and chokeholds with their laws
And yet we live, knowing of my papers like a palimpsest,
over 500,000+ in this country alone I could paint my pant, coat my and procedures that sanction.
dead and the George Floyd tongue We’ll never cease our local and
global
mural in Brownsville with berries and fermented varieties protests because we were born
vandalized again, and see what messes I can create.
knowing somewhere Poems can’t change systems too soon in history’s timeline,
which means I have hope
someone is slurring and yet here I am refusing for the future if we can
the n word and saying go back to believe they can’t charge
to where you came from the synapses in my brain also nurture the earth
while we are at it,
as they believe their families with even some kind of minimal and I truly ask if that time
sprouted here like corn protest to falling asleep
ever since the very seeds because dreams cannot will ever come,
will that time ever come,
first grew on these plots of earth be recorded and sometimes the sun when will that time arrive
they claim money and banks own. shines longer than the moon.
I could write a polite sonnet, This is a prelude to a protest,  for everyone?

sound my words, count syllables, a prelude to mourning – Emmy Pérez
or I could choose to sing the voices, the appetites,
NOTE: Pandemic Solstice was first pub-
lished in The Langdon Review of the Arts in
Texas in 2020. I keep updating the number of
COVID deaths since.

In My Dreams I Almost Learn How to Cook

My child woke me mid-dream I miss all of the women who knew BIO
And I rarely dream How to make the arroz just Emmy Pérez, Texas Poet
right Laureate 2020 and
My late grandmother was about to

teach me And, that my abuela learned co-founder of Poets

How to make arroz from amigas, Against Walls, is the

Con gandules Gives me hope author of With the River

I was about to taste it warm from the (As do YouTube videos) on Our Face and Solstice.
rectangle She is a professor of creative
Aluminum foil pan But I imagine both abuelas would say writing at the University of Texas Rio
with certainty Grande Valley and also serves as associ-

Except I was awakened and my abuela This is how you make things right ate director of the Center for Mexican
Never made arroz con gandules And also imply without judgement American Studies. Currently, she is the
Making things right on your own 2021 Consulting Artist-in-Residence for
That was my ex-cuñada’s Boricua
terms the Just Futures project with UTSA in
Mother standing in for my abuela
Will help you live a happy life collaboration with the Esperanza Peace
8 from Chihuahua – Emmy Pérez & Justice Center.

What the Border Is.

The border is not the warzone or dark script that they’ve written and filmed for you.

The border isn’t a simple equation where the sum of the parts equals illegal drugs and illegal immigration.

The border isn’t the place where people rush and storm the country with a ferocious rage that threatens your life or your safety. January 6 at
the Capitol showed us where the real threat to our country lies – within our borders, but not here at the border. It never was here.

And yet, the border is despised by the far right, misunderstood by most, and milked by the opportunists who use us for their political and
financial gain.

The border is not the place for you to keep squeezing out your millions in congressional earmarks for more and more surveillance, guns, and
agents.

The border is not for you to keep building out a multi-billion-dollar industry for your green uniform friends and your suit-and-tie contractor
friends.

The border is not the place where you can keep telling the same tired national security story involving fear and fake emergencies.

The border is a big 2,000-mile place that is both good and bad. Like your place, like anyplace.

The border is people, almost 15 million strong.
The border is brown: the land and its people.
The border is the Rio Grande.
The border is sacred indigenous land.
The border is mountains, canyons, and desert.

The border is 48 noisy ports of entry.
The border is the largest legal crossing point in the world.
The border is thousands and thousands of daily 18-wheeler trucks, and more than $670 billion in trade per year.

The border is a driver of American commerce and the place that lets you buy your car, your TV, your vegetables.

The border is strip malls, fast food and sprawl.
The border is ranches, growing cities, and nature parks.
The border is historic forts and ancient memory.

The border is rancheras, raggaeton, cumbias, country and hip-hop.

The border is older than the United States.

The border is the kingfisher, the ocelot and jaguarundi. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3

The border is a rendezvous of the Central and Mississippi flyways, the loveliest bird migration corridor on the continent.

The border is a booming ecotourism hotspot. But you wouldn’t know that, because all you’ve been told is that we’re little more than drug
dealers, rapists and killers who just might buy a home next to you.

