La Voz de Esperanza - May 2012

a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

May 2012 | Vol. 25 Issue 4

San Antonio, Tejas

Carmen Tafolla, San Antonio’s new poet laureate, appeared at 4 years of age in the San Antonio Light in 1955 drawing attention to the chugholes that were never fixed in the streets of her Westside neighborhood. Carmen will share her stories and poems at the Paseo por el Westside on May 6th, 2012.. [See back]

La Voz de Esperanza May 2012

vol. 25 issue 4 © 2012 Esperanza Peace & Justice Center All Rights Reserved.

Editor

Gloria A. Ramírez Editorial Assistance Alice Canestaro-Garcia

Design

Monica V. Velásquez

Contributors Norma E. Cantú, Angela de Hoyos, Arturo Madrid, Felix Padrón, Laurie Posner, Carmen Tafolla

La Voz Mail Collective Juan Diaz, Susana Hayward, Gloria Hernández, Davina Kaiser, Ray McDonald, Lynn McWhite, Maria & Alan A. Medellin, Angie Merla, JJ Niño, Ben Salinas, Argelia & Lonnie Soto, Dave Stokes, Ines Valdez, Lucila Vicencio y MujerArtes

Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza Staff

Imelda Arismendez, Verónica Castillo, Monica V. Velásquez

Conjunto de Nepantleras -Esperanza Board of Directors-

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

Brenda Davis, Araceli Herrera, Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely, Kamala Platt, Ana Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Nadine Saliba, Graciela Sánchez

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• We advocate for a wide variety of social, economic & environmental justice issues.

• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not necessarily those of the Esperanza Center.

La Voz de Esperanza

is a publication of The Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212 (on the corner of Evergreen Street)

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The Esperanza Peace & Justice Center is funded in part by the TCA, AKR Fdn, Astraea Lesbian Fdn for Justice, the NEA, theFund, The Kerry Lobel & Marta Drury Fund of Horizon’s Fdn, Coyote Phoenix, Movement Strategy Center Fund, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Foundation y nuestra buena gente.

Cover Photo from the San Antonio Light, Friday, December 30, 1955

La güerita

who appeared in the San Antonio Light in 1955 could have taken any number of paths as she grew up, except for one thing. With her red hair, fair skin, green eyes–she could have passed on to another world and become completely assimilated into the traditional anglo american culture leaving behind her community and roots in San Antonio’s Westside.

But, hija del Westside, Carmen Tafolla, San Antonio’s first newly appointed poet laureate, had already, at 4 years of age, experienced community activism and the spirit of vecindad with neighbors banning together to get things done for the common good.

She already had a command of two languages and a sense of literacy and poetry. She had sat in the lap of her tias delcamando en Español and heard her mother reciting poetry in English. As she developed a love of books, she was able to discern the omission of her own experiences in those books. Fortunately for us, she chose to write about her own cultural observations and experiences contributing to the correction of that omission. If Carmen had not had that solid cultural grounding as a young child, we might not have in San Antonio, today, the exceptional poet laureate that we now have that will inspire many more children.

I remember as a child in the barrio reading insatiably in the same way Carmen describes. I remember reading many biographies of women and young girls including Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Blackwell, Clara Barton and more. No women of color, except for Hiawatha and Sacajawea. I did do extensive research on Native Americans, however, perhaps trying to validate my own being. One book that stuck in my mind was a biography of Virginia Dare, born August 18, 1587 “the first child born in the Americas to English parents.”

Don’t know why that stuck in my head, but recently Paula Gunn, historian, who writes a column in the San Antonio Express-News mentioned an interesting and related fact. A question was raised on the preservation/renovation of the Eagar House on the Hemisfair grounds and she wrote on the Eager family noting that one of the daughters, Sarah Riddle Eagar, born February 16, 1842 has been referred to as “the first girl born to Anglo-American parents in San Antonio.” She noted that toddler, Sarah, was said to have been kidnapped by Native Americans but grew up to be one of San Antonio’s society ladies becoming a virtual Zelig appearing at many historically momentous occasions. Her portrait hung in the Municipal Auditorium which is now being “renovated” and will no longer exist. I wondered who the first child of Mexican parentage in San Antonio was? Who was the first black child? Pero, nuestros niños no cuentan. Our children are not counted as historically significant.

