28 years of MujerArtes Special Exhibit 9/16 (See Back Page for more info) September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 San Antonio, Tejas
La Voz de Esperanza September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez Design: Elizandro Carrington MujerArtes Photos Top:Teri Borrego, Adriana Netro, Hilda Ruíz Middle: Rosa Vega de Cruz, Mary Agnes Rodríguez, Bottom: Elizabeth Gerónimo, Ana Uviedo, Graciela S. Sánchez Contributors Tarcisio Beal, Rachel Delgado, siri gurudev hernández, Jesse Johnson, Don Mathis, Kayla Miranda, Carmen Tafolla Frank (Pancho) Valdez, Kai Velásquez Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez Esperanza Staff Sherry Campos, Elizandro Carrington, Kayla Miranda, René Saenz, Imane Saliba, Susana Segura, Rosa Vega Conjunto de Nepantleras —Esperanza Board of Directors— Richard Aguilar, Norma Cantú, Brent Floyd, Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Ana Lucía Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba, Graciela I. Sánchez • We advocate for a wide variety of social, economic & environmental justice issues. • Opinions expressed in La Voz are not necessarily those of the Esperanza Center. La Voz de Esperanza is a publication of Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org 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 publication. Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published. Esperanza’s summer of 2023 was full of activities despite the horrid hot weather. In June, our first year of Escuelita students graduated from a program of cultural empowerment that would have blown Governor of Florida, Ron De Santis’ head off from indignation that such a program exists. Continuing that thread the Esperanza celebrated A Queer & Trans Joy Pachanga with poetry and performance followed by a Kingceañera later in June featuring Los Mentirosos and the great dancers of Zombie Bazaar. In July, we celebrated the Grand Opening of Lerma’s Nite Club and the return of the Macondistas to Esperanza for a final reading and closing party to their weeklong Macondo writing workshops at Trinity. In August, an Homage to Beatriz Llamas, Paloma del Norte, took the form of a vocal competition for girls and women in the tradition of the singing contests held at the old teatros like the Alameda and Nacional where La Paloma launched her career. The impressive array of singers, costumes and música were worthy of a nod from Belle Ortiz, la madrina del Mariachi who sadly passed away that month. As we get ready for the fall, remember to send in your tributes (literary ofrendas) to our dearly departed with poems, stories, photos or artwork for the November issue of La Voz (send to: [email protected]). The issue also includes Calaveras poking fun at death in satirical poems that kill off our friends and enemies, alike—because DEATH is the great equalizer treating everyone the same in the end! If you wish to remember your dearly departed with an altar call Sherry at 210.228.0201 and reserve a space for the exhibit of Ofrendas that takes place annually on November 1st at the Casa de Cuentos. And… don’t forget that Peace Market/El Mercado de Paz is in November on the 24th and 25th. Applications are now available and will soon be online! As we finish off this issue of La Voz, we are blessed with rain! Hopefully, that’s good sign of better days ahead. Mil gracias a todos y todas that made this summer única at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center! – Glori A. Ramírez, editora La Voz de Esperanza Beloved daughter, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, Esther Guajardo passed away this summer leaving behind many a broken heart. A creative, supportive and kind person who deeply loved her friends and family, she took great pride in her children and grandchildren. An enthusiast of art and culture, Esther was a talented DIY artist embroidering beautiful pieces that she sold in San Antonio holiday markets like the Peace Market and Zonarte annually. Esther was an ardent supporter of Centro Cultural Aztlán and dedicated much time to the center. Throughout her life, she was also involved with other cultural arts organizations like the Esperanza and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. A warm and generous person, Esther will be missed by many including her beautiful family, friends and fellow cultural arts enthusiasts. The Esperanza board, staff and Buena Gente extend our heartfelt condolences to all who loved and knew Esther. May she rest in beauty and peace. Esther Guajardo March 8, 1947- June 23, 2023 LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 2 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. ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a mailing address correction please send it to lavoz@ esperanzacenter.org. If you want to be removed from the La Voz mailing list, for whatever reason, please let us know. La Voz is provided as a courtesy to people on the mailing list of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. The subscription rate is $35 per year ($100 for institutions). The cost of producing and mailing La Voz has substantially increased and we need your help to keep it afloat. To help, send in your subscriptions, sign up as a monthly donor, or send in a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thank you. -GAR