The border cries for justice, for you to right so many past wrongs.

The border is stolen lands.

The border is 33% impoverished.

The border is a place that lacks the same resources as many of your communities for medical care, better paying jobs and higher education.

The border is untapped ecological and economic maravillas. BIO

The border is missed opportunity. Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Rio
The border is hard-working people struggling to earn a living wage. Grande International Study Center, Laredo’s
only environmental nonprofit, carries out its

The border is solar, wind and clean energy that can’t be tapped to power the economy mission to protect and preserve the com-

because we don’t have the infrastructure or political vision to get it done. munity’s only source of drinking water—the

Because the story that’s been told about us is wrong, all wrong. That somehow we’re little Rio Grande—and environment. Co-founder
more than bad hombres and endless security threats. of the No Border Wall Laredo Coalition,
she is a San Antonio native graduating from
If that’s all that you can see, then you can’t see the possibilities. You can’t see me. Princeton Univ. with a B.A. in public policy.

Because the border is you. The border is me. She moved to Laredo in 2001 where she

—Tricia Cortez Jan. 31, 2021 worked seven years as a senior reporter for

the Laredo Morning Times. 9

She Dances al Poetry
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3 Month
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dedicated to girls throughout the She draws a crowd.
Nationworld who are vulnerable to so much trauma. ThisWe know we watch a private thing.
poem was inspired by an event at J.T. Breckenridge Like a prayer, a kiss.
Elementary School when Tom was a counselor there.
The music ends,
She dances she stops.
at the PTA carnival We applaud. She opens her eyes.
near the deejay’s amplifiers, Surprised.
on elementary school blacktop.
Again, the music begins.
Eyes closed, Again, she is gone into sacred space:
her hands body/music/self/one.
slide in sync
with legs and torso; What demons wait to corrupt this innocence?
lips make silent words; What angels plot celebration?
hair does counter point with hips.
All partners in a poem. —Tom Keene, 1999

Sin Is Rwanda, BIO
seeing others as us-verses-them,
Sin is reservation-concentration separations that blaspheme our Tom Keene served as a commu-
camps for any who came here holy human family. nity organizer during the War on
first, Poverty, as a university professor
slavery’s arrogance in holding Sin is our indifference to this. of liberation theology and as a
others as property, counselor for at risk students and
Auschwitz separating a —Tom Keene & Muse, 2021 families at J.T. Breckenridge El-
“superior race” from the rest of ementary School in the Westside
us. of San Antonio. He has published
poetry in The Texas Observer,
Sin is Hutus killing Tutsis in Voices de la Luna & Latina-
merica Press in Lima, Peru. His
poems can be found at www.
tomkeenesmuse.com

Christopher

(For Jack Elder)

Legend has it that St. the Rio Grande to shelter Developed World
Christopher, on their way.
patron of travelers, carried While others starve, we eat chocolate.
the Christ-child and weight He recalled helping one As others walk miles for water to drink,
of the world family wade across. we turn on a tap, and let it run.
across a rushing river. All but grandfather whom Yet, as others breathe poisoned air, we do too.
Thus, his name, One Who he carried on his back. As oceans rise for them, they rise for us.
Ferries Christ. Midstream, it came to him
what he was doing. When will they, when will we
Centuries later, another He wept for joy and come together to plug the leaks
wonder. in this sinking ship?
legend.
—Tom Keene and Muse, —Tom Keene and Muse, 2020
There was a man who 2020

helped refugees

10 from war in El Salvador to
cross

Untitled, Part 1 Cancer LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3

They speak of capacity Management
As if a heart or brain is a stadium
If your breast cancer returns
A superdome leaking after the hurricane. as Stage IV, the doctor says,
her voice soft as milk,
If you have capacity, do you make room there is no cure, so we will
For kittens and pauraques just have to manage it.