The transmission of culture and community es sumamente importante. It is highly essential for our children to have a connection to their deep and historical cultural roots. That is why we, at the Esperanza Center, are working on the Westside to restore our cuentos, cultura y comunidad. Cultural grounding had already marked Carmen’s path to poetry and activism by the time she was 4. By the time she had reached her 20s, she was part of the Chicano movement where arts and literature became hallmarks of the movement. We must redouble our efforts to reclaim our history and culture and give our children the grounding that will inspire them to want to give back to their comunidad. Join us on May 6th as we celebrate Paseo por El Westside as part of National Historic Preservation Month and share with us your stories and photos. Our children deserve to read literature that reflects their own lives and to have their names written in history, also. –Gloria A. Ramirez ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a correction you want to make on your mailing label please send it in to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. If you do not wish to continue on the mailing list for whatever reason please notify us as well. 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. 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.

Opening Remarks by Felix Padrón, Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs, San Antonio, Texas

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uenas Noche, bienvenidos y gracias por compartir en este evento especial y dedicado al primer poeta laureado de San Antonio. Mayor, I know that today is Tuesday and parking is free to all that visit downtown San Antonio, but I will say that tonight’s great turnout is really due to Carmen, alone. Let me start by saying that San Antonio is the New Face of the American Dream, as Mayor Castro has boldly stated on several occasions. And it is also where the arts run deep in our hearts. I think tonight’s ceremony is evidence of both of these statements.

I want to congratulate all of you for being in attendance for this historical occasion and for supporting this longawaited initiative. As many of you know, April is National Poetry Month, and what better way to celebrate than to appoint San Antonio’s First Poet Laureate, Dr. Carmen Tafolla.

I want to begin by acknowledging the vast team of folks who made this initiative, this selection, and this evening possible. I would first like to thank the Mayor for his leadership and support, and point out the two vision areas of SA2020, Arts & Culture as well as Education, which helped shape and make the Poet Laureate Initiative a reality…thank you, Mayor. I would also like to thank the Mayor’s staff for working with OCA staff throughout the process and selecting the Poet Laureate. There have been other elected officials who have been a part of this initiative and who are in attendance tonight, including Senator Leticia Van de Putte, who was one of 5 individuals who nominated Carmen for this honor.

The Poet Laureate Selection Committee, which was comprised of four poets from across the country and we thank them for their time and dedication to this project.

I want to personally thank Rose Catacolos who took this project head on and helped us guide the selection process…. thank you, Rose. I also want to thank our partners including: Gemini Ink, the Diez y Seis Commission, the San Antonio Public Library, the Cultural Arts Board, and more importantly, the literary community, Nominees and those who took the time to nominate the poets. And, finally, thank you to the San Antonio Community for embracing this initiative.

As the 19th century American poet Walt Whitman once said, “To have great poets there must be great audiences, too.” And I believe that Dr. Tafolla has a great audience if tonight’s attendance is any indication.

Many may not remember, but it is important to recognize that initial Poet Laureate conversations began in 2005 when then Councilwoman Patti Radle inquired

medal design by Pat Gavin

with OCA about the idea of establishing a poet laureate and after she had been presented with the idea by local Chicano/ Community poet, Trinidad Sánchez, who passed away in 2006.

It was at that point that the research of other cities’ and states’ Poet Laureate programs began and with the leadership of Mayor Julian Castor we were able to make this initiative a reality.

Thank you, Mayor, for taking a great interest in this project and making literacy and education a priority for the San Antonio Community.

The state of Texas named its first poet laureate in 1932, however, TODAY, San Antonio becomes the first major city in Texas to appoint its own poet laureate. With this we join the ranks of other cities across the nation and we expect other cities in Texas will soon follow suit.

In San Antonio, we recognize that poetry plays a significant role in the culture of our city as well in the education of our population. I quote poet, Audre Lorde, who bythe-way was poet laureate of New York from 199192, who captures the power of the written word when she said, “Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.” We believe that our Poet Laureate will carry this same message throughout her two-year term and she will bridge and bring to the forefront the necessity to promote literacy, poetic arts, and literature.

Nelson Mandela once said, “A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” And we know that Carmen Tafolla has a good head, a good heart, and most definitely a literate tongue and pen. I think San Antonio has something very special. Renowned author, Alex Haley, even called her “a world-class writer” and Ana Castillo called her a “pioneer of Chicana literature.”

The state of Texas named however, TODAY, San

Antonio becomes the first

major city in Texas to appoint its own poet laureate.

cont’d on pg 5 . . .

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

its first poet laureate in 1932,

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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

Carmen Tafolla’s speech delivered at the induction ceremony . . . .

