October 2022 La Voz

October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 San Antonio, Tejas

Esperanza is back!

Día de los Muertos celebration on Nov. 1

Monica Palacios is finally
back to the Esperanza!

Peace Market / Mercado de paz, Nov. 25 & 26

This October 2022 issue of La Voz de Esperanza is a return to the norm, a regular issue

of the Esperanza’s monthly publication. The last issue of La Voz was a combination of July/

August/September as we struggled to find someone to join the Esperanza staff that would be

able to work on La Voz. As it happened, we found no one—but Elizandro, who had previous-

La Voz de ly worked with us, returned! So La Voz is back! And, as we enter the fall/winter months, the
Esperanza
Esperanza is also back with a full load of programming—the first time in more than two and
October 2022
Vol. 35 Issue 6 a half years, due to COVID. We are back with a full slate of programming for both the Dia

Editor: Gloria A. Ramírez de los muertos celebration and our annual Peace Market that both suffered cutbacks the last
Design: Elizandro Carrington
two years. But now, we are back! And, we continue to be cautious and encourage masks on!
Contributors
Waiting in the wings, Monica Palacios, too, is back in our fall programming line up
Greg Harman (Deceleration), Natalia Hinojosa
Hecker, Rachel Jennings, Tessa Koning- after waiting to reschedule for more than 2 years. Celebrating 40 years as a performer and

Martinez, Monica Palacios, Dennis Poplin, playwright, the Latina Lezbo comic, is one of many artists that suffered from COVID, but
Graciela I. Sánchez
who also suffered the attacks that Esperanza went through in its first 10 years of existence as
La Voz Mail Collective
we strove to bring communities together to celebrate our uniqueness encouraging everyone
...is sheltering at home due to COVID-19 but
will return when it is safe. Extra funds are being to be fully who they are regardless of race, creed, culture, gender affiliation or not, sexuality,

raised to pay for the folding of La Voz. or economic status or from

Esperanza Director whence they come from.

Graciela I. Sánchez In the coming months,

Esperanza Staff we will revisit those early

Elizandro Carrington, Kayla Miranda, years of Esperanza when
Paul Plouf, René Saenz, Imane Saliba, Susana
we suffered attacks in the
Segura, Amelia Valdez, Rosa Vega
news media and attacks on
Conjunto de Nepantleras
—Esperanza Board of Directors— our organization because we

Richard Aguilar, Norma Cantú, Brent Floyd, dared represent the whole of
Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Jan Olsen,
Ana Lucía Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, San Antonio lives—whether
Rudy Rosales, Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba,
gay or straight, regardless
Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens
of religion or ethnicity, poor
• We advocate for a wide variety of social,
economic & environmental justice issues. and working class, mujeres

• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not fuertes, from poor neigh-
necessarily those of the Esperanza Center.
borhoods and professional The Esperanza space at 922 San Pedro was a pro-choice zone which broke
La Voz de Esperanza the “Chain of Life in 1996, another action Esperanza was criticized for.
is a publication of classes that allied with us and
artists and cultural workers
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212 striving to build bridges and community networks, not those that would demolish neighbor-
210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 • hoods, put up walls and build exclusive communities. In 1987, the Esperanza’s cultural arts
Inquiries/Articles can be sent to:
[email protected] programming that was recommended for funding by the City of San Antonio was denied

Articles due by the 8th of each month funding leading to a decision to file suit against the City after a year-long discussion with

Policy Statements community supporters mulling over the advantages and disadvantages of taking this step.

* We ask that articles be visionary, progressive, Ultimately, Esperanza filed suit in 1988 against the City of San Antonio. We ultimately won!
instructive & thoughtful. Submissions must be
literate & critical; not sexist, racist, homophobic, The story is long and full of complexities but as we share the story with readers, we hope it
violent, or oppressive & may be edited for length.
* All letters in response to Esperanza activities will inspire us to move forward, now, in this dark period of this nation’s history. Ay vamos.

or articles in La Voz will be considered for For the upcoming November issue of La Voz, I ask readers to send in their literary

2 publication. Letters with intent to slander ofrendas honoring and remembering those that have passed whether recently or not. Be-
individuals or groups will not be published.
ing creative is encouraged as memories can help us relive and appreciate those that are no

longer with us. For the living, join in and write some calaveras—poems satirizing what is

and those who we wish to do away with using our imagination and wit. Some of the targets

for Calaveras will be friends or family but others may be political figures that we definitely

want La Katrina to cart off! If only! The DEADline for both will be Oct 5th. Send to www.

esperanzaenter.org. – Gloria A. Ramírez, La Voz Editor

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

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.

Mo nica PaClaocnigorsa, RtueltautrionnsstoonEspera nza

40 years of performing!

by Monica Palacios
©️ 2022 All rights reserved

I was all set to perform my solo show: I’M STILL HERE, at the Then a year later I turned 60—hijole! I couldn’t help but delve

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio on March deep into my past compelling me to create a show highlight-

27th and 28th , 2020 but then the pandemic shut everything down. ing unique stories from my childhood and my teen years, the

All my upcoming shows for that year were canceled. One right 1960s and 70s. Turns out, nostalgia is comforting and sweet. It

after the other. It freaked me the f**k out. I feared my entire allowed me to find tranquility in what was, so I could face what

career of per- is and what will

forming in front be. I’M STILL

of a live audi- If someone would have asked me in 1982 if I would still HERE is come-
ence was over, dic and dramatic

forever. But after be performing in 2022? I would have answered: No way, and open to the-
two long months atre lovers of all

of binge watch- man. I’m going to be in Hawaii running my successful ages but parental
ing every show Surfer Cholas Taqueria—which by the way is the story advisory for
on Netflix and some sexual con-

eating bowls of line for my latest screenplay. tent. Leave the
Captain Crunch young ones at

cereal, I learned home and bring

many comics and your abuelita, es-

performers were pecially if she’s LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •

doing their thing online on Zoom from the waist up. I did several single. Stay for the brief Q & A following the performances.

shows like this many times in my boxers. I was grateful for these The last time I was at the Esperanza, I did two benefit

Zoom shows but there’s nothing like performing live on stage performances at the end of May 1998. Earlier in the year, the

before a group of people who really dig your work. And it blows center had been defunded of its city and state grants. The cuts

my mind that I have been creating fierce Queer Chicana Lesbi- were a staggering $75,000 plus and I came in to help out mi

ana Performance for 40 years! That’s a long ass time! If you’d familia. The city and state felt the work coming out of the

like to get me a gift, the traditional 40 year anniversary present Esperanza was indecent and harming the community and didn’t

is: ruby, but I will accept vegan carnitas. deserve to be funded. These statements were absurd because