In the casita (with your loves) Meantime, they think
Propped up on cinderblocks they can save me,
these doctors, who smile
Before it all launches? but sigh, hedging their bets,
How do you anchor your soul managing hope
as they manage care
When wind whips in your lungs, for the Medicaid patient
Trumpets at rising water? who pays, after all—at least
for a while.
And if you breathe again,
With capacity, is the oak They think they can save me
but are unsure, so press on,
Still rooted? If not, do the living block the door, as managers
Feel, as I have, “better it than me?” on commission will do.
If the platinum plan fails,
And would we ever have the capacity the trick is to truck out
To seek out the indigenous assorted bundles
of years, convenient
Descendants of the land we own short-term models
On paper america and write nations of endurable, leasable life,
each package worth the price.
Into patchwork wills decades before our deaths?
Would we also pay both mortgage and rent At the Cancer Mall,
they manage it all:
If we have the means? And if “home” appointments, payments,
Is 100 miles and years away, before pain, anxiety, fear.

The seed of unions with another 400 miles They know the score,
And years, must we live with the sting of no these managers of the store,
proprietors of my body,
True return ever. “Go back,” white america says, consciousness, soul.
Especially when back is less than a day’s drive south
—Rachel Jennings
And some here, some there
Hard to know exactly where they all began BIOS
Bio for Rachel Jennings on page 6,
Or when the ancestors arrived Bio for Emmy Pérez on page 8.
Enslaved, or when the ancestors

Arrived Muslim, or when the ancestors
Arrived with another tongue

They refused to understand or pronounce.
And as for this liberty inked in calligraphy

On old parchment or in our own skin
Where do I find my place in all of this

 With or without the pandemic’s
Flames at our doorsteps?