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Mi pueblo querido, I love you very much. In a village this cousins, my 3rd cousins, my 4th cousins, my 5th step-cousin increative, this artistic, this bubbling over with energy, and with laws, my 6th cousins, twice removed –except that in Mexican dynamic good will, I feel nothing but humility and a desire to families we don’t remove anybody. Thank you for being here. I serve. It is an honor, but it is a very humbling thought to accept know you’re here. this post. I will do my best to bring us all flowing together like this I want to thank my friends for the tesoros that you are. You are beautiful river, our namesake. the treasure, the true treasure of life. Friends and my colleagues It’s unthinkable to not thank you as a community and you as a city for this poetic energy, this richness of expression, this unconquerable spirit that San Antonio represents. People like to say that it takes a village to raise a child, and I was planning to talk about how it takes a community to create a poet – but I attended last week’s Art Peace Award, given to local poet publisher, Bryce Milligan, and there I heard him say, more eloquently than I could have, how it takes a village to make anything happen. And I concur, but still, I have a village to thank.

In some parts of this nation, communities are trying to erase the history and the contributions of their diverse groups, but here, in San Antonio, our mayor, our city leaders, our residents have had the visionary genius to embrace the great diversity of our writers knowing that in our diversity lies our strength, our wealth and our future. So I thank, first of all, the City of San Antonio, its leaders and its people.

Carmen with her mother, Mary Duarte Tafolla, and Mayor Castro at the induction I also thank family, familia is what makes everything happen. I have my familia out there tonight, I’m who are here in force, very proud to say: my husband tonight. UTSA is here Ernesto Bernal, of almost 33 from the top down, and years now, who has always I thank my colleagues supported me and believed in for their support. I me, and even tolerated those also want to thank the crazy moments when I’d say, University I started “Yea, yea, yea we’ll talk about at, way back in 1973 supper in a little while. Hold [then, Texas Lutheran on, I only have another 672 College] and its nowpages to go.” retired President Charles My mother, Mary Duarte Oestreich (who was then, Tafolla, is the youngest spirit I know I believe, academic dean or and at age 94, still appreciates poetry. I some such modest title). He still remember her reciting the poem that actually hired a 21 year old, wetshe had learned in elementary school to me, behind-the-ears young woman from meaningfully stating, “In Flanders Fields the poppies the Westside of San Antonio as Director of grow / Between the crosses, row on row.” I also remember her the Mexican American Studies Center because he believed that saving and scrimping and struggling for the two dollars a month maybe I had some potential and something to contribute to the that it would take to buy a Childcraft Encyclopedia set, the first world. And, I thank you for that, Dr. Oestreich. volume of which was called, Children’s Verse.

I thank, today, the educators that are out there, and the And, my children Mari, Israel and Ariana, seven, right there, legislators and the daily makers of this city who build this city (points to front row). Also, my cousins, and my tias, you’re out one tortilla at a time, one brick at a time, one smile at a time, one there, I see you. All of my cousins: my 1st cousins, my 2nd tourist welcomed in and one suitcase carried at a time–because all

I also thank family, familia is what makes everything happen...

I remember [my mother] scrimping and saving the 2 dollars a month that it would take to buy a Childcraft Encyclopedia set, the first volume of which was called, Children’s Verse.

I will try and make poetry a two-way street, not a one way street . . . I want these projects to focus not only on sharing poetry with the community, but hearing the poetry that is coming from our community.

Felix Padrón Opening Remarks

cont’d from p3

Dr. Carmen Tafolla was nominated by five individuals for this honor among a total of twenty-one nominations. Her relationship with the community is one that spans all ages, ethnicities, and creeds and her family history in San Antonio goes back several generations. Carmen, herself, was raised on West side of San Antonio.

Carmen has written six children’s books and a total of six fiction & nonfiction books. She also has a total of six collections of poetry. And her poetry has been translated into Spanish, German, and Bengali. In addition, her works have won numerous awards, too many to list tonight, but in much of her poetry you will notice

...

she is a master of “code-switching,” which is the skill of alternating between formal and colloquial Spanish and English as a literary technique.

She believes strongly that a multi-cultural duallanguage education is one of the greatest gifts we can provide our children, and that effective family literacy is heavily dependent on the availability of stories and literature to which people can relate culturally and realistically.

I cannot think of anyone else but Carmen Tafolla as our first Poet Laureate. She is truly hecha en San Antonio. Mayor, please join me in congratulating Dr. Tafolla and to preside over the official honors. Gracias.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

of you help make this place happen each day in each word.and in each action.

