May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4 San Antonio, Tejas
The Librarians Documentary Film Captures the Courage of Library Workers Standing Against Book Censorship—PEN AmericaOn May 2, the Esperanza Center in collaboration with the League of Women Voterswill host a screening of the award-winning documentary, “The Librarians”.This film is a chilling, timely and deeply moving story of nine passionate and courageous librarians who are on the front lines of the wave of censorship and book banning in school libraries. This group of ordinary citizens risk their jobs and personal safety to resist the wave of book censorship that started in 2021 in Texas with the “Krause List”. This list was created by a Texas legislator which pressured school libraries throughout Texas to remove 850 books which contained content focused on racism, LGBT issues and sexuality. This unlikely group of rebels fought against these book bans and faced down screaming groups of parents, well-funded and organized religious groups and targeted hate campaigns with courage and confidence in their rights and the rights of their students. The film reveals the connection between the local school board battles and the broader political agenda supported by Christian Nationals and groups like Moms for Liberty. What makes this film so special is the focus on its unlikely heroes— librarians who are not political activists or cultural warriors. They are a diverse group of dedicated professionals who believe in freedom of speech and the right of all people to read what they choose to read. Please join us on Saturday May 2nd at 922 San Pedro (Esperanza Peace and Justice Center) from 5pm to 8pm for The Librarians followed by a panel discussion on the film with Lucy Ibarra Podmore, former chair of the Texas Association of School Libraries, Suzette Baker, former librarian at the Kingsland Branch Library in Llano County (interviewed in the film) and Anel I. Flores, Chicanx author, educator and LGBT cultural worker. The panel will be moderated by Norma E. Cantú, Chicana folklorist, poet, writer and Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio. La Voz deEsperanzaMay 2026Vol. 39 Issue 4Editor: Gloria A. RamírezLayout: Elizandro CarringtonContributorsTarcisio Beal, Rachel Delgado, Susan Morales Guerra, Judith Norman (with Noah Collins & Alistair Welchman), Patricia Rossi Ortiz, Jeffrey D. Sachs (Common Dreams), Ramón J. Vásquez Esperanza DirectorGraciela I. SánchezEsperanza StaffSherry Campos, Arabella Chávez, Elizandro Carrington, Kayla Miranda,Nonye Okoye, René Saenz, Imane Saliba, Susana Segura, Rosa VegaConjunto de Nepantleras—Esperanza Board of Directors—Rachel Jennings, Marivel Dávila, Dennise Frausto, Amy Kastely, Sylvia Mendoza, 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 Esperanza Peace & Justice Center922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.orgInquiries/Articles can be sent to:[email protected] due by the 8th of each monthPolicy 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.EDITOR’S NOTE: With so much happening affecting us and our future, we need to voice our concerns in as many mediums as possible. La Voz de Esperanza offers readers the space to express your thoughts and share with others. Send articles and creative works to [email protected] 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 [email protected]. 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. -GARLA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•
Why do certain men lose their statues, while the system that protects them remains? By Susan Morales GuerraWhen abuses to women are committed by powerful men, the reactions often center on which names should be removed, which statues should be torn down, and how legacies should be revised. But, it is also a time to ask the deeper question: Why does the power structure itself survive time and time again, including within organizations working for justice and human rights?The revelations about Cesar Chavez’ abuse and even rape of young women, reminds us to confront this issue directly. Because the matter is not just about one man, but about a patriarchal system of dominance that still determines who gets punished, who is forgiven, and who remains untouchable. This seems also to be a class and ethnic issue as well. What the New York Times exposed comes at a time of demeaning immigrants and citizens of Latin American ethnicity. This fuels the negative attitudes about Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and other Latinx and brown people from the political south. Yet, leaders like presidents Trump, Bill Clinton, and the Kennedys still are considered respected powerful men today by many. They are rich, they are white and they are armored by these facts which influence how they are judged and tolerated. Chavez, it is said, was a complicated man, and yes, his abuse of young women is deplorable. His work, and the accomplishments of the United Farmworkers Union was still honorable, which many people agree with. That legacy must live on.In 2020, La Voz de Esperanza published an issue dedicated to 100 years of women´s suffrage. the decades it took to accomplish this right to vote uncovered how women were considered not intelligent enough to take part in voting. The same patriarchal thinking assumes women and their bodies are “fair game” for men to take advantage of from their privileged positions.The statements reported by several articles and interviews after the New York Times publication, demonstrate we live in a time when women are still suspected for their silence. It pained me to hear Dolores Huerta need to defend herself and explain why she kept silent. She had to meet accusations that if she had spoken up, she could have avoided more exploitation and abuse of the young women in the United Farmworkers Union (UFW), as if she was partly to blame for Chavez’ actions. The fact that she put the larger commitment to the farmworkers conditions over her individual self was not ever considered heroic. The news about Chavez was and is heartbreaking. I never considered anyone a hero until the day I met Cesar Chavez at the dedication of the statue of Samuel Gompers in downtown San Antonio in 1982. I heard him speak and was able to get his autograph on the printed program for the day. He represented peace and justice for working people, the people of my family and friends, my neighbors and colleagues. Is he not that man anymore? He may not be my hero any longer, but do I need to feel guilty because I still admire his accomplishments? Jack Kennedy, a Catholic, is hardly seen first and foremost as an abuser of women and cheat. How does that story remain in the background of his legacy?Back to my point though, tearing down statues and painting over murals does not change patriarchal attitudes of male domination. It does not change the position of women in our minds and attitudes. I am also heartbroken and angry that the young women and girls of today will continue to grow up struggling with the misogynistic attitudes they must be exposed to and endure through social media and daily popular culture. At a time when gender studies and critical thinking are censured, they become vulnerable and need to find their own way to fight back these negative attitudes towards women.It still is women´s work to act and speak up with responses which contribute to correct and replace systems which allow male domination. Each moment and each time we hear demeaning jokes, attitudes and slanderous remarks among our children and young people, we must use the opLA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•3In September 2020, La Voz de Esperanza published an issue dedicated to 100 years of women´s suffrage.