Mine is a Community of Misfits and Outlaws I came to this place almost 25 years ago my eyes ablaze with crystal meth a single pair of boots and about 72 t-cells. This was back when an AIDS diagnosis meant a quick slide through poverty into a grave. All I wanted was a room with a door I could lock against the voices of my dead friends Here we live the small broken promises of shattered picture frames whiskey bottles mirror shards cracked ribs splintered doors chipped teeth tattered cosmologies and zoning laws. The hubris and debris of who we might have been had we not from the highest windows jumped escaping destinies we could not abide. I have seen the poor chew the bones of those they loved best. I have seen the sick stagger about disrobed in the parking lots of hospitals begging to be embraced. I have seen the crippled lying 1 In hotel rooms staring into space. The Tenderloin is a place where the broken, the deranged and the diseased are warehoused then left there until their expiration date. Thankfully, the people have their own notions about how their lives should be. They live their lives with defiance courage and with the freedom of a people who were never meant to survive. It is in the despair and capitalist waste in the ruins of other times and the fragments of our former lives. It is in the rot that is the Tenderloin that we find fecund soil for our return to the world. Healing, justice, love, redemption do not come easy to men. They require effort commitment, sweat and humility. They require a second chance or a third or more. No one of us can create the chance we need alone. We require the help of others and we must help them in turn. Each giving what they can and only taking what they need. That is the lesson and gift of solidarity among the outcast and the poor. See that woman arguing with her hair? See her sister feeding pigeons? Is it prayers they mutter or obscenities? To me it doesn’t matter. 2 See that panhandler with the homemade sign? See that young skateboarder sick for heroin? It is among these, the addicted, the ill the criminal, the old, the rejected those who bear the brunt of poverty those who suffer most the contempt and violence that America rains down upon the poor that I have found shelter, sanctuary respect even affection. Mine is a community of misfits and outlaws. People who defy convention. People who transgress borders. People who push against society’s boundaries and in doing so expand the possibilities of what the rest of us might be. —Jesse Johnson, Tenderloin Poetry BIO: Jesse Johnson a native of Texas was a founder of ALLGO in Austin, TX. An AIDS and LGBTQ activist, as well as, a poet, he currently lives in San Francisco, CA. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 3
By Kai Velásquez Hello everyone, my name is Kai Velásquez, and I’m a rising junior and majoring in sociology and Urban Studies at Trinity University. Under the supervision of Dr. David Spener, I had the great privilege and honor of working for the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center under the MAS program. First, it would be hard to summarize all that Esperanza does because—they do it all! As a cultural arts organization dedicated to social change, they tackle any and all subjects. Esperanza is queer, black and brown, feminist, and woman-centered. They are for reproductive, climate, housing justice, immigration and indigeneity. Esperanza aims to speak for the voiceless, shine a light on the unseen, and welcome the forgotten. Esperanza offers a way for people to see themselves reflected in ways that they may have never been reflected before. They offer solidarity and above all else community. At Esperanza, we split our time on the corners of San Pedro and Evergreen and at Guadalupe and South Colorado at the Riconcito de Esperanza, which is Esperanza’s center for Westside programming. It is there—in the Westside of my hometown– that I learned one of the greatest lessons that Esperanza had to offer. It was within those spaces that I was welcomed into the community that my family was once a part of, many years ago. Aside from many other things—I learned that the history of everything that came before you: the land, the conversations, and of course—the people, is vitally important in understanding how today came to be and in understanding your own self. That being said, my history and journey to the Esperanza and the Westside community began long before I was born. It began with my great-grandparents—amá and apá—who lived on Balboa Avenue located within the Westside of San Antonio. My apá—Santos Camarillo—worked as a field worker when he met my amá—Maria Gallegos. Amá worked as a housewife and together they went on to have 8 children–one of which was my grandma, Amalia, who married my grandpa, Jesus Ruiz. They raised my mom, Irma, who grew up on the Westside but then moved to the Southside before she married my dad, Rodolfo Velásquez, and they had my brother, and myself. This leads us to my own upbringing—and my grandma taking me, and my brother, frequently, to spaces within the Westside. We would attend mass at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and I would listen eagerly to mgrandma’s Buena Gente y Esperanza: A Conversation on Community A Learning Opportunity at the Esperanza Kai’s great grandparents, ‘ama and ‘apa, Santos Camarillo and María Gallegos lived on the Westside or San Antonio on Balboa Avenue.. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 4 While interning at the Esperanza , Kai acquired a number of skills including using a camera to document programs. Kai’s grandparents, Amalia and Jesús Ruiz, holding Kai as an infant and her brother, Tristan. Amalia was one of the 8 children Santos and María had. At right, is Kai’s ‘ama who bore 8 children with Santos, one of them being Kai’s mother, Amalia. Family photos provided by Kai Velásquez’s family.