I also want to thank the poets. Poets, you know who you are! I want you to stand and be recognized. All of you poets, if you’re wondering, am I the one she’s talking about? If you’re wondering if you should stand. Stand! The Sun Poets, The Jazz Poets, Macondo Poets, Canto Mundo Poets, come on! Young Pegasus, Writer’s Blog, The San Antonio Poets Association, San Antonio Cultural Arts and Placazo, Wings Press poets, Pecan Grove poets, Trinity University Press poets, Our Lady of the Lake writing program, UTSA writing program, Alamo Community College poets, St. Mary’s writing program, Texas A&M San Anto and Incarnate Word, Rap poets, Hip Hop poets. Don’t sit down! We’re not done, yet! Alamo Poets of Texas, San Antonio Writers Forum, Awaken the Sleeping Poet, Gemini Ink, Voices de

la Luna, Fresh Take Under 21 Poetry, Gallista Gallery poets, The San Antonio Express News poetry column, the NALAC poets, the Third Monday poets, the independent poets and the closet poets who haven’t told anybody that you’re poets.

[I want to thank] the cultural arts organizations of the city: The Esperanza, The Guadalupe, The Museo Alameda, The SAMA, The Witte, The Children’s Museum, …all of the places that encourage and support our writers. Please, everyone, let us applaud these people who write and sweat and work hard to express our soul. These people everyday struggle to find just the right words, to put who we are, who our spirit is, down on paper and then they go back and they change it and they find a better word and then they struggle over that word for like 3 hours and then they trash it, and put in a comma, and then they take out the comma, and put in, finally, the perfect word.

So, these are the people, these poets and our artists and our musicians who, I’ve got to tell you, for those of you who think that “uhhh, poets, writers, artists – are those weird people out there in the edges of society. What do they do, I’m not really sure? They don’t make any money.” But, I have got to share with you that they are our prophets. And, I use the word prophet in the Old Testament sense of the word. A prophet is not somebody that forecasts the future. A prophet is somebody who interpets the present. They help us see where we are and who we are. And I have to thank you all, today.

You might ask, why is poetry so important? We’re in a world full of illiteracy, violence, hunger, teen pregnancy, depression, lack of unity, all kinds of problems. Why put emphasis on poetry? Because, if poetry does its job right, it reaches the most honest and the most authentic part of our humanity. It helps us understand, why we’re here and what we need to do. It helps us understand the spirit and the soul of this city. It speaks to who we are. It celebrates our strength. It celebrates our uniqueness. And this city is full of rich literary expression. It’s everywhere. Not just in the formality of our books. Not just in our presses. But, it’s standing at the bus stop. In a person who is telling their story, who’s trying to figure out what their life is about and is trying to express it just right in the perfect words. It’s in the lines of a song. It’s in the punch lines of the best jokes in the city. People trying to create an expression about what our life is about. It’s even in our wonderful bilingual aliteration, like “Que cool!” Or, “Bueno, bye.”

You can count on the fact that the projects I lead here will try and tie all facets of the community together not just the young, not just the old, not just the highly educated and not just the people

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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

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who are on the fringes of our institutions. But, we’ll try to bring people together so that we can empower each other. I will try and make poetry a two-way street, not a one way street. Not something we “give” others. Not, “I’m here to share elegant poetry with you” and you’re there to just sit and receive it. No, we’re here to make it a communication. And I want that two-way street to connect to all the highways, footpaths and rivers of this great pueblo connecting the different languages, the cultures, the time periods and the neighborhoods in one empowering poetic affirmation of our potential and our future. I want these projects to focus not only on sharing poetry with the community but hearing the poetry that is coming from our community, hearing the voices of San Antonio and allowing our citizens, young and old to be co-creators in the act and the performance of poetry.

Many things are possible if you will stand by my side and help me. If you will suggest to me, if you will correct, amend and elaborate on the ideas we come up with. Like people saying, “Remember the bookmobiles? Yeah, I remember the bookmobiles! Why don’t we have a poemmobile!” It would carry around, not only a library of poetry, not only workshops for the young, but a stage – and the kids could get up there and perform and have talent contests. We’d have talent contests for all age groups. We could get everybody involved.

This morning I was with my husband at the barbershop and his barber starts to quote an Amado Nervo poem. Llave vieja, que ya no tienen dientes / Porqué las guardo... And he goes on, a barber pulling from the poetry of his soul from a poem that had reached him.