portunity to speak of the value of women. We must correct the bad habits in our language which find it acceptable to use words which devalue our body parts—calling young girls whores and bitches; we can “auto-correct” young people, our peers and family members who consistently negate the value of being a woman. Beginning with language and everyday culture is a powerful place to begin. Even if no one changes, it must be done. The discourse pouring out through films, music, tic tok videos and series must be replaced with the equal value of men and women. Males must realize that acceptance of the abuse of women is abuse of your own self-respect as a man. This must be heard every day, at appropriate moments as these take place in real time. It is a way to shift our focus away from individuals and toward the structures that enable abuse. If we truly want justice, it is not enough to simply rename streets. We must confront the very systems of thinking that still allow male power to outweigh humane responsibility towards their mothers, grandmothers, daughters, neighbors, colleagues and friends. As women, it involves reviewing our own attitudes, and those of the men we interact with. ¡Que viva la mujer!BIO: Susan Morales Guerra, a co-founder of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center was an organizer of the first International Women´s Day March in San Antonio in 1983. She now resides in Norway and continues her activism in Europe as writer and facilitator for NGOs and Municipalities.A Mother’s Day Tribute:The Rosas Women, A Family Story By Rachel Delgado Excerpt from Un Bouquet de RosasThese are the stories I have been told and the faces I see in the family album. How do you plant a family tree? Ours starts with Juana Velásquez, family Elder. She literally walked from Mexico to Texas with her two sons, Julián and José, plus her granddaughter, Maria Hernández. Her own daughter, Eduwiges, had passed. Juana was left to raise a granddaughter, too. They all left Mexico in the early 1900s because of the poverty and the turmoil of the coming Revolution. Next is a chance encounter between immigrants on the way to El Norte. A simple handkerchief on the road leads a young man, Juan Rosas, to seek its owner. He catches up with a group of travelers and returns the handkerchief to Maria Hernández. Juan and Maria will marry and continue their journey North. They will settle in Fayette county. Eventually their family will include 3 sons and 6 daughters. Our mother, Juanita, is the fourth child. Another daughter, Antonia, is widowed twice and keeps her children together by running a fish bait shop. Lupe and Senorina marry and continue life on a farm. After Juan Rosas dies, Maria sells the farm and moves to San Antonio with daughters Marcela and Plácida. The two of them go on to become garment workers. They go from being farm girls to young ladies with an income and a social life. They marry and start a family of their own. Mothers nurturing the next generation. LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•4Lalo Alcaraz, “Painting Out Cesar” (2026) (image courtesy the artist)The Rosas family in the early 1920s. Juan and Maria (Hernández) Rosas with their three oldest daughters. My mom is the second of the girls. The older woman is Maria’s grandmother, Juana Velásquez. Juana came to Texas with her two sons and granddaughter. They met Juan Rosas on the road to Texas. (Above: Rachel and her mother.)
Cesar Was No HeroBy Ramón J. Vásquez, March 18 post on FBToday, our hearts are broken learning about Cesar Chavez’s horrendous sexual abuse of Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia, and Debra Rojas; we demand justice for these women and any other survivors and stand in solidarity with them today and every day.Cesar Chavez was many things throughout his life, to many people. Without a doubt, he along with his followers changed the lives of farmworkers and Mexican American families across this country. He was the son of farmworkers, a Navy veteran, and a Civil Rights icon. He inspired thousands of white, Black, and brown workers to boycott, to organize, and to believe in La Causa. He was, to many, the people’s hero.As a first grader at Bonham Elementary in San Antonio, Texas, I remember getting in trouble for refusing to eat my lettuce. They called my mom because I would not stay silent, I would not break the strike. La Huelga. Even as a child, I understood what he represented.But today, we are reminded of something deeper and harder to face: Cesar Chavez may have been all of those things, but he was still just a man. A man who abused power, sexualized women, and preyed on young girls.The unfortunate truth is, this is not uncommon in our communities. Too often in Mexican and Latino households, machismo is normalized, protected, even. Men who look like our fathers, our tíos, our leaders—men who look like us are excused, defended, and sometimes even revered, while women and girls are told to stay quiet. To protect the family. To protect the movement. To protect the man.That silence is not accidental. It is taught, it is inherited, at times it is survival and it is why so many men get away with harm.Today, we are also forced to reckon with the pain carried by Dolores Huerta, a living icon of the farmworker movement who endured rape and violation by a man she and everyone around her trusted. That trauma resulted in pregnancies, and still, she stood beside her abuser for years. She carried that silence to protect La Lucha, to protect the words, the chants, the blood, sweat, and tears, and the movement that has echoed for generations—“¡Sí Se Puede!”She gave birth to two children she could not raise. She carried a burden most of us will never fully understand. I can’t help but think about our mothers, our grandmothers, our tias. What stories did they bury? What pain did they carry so that we could grow up believing in something better?My heart is with Dolores Huerta and with every woman harmed. My heart is especially with the many girls past and present who are still suffering in silence. Because they are everywhere, in our families, in our communities, and in our history.History may choose to remember Cesar Chavez as a hero, but we don’t have to. We can hold the truth, and we can acknowledge the impact of his work alongside the many others in the movement as well as the tremendous harm he caused.Real justice—justicia—does not ignore women. It does not excuse abuse and it sure as hell does not protect powerful men at the expense of vulnerable girls.I often wonder when was the last time in history a man was abused by a woman in power and asked to stay silent to protect her legacy? Would he have been believed? Would he have been expected to carry that alone?These women are the true heroes. And the work for justicia is far from finished.BIO: Ramón J. Vasquez leads American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AIT-SCM), an organization advocating for the recognition of Indigenous peoples while providing support for San Antonio families. A lifelong activist, Ramón strives for nonviolent solutions to injustice.LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•5Reaction to the news of Cesar Chavez’ heinous behavior with women and girls resulted in quick actions to remove statutes and murals that cast him as a national hero and to rename schools and streets bearing his name.