—Emmy Pérez

11

Mi vida como inmigrante

de Venezuela a Perú

por Yoania 

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3EDITOR’S NOTE: Yoania’s story enviaron lo que reunieron por Western, 300 dólares,
looks at an immigrant woman’s prestados y que les devolvería con mi salario en
journey from Venezuela to Perú Chile. Los otros muchachos consiguieron también
(February, 2021 La Voz) then from que les enviaran dólares. Ibamos confiados que
Peru to Chile working to sustain ahora si nos iban a dejar pasar. Estábamos agotados
her children who remained in Ven- con hambre. Cuando yo paso me rechazaron porque
ezuela. After working in restuarants me preguntaron cómo conseguí el dinero y yo les dije
in Perú she goes to Chile and works at que era un dinero que me debían y lo pedí de vuelta,
a Minimarket where she’s cheated out of me agarraron y me devolvieron.
her salary. She then begans to care for an Lloré, llore, y llore—ademas, era  el  día de mi cumplea-
elder quadraplegic and finds a new vocation. ños. Fué horrible. No tenía ganas de nada. Vi uno de los chicos
She seeks to bring her children from Venezuela to Ar- y me quedé con él (le decía pasamos los dos o ninguno). En eso de
gentina where their father has gone to find work. Stay tuned. yo llorar y llorar se acerca un señor que me pregunta que me había
pasado. Le expliqué y me dice: “anota mi número y yo, está noche,
 Mi vida como inmigrante de Perú hacia Chile, Capitulo II  los hago pasar.” Anoté el número, pero con los nervios lo anoté mal.
Teníamos mucha hambre y yo quería un pollo, comida chatarra, pero
En este capítulo de mi historia continúo mi rumbo a Chile, desde era mucho gasto. Decidimos comer una empanada cada uno. Llegó
Perú, buscando una mejoría económica. Salí de Perú, sola, un 22 la noche y yo llamo al señor que nos iba a pasar pero no me pude
de abril. En el bus iba mucha gente la mayoría, Venezolanos.Unos comunicar con él. A las 22 horas preguntamos a los otros que hacían
iban para para reunirse con familia, otros buscando una vida mejor. viajes y dijeron que el señor ya no venía porque vivía en Arica. Nos
Hice mucha comunicación con tres chicos—yo la única mujer tocó dormir otra noche en el terminal y allí estuvimos hasta las 11
je,je,je (me ayudaban con mis maletas). En el trayecto del viaje  AM. ¡Ví la Gloria, cuando vi el señor llegar! Mi corazón palpitaba.
nos deteníamos en paraderos y allí comíamos y nos aseábamos. El señor nos llevó y gracias a él que conocía a uno de los que contro-
Al día siguiente llegamos al terminal de Tacna. Allí habían buses y laban, seguí mi viaje sola en bus para Viña del Mar. Mi compañero,
autos que te llevaban a la frontera Perú-Chile. Yo llevaba solo 170 que Dios puso en mi camino, iba a la Serena. Viajé toda la noche y al
dólares. Cuando llegamos a la frontera pasamos el grupo de vene- día siguiente llegué a Viña del Mar. En el terminal de buses estaba mi
zolanos y el grupo de tres hombres que me acompañaban. Solo comadre y un amigo esperándo. Me llevaron dónde iba a vivir y allí
paso uno (a mí no me dejaron pasar porque no tenía los 300 dólares llegué a ducharme y dormir (en una habitación que tenía una cama
que piden como mínimo para que pase un turista). Ya allí mi matrimonial para ella, sus dos hijos y yo).Pague de alquiler $70.000
cuerpo se descompuso. Eran las 22:00 de la noche y nos subieron equivalente a US 100 dólares. 
en una camioneta de la PDI, Policia de Investigaciones, que nos Al día siguiente comencé a trabajar en un Mini-market por
llevaba a la frontera de Perú. Allí había una plaza y hacía mucho turnos de 8 horas. Por mi desempeño, a los días me pasaron a otro
frío. Los chicos y yo decidimos quedarnos e intentar cruzar la fron- Mini-market. Finalmente me trasladaron a otro Mini-market, que
tera de nuevo cuando hicieran el cambio de guardia. Tuvimos que estaba casi en quiebra. El dueño de la India confió en mi—pues yo
caminar como un kilómetro de frontera a frontera con las maletas le entregaba la caja y era mucho dinero. Él  habló conmigo y me
y cuando intentamos pasar nos volvieron a rechazar. Salí llorando pidió que le trabajara todo el día de 8 AM de lunes a lunes. Yo acepté
de allí, súper agitada y muy justa con el dinero junto con dos de los porque necesitaba el dinero para poder sacar a los hijos de Venezu-
muchachos. Llegamos nuevamente a la frontera de Perú, ahí sel- ela. Pasaron 3 meses y yo esclavizada, fiel a ese señor Indio. Llega
lamos la entrada, tomamos un bus hasta el terminal de Tacna y nos el cuarto mes y no me quieria pagar. Me molesté porque yo y mi
quedamos durmiendo en unos bancos duros y feos de cemento, fue familia contábamos con ese dinero. 
una de las peores noches de mi vida. Lloré toda la noche sin poder Un día llega una maravillosa mujer, Chilena, clienta del Mini-
dormir porque habían muchos hombres con caras de malandros. market, enviada por Dios y hablamos un buen rato. Me dijo que
Amaneció, pagué el baño de allí y me lavé los dientes. No pude me estaban explotando y que me fuera de allí, que no debía trabajar
pagar por la ducha porque la idea era ahorrar lo más posible. Llamé gratis. Me dijo que un amigo necesitaba a una persona que le traba-
a mis amigos que me esperaban en Chile (una comadre de Venezu- jara y lo cuidara, pues el era tetraplejico. Yo accedí y ella le dió mi
ela que me ofreció quedarme en su casa donde podía alquilar un es- número cellular. El Señor me llamó y quedamos de acuerdo para una
entrevista. Al final me aceptó.
12 pacio y trabajar también en un mini-market de unos Indios, que allí El señor Indio me estafó tanto a mí como a otros venezolanos
ella era la encargada). Hablé con ella y con unos amigos que me

Mis amigos que me esperaban en Chile con trabajo en un Minimarket (ella era una comadre una excelente señora). También fuí a un departamento y lo limpiaba. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3
de Venezuela que me ofreció quedarme en su casa) . Todo era frustración día a día para mí, y me sentía mal por no tener
a nuestros hijos con nosotros. Fuí con el padre de mis hijos a la
pero nadie hizo nada para no meterse en líos. Ahora el anda libre y embajada de Venezuela y los trámites tardaban un mes. Como ya
tranquilo por la calle. Mi nuevo trabajo incluía comida, alojamiento estábamos en diciembre esos trámites quedaban para Enero. Deses-
con TV, más el sueldo. Yo no tenía ningún conocimiento de ese perados por ir a buscar a nuestros hijos, contábamos el dinero y nos
tipo de trabajo. Don Marco era un hombre que dependía completa- faltaba. Además vivíamos allegados dónde unos amigos, y yo no
mente de mi en todo.  tenía trabajo estable. Eso me tenía desesperada. 