We can skype poetry into the schools. We can get all of the poets out there involved in sharing with schools, in teaching students. We can create a performance piece about San Antonio, mi pueblo, tu pueblo, so that tourists who come here to see what San Antonio’s about – hear in the voices of our poets and our people and our young people, what we are about. There’s a lot we could talk about but I’m just one person and I’m hoping that if I’m lucky, I can work in a midway position between the communities, the poets and the universities and cultural arts organizations and help make these projects happen.

I have to tell you that I didn’t grow up knowing I was going to be a writer or a poet, despite my mother’s poems, despite my Tía Ester putting me on her lap and teaching me to declamar in good Spanish style, “Rin, Rin renacuajo / salio una mañana, / muy tierno, / muy majo. – ‘No salgas, hi’jito’ le dice Mamá / pero él le hace un gesto / y orondo se va. – Con pantalón corto, / corbata a la moda, / sombrero encintado / y chupando de boda...”

I didn’t even know what “chupando de boda” meant! But, she taught me at age five to declamar. To declaim. But I didn’t know, I didn’t think I could be a writer. I wished, maybe, for the resources of elsewhere. We didn’t even have a library on the Westside of San Antonio at that time. So, books were not easy to come by. They didn’t put a library there until I was eleven years old and my mother would walk two miles from our house to the library once a week with me to help me check out the books.

I’d get five books a week and I would open them up and I would read them all the way through and pretty soon they were done. And, I was bored, again. And I opened the book and I looked at it to see if there was anything I’d missed and, yeah, I’d missed one page. The one right behind the title page with all the little fine print, very boring stuff that says things like ISBN:0–0067–2954, but there was one thing on that page that fascinated me, and it was an address. Every single book had an address where it came from and it said things like, Doubleday, New York, Random House, New York, Little Brown, New York and I thought, “Oh, that’s where the books come from and that’s where the writers come from. Too bad! If only I had been raised in New York, I might have had something to write about.”

Instead, I was raised in the Westside of San Antonio. I don’t have anything to write about, you know, we don’t have a Statue of Liberty on the Westside. We don’t have a Central Park on the Westside. We don’t have any park at all. Instead of a park at the end of our block, like they had on TV neighborhoods, at the end of our block we had

I didn’t grow up knowing I was going to be a writer. . .We didn’t even have a library on the Westside of San Antonio at that time.

Left: Carmen and her daughter Ariana, seven years old. cont’d on pg 12 . . .

COURAGEOUS CONNECTIONS Resources for Raising Our Voices for All Texas Children

by Laurie Posner

This coming year, it must be different.

Across the state, lawmakers eliminated billions from public education, cutting funds to K-12 districts in every region; special programs, including pre-kindergarten programs, dropout prevention and teacher training; and college scholarships for low-income youth. In the seven Central Texas counties of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Gillespie, Gonzáles, Travis and Williamson, where schools serve forty percent more children than they did just ten years ago, the Texas legislature cut over $300 million from public schools for the biennium. In Bexar County, almost $240 million was cut from public schools. Here, the San Antonio-New Braunfels area ranks 84th out of the 100 largest metro areas in the country on higher education attainment, according to a recent study by the Lumina Foundation.

And these cuts weren’t made in a vacuum. Texas already ranks about 40th in per pupil spending and pays teachers less on average then 30 other states. Despite gains, we face persistent problems with equity: property poor and property wealthy districts from one neighborhood to another are often separated by thousands of dollars difference in per student spending. These differences matter very much for children. At every school level in Texas, children who attend high-poverty schools have less access to teacher quality than their peers in low-poverty schools.

Changing course, making the success of all Texas children a top priority, will

Online Resources: Intercultural Development Research Association: http://www.idra.org/

E3 Alliance 2010 Central Texas Profile: http://theblueprintforeducationalchange.org/ build/Media/profile%202010%20vL-small.pdf

IDRA Infographic: State Rank in Per Pupil Funding: http://www.idra.org/images/stories/ Infographic_State_Rank_per_Pupil_Funding.pdf

Study on the Distribution of Teacher Quality in Texas Schools, Ed Fuller, ATPE, 2010 http://www.atpe.org/advocacy/issues/10_ TeacherQuality_for_web.pdf

IDRA Fair Funding Now! Initiative http://www.idra.org/Courageous_Connections/ Events/Fair_Funding_Now/

IDRA Our School Portal (English) http://www.idra.org/portal/

IDRA Our School Portal (Spanish) http://www.idra.org/portalsp/

Texas School Funding Crowdmap https://schoolfunding.crowdmap.com/ cont’d on pg 11. . .