By Tarcisio BealThe socio-political crisis which now engulfs our society makes quite visible the fact that our nation is not a truly Christian nation, but rather one or a mixture of several forms of Christendom that also mirrors the lifestyle of many Catholics. It all began with British Congregationalism which, oddly enough, was not hierarchical because its decisions were made by the whole community, therefore in a democratic style which affected many of the evangelical churches. However, what distinguishes American Christendom has been its overall acceptance of modernity and of capitalism. The presidential campaigns of 2016 and 2024 and much of the behavior of those now in control of major political decisions have exposed the character of this civil religion of success and nationalism. Even some Catholic bishops have miserably failed to warn Catholics about a racist, anti-Semitic, fascist-Nazi, misogynist, Islamophobic and inhumane federal leadership. Timothy Dolan, New York´s Cardinal and Archbishop, went to the point of directly contradicting Pope Francis’ critique of the greed of capitalists in the MAGA movement, today. Dolan’s article in the Wall-Street Journal,softened the Pope’s critique while defending a “virtuous capitalism“ as the foundation of democracy, of social and personal wellbeing and of profit.1Yes, our nation has intermittently improved its moral standing, especially during the days of Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama, but it has been going backwards, especially under the Republican party, since the days of George Bush, Ronald Reagan and now, Donald Trump, expanding America’s political and economic power into Latin America and the Middle East. The record of American history is not just one of the expansion of Anglo-Saxon Christianity, but also one of political and religious divisiveness. Jim Wallis, an American Evangelical pastor and social activist who was the founder and editor in chief of Sojourners magazine who lives inside one of the poorest neighborhoods of Washington, DC, points to the shady and unchristian side of early American history: The United States was established as a society of whites, founded upon the almost total genocide of one race and the enslavement of the other. Systemic violence, both physical and moral, against the indigenous people, then against the African negroes, was truly the original sin of the American nation.In other words, the U.S. was conceived in iniquity. (Cf Tom Roberts, “Someliberation theology for the nation’s crisis.)”2Yes, several bishops and pastors of all Christian denominations have been exemplifying true Christian leadership. But the weekend prayer gatherings and the flood of preaching through television spell out the kind of Christianity which is actually “Christendom,” a big compromise between the essence of the Gospels and some of the tenets/interpretations of traditional Christianity. That’s why It does not a have much of an impact upon the problems affecting public and personal morality—major public issues like abuse of power, climate control, pollution of the earth, immigration, freedom of the press, LGBTQ rights, militarization of a free society resulting in unsanctioned wars and more. The moral issue that is directly tied to the nation’s present crisis is that of the use/abuse of political power that claims to have Jesus on its side to justify the war against Iran through the use of “overwhelming violence”—a war now opposed, as of April first, by more than 66% of the American people. The ugly reality that now plagues our society has been made worse especially by the strengthening of groups which have been, for quite some time, the opposite of true Christianity. Since 2016, the number of Hate Groups in the U.S. have been multiplying. The 2022 statistics list 733 Hate Groups that include anti-Black groups like the KKK, anti-Semitic groups, neo-Nazis, anti-Muslim groups and more.3 The one thing that all these hate groups reveal is Anglo-Saxon-ism, the “worship of the White Race” because of its supposed superiority. In the 1930s, oddly enough, Nazi anti-Semitism was echoed widely by Father Charles Coughlin, pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower, in Royal Oak, Michigan and the most popular radio voice of the decade. His audience was beAmerica Needs True Christianity, not Christendom.LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•6The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, speaks to EWTN News on Friday, April 25, 2025, at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls in Rome. He retired in late 2025. Credit: EWTN News
tween 32 to 40 million. He identified Jews with Communism.4 His popularity, at the time when Hitler had taken over Germany, points to the persistence of the evil of anti-Semitism in today’s America. Unfortunately, the voice of true Christianity is seldom heard now that it matters the most. Our week-end churches and all-week televisions are flooded with preachers and pastors and their sermons, yet the suffering conditions of tens of millions of Americans are rarely addressed. We seldom hear these “gospelers” address any of the specific issues of the current crisis or emphasize that being a true Christian means following the example of Jesus, not just attending church services, listening to preaching and dropping a little money inside the collection. Mark’s gospel (12: 28-34) is very clear regarding what it means to be a follower of Jesus: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole spirit, and with your efforts” (First Commandment); and(2) “You should love your neighbor as yourself” (Second Commandment).Now, can a person who lives in abundance