Comencé a trabajar un primero de septiembre. Mi compañero Mi idea fué llamar al Señor Marco y preguntarle si había con-
de trabajo (cuidador), con el cual nos turnábamos pasó una semana seguido reemplazo. Me dijo que no y yo le ofrecí regresar a Chile a
entrenándome en todo lo que se le tenía que hacer a Don Marco. Yo trabajar por el hasta el mes de abril. Me aceptó.
estaba tan feliz con el cambio que le puse todo mi empeño y aprendí
todo en una semana. La semana siguiente me quedé sola con Don Regresé a Chile y el papá de mis hijos iría en Febrero a Ven-
Marco. Me levantaba a las 7 AM hasta 22 horas con él (lo atendía y ezuela a buscarlos. Yo trabajando desde Chile les enviaba dinero
hacia todo los quehaceres de casa) un trabajo muy demandante. El para que ellos llegaran a Argentina para que estuvieran bien en un
agotamiento no me importaba porque amaba mi trabajo y me dedi- sitio independiente. Yo llamé a mi mami Chilena y le expliqué mi
qué totalmente al señor Marco. situación. Ella me dijo vente yo te apoyo y acá solucionamos todo.
Asi fué. Un día 12 de enero viajé a Chile de regreso y emprendí otra
Mantuve la  comunicación con mi ángel, Sra Ana María. Ella historia. Dejé al padre de mis hijos solo en Argentina. Seguirá mi his-
necesitaba que le cuidara a su mami los fines de semana. Así hacía toria contándole mi regreso a Chile y mi reencuentro con mis hijos
de lunes a viernes con el señor Marco, un hombre con un corazón de en Argentina tanta travesía que pasé para poderme reunir con ellos..
oro, preocupado, cariñoso y amable. Sábados y Domingos cuidaba
la señora (Adriana) que era un amor conmigo. Lo que hacía era cen- Agradecida de la Sra. Ana María, de la familia Wilson, que Dios
trarme en trabajar fuerte, no salía, no disfrutaba, y con pocas amist- me los bendiga por su ayuda, su apoyo y su amor, me recibieron
ades. Mantenía buena relación con la señora Ana María, “mi mami” como una hermana más en esa familia. “La  mami “Ana María
chilena. Con ella aprendí muchas cosas del mundo chileno, aprendí a fue un gran apoyo y ayuda en toda mi travesía en Chile, esa mujer
no bajonearme, a ser tan alegre como es ella con un amor de familia.  guerrera,valiente, luchadora, cariñosa y admirable nunca me dio
la espalda, siempre animándome y aconsejándome. Su frase típica
Hablaba casi a diario con el padre de mis hijos que estaba en era “ Vamos que se puede”… sin conocerme, me abrió las puertas
Venezuela. Despues de un año de estar en Chile el tomó una drástica de su casa y de su familia y gracias a ella tuve mi trabajo con un
decisión y se fué a trabajar a Argentina. Mis hijos se quedaron con maravilloso jefe. Aprendí mucho cuidándolo y gracias a ellos me he
su abuela. Eso me dió una gran inquietud. Tomamos la decisión de dedicado a seguir este bonito trabajo “ cuidar a personas.” También
yo irme a Argentina, arreglar los papeles y poder después instalarnos estoy agradecida de la familia Bustamante dónde trabajé, eran unas
todos en Buenos Aires. Él me esperaba para Enero. Organicé  todo y personas muy amables y me aceptaron felizmente y confiadamente
llegué de sorpresa el 7 de Diciembre. Un amigo del padre de mis hi- para que le cuidara a su hijo.
jos lo llevó al aereopuerto engañado. Cuando el me vio llegar quedó
sorprendido, un bonito reencuentro ya que teníamos 2 años sin ver- Espero que de cada capítulo de mi historia les quede algo y les
nos. Nos fuimos dónde él vivía y estuve un mes viviendo con varias guste. Lo importante que siempre mantuve una sonrisa día a día. Hice
personas. Me sentía mal lloraba, incómoda y con ganas de buscar feliz a mucha gente. Es bonito para una quedar bien parada por dónde
algo para irnos a vivir solos pero los alquileres piden muchos papeles vayas—la vida da muchas vueltas y como prueba me fuí de cuidar al
y requisitos que no alcanzábamos a cumplir. Ademas si lo hacíamos señor Marco y quise volver y él me esperaba con los brazos abier-
gastábamos ahorros que eran para sacar los niños de Venezuela.  tos. Ahora sé que si existen buenas personas y que muchas no esperan
nada a cambio.. .. mi historia va a seguir.  Bendiciones Yoania
Todo fué un cambio para mí, mi esposo trabajaba dónde una
señora de jardinero haciendo cualquier cosita allí. Le habló a la 13
señora de mí y la señora le dijo que fuera para ayudarla en un salón
de eventos limpiando baños, el salón, y su casa (a pesar de todo era Aprendí mucho con el Señor Marco en Chile y me he dedicado a seguir este trabajo de cuidar
personas cuando regreso a Argentina para reunirme con mis hijos y su padre.