I have been waiting patiently and impatiently to reschedule the Esperanza was created to bring together diverse communi-

my performances at the Esperanza. Over the last 2 years, I have ties for peace and justice.

worn 100,000 disposable masks. I have rubbed 10,000 gallons The fact that I get to share

of hand sanitizer on mis manos. I used it as hair gel too—I really my first live audience experienc-

didn’t want to get COVID. I’ve been on seven round trip flights es at the Esperanza, is incredibly

dressed like The Mummy. I’ve been vaxed waxed boosted and thrilling. I adore the Esperanza

taxed. I can honestly say, come one come all to my two LIVE and San Antonio! I have waited

performances of I’M STILL HERE at the Esperanza Friday and 2 long years and 7 months to

Saturday October 14 and 15 at 7PM. Praise be to Raquel Welch! reschedule and I promise you a

I wasn’t sure I had any more solo shows in me because I joteria quinceañera good time!

thought I had shared all things Monica. But in 2018 my mother

died and so many memories came flooding in that I hadn’t

explored.

Tickets are on sale at EventBrite @ bit.ly/Monica-Palacios

Fri and Sat October 14 and 15 @ 7PM at the Esperanza 3

For more info: www.esperanzacenter.org or FaceBook: EsperanzaCenter

Human Rights Campaign

EDITOR’S NOTE: The people organizing against U.S. military interventions in

following is a speech deliv- Central America; some who were feminists; a few lesbian

ered by Esperanza Peace and gay friends; a few friends at work. So that year, for my

and Justice Center Director 24th birthday, there were 5 separate parties!! I was happy that

Graciela Sánchez upon people liked me enough to celebrate my birthday, but I realized

acceptance of the Legacy that I was living in 5 different worlds. It was an awkward and

Award that was presented frustrating time -- I presented one identity at work, another at

to her at San Antonio’s home, another in the bars, and several others in different areas

Human Rights Campaign of my life. Wouldn’t it be better to have one big party and to be

dinner on August 27, 2022. present as my whole self?

At the same event, Emily So, when I asked some of my friends to help me envision

Estefan was awarded the and create a place for community, I knew that it had to be a

visibility award for her ad- space where people could come as their whole selves. At the

vocacy work in the LGBTQ Esperanza, we woudn’t have to hide our queer selves, but we

community. also didn’t have to hide that we were from the Westside, the

First, I want to thank Southside, the Eastside or even the Northside. Some of us had
arrest records, some played varsity ball, some had dropped out
Graciela with Julián Tovar, co-chair, of the the Human Rights Cam- of high school, while others had advanced degrees. We could
feel proud of our Mexicaness, our Blackness, our many origins.
2022 HRC San Antonio Dinner, accepting the paign for this award and Esperanza would be a space to feel whole and without shame,
Legacy Award. sin vergüenza. And everyone willing to build and strengthen
to share this moment with social, economic, environmental, and gender justice would be
welcome to this space.
my many friends in our community of queers and queer-allies,
There wasn’t
especially Gloria Ramirez, Jan Olsen, Michael Marinez, and much financial sup-

Amy Kastely. When I say we in my comments up here, these

four are at the center.

Graciela sings childhood song:

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 • Brinca la tablita yo ya la brinqué port for progressive,
queer-led people

Bríncala de nuevo yo ya me cansé of color organizing

Dos y dos son cuatro cuatro y dos son seis in those days— the

Seis y dos son ocho y ocho dieciseis late 1980s and

I grew up in the Westside and my parents taught me and my early 90s . We were
siblings to value ourselves and not to hide our differences. But
after going away to college and returning to San Antonio, I felt an all-volunteer
lost and alone.
group, but we had
I had come home with the newly published book; This
Bridge Called My Back and this book opened my world to each other and we
queer women of color writers and good troublemakers. They
told stories of growing up on the borderlands, of being working understood that our
class, immigrants, dykes, feminists, pro-choice, y mas! These
mujeres- Asian, Black, Native American, Arab, Latinx shared hours of work and
their personal and political stories, but what was amazing was
that they were my stories, too! our Buena Gente

But when I searched for other people in San Antonio who spirit were enough
were thinking, feeling, and searching in similar ways, I felt
lost. I was coming out and the only choices I had to engage to gather a com-
with the LGBTQ community were the lesbian and gay bars in
town. But where were the bookstores? Where were the spaces munity of activists,
to see and hear and talk with queer performers or writers?
artists, neighbors,
After a couple of years, I had found friends: some among
and thinkers and

to create a space to

meet, to exhibit, to Graciela with her partner, Amy Kastely, and Emily Estefan,
recipient of the Visibility Award at the 2022 HRC San
discuss, and to orga- Antonio Dinner.

nize. Somehow, we

found the courage to hope that this community and this work,

could help to make a better world.

So the Esperanza has always been a queer-led, multi-issue,

multi-cultural, arts and advocacy organization. Our mission’s

4

Legacy Award 2022

work focuses on cultural grounding and cross-cultural under- Today, in the United States, a majority of the population LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
standing and solidarity. have come to share many of our hopes and commitments.
Most people support policies designed to provide housing and
And so in 1989, when the Esperanza helped to present the healthcare to all, regardless of wealth or race. A majority want
first AIDS exhibit and the first LGBTQ art exhibit, hundreds of better quality schools and more extensive educational opportu-
people showed up – even at a mid-week evening event, because nities for young people. We want greater equity in wages, paid
they, and we, were desperate to see ourselves in the artwork, sick leave, and a more equitable tax system.
and to be with each other in an open, community space. Later
that year, when a gay Mexican American man was murdered, But despite having the nominal support of so many, this is
we called on Latino civil rights groups MALDEF, GI Forum a time of great threat. The enormous financial and institution-
and LULAC to stand together with his family and the Queer al power of the wealthiest 1% has skewed our government
community to denounce the minimal sentence imposed on his and targeted our most important gains. We have lost repro-
convicted murderer. As many of you will remember, alliances ductive rights and are very much at risk of losing more of our
between queer and Latino-focused organizations were very privacy-based rights, including marriage equality. The Right
rare at that time, and this action prompted discussions of race, continues to expand and strengthen their base, targeting our
sexuality, and hate crimes in a way that educated and empow- transgender sisters and brothers to ferment fear and hatred
ered our communities. throughout the country.