and luxury consider himself a Christian when millions of his neighbors across the nation lack basic human needs?Why are most preachers of “Christianity” not addressing the central issue of a socio-political economy that keeps ignoring the need for true engagement in building God’s Kingdom? It is not a question of staying out of politics, but rather of carrying out the central meaning of the commands of the Gospels. Already in 1897, the Congregationalist Charles Sheldon advised Christians to ask for and answer the key question regarding discipleship: What would Jesus do?5 In fact, the issue of what Jesus and the Gospels say about wealth, of what it means to follow the example of Jesus and of the early Christian community should always be the central theme addressed by the preachers and gospelers. Furthermore, do they set the example of simplicity and frugality and preach live simply and frugally so that the living resources are available to the poor and needy, and do they set the example?The traditional insistence on the differences which distinguish Christian denominations is the interpretation of the Bible, especially of the Old Testament, must stop. “The Cross – notes theologian John F. Haught – teaches us that God manifests Himself in humility, love, and self-surrendering.”6 Gospelers and preachers need to make the most of their positions as leaders of the Christian community and join together for the cause of God’s Kingdom through dialogue, by sharing their experiences, and by their personal presence inside the communities, working with the people of God. That is more than “Christendom. It is authentic Christianity.”BIO: Tarcisio Beal, professor emeritus in History at Incarnate Word University in San Antonio has a Doctorate in Theology (STJ -Sacred Theology Licentiate) and has written 5 books on the History of Catholicism, including one in Spanish (“Sigan al Hombre”). Notes cited in this article can be requested from the editor at [email protected] GIVE OUT DAY 2026Give OUT Day 2026 is Thursday, June 4th . Early giving starts on Thursday, May 28th and continues throughout Pride Month until Tuesday, June 30th. Hold up the dignity and honor of LGBTQ+ people by making a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center on Give OUT Day or anytime during the campaign. The Esperanza, founded in 1987, on the verge of celebrating its 40th anniversary has promoted LGBTQ+ rights since its inception with historic Art exhibits, LGBTQ film festivals, pláticas with nationally recognized LGBTQ icons, LGBTQ youth programming and annual LGBTQ celebrations. The Esperanza has stood fast in its support of the LGBTQ community even when our funding was cut and led to a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio. What has been achieved over decades towards the recognition and validation of the LGBTQ community is now in jeopardy in the U.S. and throughout the world. Give OUT Day, founded in 2013, is an opportunity to respond to the chaos now surrounding us on a daily basis and posing a threat to the LGBTQ community. Esperanza is one of many non-profits that receives donations on this day to support the LGBTQ+ community. Your donation will be a shout out to t the LGBTQ community with assurances that, as Harvey Milk said, “Hope will never be silent!” Richard J. Aguilar, FundRaising OrganizerContact me at: [email protected] or 210-228-0201LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•7In 1897, the Congregationalist Charles Sheldon advised Christians to ask the question regarding discipleship: What would Jesus do? (WWJD) He wrote about it in his 1896 novel, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? The phrase continues to be used today.
Then and Now-17 years of Paseo Por El WestsidePaseo Por El Westside begin as part of a national effort to preserve sites important to communities initiated in 2009 by the National Trust for Historic Preservationwith a campaign called “This Place Matters.” At the time, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center had acquired property on the Westside that had its own history and value—it was dubbed El Rinconcito de Esperanza. In order to collect stories and recreate the ambiente of the Westside through the years, various projects began including the collection of stories and photos that became the project of Fotohistorias—photo banners that tell the story of the Westside and its gente. Thus, Paseo Por El Westside became a celebration and a literal walk (tour) through the Westside to recapture the spirit and history of the past. Along with the preservation of places, the preservation of cultural artifacts and practices became part of Paseo Por El Westside. The most important part of all of this is the people, gente, who have made these 17 years such a success. Celebrate with us the historic Westside of San Antonio at Paseo Por El Westside on Saturday, May 9th from 9am to 3pm at Rinconcitode Esperanza, 816 Colorado Street in San Antonio, TX.Un jarrón lleno de recuerdosA vessel full of memoriesMay 9, 2026, 9am-3pm during Paseo @ MujerArtes Studio, Rinconcito de Esperanza, 816 S ColoradoAlso open daily, M-F, 9am -4pmMother’s Day Sale!/Venta para Dia de MadresLA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•8Eva Ybarra performed at Paseo 2010 in the backyard with her brother and she will be at Paseo this year.Zair, now an adult, practiced washing on a washboard and hanging clothes on a lazo. The art of slicing watermelons keeping the heart intact was demonstrated in 2010 by Rita Urquijo-Ruiz and Gloria Ramírez.In 2010, a demonstration of herbs used for healing was conducted by Jacinto Madrigal. Today the grounds are surrounded by flowers and herbs.