stories frequenting Lerma’s nightclub before she was married. This led me to my college essay that got me into Trinity in which I wrote about wanting to be able to pave a path for myself that was undoubtedly my own but that was also able to represent the history of my family and everything that came before me. Esperanza offered me the opportunity to pridefully bridge the history of my own family and city—a way to embrace my own path and visualize my own future. We worked alongside people from all walks of life. Within the scope of our work at Scobey, which is a development plan by VIA that will displace generational residents on the Westside, the stories that we heard were not the kind that you would see within the headlines of a newspaper. We heard stories of people who have spent their whole lives in the 78207 zip codes, several community activists from various generations, and other people who had already seen the effects of gentrification within their community. Folks bound together just to protect the streets, the walk, maybe the house that their grandparents grew up in, some even their own livelihoods. Even amongst the lack of transparency with the public for VIA’s plans for Scobey, the community of the Westside moves on. The other interns and I created a survey that would hopefully allow for all types of people on the Westside—the people who own the history, to have a say in what they would like to see in their own home of the Westside. Pueblo Over Profit, a coalition formed by community members and those simply interested in the Westside against gentrification, plan to host a block party that will offer the transparency that VIA lacked and remind them of the essence of the Westside. At Esperanza, we were also constantly surrounded by immensely strong women who had seen their communities be built from the ground up. They were the type of women and leaders who knew how and when to fight for their people, and who were never shy to speak their mind, but would also offer you meals even if you had already eaten and ask you if you had been resting enough. We met migrants, city council women, and activists who had seen places and things that you could not imagine, but still found that the 78207 was what home was and what it will always be. At Esperanza, we were consistently connected to people who unspokenly practiced the belief that the sole fact that we were walking on the same soil was enough to connect people for life. That what bound us all was the sole fact that we were all trying to be Buena Gente. Good people is what Esperanza calls the volunteers who are lucky enough to find themselves in such a place. A place that is able to bridge what community is but also all that it could be. They taught me that yes—it is important to understand the history of your community and where you originated from—but it is also what you can make of it and what you can shape it to be. Esperanza is about family, not confined by blood—but out of a relationship to the human race. If you ask me what community means and what my experience at Esperanza has taught me, I would tell you that it is the ability to stand together. To welcome someone into your home and not care where their shoes have been. Unless, we just got out of the garden, and we smell like fish oil. It is greeting someone with hugs over handshakes. It is a sense of familiarity in someone you have never met before. I would tell you that it’s not perfect, and should never remain stagnant. It should bloom into changing times like the zinnias in the garden in front of the Rinconcito but remain deeply rooted in the history of who walked the Earth before us. Sometimes it’s a simple “I got you” and the faith in knowing that that’s mutually true. Sometimes it’s difficult. Sometimes it’s like a tiny umbrella underneath the water pouring down Evergreen Street. Sometimes it’s the shade of the porch at Rinconcito from the blazing Texas sun. It is making a small packet of seeds into a garden. It is the ability to see someone–not with your eyes–but with your heart. It is love without definition or directions. It is the act of standing together—not out of obligation, but out of choice. Thank you so much to the MAS program and Dr. David Spener for providing me with this opportunity and thank you so much to all the immensely hardworking folks at Esperanza and of course, my family. BIO: Kai Velásquez, a rising junior majoring in sociology and Urban Studies at Trinity University, was an intern at the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in the summer of 2023. She has family roots in the Westside of San Antonio. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 5 Kai and interns, Nonye (seated), and Lily, all from Trinity University, working on the Esperanza archives. Nonye and Kai working concessions at one of the Noche Azul performances. Esperanza photos by Sherry Campos.
Opportunity Home By Frank Valdez I have been a tenant of the public housing authority since November of 2013. In that time I have witnessed both good and bad. Unfortunately for the tenants it has been mostly bad. Myself and others are busy organizing a Tenant Union to address the issues that are imposed on us by the management of Opportunity Home. I am sending a brief list of issues that need to be resolved: 1) Federal law that should be enforced by HUD is seldom enforced. 2) Since January four persons have been murdered on public housing properties. Rapes and assaults are common as well. HUD requires housing authorities to provide tenants with a sanitary and safe living environment. Obviously this isn’t occurring. 3) Racial activity is tolerated by OHSA management. Where I live there is a card carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan who assaulted his ex-girlfriend without any consequences. Black and Brown tenants have been evicted for lesser offenses! This guy constantly uses the N word in public without any response from housing authority management. At Lewis Chatham on the Southside, Black and White tenants are subjected to harassment, intimidation and violence by Chicano tenants. Again management does nothing to stop this! We have discussed these issues with top housing authority officials and they have responded by telling us that we are exaggerating and they choose to ignore our concerns. We have reported our concerns to City, County, State and Federal authorities only to be ignored. This is another issue that needs to be addressed. We are convinced that Opportunity Home’s biggest weakness is bad publicity. They become very upset when their tenants expose the problems. This letter is an effort to make our concerns known to the San Antonio community. Thank you, Pancho Valdez, Organizer San Antonio Tenants Union 210-799-1597 EDITOR’S NOTE: The San Antonio Housing Authority is now Opportunity Home San Antonio. Their mission is to “improve the lives of our residents by providing quality affordable housing and building sustainable, thriving communities.” They state that “Our work in the community remains the same. We will still offer the same services but with an emphasis on compassion, equity and excellence.” To read more on this city agency check: https://homesa.org/ A letter from a tenant follows bringing up concerns that continue following the SAHA name change. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 6