Over the years we’ve worked with Black and Latino civil Graciela with friends at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner on August 27, 2022:
rights organizations to counter the KKK March; we broke the (Lto R) María Salazar, Michael Marinez, Jan Olsen, Amy Kastely, Graciela, Gloria
so-called “Chain-of-Life” on San Pedro Street and opened Ramírez and Lee Morales.
up our space to Planned Parenthood to screen films and host
workshops in support of women’s reproductive choice. We We cannot stop educating and organizing our communities.
demonstrated in front of the Express News as the newspaper The Esperanza and the Human Rights Campaign must con-
was printing homophobic news articles and political cartoons. tinue to challenge right-wing lies, to protect all queer people,
all working class people, all people of color, to preserve and
After 9-11, we worked to support the Muslim community as to extend our rights to privacy, to healthcare, to education, to
they endured violent attacks, firebombing, and workplace hos- employment and to protect our planet. This is the time to stand
tility and the Esperanza became a center for organizing against in solidarity, to renew our commitments, and to work for the
the U.S invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. We served as the world we long to have.
headquarters for the Non-Discrimination Ordinance Coali-
tion and most recently, we have numerous projects focused on BIO: Graciela I. Sánchez, born and raised on the Westside of
avoiding the devastation threatened by the thoughtless gentrifi- San Antonio, is Director of the Esperanza Peace & Justice
cation of our working class neighborhoods. Center, a community-based cultural arts/social justice orga-
nization founded in 1987. It is now celebrting its 35th anni-
Yet, while our work has been to build bridges across the versary. See www.esperanzacenter.org to learn more about the
divides of race, class, religion, language, and sexuality, some work of the Esperanza.
people have gotten upset. Early on, Esperanza was evicted
from our first office on South Flores, because the owners
objected to our LGBTQ programming. Then in 1997, 25 years
ago, the City of San Antonio defunded Esperanza, making us
ineligible for any city arts funding even though we were ranked
first in our division. Our buildings have been broken into, our
computers and equipment damaged or stolen, our cars and
parking lot smeared with human feces and more. We have been
falsely criticized on the internet and we have been individually
and collectively threatened with violence.

Esperanza has taken risks and been out when others
couldn’t be out. We have challenged city leaders, corporate
leaders, and even our parents and friends. We have tried to hear
and understand those who challenge us and we have tried to
act with love and respect. And throughout this work, we have
been part of a larger and longer movement to realize hope and
justice for all people.

5

MAP: San Antonio’s Hottest
Neighborhoods (Yes, Literally)

Greg Harman, Deceleration, August 31, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article, a reprint from deceleration news is ings, amount of concrete, large buildings that change wind flow,

an important look at neighborhoods in San Antonio and the discrep- and busy roadways, all of these influence the distribution of heat

ancies that occur when a summer like this one in 2022 distributes in a city.

heat unevenly and unjustly to neighborhoods already suffering with

other burdens. We include an excerpt of this article for our readers SEE: ‘Extreme Heat Survival Guide: A (Bilingual) Deceleration
so that we can become aware of the impact global warming has on Resource Project‘ bit.ly/heat-map-survival-guide

us locally. To read the full article with accompanying maps and facts

about heat islands go to declerationnews.com. Bexar County’s average Urban Heat Intensity (UHI) score is

6.1, according to Greenlink data. But those liv-

ing in the urban core of the city and the heavily

developed northwest zone along I-10 and the

Medical Center District appear to be living with

more than their fair share of heat.

The Government Hill area, for instance, just

to the northeast of downtown and adjacent to

Fort Sam Houston, scored a 10—the hottest rat-

ing for all Census tracts and significantly hotter

than much of the rest of Bexar County. Down-

town proper, by comparison, ranked 9.7. And

the near Westside scored 9.3. The Census tract

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 • containing Brackenridge Park rated 8.6, while

just up-gradient in Alamo Heights, the rating

dropped further to 6.2 UHI. On the whole,

less developed areas scored lower Urban Heat

Intensity scores.

Up I-10 are some of San Antonio’s hot-

Heat is experienced differently across a city like San Antonio. Using Greenlink Analytics data, Deceleration test Census tracts. The dense apartment blocks
has mapped just how great that difference can be.
just above the Medical Center area, including

Heat Island Effect means that temperatures across a city can AXIO, Riverstone, and Wolf Run apartments, tie Government
vary widely due to differences in development, greenspace, trans- Hill with a perfect 10 Urban Heat Intensity rating. The South
portation networks, and other factors. Texas Medical Center complex just to the south bakes with a 9.8
Urban Heat Intensity rating. At the fringes of the city, however,
A Deceleration analysis shows that greater downtown San things cool off. Traveling west to east at Southside Lions Park on
Antonio and the northwest zone, including the Medical District, the Eastside, for instance, one sees a rapid drop off from 7.1 UHI
are bearing the brunt of rising heat—as are those already suffer- to 4.2 UHI.
ing energy burden and asthma on the west and east sides of town.
Compounding sites of overlapping health inequities are also
San Antonio is still crawling out of what is almost certain to visible around the city, as demonstrated in the maps below. The
go down as our most punishing summer on record. One thing neighborhood around the Alazan Apache Courts on the near
is clear: Not everyone experienced the heat equally. Access to Westside scores toward the top for heat island (9.3), income stress
resources—air conditioning, insulated homes, money to pay for (9.56), asthma rates (11.4 percent), and lack of internet connectiv-
movie tickets, or access to a car or bus service, for example—im- ity. A daunting collision of very high asthma rates (11.1 percent)
pacted how people lived through the weeks of 100-plus tempera- and high heat island ranking (9.8 UHI) meets in the Eastside
tures. But even if all of these things were equal, place matters. around Harvard Place just west of the AT&T Center.
Thanks to something known as the Heat Island Effect, even the
heat itself is not spread equally around the city, as demonstrated Breaking down along political boundaries, we found that 11

6 by data released recently by Greenlink Analytics and mapped for Continued on Page 11
Bexar County by Deceleration. Lack of trees, density of build-

La Pasionaria: the Passion and Legacy
of Activist Emma Tenayuca [part II]

by Natalia Hinojosa Hecker

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article is a two part series their own. Tenayuca organized picket lines, promoted the strike

researching the question: What is Emma Tenayuca’s legacy and with flyers, and distributed food to the strikers. She gave speech-

how could she have impacted the Chicano movement without es in front of officials and challenged the factory owner face to

being acknowledged? La Voz includes this article this month in face; they were threatened by her call to action.

celebration of Latino Heritage Month celebrated annually from The local government was in opposition to the strike. Po-

September 15th to October 15th. Part 2 of the series begins with lice and city administration denied workers the right to picket,

Emma Tenayuca’s involvement with the Pecan Sheller’s strike in and sent police to go after strikers (legally and illegally), went