Then and Now-17 years of Paseo Por El WestsideMuseo del Westside816 S. Colorado St. Rinconcito de EsperanzaOpen Tues-Sat, 12pm-6pmFor appointments or info:Email: [email protected] call 210.228.0201Open For Paseo Por El Westside!Sat. May 9, 2026, 9am To 3pmSam Rodríguez and a friend view photos of Emma Tenayuca and the pecan shellers strike at the Casa de Cuentos in 2010. Today, it continues to host exhibits and during Dia de Muertos is the main house for ofrendas (altars). LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•9Paseo Por El Westside Tours instill pride in the casitas of the Westside, be they shotgun homes or the rare Victorian House like Mr. Forestello’s home on Colorado St. The tour goes past homes and photobanners depicting people of the Westside.Esther García of La Carpa García that performed from 1914 to 1947 was at the 2010 Paseo performing and telling stories. Many have recited poetry and told stories at Paseo since, including our own grupo of Teatro Esperanza. Enrique Sánchez demonstrated the use of zancas (stilt walking) at the 2010 Paseo that became very popular. Other traditional toys like trompos (tops), canicas (marbles), yoyos as well as canciones infantiles (singing games) have become part of Paseo. Ruben’s Ice House porch was set up in 2010 for making raspas using a block of ice. Mr. & Mrs. Olguin with Mónica Velásquez made raspas as Isabel Sánchez savored her favorite flavor. Ruben’snow houses the Museo del Westside. The 2010 Paseo celebrated Rita Vidaurri’s birthday who graced the backyard stage singing traditional rancheras and boleros with the Trio Esperanza. The “Pink House” was a main stop in 2010 on the Westside tour. Slated to be demolished by the City, the Maldonado House was saved by the community and renewed efforts to save Westside sites continue to this day.Araceli Herrera demonstrated grinding corn on a metate in the Casa’s backyard in 2010 as her grandson, Zair observed.
Those Pink BillboardsBy Noah Collins, Judith Norman & Alistair WelchmanBright pink billboards have been appearing in San Antonio over the past year, with wanna-be-hip slogans that purportedly call attention to the problem of antisemitism. While Jewish safety is a laudable goal, a closer look at these messages and their sponsors shows that there are less admirable agendas at work. For instance during March Madnessa billboard near the Alamodome proclaimed: “The real madness? College students supporting terrorists.” This was clearly a swipe at the student encampment movement that had been calling for justice in Palestine; the billboard was using inaccurate and incendiary language to describe and discredit the justice goals of the student protestors. The anti-Palestinian bias was hardly surprising. The billboard initiative is a project of a group called JewBelong, whose co-founder, Archie Gottesman, tweeted in 2018 “Gaza is full of monsters. Burn the whole place. Won’t matter. The U.N. will just give another meaningless sanction.”Although she has since apologized for the tweet, Gottesman’s politics are consistently and unapologetically antiPalestinian and Islamophobic. The JewBelong billboards as well, which once featured snarky and upbeat Judaism-iscool messaging, have shifted in the past few years to attack criticisms of the state of Israel, which the organization routinely and inaccurately conflates with antisemitism. A new message that has popped up on a number of new billboards merits particular attention. It reads: “You don’t have to be Jewish to protect Jews. You just have to be Christian.” The billboard states that it is paid for by both JewBelong and the Larry Huch Ministries, a Christian Zionist organization with a church in Tarrant County. Unlike the March Madness billboards these new billboards specifically mention Christians, calling on them to be the special protectors of Jewish people. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand that the implied threat to the Jewish people comes from Muslims. In the new holy war that is being announced by the Trump regime as well as by Abbot here in Texas, messages like the new JewBelong billboard combined with Abbot’s fear mongering around Muslim communities (see his views on the planned EPIC city) and organizations (Abbot deemed CAIRa terrorist organization) to create a dangerous call to arms in a city with a large Christian Zionist population.While Larry Huch Ministries does not have a church here in San Antonio another prominent Christian Zionist ministry calls San Antonio home. Enter John Hagee, Hagee Ministries, and the Cornerstone Church. Like other Christian Zionists, John Hagee and his son Mathew Hagee preach that Christians have a biblically assigned job to protect Jewish people. This might sound caring but it is part of an apocalyptic project of shepherding Jews to Israel in order to bring about the second coming, and with it the damnation of all non-Christians (including Jews themselves, making this an antisemitic scenario). Furthermore, and beyond this end-times theology, it is a Christian Zionism which mobilizes Christians to defend the ongoing physical, legal and administrative violence of the State of Israel towards Palestinians. In this way, the duty to protect Jews is put into a directly Islamophobic agenda of defending Israel’s illegal and worsening occupation of Palestine.But the final thing wrong with the JewBelong billboards is the implicit suggestion of the exceptionalism of Jewish safety - the idea that there is something uniquely fragile about Jewish community. These are scary times for minority and minoritized populations throughout the US, and the best route to safety is a robust insistence on mutual aid and civil liberties - ‘come for one, face us all’ as the saying goes. JewBelong, and the Christian Zionists they have allied themselves to, see safety as a zero-sum game: in the US as in Israel, Jewish inclusion is bought at the price of Muslim exclusion. We are a Jewish woman and a Muslim man and we reject this hateful logic whole-heartedly. Jewish safety, like everyone’s safety, is best protected when it is enmeshed in what Martin Luther King Jr. so beautifully called a “web of mutuality”. So, don’t believe the pink billboards. Propaganda is not fact. Palestinians are not terrorists. Zionism is not Judaism.BIOS: Noah Collins works at Armadillo Boulders, is a member of Oppressed Workers for Revolutionary Power, and works with the Liberation Library. Judith Norman teaches philosophy at Trinity University and works with Jewish Voice for Peace. Alistair Welchman teaches philosophy at UT-San Antonio and is a member of the AAUP and DSA.LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•10…during March Madness a billboard near the Alamodome proclaimed: “The real madness? College students supporting terrorists.” This was clearly a swipe at the student encampment movement that had been calling for justice in Palestine...