By Tarcisio Beal The absence of a strong, united voice of authentic Christianity at this moment of national tragedy is truly troubling. More so is the failure of many Catholic hierarchs to exemplify authentic Christianity in their own lives and teachings. Many of them continue to ignore the Second Council of the Vatican and still hang on to canonical positions and directives of the faith as spelled out by the mid-16th century Council of Trent. What is dreadfully lacking is the prophetic spirit and practices that spell out the example of Jesus in word and practice, especially with regards socio-political realities. Right-wing, conservative clergy hold on to Vatican supremacy, claim God-given supremacy and infallibility, and manipulate the past to justify its leadership, defining true Catholicism as obedience to the Canon, reception of the sacraments, and Sunday attendance of church and liturgical practices. History shows that centralization of papal supremacy and of episcopal authority divide the Christian world and multiplies the heresies. For example, Pope Leo IX’s insistence on the absolute authority of the Bishop of Rome over the entire Christian world caused the Western Schism when, in 1054, he excommunicated Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, permanently separating the Eastern/Orthodox Churches from those of the West. As a whole, the leadership of the National Bishops Conference has refused to lead American Catholics in the direction outlined by Vatican II and being pursued by Pope Francis. As usual, its arguments manipulate the Scriptures, deny the findings of science and the basic rights to health care, and contradict Pope Francis “Culture of Encounter.” Archbishop José Gomez, as Chairman of the NBC, never moved the Conference towards the goals of Vatican II. He had already shown his social arch-conservatism as Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio by viewing the archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission as extremist and too controversial, so he had it renamed “Social Concerns.” No wonder that it died in 1991. Now the NCB is headed by Archbishop Timothy Broglio (elected on 11/22/22), an ex-associate of the former, archconservative Vatican Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Sodano was the protector of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, the infamous pedophile leader of the Legionaries of Christ. Broglio is also a close friend of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó who, in 2018, called on Pope Francis to resign. Also a staunch critic of the new Church envisaged by Pope Francis is Thomas Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, Illinois. In an essay published on February 26, 2023, he blasted the new San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy as a heretic and called for his removal from the episcopate for defending the “radical inclusion” of everyone in the Church, of even those whose personal situation may not strictly conform with ecclesiastical, canonical doctrine. Salvatore Cordeleone, Bishop of San Francisco, following the direction of the NBC, totally politicized the Eucharist by denying it to congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. The NBC failed to include synodality as an integral part of their June meeting agenda. Neither have most of the bishops joined Popes Benedict’s and Francis’ green, ecological movement. 195 of them have not even begun to divest their dioceses from fossil fuels, The Catholic Right And Its Maneuvers LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • Salvatore Cordeloeone, Bishop of San Francisco, denied the Eucharist to Congresswoman, 7 Nancy Pelosi. Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (CNS/Bob Roller) was Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio. He saw the archdiocesan Justice & Peace Commission as too controversial. It dissolved in 1991.
something that dioceses in England, Wales, Scotland, the Philippines, South Africa, and Nigeria are already doing. Many American bishops are miserably failing to lead the faithful along with the example of Jesus and of Pope Francis and even play along with the victimizing women and the LGBTQ people. The National Bishops Conference (NBC), in contrast with other Conferences across the world, specifically in Latin America, has been on the side of Tridentine conservatism and clericalism, seeing the Church as an autarchy of divine power, and not as the people of God under the power of the Holy Spirit. Some bishops, following rules and regulations dating back to the early 4th century, still insist on absolute papal authority and on the supreme inerrancy of papal decrees and canonical laws. Pope Boniface VIII’s bull Unam Sanctam (1302) thus spelled out traditional clerical self-sufficiency: “We declare, state, and pronounce that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” Now the NBC even prohibits invited theologians to speak to the news media about what happens in their meetings. One of the most dreadful positions of the NBC is its stand against the LGBTQ people. Its past March 20 note, for example, argues that only sexually-differentiated persons are fully human and that gender-affirming medical treatments are injurious to the flourishing of the human person, so Catholic health care must not perform them. Its “Doctrinal Note on the Moral Limits to Technological Manipulation of the Human Body” denies the very right to life and the basic human rights of these persons. In other words, the bishops are stating that only sexually differentiated persons are truly human (cf. Brian Fraga, “US Bishops consider banning transgender care at Catholic Hospitals;” National Catholic Reporter, June 23-July 6, 2023, pp. 1 & 12). Thus the bishops are justifying more than 460 antiLBGTQ bills that have been introduced across the country during the first six months of 2023. In Kansas, a new law determines that transgender identity must be denied on birth certificates. Some bishops even get irritated by the support of transgenders in sports. Joseph Strickland, Bishop of Tyler, TX, planned a procession sponsored by several rightwing media outlets to protest the “Pride Night at Dodger Stadium,” which was strongly supported by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Pittsburgh’s Bishop David Zubic, agreeing with the anti-LGBTQ crowd, canceled a Corpus Christi “Pride Mass.” David Brooks, columnist of the New York Times, criticized the Dodger Stadium demonstration with the odd argument that mixing football/sports with cultural issues incites culture wars. That’s essentially the same argument that condemns black football players who protest against prevailing