San Antonio, Texas in 1938. to strikers’ homes and threatened them. Hispanic people were

The Pecan Shellers’ beaten on the streets, even if they were not involved in the strike LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
strike was Tenayuca’s whatsoever. There were overcrowded jail cells-- people kept in
main contribution jail without being charged-- and police threatened to set up con-
to the Tejano La- centration camps. Over one thousand people were arrested.
bor Movement, and
arguably the biggest Newspapers painted the strike in a positive light, exposing
moment of her career. the corruption of the city administration and the abuse towards
The strike was “ a cul- strikers from the police. Interestingly, though, most coverage
mination of four years was from newspapers in states other than Texas, presumably a
of intensive organiza- result of Texans’ unwillingness to recognize Mexican Americans
tion.” On January 31st,
1938, over 12,000 of the Latino “shell- civil rights at
ers” at a pecan factory took to the streets the time. An
of San Antonio’s Westside, in “one of the article in the
most important labor events in Texas and Montana Labor
American history.” In the 1930’s, Texas Newspaper on
pecans accounted for half of the nation’s March 10, 1938
production. The Southern Pecan Shell- articulates the
struggle of the
strikers.

ing Company shelled over one-fourth “Dur-

of pecans in the nation, dominating the ing the strike,

market. police and the

A twenty percent cut in shellers’ corrupt city

wages by pecan distributors prompted administration

the strike, making the average wages Women at the pecan factory, San Antonio, Texas, 1939 have denied the
now two dollars or less per week- a workers the

significant decrease from the two dollars right to picket, have beaten them, have lined up men, women,
and fifty cents they earned before the wage cut- which was less children and mothers with
than the salary earned from rolling cigars, and at jobs at garment

factories. Strikers were poor, uneducated, unskilled Spanish babies in their arms, on private property, and then without

speakers, over ninety percent of whom were women. Shelling warning shot tear gas into their midst. Police have beaten,

was the last resort, a job for people desperate for any kind of clubbed, and kicked workers, both men and women.”

work. The conditions at the factory were inhumane, workers Evening Star newspaper in Washington, DC published an
crammed in a room on backless benches shelling for eight to article titled “Violence is feared by Pecan Shellers,” and the Hen-
ten hours each day, getting cuts, infections, lung diseases such derson Daily Dispatch in North Carolina displayed an image of a
as asthma and tuberculosis from the shell dust, and were unable striker being pursued by a policeman.
to use the bathroom as the factory did not have toilets inside.
Only twelve percent of pecan workers had running water in their The strike lasted for three months, with a release fund of
homes, nine percent had inside sanitary toilets, and only twenty- under $700 for the whole strike. The media coverage in favor of
five percent had electric lights- the rest used kerosene lamps. pecan shellers and pressure from Governor Allred led Southern
Pecan to accept arbitration on March 9, 1938. Workers returned
The workers elected 21-year-old Emma Tenayuca to lead their to the factory, and shellers’ wages were reset. The Fair Labor
efforts, not only because of her strength during the cigar strike, Standards Act was enacted, tripling the shelling wage, raising the
but because she spoke both English and Spanish, and could com-
municate with leaders and workers alike. To them, she was one of 7wage to 25 cents, making shelling more expensive than automat-

ed shelling. The in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, but her application was

company even- denied- she was likely blacklisted from government service by

tually installed the FBI. In 1946, she decided to flee from Texas and escape

shelling machines to San Francisco, California, where she went under the alias

instead, creating Beatrice Giraud There, she attended San Francisco Col-

a cheaper and lege, and began a career as an elementary school teacher,

more efficient distancing herself from labor activism and organization.

workforce. Over In the later years of Tenayuca’s time in hiding and

10,000 workers towards the end of WWII, a new movement of empow-

lost their jobs erment, activism, nationalism among Mexican Ameri-

between 1939 to cans was on the rise- the Chicano Movement. Inspired

1941. The strike by the Civil Rights movement, the Chicano Movement, or El

Police managing the crowd at the Auditorium riot, 1939. was ultimately Movimiento, began in the 1960’s. It was composed of separate

a failure, but groups with different agendas- main groups include politi-

remained an empowering moment for Tejana laborers, opening cal representation, educational equality, racial equality,

their eyes to the world of activism and showing that they had the and labor rights- but all held the mission of end-

power to make change. ing discrimination against Mexican and Latinx

Government officials and local leaders criticized Emma Americans.

Tenayuca’s perceived extremism and communist values. During One crucial focus of the Chicano Move-

the Pecan Shellers’ Strike, Tenayuca was removed as a leader ment was labor rights. Among the first of

because of communist ties (although strikers still continued to Chicano organizations to be established

look to her for direction). Her time in the Communist party over- was the United Farm Workers of America

lapped with lingering sentiments of the first Red Scare; a wave (UFW), founded in 1962 by Chicano la-

of violence against communists and “leftist radicals” after World bor organizers Cesar Chavez and Dolo-

War I. The outburst began in 1919 after the 1917 Bolshevik res Huerta. The UFW was a labor union

Revolution in Russia, which inspired great fear of revolt against representing agricultural workers in the

the government in the United States. Radical organizations- as United States, who, at the time, were

well as immigrants- were perceived as a threat. While the bulk mostly Mexican immigrants without

of the violence only lasted until 1920, anti-communist attitudes citizenship or ability to speak English.

remained. They organized rallies and protests, pro-

On August 25, 1939, Tenayuca organized a public Commu- moted non-violence among the workers, and

nist Party meeting- a meeting of 135 members, many of whom educated them on political and social matters.

were Mexican Americans- in the Municipal Auditorium in San UFW was best known for its organiza- Portrait by Robert Shetterly of
Antonio. Before the meeting even started, a mob of 5,000 people- tion of California grape pickers in the Delano
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
made up of veterans, Catholic clergy, and even Grape Strike. In 1965, the orga-

members of the Ku Klux Klan- crowded in fron nization sponsored the strike of

t of the building in what San Antonio Saturday said over 2,000 Filipino and Mexican

to be “the greatest exhibition of mob violence and American grape pickers, desper-

vandalism in the city’s history.” Angered that the ate for medical care and fair pay

group was meeting in Alamo City, the mob threw UFW called for a boycott of

bricks, rocks, and bottles at the windows, screaming California grapes, which spread

“Lynch ‘em” and “Kill the reds!” Tenayuca and her across North America. Millions

husband Brooks, the leaders of the meeting and the stopped eating grapes, connect-

primary targets, began singing the Star Spangled ing middle-class families to

Banner in attempts to calming the mob down, but poor farm worker families, and

this only fueled their anger further. The entire San allowing people to feel like they