Trump and Netanyahu: Two Madmen Playing GodWhen deranged leaders invoke divine catastrophe as a political instrument, it is not only their enemies who are consumed. Unless they are stopped, we will all be victims of these two psychopaths.By Jeffrey D. Sachs for Common Dreams(Licensed under Creative Commons)Here is Donald Trump’s Easter message to the world: Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. —President DONALD J. TRUMPDonald Trump and his partner in war crimes, Benjamin Netanyahu, are jointly waging a war of murderous aggression against Iran, a nation of 90 million people. They are in the grip of three cascading pathologies. The first is personality: both are malignant narcissists. The second is the arrogance of power: men who possess the power to command nuclear annihilation and feel, in consequence, no restraint. The third, and most dangerous of all, is religious delusion: two men who believe, and are told daily by those around them, that they are messiahs doing God’s work. Each pathology exacerbates the others, so that together they put the world in unprecedented danger. The result is a glorification of violence not seen since the Nazi leaders. The question is whether the world’s few grownups—responsible national leaders who remain committed to international law and are willing to say so—can restrain them. It will not be easy, but they must try. Let us start with the underlying psychological disorder. Malignant narcissism is a clinical term, not an insult. The social psychologist Erich Fromm coined the phrase in 1964 to describe Adolf Hitler, as a merger of pathological grandiosity, psychopathy, paranoia, and antisocial personality into a single character structure. The malignant narcissist is not merely vain. He is structurally incapable of genuine empathy, constitutionally immune to guilt, and driven by paranoid conviction that enemies surround him and must be destroyed. Already back in 2017, psychologist John Garnter and many other professionals were warning of Trump’s malignant narcissism.When power faces no limit, the only remaining internal check is conscience. And the psychopath has no conscience.Several respected psychologists and psychiatrists have evaluated Trump for psychopathy using the standardized Hare Scale and have come up with scores well above the diagnostic cutoff. Psychopathy is best characterized as a lack of conscience or compassion for other human beings.Both Trump and Netanyahu fit this profile with precision. Trump’s psychopathy was on full display when US forces destroyed a civilian bridge in Tehran, of no military significance, with at least eight civilians killed and 95 or more injured. Trump did not grieve. He gloated and promised more destruction. Netanyahu’s Passover address similarly contained not one word for the dead. No pause. No shadow of doubt. Only the triumphant catalog of enemies he has destroyed.Paranoia drives the threat that Trump and Netanyahu have manufactured. Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified in writing that Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated” and that the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” The IAEA stated flatly there was no evidence of a bomb. Trump’s own counterterrorism official resigned in protest, writing that “we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” The paranoid does not need a real threat. He will make one up if he must, to match his feelings of exaggerated fear.The Machiavellianism operates without shame. Trump told the world that diplomacy was always his “first preference,” while boasting in the same breath about ripping up the nuclear deal with Iran: “I was so honored to do it. I was so proud to do it.” He destroyed the diplomatic framework with his own hands, then blamed Iran for the wreckage. He then admitted, casually, that the war has no self-defense rationale: “We don’t have to be there. We don’t need their oil. We don’t need anything they have. But we’re there to help our allies.” Under the UN Charter,self-defense is the only legal basis for force. Trump has confessed that no such basis exists.There is a particular deformation that power inflicts on certain personalities, and it is especially acute when the power in question is unbounded or seems to be so. With the command of nuclear arsenals, Trump and Netanyahu do not experience the world as others do. The availability of nuclear weapons, for these malignant narcissists, is not a burden of responsibility but an extension of their grandiose selves: I can do anything. I can level anything. Watch me. There will be no self-restraints by Netanyahu and Trump on this delusional grandiosity.Trump and Netanyahu do not experience the world as others do.Trump has completely internalized this sense of impunity. On April 1, he stood before the cameras and promised to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” The phrase “where they belong” is the verdict of a man who feels divinely licensed to judge the worth of 90 million people and dehumanizes them without hesitation. He has repeatedly threatened to destroy Iran’s civilian electrical infrastructure—a war crime under the laws of armed conflict, announced openly as a negoLA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•11
tiating position, to a global audience that mostly changed the channel.Netanyahu commands a state with an estimated 200 nuclear warheads, has never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and operates under no international inspection regime. He has watched Trump wield American military power with unchecked aggression and concurs that there are no consequences. The second madness feeds the third: when power faces no limit, the only remaining internal check is conscience. And the psychopath has no conscience. The lack of conscience is the most dangerous pathology of the three, because it is the one that removes the last possible internal brake. The strategist who wages an unjust war may eventually calculate that the costs exceed the gains and stop. The malignant narcissist who wages war for ego may eventually exhaust the ego’s demands and stop. The psychopath escalates because there are no limits. And, if you can believe, it gets even worse. Both Trump and Netanyahu are would-be messiahs. They are self-proclaimed agents of God. For them, stopping the war on Iran would mean God was wrong. And the self-proclaimed messiah cannot be wrong, either, because the messiah and God have become, in the grandiose psyche, effectively the same.Both Trump and Netanyahu have claimed this messianic identity explicitly. Trump has called himself “the chosen one.” Regarding the assassination attempt on Trump in 2024, he declared, “I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.” Netanyahu, in his address on the eve of Passover,did not merely invoke God. He appropriated God’s role in the Exodus narrative—enumerating ten “accomplishments” of what he calls the “War of Redemption” and naming