racism by kneeling in prayer instead of standing up for the national anthem. The NBC is also failing to take a firm action to fully expose and clear out the clerical pedophilia which has victimized tens of thousands of children across the United States. This past May 23, Illinois’ Attorney General reported that a 5-year investigation reveals that, since 1950, more than 450 clergymen had abused 2,000 children, including 125 new cases. In fact, more than 27,000 cases of child abuse by the clergy and of cover-up by the American bishops are still under investigation. Then we have the case of Richard Stika, Bishop of Nashville, TEN, who is accused of failing to protect minors against pedophilia by his own priests not only by obstructing the investigation, but also by intimidating the victims. The argument that clerical pedophilia is mostly due to homosexuality was strongly dismissed as an untenable association by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican’s Secretary of State, in the preface of a new book entitled The Pain of the Catholic Church in the Face of Abuse. Since Vatican II (1962-1963), a typical strategy of far-right Catholics who glorify neo-liberal economics and the supremacy of the market is to justify their position by misreading and misinterpreting any theological document, especially recent papal encyclicals. Take, for example, how theologians like Richard John Neuhaus and Michael Novak use Benedict XV’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate (July 6, 2009) and John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus (1991). Novak (cf. his Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, 1972) asserts that both popes condemned any form of Socialism as totalitarian Marxism. Truth, however, is that Benedict condemned a Marxist anthropology that preaches the inevitability of class warfare and the legitimacy of a totalitarian state, that is, Stalinism and Maoism. He did not, however, condemn Marxist economics. Caritas in Veritate clearly teaches that charity/philanthropy is no substitute for social justice. Benedict also viewed labor unions as vital to a just economy, with the workers sharing in the profits of the corporations. John Paul II’s encyclical Centesimus Annus (1991) also carries a strong condemnation of contemporary capitalism. Furthermore, the Catholic Right also fails to mention that Benedict XVI preceded Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti’s emphasis on the preservation of the world’s natural habitat. In his homily of April 24, 2005, Benedict lamented the world’s ecological crisis as an assault on the sacredness of nature: “Therefore, the earth’s treasures no LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 8 Pride Night at Dodger Stadium
10th Anniversary of The Big Give longer serve to build God’s Garden for all to live, but they have made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction.” Then, in 2010, he returned to the same issue: “If you want “to cultivate peace, protect Creation;” and in 2011, he placed polluting the environment among seven of the contemporary social sins. Now, the NBC often plays along with the traditional and conservative Catholic organizations which are well-funded by billionaires: the Catholic Right, fed by big money from Catholic billionaires and their lobbyism; Thomas Monaghan and the Legatus; and Timthy Busch and the Napa Institute; the far-right, worldwide media empire of the Eternal Television Network (ETWN); and the “Church Militant” established in Detroit in 2008 and funded by the “Real Catholic TV,” which now blames President Joe Biden for what it calls “a Socialist economy.” Finally, today’s Supreme Court, with a majority of the Justices chosen by republican Presidents and constantly pressured by the big money of the Federalist Society, is constantly making decisions injurious to the freedom, equality of opportunity, and basic human rights of people. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito even behave as if the Constitution does not apply to them, taking favors from billionaires who have cases pending in the Court. In 2022, the Court greatly weakened the Clean Air Act; then, on May 25, 2023, it denied the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate the nation’s wetlands under the Clear Water Act (West Virginia – Hacket v. EPA). This June 29 it ruled against the Universities of Harvard and North Carolina by striking down Affirmative Action (AA) in college admissions as a violation of the 14th Amendment. Oddly enough, Asian Americans agreed with the Court’s decisions because so far AF has benefitted mostly Blacks and Latinos. On June 30, in Biden v. Nebraska, the Court also voted (6 to 3) against President Biden’s Student Loan Debt Forgiveness plan aimed at forgiving the unpaid loans of more than 43 million college students. Said dissenting Justice Elena Kagan: “The Court, by deciding this case, exercises authority it does not have. It violates the Constitution.” The decision was cheered by republican legislators, even by those who greatly benefitted from loans they took during the pandemic. Kentucky’s House member Brett Guthrie, for example, had a $4.4 million loan forgiven. Worst of all is the Court’s decision of June 30, 2023 (303 Creative LLC v. Elenis), which strengthens the already gross discrimination against the LGBTQ people. It okays the refusal of a Christian Webb’s designer who, for religious reasons. refuses to provide a website for same-sex weddings. Incidentally, Germany’s Catholic bishops have recently approved the Church’s blessing for same-sex couples and, across the United States, many Catholic groups and organizations are actively defending the civil and human rights of the transgenders. Dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out that such decision is a license to discriminate because it bars equality of access to the market place. All in all, the Supreme Court’s majority (6 of 9) appointed by republican Presidents,is playing along and even strengthening the political agenda of the GOP and its MAGA supporters, thus compounding the present national crisis. No wonder that many prominent republican state and federal legislators agree with the decisions of the Supreme Court which legitimizes the horrors of the anti-LGBTQ legislation passed in more than 23 GOP-controlled States, notably Florida and Arkansas. It is more than time to create a judicial system truly independent of the political, partisan maneuvering that threatens the very essence of our democracy. BIO: Tarcisio Beal is professor Emeritus of History at the University of the Incarnate Word who has written extensively in La Voz de Esperanza. bit.ly/BigGiveEsperanza Sept. 20, 6pm to Sept. 21, 6pm Remember to support the Esperanza! LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 9 Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissenting opinion on the Court’s decision on June 30th to uphold a web designers’s right to refuse service to a same-sex couple for their wedding.