Antonio Police Department assembled for crowd were making a difference. The

control, using fire hoses and tear gas on protestors. boycott lasted for five years,

In the following weeks, Tenayuca faced violent until the industry could not

threats. She became a household name in San An- Delano Grape strikers, 1965 handle it any longer. By 1970,
tonio, her name showing up in the newspaper every strikers celebrated the passage of

other day. She knew she was at risk. She left San Antonio in 1940 the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act giving farmwork-

and moved to Houston for her safety, working small office jobs to ers the right to organize, and the grant of a higher minimum wage

survive. One year later, she and Brooks divorced, and Tenayuca and health insurance benefits.

officially left the Communist Party. In 1942, she applied to serve Within the Chicano Movement emerged the Chicana Move-

8 I was arrested a number of times. I never thought in terms of fear.

ment; a subset that received little recognition at the time. The

Chicano Movement was a predominantly male movement

that ignored the issues of women, and Chicana feminists

decided that they, too, wanted political, social, and

economic recognition. Dolores Huerta was a significant

figure in the movement, as she was one of the only

female leaders of Chicano groups.

Chicana feminists fought for better access to col-

lege education, so they could be taken seriously in the

workforce. Many of the women were not educated past

high school, as families and boyfriends pressured them to

get married and raise a family as soon as possible. Chicana Workers Alliance leader Emma Tenayuca, with clenched fist in the air, speaking to
feminists recognized that the lack of education led women a crowd outside San Antonio City Hall following a parade protesting the scarcity of

to feel inferior to men, and perpetuated the idea that Works Progress Administration jobs. SOURCE: UTSA Libraries Special Collections

“women belong at home.” This kept women out focused on the political resistance and “underground” feminism
of high paying skilled jobs, and allowed em- of significant Mexican women who preceded their movement.
ployers to underpay them- if women did Because of their efforts to look back upon their history and
free labor at home for their husbands, acknowledge those who came before them, Tenayuca was re-
then they could be exploited at work. discovered, and greatly celebrated.
Chicanas sought to gain respect for
themselves by employers, and the Tenayuca returned to San Antonio in the late 1960’s, still
government. maintaining a low profile as a teacher for migrant students. Over

Chicanas faced “double

The Ballad of Emma Tenayucaoppression,” as women and

as Mexican people. They

didn’t know whether to I’m going to sing you a ballad about From tuberculosis

fight for women’s rights a Mexican woman In 1938
A character like a tree 12,000 Pecan Shelters
or Mexican rights, so Strong roots and flexible branches Went on strike
Emma Zepeda Tenayuca... When their 5 cents a pound
they took the approach of This is your song was cut to 3 cents

examining the intersec- I’m going to sing you a song The strikers were beat,
About a brilliant woman and jailed for blocking
tionality of the Chicana Arrested at 17 sidewalks and assembling
For her brave acts of protest Tenayuca always beside them.
identity. They participated
Born in 1916 Emma the woman with energy
Americans Who Tell The Truth Source: bit.ly/truth-emma in the white feminist On the Westside of San Antonio Organizing the unemployed
movement, while Eleven kids in her family
Raised by her Grandpa Zepeda Acting on her noble beliefs LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
also taking an active role in the Chicano movement- they

were involved in organizing Chicano demonstrations, and

they picketed and protested alongside male workers.

While one would assume that the Chicano and Chicana

movements took direct inspiration from Emma Tenayuca

as their values and work aligned directly, in reality, Tena-

yuca was completely unknown to the movements during

their main years of activity. Her era of fame had died down She and her sister went barefoot Ahead of her time they said

once she left San Antonio, and her work was overshadowed With Grandpa to the Plaza They called her
by WWII and post war activism, so the new generation of Crowded Plaza del Zacate– a 90 pound giant
civil rights activists were unaware of her accomplishments. Speeches and enganchadores A true American
However, the work of Chicanos and Chicanas would not be a Embracing her Indian heritage
success without Tenayuca, who paved the way for Mexican- Young Emma Tenayuca
American voices to be heard and respected, especially in the Listened to preachers and teachers When they would see her coming
workplace. Reading the Excelsior aloud they would say
Ideas of Obregón, Madero, Cardenas Here comes the young woman
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that Chicano and Chicana activ- The Magones and Mutualistas Who moves men and women
ists began to re-discover Tenayuca, and look to her activism
as an example for their own work. A key part of the Chicano Learned the songs of the Wobblies This is a song
and Chicana movements was the recognition of history. And the need of the people
Chicano writers wanted to expose the suppressed history of to speak out and organize about an intellectual Mexican woman
Mexicans in the United States, and Chicana feminist writers Picket, strike and protest Who knew that human rights
Are for all the people
I thought in terms of justice. During the great depression
The Mexicans were dying — Beverly Sánchez-Padilla
So were the babies
9
Three times faster than others

time, she realized that she was “That’s Not Fair!”

not forgotten. Chicanas wrote Tenayuca believed that

papers about her, she was stud- the most important thing was

ied in Chicano history classes, for Mexican American history

and she was sought out for to be written, to describe how

interviews with Chicano schol- Mexican Americans could

ars. “I left San Antonio, went be integrated into American

to San Francisco and stayed society in a just way- without

there for 20 years. And to my giving up their identity and

surprise, I returned and I find culture. Her activism was so

myself some sort of a hero- strong, that despite decades

ine,” Tenayuca recalled. She of oblivion, she still had an

was now embraced by the city impact on the Chicano move-

that once rejected her, gaining ment. The movement she

the title of “La Pasionaria,” paved the way for ultimately

meaning “The Passionate.” ensured that her legacy would

She was included in a muse- Mural of Emma Tenayuca at Burleson Elementary, Edgewood ISD, San Antonio, Tx. live on. And it does.
um exhibit celebrating notable

Texas women, and recognized in the San Antonio Women’s Hall BIO: Natalia Hinojosa Hecker is a rising senior at Horace Mann
of Fame in 1991. School in New York City. This paper was a culmination of a research

Tenayuca passed away in 1999, but her legacy lives on. project for her Voices of Protest History class. She loves visiting her

A large mural in San Antonio displays Tenayuca with her fist grandparents, Gilberto and Gloria Hinojosa in San Antonio, and she

in the air, songs and poems have been written about her (even hopes that one day there will be a street named after Emma Tenayuca
a somewhat unintelligible punk rock anthem), and her niece, that she can visit as well!