each one a plague. The killing of Ayatollah Khamenei he named the “Plague of the Firstborn.” He then warned the world:After the ten plagues of Egypt, I remind you that Pharaoh still tried to harm the People of Israel, and we all know how that ended.In the Book of Exodus, that ending is the drowning of Pharaoh’s entire army. Netanyahu was threatening the annihilation of Iran, on television, in the language of holy scripture. Surrounding each of these men is a court of flatterers and fanatics whose function is to sustain the delusion and prevent reality from entering their consciousness.Trump’s Court: Hegseth, Huckabee, and the Christian NationalistsPete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, has turned the Pentagoninto a theater of holy war. He sports a Jerusalem Cross tattoo on his chest and the words “Deus Vult,” “God Wills It,” the battle cry of the medieval Crusades, on his arm. He hosts monthly Christian worship services in the Pentagon’s auditorium. He has asked the American people to pray “every day, on bended knee” for military victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ.” At one of these services, he prayed aloud for US troops to inflict:Overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy … We ask these things with bold confidence in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ.At a press briefing on the Iran war, Hegseth said the United States “negotiates with bombs.” He described Iran’s leaders as “religious fanatics” seeking nuclear capability for “some religious Armageddon,” while presiding over monthly prayer services at the Pentagon and declaring that “the providence of our almighty God is there protecting those troops.” He appears to have no awareness of the mirror he is holding up. A defense secretary who prays for “overwhelming violence” in the name of Jesus, while calling his enemies religious fanatics, has defined the word “projection.”Mike Huckabee, the US Ambassador to Israel, provides the theological architecture. A Baptist minister and avid Christian Zionist, Huckabee believes the Israel-Iran conflict is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy—a necessary step toward the Rapture and the second coming of Christ. He sent Trump a message—which Trump then posted on social media—comparing the moment to Truman in 1945 and the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, urging Trump to listen to “HIS voice,” meaning God. In an interview, Huckabee was asked about the biblical land grant stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates—encompassing Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq—and whether Israel had a divine right to it all. His answer was direct: “It would be fine if they took it all.”Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Smotrich, for his part, posted on social media: “I ♥ Huckabee.” Christian Zionist pastor John Hagee, whose organization Christians United for Israel has been a major driver of US evangelical support for Israel’s wars, looked at the Iran war and said simply: “Prophetically, we’re right on cue.” Franklin Graham, at a White House Easterprayer service, fed Trump’s messianic delusions: “Today the Iranians, the wicked regime of this government, wants to kill every Jew and destroy them with an atomic fire. But you have raised up President Trump. You’ve raised him up for such a time as this. And Father, we pray that you’ll give him victory.” LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•12Protesters dressed as prisoners wearing masks of Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, and Donald Trump, President of the United States during a demonstration through the streets of Madrid, in support of the Palestinian people, in commemoration of Palestinian Land Day. (Photo by Luis Soto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Netanyahu’s Court: Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and the Messianic SettlersOn the Israeli side, the inner court is composed of two figures whose radicalism is so extreme that they were considered political pariahs until Netanyahu used their votes to stay in power. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the National Security Minister, is an admirer of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose Kach party was designated a terrorist organization. Bezalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister, draws his ideology from Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, who taught that Israel’s 1967 military victory was divinely mandated and that the settlement of Palestinian territory is the will of God. Together, they hold 20 seats in Netanyahu’s 67-seat coalition. They do not merely advise the prime minister, they share in his messianic beliefs and vision.Ben-Gvir has used his control of the Israeli police to enable settler paramilitaries operating against Palestinians in the West Bank. He has consistently blocked ceasefire negotiations and has openly claimed credit for delaying them. He pushed for Jewish ritual rights on the Temple Mount in defiance of a status quo maintained for decades, a move Israeli security officials warned would lead directly to bloodshed. In August 2023 he declared: “My right, and my wife’s and my children’s right to get around on the roads in Judea and Samaria, is more important than the right to movement for Arabs.” The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Spain have all sanctioned him for inciting violence, yet the United States, under Marco Rubio, defended Ben-Gvir and criticized those sanctions.Smotrich is the more methodical of the two: less theatrical and more dangerous. He has systematically transferred civilian governance of the West Bank from the Israeli military to his own ministry, channeling hundreds of millions of shekels to settler infrastructure while Palestinian Authority budgets are deliberately strangled. He has directed his office to formulate “an operational plan for applying sovereignty” over the West Bank. During the Iran war, he called for Israel to annex southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, declaring that the war “needs to end with a different reality entirely.” Smotrich’s ideology draws on Kook’s teaching that the settlement enterprise is not political but sacred—a divine obligation that must be completed regardless of international law, Palestinian rights, or the opinion of the world. The 1967 borders, in this theology, are not a temporary military reality. They are God’s unfinished business.The world’s grownups must try to stop the madness.Neither Ben-Gvir nor Smotrich was anything more than a fringe extremist before Netanyahu legitimized them by bringing them into government and his inner court. He gave them power over Israeli society, and they gave him the religious-nationalist firepower to call his wars a divine mission. Into this landscape of holy war, one voice has spoken with world-saving grace and clarity. Pope Leo XIV has