By Rachel Delgado The water fowl thrive around the lake. Right now Birds are fighting for their nesting area. Whereas Bird Island was once a source of pride, it is now under attack. The birds are happy to share the park with humans. People come to enjoy the beauty and peace of nature. But at the end of the day, they will go home. While the birds are Already Home. Here is one bird’s view of the situation: …..I can fly around searching for food but I always come back. A great source for nourishment are people’s picnics. I just stay close by to grab something when they are distracted. Me and some of the other birds will tag team to create diversions. Then we swoop in for the prize. We are a lot faster than those ducks waddling around. There are some kind humans who bring us veggies and breadcrumbs. As we keep loosing our habitat, we must depend on the kindness of strangers more. When I am not hunting, I will people watch. People ride their bikes, exercise and walk their dogs. Most of the time they pick up after the dogs. And there is usually someone fishing. I will let them keep their catch. That is unless the fish is so small that it would be embarrassing to take it home. There was also the time I saw two teens in a canoe in the middle of the lake. You could hear their laughter. After a while they tried to row back to the bank. They must have been tired because they just couldn’t turn the boat around. They kept rowing and rowing and rowing around in circles. They remained calm and finally got back to the edge. I’m sure they were more embarrassed than scared. We are no longer welcomed here. Sadly, the sign at the entrance of the park features an egret, one of the very birds that are being chased away. There is talk that our flight pattern is dangerous for aircraft. There are also complaints about too much poop on the sidewalks and in the water. Air cannons and other noisemakers are set off to scare us away. Trees are being cut down to prevent nesting. They have even hung flag streamers from the trees that are left. There were pesticide sprays but that stopped when it made park goers sick. Some people like us here but others are determined to drive us away. Time will tell what happens next. Our Park, Too! Rachel Delgado at Paseo por El Westside 2023. Remembering the Legacy of Labor Day Small businesses are sometimes forced out of the competition by large corporations. Chief executive officers fatten their salaries at the expense of employees on the bottom rung. Job scarcity makes it hard to switch employers so management can refuse to offer amenities beyond a subsistence level. Samuel Gompers worked to change these injustices. Born in 1850, Gompers went from a factory worker to become the first president of the American Federation of Labor. His quest for workers to receive higher wages, shorter hours, and collective bargaining was cut short by illness. He died in San Antonio in 1924 after attending the inauguration of Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles. A statue of Gompers used to stand across from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Market Street in San Antonio. Sculptor Bette Jean Alden portrayed Gompers with a contract in his hand to symbolize the beneficial agreements that can come between capital and labor. The pedestal of the statue had a plaque which read: “What does labor want? We want more school houses and less jails. More books and less guns. More learning and less vice. More leisure and less greed. More justice and less revenge. We want more… opportunities to cultivate our better nature.” – Samuel Gompers. These are words to remember on Labor Day. — Don Mathis LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 10
The beloved Belle Ortiz was surrounded in her last days of life by dozens of family members, friends and musicians who serenaded her with the Mariachi music that she elevated to a place of study in public schools, colleges and universities in San Antonio and beyond. Known as the Mother of Mariachi Music Education, she was raised on San Antonio’s Westside graduating from Sydney Lanier High then Our Lady of the Lake University with a B.A. in Performance and Music Education. Her teaching career emcompassed many firsts: At Barkeley Elementary, she started Los Tejanitos; at Lanier, she began the nation’s first high school ballet folklorico program; and at Jefferson High, the first high school mariachi program. She went on to create mariachi programs at San Antonio College and Texas A&I University. With her husband, Juan Ortiz, she started the award-winning Mariachi Campanas de América named after her and organized the first International Mariachi Conference and Festival and the Texas Association of Mariachi Educators. Belle was also engaged in many civic projects and was involved with her family of five children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This powerhouse of a woman left an indelible mark with her passion for música that she exhibited as a toddler when she would sit in front of an open oven door and “pretend” to play piano. Belle Ortiz will long be revered for the contributions that she made to the cultural arts and music education in San Antonio. Condolences from the Esperanza community to the family, friends and musical collegas that mourn her passing. ¡Que viva la memoria de la Madrina del Mariachi, Belle Ortiz! Roberto Cintli Rodríguez (1953 or 1954 – 31 July 2023) Robert “Dr. Cintli” Rodriguez entered the spirit world on July, 2023 in Teotihuacan, Mexico—place of the Gods close to the celebrated sun and moon pyramids of Mexico City. An award-winning journalist, author, activist and recently retired associate professor of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona, he published his last book, Writing 50 Years mas o menos: Amongst the Gringos in San Antonio with Aztlán Libre Press. A giant in Chicano studies, Dr. Cintli contributed greatly to scholarship on identity and indigeneity through his maíz research (history, folklore, science and modern-day uses) strengthening the relationship between academia and community. Raised in East Los Angeles, Rodríguez turned an incident of police brutality against him into a lifelong crusade for justice. La Voz de Esperanza reprinted articles in the mid 90s through the early 2000s from Patrisia Gonzáles and Roberto Rodriguez’s syndicated Column of the Américas,” distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. Roberto’s moniker, “Dr. Cintli” was bestowed by an elder who recognized Dr. Rodríguez’s dedication to the study of corn, or “cintli” in nahuatl. May