Sharyll Teneyuca, along with Chicana historian Carmen Tafolla, For complete footnotes & bibliography contact:

published a children’s book about her life, titled “No Es Justo!” [email protected]

Betita Martinez, ¡Siempre presente!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez was a madrina of Cordova of El Prado.

the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. We enjoyed her presence and Valentina Valdez Tijerina Martinez, Enriqueta Vasquez,

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 • influence throughout Esperanza’s existence from our earliest days at Adelita Medina, John Nichols, Maria Varela, Joaquin Lujan
1305 N. Flores until her last years when she was still able to travel and and Richard Moore are some of the dear friends and longtime
be with us marching alongside us in a wheelchair at the International compañeros who spoke. Along with remembering Betita I heard
Woman’s Day March. She left her mark as an activist Chicana globally that these celebrations gave people a time to come together and
and nationally. ¡Betita, siempre presente! be inspired anew. I feel the strongest gratitude for being able to

A message from Tessa (Betita Martinez’s honor my mother’s request that her ashes go into the land at

daughter) about the New Mexico memorial Pilar, New Mexico. Again, this happened with the essen-

and the Bay Area memorial now planned for tial support-love of many, including the BFC (Betita Fan

Nov 6th: Club), and logistically as well, with the support of the

This past June, Betita was memorialized and caretakers of “Rini’s Place”.

celebrated in New Mexico, first at the Las Pistoleras This photo shows the chosen tree in landscape

Gallery in El Prado, outside of Taos, then at the Los along the ridge of the Rio Grande gorge at Pilar.

Jardines Institute in Albuquerque. Of course many On Sunday, November 6th, in San Francisco

people collaborated to make these events happen we will celebrate Bay Area Style. Details and

and of very special recognition is Sofia Martinez of invitations to follow.

Wagon Mound and Albuquerque, N.M., and Tessa Thank you, again dear BFC!
—Tessa
Photo: Esperanza Archives

10 Portrait by John Kaine. Acrylic on canvas, 2009.
Based on a photograph taken by Margaret Randall

Hottest Neighborhoods
Continued from Page 6

income that residents pay for electric, gas,

and water utilities (See: San Antonio’s

Five Most ‘Energy Burdened’ Neighbor-

hoods / bit.ly/heat-map-energy-burden).

We found considerable overlap between

areas with high energy burden and high

heat island.

Many of residents of the most energy-

burdened neighborhoods, most conspicu-

ously on the near Westside, also inhabit

areas with high Urban Heat Intensity

scores. Phrased another way: Many who

are suffering artificially generated high

50 Hottest Census Tracts, Bexar County, Texas temperatures—largely, but not exclusive-

ly, because of differences in local develop-

ment patterns—are also paying far more

of the hottest 20 Census tracts are in District 8; three are District for the utilities that are required to cool

1; three in District 7, and three in District 2. Four Census tracts them down. A double whammy.

tied as the hottest in Bexar County. Greenlink used June data for Bexar County to generate its

Greenlink’s data is derived from nighttime satellite imagery heat intensity scoring system to be able to compare neighborhood

collected during the hottest months of the year (May through to neighborhood. June was determined to offer the best data to

August) and intended to help understand the diversity of tem- demonstrate heat and electricity consumption, Matt Cox, CEO at

peratures found within nearly 380 of the largest US metro areas. Greenlink, told Deceleration.

The resolution of this mapping platform is one square kilometer. “This data can help inform policies that reduce heat islands

Greenlink does not and alleviate the cas-

map temperatures— Census Tract UHI Council Description cade of burdens that
only the range of tem- Score District accompany extreme

perature difference 1110 10 District 1 Government Hill (West) heat, such high energy
in a city. But recent 1810.03 10 District 8 burden and asthma
research examining
Wurzbach and I-10 rates, making life hard-
decades of heat island 1814.03 10 District 8 Between USAA and Medical Center er to handle and bear,” LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
temperatures shows 10 District 2 said Sharanya Madha-

that downtown San 1919 Dignowity Hill van, lead data scientist

Antonio can be up to 1306 9.8 District 2 Harvard Park for Greenlink’s UHI
14 degrees Fahrenheit 9.8 District 2 project. “By looking at

hotter than the aver- 1307 Government Hill (East) different temperatures,

age area temperature 1810.04 9.8 DIstrict 8 Medical and Horizon area we can better under-
and up to 21 degrees 1811 9.8 District 8 stand the urban heat
Fahrenheit higher Vance Jackson area
island effect, identify

than surrounding 1814.02 9.8 District 8 Fred Road and Wurzbach the neighborhoods
rural areas. 1814.04 9.8 District 8 Babcock and Huebner disproportionately
affected by heat, and
Bexar County’s
begin to see the rela-
Hottest 20 Census 1818.13 9.8 District 8 Huntington Place area tionship between heat
Tracts 1101 9.7 District 1 Downtown and other burdens.”

Greenlink Analyt- This page will
be updated as new
ics data 1109 9.7 District 1 Pearl information—and
Mission Trace area
Deceleration was 1813.01 9.7 District 8
trained by Green-
new calculations—are
link to utilize their 1813.03 9.7 DIstrict 8 USAA HQ generated.
Apple Creek area
platform. Last year, 1815.03 9.7 District 7
Deceleration mapped
1810.01 9.6 District 7 N. Of I-10 and Loop 410 BIO: Greg Harman
the relative en- Mission Trace area is a San Antonio
organizer & journalist
ergy burden of Bexar 1813.02 9.6 District 8
County residents. En- 9.6 District 7
ergy burden is defined 1815.04 Medical Center who is also co-editor
Tanglewood area of Deceleration, an
as the percentage of 1818.15 9.6 District 8 online news journal. 11
annual household

25 Years On...

by Dennis Poplin, The Media Project consciousness in 1997. For that, we apologize. That’s changed now

and it’s another example of how we are winning.

It was September 11, 1997. After a secret meeting held the night And we will win. The conservatives, the fascists, the white

before by then-mayor Howard Peak, after a year-long vicious supremacists and the hatemongers want us to be afraid and feel

campaign led by a right-wing talk show host and his Christian hopeless. They wanted us to feel that way in ‘97 too. They thought

followers, conservative city council members, anti-abortion activ- stereotypes, threats, insults and even the government would stop

ists and Gay Republicans, the San Antonio City Council voted us. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. Keep organizing.

unanimously to zero-out all arts funding for the Esperanza and Keep fighting. Keep feeling angry. Keep feeling joyful.

two of its sponsored organizations — the San Antonio Lesbian BIO: Dennis Poplin was then a member of the Media Project,
and Gay Media Project and VāN. litigants in Esperanza’s lawsuit against the City of San Antonio.
Since, he has worked with Planned Parenthood in Washington,
The defunding fight, and the resulting federal lawsuit, was
a national story covered by, among others, the New York Times D.C. and is now chief learning officer with Spitfire Strategies.