consistently called for an end to the violence. During a Holy Thursday Mass in Rome, he addressed the arrogance of power: We tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared. God has given us an example — not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it.On Palm Sunday, the pope was again direct, saying that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” Hegseth followed up by holding another worship service at the Pentagon, where he again prayed for “overwhelming violence” in Christ’s name. Professor John Mearsheimer has stated precisely that the crimes now being committed by Trump and Netanyahu are the same crimes for which the Nazi leadership was hanged at Nuremberg: aggressive war, annexation of foreign territory, deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, and collective punishment. This is not rhetorical excess. These are legal categories. The Nuremberg Tribunal called the crime of aggression the “supreme international crime”—the one that “contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole”—because it is the crime that makes all the other crimes possible. These men have confessed to it, publicly, in speeches carried by international broadcasters.The institutional mechanisms that exist to prevent exactly this kind of catastrophe, including the UN Security Council,The International Criminal Court, the non-proliferation regime, and the laws of armed conflict, are being actively subverted by the United States. And yet the world’s grownups must try to stop the madness. The multilateral effort in Islamabad, including the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, working alongside the China-Pakistan five-point peace initiative, is an important start. It should be joined by the full weight of the BRICS nations, the UN General Assembly, and every state that wishes to live in a world governed by rules rather than by the delusions of two malignant narcissists. When deranged leaders invoke divine catastrophe as a political instrument, it is not only their enemies who are consumed. We will all be the victims of Netanyahu’s plagues and Trump’s bombing of Iran to the stone ages, unless other leaders place limits on these two madmen. See www.commondreams.org for more articles and bio.LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•13
Habere Artem*Habere Artemis savoir faire*is knowing how to loveand be loved.Habere Artemis watching the sunrise’s reflectionson a bird’s wing.as they wake up and salutethe first ray of the sunbeing born in the horizon.Habere Artemis learning how to truly listen with kindnessand giving space to othersto completely express themselvestrying our best not to judgebut to understand with an open heart and mind.Habere Artemis listening to silenceand trying to find your inner voice surface the lines of a white pageand let the flow of words begin.Wonder for an instantand let your gaze free intothe eyes of another creature discoveringhow wonderful mother earth and nature are.Their perfection paintedThrough the harmonious colors and lines of their eyes.Habere Artemis receiving the message of beautywritten everywhere in front of youletting it sink deep insideuntil you find the joy and awe of your inner childresurface and fill your heart with true happiness.—Patrizia Rossi OrtizBIO: Patrizia Rossi Ortiz, born in Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany in Italy studied in Florence. She came to the U.S. with her family in 1993 moving to San Antonio in 1998. She has been part of the writing circles, Circulo de Mujeres at OLLU and The Jazz Poets of SA. She welcomes any feedback on her poetry.*Glossary - Habere Artem: To have art or be artful | savoir faire: knowing how to do LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•14Photo: Woodlawn Lake by Patrizia Rossi Ortiz
Join as as together we celebrate May 1st through action and community.Friday, May 15:30 – 7:30pm CDTMain Plaza @ 115 N Main AveSan Antonio, TXRatón Award to:Eric Swalwell & Tony GonzálesSubmit nominations for the Ratón Award to: [email protected] double Ratón Award is merited this month as Congress Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif and Tony Gonzáles, R-Texas, both resigned from Congress in lieu of facing expulsion following sexual misconduct allegations. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the eradication of all ratones in the upper echelons of our government who have breached moral or ethical “standards.” The 44th Tejano Conjunto Festival Sponsored by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts CenterMay 14 - May 17, 2026Go to: 44tcf2026.eventive.org/scheduleOn Sunday, May 31, 2026, Caroline Kennedy and her son Jack Schlossberg will present the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award® in a livestream at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston to the “twin cities” of Minnesota,—Minneapolis | St. Paul—“risking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members from an unprecedented federal law enforcement operation, peacefully defending the human rights and values that serve as the foundation of our Constitutional democracy.” The Award will also honor Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell. To watch go to:https://bit.ly/Courage-Awardhttps://bit.ly/4vwPdjNCheck 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.AnunciosMay 2026Remember your tax deductible giftsYour donation supports the Esperanza! go to: www.esperanzacenter.org/Donateor send check to:Esperanza Peace & Justice Center922 San Pedro Ave • SA, TX 78212Become a Monthly Donor!15LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•or call210-228-0201to donateYour donationhelps us advocatefor you.Support the Esperanzawww.esperanzacenter.org/donateArt by Ray Valdez, Mission, Texas
Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address? TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTIONEMAIL [email protected] CALL: 210.228.020117th AnnualPaseo Por El WestsideRinconcito de Esperanza816 S Colorado St., SATXHistoric tours, food,drink, games, MujerArtes Clay Art, workshops, Museo del Westside y más!For more info:www.esperanzacenter.orgSaturday, May 9, 20269:00 AM - 3:00 PMThe Librarians, a documentary Film Screening @ Esperanza922 San Pedro, SATXMay 2nd from 5-8pm. Co-sponsored with the League of Women VotersUpcoming Elections: May 2026On May 2nd, a General Election will be held for municipalities, school districts, special projects and the Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees. To view a sample ballot go to: bit.ly/41Py0VcThe May 26th election is the Primary Runoff for candidates that did not receive more than 50% of the vote in the March 3rd primary. Early voting is May 18-22.To view a sample primary ballot go to: bit.ly/4sQTzQnNon-Profit Org.US PostagePAIDSan Antonio, TXPermit #332LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2026 Vol. 39 Issue 4•ESPERANZA PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org