Urgent Action Now or Disastrous Consequences

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3by Jere Locke their farming habits to sequester emissions. We believe that
under this plan our electricity production will be carbon
“Fighting climate change is about survival and exis- free by 2030.
tence. Are we going to take action over the next few
years to ensure our generation has a liveable future, Huge Problems
or are we going to continue to kick the can down the
road and resign ourselves to live a life filled with cha- President Biden’s plan only allocates $2T while more
os, violence, and uncertainty?” Varshini Prakash progressive GND plans allocate eight times as much.
--Director & co-founder of  Sunrise, a movement Currently, he doesn’t seem to be listening carefully to
the needs of communities of color as outlined in the
of young people leading the way on climate.
GND and THRIVE Agenda. Biden repeatedly doesn’t
There is HOPE on climate change if we follow the advice of our seem to support any real limits on fracking on private
scientists and do what is necessary much like what we have now land and his plan will go thru a Senate committee chaired
done on the virus. The path forward to a safe future will stimulate by Sen. Manchin who, coming from West Virginia’s coal country, will
our economy and create millions of needed jobs. However, our do all he can to protect coal interests. So where will the emission cuts
window to a livable future is closing. The time for decisive action come from in the limited time we have?
is right now. The time for all of us to do something is also now. In the past President Biden and John Kerry have supported
market mechanisms. In the first big climate bill in 2009, Dr Hansen,
For the past several years the Texas Drought Project has been Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and
organizing a coalition in twelve Texas Congressional districts to get others all came out against it because it was built around market mech-
support for the Green New Deal and a national climate bill equal to anisms. They are supported by corporations because instead of making
the existential crisis of climate change. In San Antonio both Rep. emission cuts in the US they can just promise to make them elsewhere
Castro and Rep. Doggett have endorsed either the Green New Deal in the world. They have never worked partly because they are always
(GND) or the THRIVE Agenda that is very similar to the GND. full of corruption and end up giving a false sense of progress.
Rep. Cuellar has endorsed neither.
Activists, Scientists & Journalists Are Skeptical
Years To Act?
We need to support what is good in Biden’s bill and educate him to
In the past few years various organizations and leading scientists make the needed changes so as to protect the future of our chil-
have issued their research conclusions on how long we have to dren, grandchildren and ourselves. Many sectors of the climate
make substantial cuts globally or face the worst of climate change. community are deeply skeptical of Biden’s climate plan due to his
Three years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change past. Biden and Kerry, his climate ambassador, have both touted
(IPCC) said we had 12 years. However, when their excellent sci- the Paris Accord as their biggest climate achievement. Paris was
entists write a statement every 6 or 7 years it is edited line by line a desperate effort to cobble together an agreement after decades of
by politicians from the 195 member counties turning it into more failure to make substantial progress..
of a compromise political statement than a scientific statement.
From our reading of the research we cannot make a case for more Dr. James Hansen, the most distinguished climate scientists in
than 4 years before we will just be witnesses to what will happen. the world, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies
for over 30 years and leader of the two most important research ef-
Consequences Of Inadequate Action forts on climate, immediately after the signing of the Paris Accord,
called the Paris Accord “ BS and a fraud”.
By the worst of climate change, scientists aren’t referring to our pres-
ent wildfires, sea level rise and hurricanes. Instead, they are referring Recently on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Accord, Antonio
to ecological collapse, which would lead to having little or no food on Guerra the UN Secretary General, Greta Thunberg and others have
the table and the real possibility of extinction. Even many politicians said we are moving in the wrong direction partly because countries
are now talking about “Existential Crisis” which implies extinction. are reneging on their already weak Paris commitments.