(nyti.ms/3DF6QW1), the Los Angeles Times (lat.ms/3Buq6Tt)

as well as the arts media. Conferences threatened to cancel

their San Antonio events. The city had to defend itself against

the “bad rap” it was getting. It opened a conversation about

public funding, cultural integrity, diversity and equity in

the arts, queers in public spaces, community leadership and

freedom of expression. The Esperanza led that conversation

through the city-wide Arte es Vida (bit.ly/arte-es-vida) and

Todos Somos Esperanza campaigns.

Many Esperanza supporters are too young to remember it.

Many are no longer with us. On this anniversary, we choose

to remember the events and the lessons that were hard earned.

They will serve us well in the dark time we live in. Leading up to the defunding of the
We really got these regressives mad—crazy angry! Why? Esperanza, there were vehement
and personal attacks against women
We refused to be invisible. We saw no reason to be ashamed including the Director of Esperanza,
or to apologize for who we are and what we wanted. We Graciela Sánchez, artists like Laura

didn’t ask to be tolerated. We demanded what was right and A favorite target of the Christian Aguilar and performers like Monica
what was ours. We lived. We wouldn’t take their bullshit. right was any and all LGBTQ Palacios above.
We called them out and pushed back. For ourselves. For our programming including the “Out
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 • friends, families andcommunities and for the future. For those at the Movies” film festival that
featured films like Latin Boys Go to

in the years to come. Hell by Ela Troyano.

They did not want that. An anti-racist, anti-patriarchal,

working class, community-based, sex-positive, pro-labor,

anti-war, just-say-no-to-oppression, intersectional, openly

queer cultural center? That’s smart and fun, too? Oh no.

Let’s shut that down. But we didn’t shut down or shut up.

It’s a similar time now. Right-wing attacks on voting

rights, racial equality, the freedom to read, trans youth and

the right to make decisions about our own bodies must be

met with the same fierce determination and creativity. It’s

scary, depressing and appalling. But, we can win. Like

Greta Thunberg says, “If we felt like there wasn’t any

hope, we wouldn’t be activists.”

Read the links below. They explain the fight we went

through and the lessons we learned. You’ll see connections Esperanza’s response to the
to today and the through line in Esperanza’s work: Com- defunding of its cultural arts
munity is everything. Organizing is essential. Maybe start programming in 1997 by the City
with the transcript of Dennis Poplin’s remarks (bit.ly/sa- of San Antonio was to garner
public-hearing) at the council vote, Amy Kastely’s (bit.ly/ community support through a
variety of efforts that included

chosen-path) and Penny Boyer’s (bit.ly/remember-lawsuit) rallies, candlelight vigils, pláticas,
moving and revealing remembrances five and ten years later, street theater and a mock trial and
the special lawsuit issue and trial issue and victory issue of review of the issues related to the
La Voz and news coverage of the trial. Please note: You will defunding. Esperanza community
members decided that filing suit

see the exclusionary term “lesbian and gay.” The experiences against the City of San Antonio in
1998 was a sound decision and
12 and knowledge that bisexual, transgender and non-binary that Esperanza should go forward
people had been expressing for a long time were not in our with that endeavor.

25th Anniversary of Esperanza defunding leading to a lawsuit

EDITOR’S NOTE: On Sept 11, 2022 the Esperanza marked the 25th Post 4, 3pm LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
anniversary of the defunding of the Esperanza by the City of San An-
tonio by posting on social media significant events leading up to the 1997: Led by Mayor Howard Peak, the City of San Antonio
defunding and the subsequent reponse by the Esperanza community. defunds the Esperanza and two sponsored organizations,
A series of articles and programs will follow in the coming months the San Antonio Lesbian and Gay Media Project and VaN
drawing similarities between the times then and now. (pronounced like “vane” or “vane” arguing that the queer
and culturally specific programming offered by these
Post 1, 12pm groups was “political” and therefore not “artistic.” In par-
ticular, Esperanza’s cosponsorship of lesbian and gay film
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the defunding of the festival Out at the Movies is cited as a reason for the defund-
Esperanza Peace and Justice Center by the San Antonio City ing. City officials, the Christian Right, and conservative white
Council on September 11, 1997. Funding was cut in response gay men formed an alliance in this attack against the right
to Esperanza’s commitment, since its founding in 1987, to to cultural expression by queer, Black, Brown, and other
programming that served and centered the voices of wom- marginalized San Antonio communities.
en, queer people, people of color, and the working class and
poor. In its first 10 years, Esperanza had established itself as Post 5, 4pm
the leading progressive cultural arts and community space
in San Antonio, organizing counterprotests against the Ku 1998: Esperanza, the Lesbian and Gay Media Project, and
Klux Klan, pro-choice rallies, live performances by prominent VaN file a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio in fed-
queer artists, radical art exhibitions, an annual lesbian and eral court, alleging violation of the First and Fourteenth
gay film festival, and much more. Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Texas
Open Meetings Act. The Arte es Vida and the Todos Somos
Post 2, 1pm Esperanza campaigns are initiated, creating a vibrant forum
for conversations around cultural diversity throughout San
1989: The City of San Antonio founds the Department of Antonio, using informal gatherings, bumper-stickers and
Arts and Cultural Affairs (DACA) to administer local arts and yard signs, street theater, a community mock trial, and other
cultural grants. Eduardo Díaz, DACA’s first director, pushes for public actions to bring attention to the issues.
funding of Latinx and Black organizations and for the diver-
sification of Eurocentric arts organizations. That same year,
gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s exhbition The
Perfect Moment is censored by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in
Washington, D.C., creating a controversy that would become
a touchpoint in the U.S. culture wars of the early 1990s. Also
in 1989, U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and Al D’Amato attack
the NEA, prompted in part by artist Andres Serrano’s work
Piss Christ, which won a 1988 NEA-funded exhibition at the
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. A federal law is
passed that requires the NEA to consider “general standards
of decency” in its grantmaking.