Dr. Cintli rest in peace and power. Condolences to his family, friends and fellow activists de parte de Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Arturo ‘Sauce’ González January 27, 1943-June 28, 2023 Arturo ‘Sauce’ González, one of the originators of San Antonio’s West Side Sound, died on June 28, 2023 at 80 years of age. Keyboardist for the West Side Horns, he played with Sunny and the Sunliners when they appeared on American Bandstand and played with Chicano legends like Randy Garibay, Little Joe, Rubén Ramos, Doug Sahm, Roy Montelongo and more. He also played with groups like The Krayolas and influenced generations of musicians. Fan Roberto Livar wrote in a Facebook tribute: “May he find peace jamming in that great gig in the sky with Spot, Rocky, Lola, Doug Sahm and all of our beloved músicos who have transitioned over before us.” González, a legendary musician, will forever be remembered as part of La Onda Chicana and as a true icon of the San Antonio Westside sound. The Esperanza community sends condolences to his familia, friends, fans and fellow artists. Que en paz descanse. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 11 Isabel (Belle) A. Ortiz February 12, 1933- July 12, 2023
Starting with Esperanza! ¡Hola! My name is siri gurudev hernández, and I am originally from Bogotá, Colombia, stolen land of the Muisca people. I am a trans nonbinary artist, writer, scholar, and performer with a focus on social justice. My pronouns are they or elle. I turned 37 years old this August, and one of the dearest members of my family is a Chihuahua mix called Cerdi Sharona. Last Spring, I received a Ph.D. from the Department of Theater and Dance at UT Austin. As part of my postdoctoral studies, I got a research fellowship from the Wallace Foundation and the Social Science Research Council to work with the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. For an entire year, I will have the absolute pleasure of doing an ethnography (a description of the culture and practices of a community) for the Center, highlighting the incredible work the Esperanza has been doing for almost four decades now. You will see me taking part in all events, sometimes taking notes here and there to understand better the depth of all the aspects (sociopolitical, artistic, etc.) that this organization leads or support for the Westside, the entire city, the country, and even internationally. To tell you the truth, working at Esperanza is the answer to a pledge I sent into the universe long ago. I have been living in the United States for six years. Back in my country and then here, I have always experienced the difficulty of finding spaces and communities that embrace the intersection of all that I am: my queer identity, my trans identity, my Latinx identity, my immigrant identity, my spiritual identity, and my disabled identity, among others. Such intersection is precisely what the Esperanza has been doing all along. Not without pain and struggles, evident as soon as I started my research, or as I can see just by reading La Voz from its first publications at the end of the 80s and the 90s. And yet, Esperanza is here, and here I am now, doing my best to showcase their significant history. If you are a devoted reader of La Voz and/or an attendant to Esperanza’s events, I will be gathering testimonies about how the Center has positively impacted you, your family, your friends, and your community. If you remember any anecdote, a particular event you liked, or want to tell us more generally how your experience has been with the work that the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center does, please let’s talk! Hablemos. If you like technology, here is a link to the survey (you can also scan the QR code). I will have some printed surveys at the events. Also, some people don’t like to write so much, so I will carry my voice recorder if you prefer to leave us your testimony in that format. I speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese, so feel free to communicate with me in any of those languages! I wish you well! I hope to see you in real life soon! Con cariño, siri bit.ly/esperanza-testimonios Call 210.228.0201 to have a survey mailed to you, check the link blow or scan the QR code. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 12 siri gurudev hernández with Cerdi Sharona
Premiering In September! Warrior Girl A 12-year-old girl claims her place in a turbulent world. After years of being silenced at school, Mexican American Celina is ready for a clean start. It’s not easy starting middle school in a new town, and now her dad has been deported, yet again. While she, her mother, and Gramma trust her papacito will find a way to return, as he has before, his absence is always painful. Still, Celi makes one friend, then two more, and the four middle schoolers quickly find refuge and strength in each other. The friendships become lifelines over the course of the year as they face ordinary middle school challenges—homework, mean kids—and broader social turmoil with the emerging Covid-19 pandemic, the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, increasing awareness of global warming, and more. Tafolla skillfully weaves these significant recent historic moments and the hopeful stories of leaders like Emma Tenayuca and César Chávez together with the more specific experiences of the four friends as Celina is racially profiled by a teacher and a Covid death hits close to home. The friends, who are Chicano, are distinct enough, but a few are more thinly drawn; protagonist Celi, an emerging poet, is consistently and vividly rendered, though, and her righteous, powerful, and joyful voice carries the day. Carmen Tafolla reflects on Warrior Girl and her books: Carmen Tafolla reflects on Warrior Girl and her writings What theme comes up frequently in your poems/books? One of the most common themes in my books is the struggle to not be silenced, and to not be shamed when you differ from a group, from a community, or from a mainstream culture. We each need to learn how to accept ourselves and our own unique variance from others. When we appreciate the power of diversity, in others and self, we end up with a huge treasure chest of absolutely unique jewels: our friends and our own internal selves become MORE valuable when we accept their/ our “specialties” and their /our “weirdness”. In short, we’re ALL weird, and non-standard in some way. Even identical twins differ from each other in significant ways. Tell us a little about your newest book Warrior Girl. What inspired Warrior Girl? I grew