Biden”S Climate Plan How You Can Help

President Biden hasn’t released his entire plan but from what Biden has said he wants a vote on his plan during his first 100 days
we now know it will be better than any plan he has supported in of office, which would be by the end of April. For the past two years
the past although it won’t be adequate to the challenge we face. we have been busy organizing coalitions and educating communities
His  plan does includes important but limited elements of climate and representatives so they will push President Biden to strengthen
justice for poor communities especially those of people of color his climate plan.  As the vote comes closer, there will be a need for
which have borne the brunt of pollution and emissions in the past. phone banks and letter writing campaigns all over the state to support
From what we know it will spend heavily on electric vehicles, mass some congress people while encouraging others to do more. Contact
us at [email protected] or 512-203-8858 to explore how you
14 transit and energy efficient buildings all of which need to be done. can help. Find more information at www.texasdroughtproject.org.
His plan does include measures to encourage farmers to change
BIO: Jere Locke, former director of the Texas Fair Trade Coali-
tion, is co-founder & organizer with the Texas Drought Project.

Notas Y Más Start your 2019
tax deductible gifts
April 2021
Give to the Esperanza in spirit of solidarity
Community meetings and art events are currently on hold due so we can continue to speak out, organize
to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check websites, FB or and fight for our communities for another
call 210-228-0201 for virtual meetings and arts programming 30 Years. Your support is needed NOW more
each month. www.esperanzacenter.org
than ever! Thank you for your gifts!
Exhibit Reopening 2021 for Best First Book of Fiction for her Send donations to Esperanza

¡Printing the new book Luz at Midnight published Esperanza Peace
And Justice Center
Revolution! The Rise by FlowerSong Press. The award
922 San Pedro Avenue
and Impact of Chicano was part of the Texas Institute of San Antonio, Tx 78212

Graphics, 1965 to Now Letters’ announcement of winners To sign up as a monthly donor,
Call 210.228.0201 or
Smithsonian American Art Museum for the 2021 Literary Awards. An
Washington D.C. (8th & G Sts, NW) excerpt of Luz was in the February email: fundraising @esperanzacenter.org
issue of La Voz de Esperanza.
Virtual Conversation Series Visit www.esperanzacenter.org/donate
Healthy Futures of Texas is for online giving options.
An online series that examines
excited to share with you the 5th ¡Mil Gracias!
Chicanx graphics & its impact.
edition of Big Decisions, a text
For info & tickets go to EventBrite: that deals with challenges young
bit.ly/printing-the-revolution
people face when making decisions

April 15, 6:30 pm surrounding sex and relationships.

Spirituality & Indigeneity within We have now added new content on

Chicanx Art emerging issues like: Internet Safety,

May 13, 6:30 pm Sexting and Mental Health. Contact
Creating in a Digital Sphere [email protected] for more
information on how to get the latest

¡Felicidades! to Marisol Cortez edition for your district. Check out

who won the Sergio Troncoso Award Healthy Futures at: www.hf-tx.org

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3

15

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • April 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 3

The Hill We Climb: Noche Azul
en Casa Concert
Documenting the Past
and Envisioning Socially Sat. April 24 @ 8pm CT (English) Non-Profit Org.
Just Futures Sun. April 25 @ 3pm CT (Spanish) US Postage
FaceBook.com/esperanzacenter PAID
Free Writing Workshop YouTube.com/esperanzacenter
San Antonio, TX
with Emmy Pérez, 2020 Texas Poet Laureate Esperanza Peace & Justice Center Permit #332
922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212
4.17.21 | 11AM CT | Live on 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org
Register at bit.ly/TheHillsWeClimb
Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address?
Spanish Interpretation will be provided TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL [email protected] CALL: 210.228.0201

“We will
step into our
pasts, and
write about
impactful memories from
childhood to the present.”

Join the Esperanza, the Historic
Westside Residents Association,
and the Westside Preservation
Alliance

facebook.com/esperanzacenter
youtube.com/esperanzacenter
twitter.com/esperanzacenter

emFoarilqeuspesetriaonnzsa, @caelsl p2e1r0a.2n2za8c.0e2n0te1r.oorrg