Post 3, 2pm Post 6, 5pm 13

DACA recommends a 5% reduction in funding to 5 organiza- 2001: After a trial held in 2000, Judge Orlando García rules
tions, including the San Antonio Museum of Art, that had that the City of San Antonio violated the Esperanza’s rights
failed to make progress toward staff diversification. Esper- as alleged in the federal complaint and determines that
anza founds and leads the Coalition for Cultural Diversity to parties should agree on appropriate remedies. Negotiations
support DACA’s emphasis on diversity initiatives. Ultimately, through mediators ensue for several months, finally result-
the 5% reduction did not go through, with city leaders ing in the City agreeing to a nearly half-million dollar award
claiming this was an important win for “non-divisive” cultural in damages plus legal fees, and a consent decree requiring
policy. At this point, Esperanza had become visible as a pow- that the City respect the rights of arts and cultural funding
erful and insistent voice for cultural diversity. applicants, as well as establishing appropriate criteria and
procedures for funding applications. This victory repre-
1995: Some City Council members advocate for complete sents the first case in the U.S. that addressed issues of race,
defunding of the Esperanza, as a result of it’s vocal support ethnicity, and cultural rights in public arts funding, setting a
of cultural diversity initiatives. Only incremental defunding is lasting precedent.
achieved at this point.

Spelling Bee The Dimming of Lights
--for GWH
In the bee, my niece spells
teak, bayonet, hymnal In Huntsville, the town
with girlish buoyance where the boy grew up,
as she might pronounce home of the Walls Prison
names in a raffle. and death row, lights
In the letter I write later in living rooms
to my mother, her grandmother, and new electric kitchens
the words emit an aura dimmed, fuses overloaded,
like Bible verses found those times a man convulsed,
by flipping to a random page. then died, his flesh cooked,
Thinking of my own grandparents, as he sat in Old Sparky.
my great-great-grandparents,
I ponder accidents, non-accidents, Seventy years later,
the way one word or birth shapes another, summer thunder, lightning
the vagaries of time and place. remind the scared boy,
The bee pronouncer, a teacher today an old man,
bolstered with a Rosie the Riveter that when any person dies,
stainless steel water bottle, the souls of bystanders flicker,
keeps the words coming: teetering between now
nefarious, misdemeanor. and the hereafter.
When a word, one’s fate,
is spoken, spellers – Rachel Jennings
pause with fear or relief.
More often now, some Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche
ask for a definition, October 14, 2022–January 08, 2023
the part of speech, a sentence
in which the word appears. Cowden Gallery, San Antonio Museum of Art
On children’s stoic faces, bit.ly/malinche-sama
as words hit them,
I see history sink in
as though they have survived
some flood or invasion.
At last the eighteenth round: thermohaline,
a word I do not know, did not spell
in bees of my time, but now sense
history’s churning waters
have brought here.
LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
As a child, I loved etymology,
Alfredo Ramos Martínez, La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca), 1940.thinking some Celtic or Saxon
magic would imbue words
with meaning. Now I know to listen
to the crowded buzz of bees.

– Rachel Jennings

14 Last day to register to vote in

Texas is October 11th

Notas Y Más Start your 2022
tax deductible gifts
October 2022
Give to the Esperanza in spirit of solidarity
Community meetings and cultural art events are again taking so we can continue to speak out, organize
place virtually due to continuing concerns about COVID. Check and fight for our communities for another
websites, FB or call 210-228-0201 for meetings and events 35 Years. Your support is needed NOW more
currently scheduled. www.esperanzacenter.org
than ever! Thank you for your gifts!
Picture Your World, a Leila Hernández’s Send donations to Esperanza

project of Green Spaces La Visa Negra 2.5: Esperanza Peace
And Justice Center
Alliance exhibits Nature Tendiendo los Trapitos al Sol an
Photography by youth installation in tribute to immigrants’ 922 San Pedro Avenue
13-18 until Oct 16th at the Witte lives and Elizabeth Jiménez San Antonio, TX 78212
Museum. www.wittemuseum.org/ Montelongo’s The Euphoric Dance
exhibitions of the Unconquered Mind with To sign up as a monthly donor,
artwork on Mexika dancers are both Call 210.228.0201 or

Monday, Nov 21st at noon @ the on exhibit thru December 30th at email: [email protected]

NW Corner of the UT campus, 24th Centro de Artes gallery in Market Visit www.esperanzacenter.org/donate
for online giving options.
& Guadalupe in Austin, the 100th Square. www.sanantonio.gov/arts
¡Mil Gracias!
year since the death of Ricardo

Flores Magón, Mexican Anarchist Gemini Ink

will be remembered with a rally announces its fall

along with efforts to Free Xinachtli creative writing

Now!—Chicano-Mexicano Political schedule that includes Marisela
Prisoner, Álvaro Luna Hernández Barrera’s workshop on Fuerza-
Writing using Nontraditional
serving a 50-year sentence for
Approaches to Developing
disarming a County Sheriff in SW Performance Text. See: geminiink.
Texas. Info on both will be available. org/classes/
www.freealvaro.net

GET TICKETS LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •
bit.ly/otra-taller

The symposium is
completely VIRTUAL
and registration is FREE

to all:

Ow.ly/fEe850Knqfv

15

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • October 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 6 •

CallOfforreCnadlaasv&erAarst,wLiotrekrary Monica Palacios

For the November 2022 issue I’M STILL HERE
of La Voz October 14 & 15, 2022

DEADline: October 5, 2022 Esperanza Peace & Justice Center @ 7pm

Submit to: [email protected] She has waited 2 long years and 7 months to reschedule
and she is promising “a jotería quinceañera good time!”

Calaveras Literary Tickets are on sale on EventBrite: bit.ly/Monica-Palacios
are satirical Ofrendas
poems that are written Esperanza Peace & Justice Center Non-Profit Org.
target living tributes 922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212 US Postage
persons or (memories, 210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org PAID
events & stories, poems,
renders them etc.) about San Antonio, TX
dead in jest! our dearly Permit #332
departed.
Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address?
TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL [email protected] CALL: 210.228.0201

Visit www.esperanza-center.org/la-voz
to see past November issues.

The Carver Community Cultural Center in
collaboration with the Esperanza present

Ballet Nepantla Mistica

October 29 @ 8 –10 pm

Mística ignites the senses and accentuates the cultural
significance of Día de Muertos (Day of the dead).

NocLhievAe!zul Jo Long Theater @ The Carver Tickets: $35

Día de Muertos 226 N. Hackberry, SATX | www.thecarver.org Available at: bit.ly/mistica-sa

OCT 22 MujerArtes Clay Cooperative

Soldaderas celebrates its 27th Anniversary with Lotería Del Westside

NOV 19

Sat. @ 8pm Opening: Saturday, October 8th @ 6pm
at the Esperanza
922 San Pedro @ Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX

SA TX 78212 Exhibit continues to October 28th, M-F •10am-7pm

www.esperanzacenter.org/ Please call to schedule a weekend viewing.
www.Facebook.com/EsperanzaCenter
www.esperanzacenter.org / 210-228-0201