up in schools that were considered “the worst schools in town”. Yet the children and the neighborhood were rich places, rich with cultural histories and beautiful values. Some of those children were very heroic. They worked after school to help buy food for their family. They withstood discrimination and poverty. But they kept their “Birthday Party Smiles” and their courage and kindness. This book is a tribute to all the little Warrior Girls and Warrior Boys who are fighting to still keep their joy, their love, and their self-respect. The ‘arts song/dance’ play a major role in Warrior Girl, can you elaborate on their significance? As our little 12-year-old She-roe in Warrior Girl discovers, if you can create your OWN DEFINITIONS and your OWN CELEBRATIONS for your world, you STILL have power over what happens to you, and that power is the survival skill that can help us make it through all kinds of tough stuff. We live in a world with all kinds of HARD and even UGLY stuff in it. Kids need to know they are capable of surviving all kinds of things if they can still sing in their own voice, their own choices, know their own feelings, claim their own past and present, and still realize the value and the importance of their own story. THAT’s the message I’d like readers to take away after reading Warrior Girl. “Using rhythmic first-person verse, Tafolla presents messages about the importance of family and friends, social justice, and using one’s voice to incite change… Tafolla crafts an astute and evolving heroine. The lyrical verse—structured as Celi’s own poetry, which teachers and Gramma embolden her to pursue—eventually culminates in powerful vocalizations of Celi’s values.” —Publishers’ Weekly, Starred Review By Carmen Tafolla Published by: Publisher’s Weekly Copyright: 2023 Pages: 224 Price: (Hardcover): $17.99 Publication Date: September 5, 2023 ISBN (Hardcover): 9780593354711 Section: Children’s (Middle School Age) LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 13
Dia de Los Muertos A call for Entries Submit your calaveras & Literary Ofrendas to: Lavoz@ esperanzacenter. org [email protected] Peace Market / Mercado de paz Nov. 24 & 25 10am to 6pm Vendor applications are now available at the Esperanza website www.esperanzacenter.org Accepting Donations for the Esperanza Tiendita: folk art, textiles, art etc. Buena Gente needed for Peace Market Days call 210.2280201. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 14 I would like to donate $________ each month by automatic bank withdrawal. Please contact me. For more information, call 210-228-0201. Make checks payable to: Esperanza Peace & Justice Center Mail to: 922 San Pedro, SA TX 78212. Donations to the Esperanza are tax deductible. Name ______________________________________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________Phone ____________________ City, State, Zip ____________________ Email_____________________________________________ I am donating ___ $1000 ___ $500 ___ $100 ___ $50 ___ $25 $_______ La Voz Subscription ___ $35 Individuals ___ $100 Institutions ___ Other $ ________ Send your tax-deductible donations to Esperanza today! I would like to send $________ each __ month __ quarter __ 6-mos., through the mail.
La Peña Gallery, 227 Congress Ave. in Austin, TX continues the exhibit of paintings Rastros Inolvidables/Unforgettable Traces by Carlos Lowry until September 11, 2023. The Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa calls for proposals for its 2024 conference of El Mundo Zurdo themed, Les Atravesades en Comunidad: Coalition Building as Light in the Dark. Proposals are due September 15, 2023. See: bit.ly/ zurdo-proposal. The 10th El Mundo Zurdo will be in May 2024. A call for entries for the CINE+MAS 15th San Francisco Latino Film Festival is open showcasing the work of emerging and established filmmakers from the US, Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Features, shorts, documentaries and narratives are being accepted. A kick-off event takes place on September 14th and films start on September 28th. For more see: FilmFreeway.com/ SanFranciscoLatinoFilm. Check individual websites, FB and other social media for information on community meetings previously listed in La Voz. For meetings and events scheduled at the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center check: www.esperanzacenter.org or call 210.228.0201. Notas Y Más September, 2023 Join the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center and the Trangender Education Network of Texas (TENT) for a presentation on the rights of transgender students. Come learn how schools can create inclusive and safe spaces for ALL children. 922 San Pedro Ave. San Antonio, TX 78212 Son Tus Niños También: Trans Kids Back to School Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023 Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 3PM-7PM Start your 2023 tax deductible gifts Give to the Esperanza in spirit of solidarity so we can continue to speak out, organize and fight for our communities for another 35 Years. Your support is needed NOW more than ever! Thank you for your gifts! Send donations to Esperanza Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro Avenue San Antonio, TX 78212 To sign up as a monthly donor, Call 210.228.0201 or email: [email protected] Visit www.esperanzacenter.org/donate for online giving options. ¡Mil Gracias! At the Tobin Center for Performing Arts in partnership with San Antonio’s P.E.A.C.E. Initiative LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 • 15
Warrior Girl! A book premiere in poetry, performance & song With author, Carmen Tafolla & singer, Azul Friday, September 8, 2023 • Free! Event begins at 7 pm (doors open at 6:30PM) A book signing & reception follow Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro Ave. San Antonio, TX 78212 MujerArtes Exhibición: Árboles de vida del Westside at the Esperanza 922 San Pedro Ave. 16 de Septiembre 2023 6 – 8pm Noche Azul de Esperanza Mezclas Acústicas, Special Guest TBA Sat Sept. 23 @8PM, Sun Sept. 24 @3PM Tickets: esperanza.eventbrite.com Fee: $7 más o menos Call 210.228.0201 for more info • 922 San Pedro Ave. SA, TX 78212 Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address? TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTIONEMAIL [email protected] CALL: 210.228.0201 Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID San Antonio, TX Permit #332 ESPERANZA PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER 922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • September 2023 Vol. 36 Issue 7 •