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

n lean times, as lawmakers favor stop-gap savings over long-term, strategic investment, it takes courage to be a voice for children. That voice was lifted last spring, but not yet audibly enough to fill—and reverberate across—the domed ceilings of the capitol.

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In the Country of Empty Crosses

The Story of a Hispano Protestant Family in Catholic New Mexico an excerpt

The Interloper

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“This is not Mills.”

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My father’s voice is swept away by the wind coursing through the grass and along the gravel road. He is so slight that the wind almost bends him. The only other sound in the emptiness that surrounds us is the whirring of cicadas. Before us stands a shed with a sign. My son, Raúl, reads it aloud: “P.O. Mills NM 87302 Hours: 1:00–1:30 M–F.” There is nothing else. Beyond the shed, to the east, lie grasslands; to the north, grasslands; to the south, more grasslands. Behind us, to the west, is a slight rise. We are at the western edge of the Kiowa National Grasslands, located in northeastern New Mexico and established in the middle of the Depression.

I have been hearing the name Mills for almost half a century. My father taught school there before he married my mother and moved to Rio Arriba County. The family album includes photos from that period of his life. They show a dapper, exceptionally handsome young man posing with the Mills High School men’s and women’s basketball teams. He is not much older than they are, but they are all larger than he is.

Mills has been part of my father’s memories, and he has imprinted it in the minds of his children and grandchildren as well.

My father traveled to Mills for the first time in the summer of 1935. He was twenty-four years old and looking for a teaching position. One was not available to him in his hometown. In

photo by Miguel Gandert

by Arturo Madrid

West Las Vegas he was a protestante; in East Las Vegas he was a Mexican. My father and a friend drove north and east in a borrowed automobile to the Anglo farming and ranching communities of Mora, Harding, and Colfax counties. In each community they sought out the chairman of the local school board. By prior agreement they spoke for each other: “Mr. Miller, I’d like you to meet my colleague, Arthur T. Madrid, a senior at New Mexico Highlands University. He is seeking a teaching position. His majors are English and business education, but he can also teach Spanish.”

The interview concluded, they moved on to the next settlement.

Chance gave my father a teaching position at Mills. The two Anglo school board members each had a candidate and could reach no agreement or accommodation on them. In the end they turned to the third member of the board, whose name coincidentally was Madrid, and asked him to choose. He chose the Mexican.

My father stands before the erstwhile post office, perplexed. It is a hot, dry August afternoon. He turns left and then right. He looks north, then south, west, east. He shakes his head. There is just a sea of grass and the skeleton of a town: three long-abandoned dwellings and a cement grain tower that rises out of the prairie.

We climb back into the car and take a gravel road to the top of the rise. In the distance lies the canyon cut into the high prairie by the Canadian River and its tributaries. Ranch buildings stand

photo by Miguel Gandert

had already graduated, but when I found out you taught business education I came back for a year.”

My father nods and says, “Yes, yes.”

We drink the ice water. In the background I can hear the whirring of a windmill. My father, to my surprise, asks very few questions. Our visit is marked principally by silence. After a polite interval, we take our leave.

My father arrived in Mills on a hot early September afternoon in 1935. To get there he took an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe train northeast from Las Vegas to French, where he spent the night. The next day he rode the caboose of a Southern Pacific ore train southeast to Mills. He took a room at the Libert Hotel for a dollar a day, meals included. After a week he became a boarder at a private residence. For the next two years he taught school at Mills, and during the summers he completed the requirements for his baccalaureate degree.

We get back in the car and return to the shed. As we walk south down the gravel road my father stops. “I see it now,” he says. “The houses were all in a row along the road, facing east.

On the opposite side were the general store, the post office, the blacksmith shop, and the garage. Over there was the Libert Hotel.”

There is no sign of their existence, not even foundation stone. He stands in the middle of the road for a long time. Mills is a graveyard of memories for him. The wind weaves through the tall grass. We walk slowly up the lane to the car, pausing as my father recalls where a building stood or a family lived. A powdery dust covers our shoes. Ever fastidious, he brushes it off before getting into the car.

The sun is low on the horizon, and the wind has risen.

My father is quiet as we head north toward Springer and the interstate that will take us back to Las Vegas. “That first morning,” he says, finally, “when I walked down the road to the schoolhouse, everybody came out on their front porches to see the Mexican schoolteacher. I remember I wore a black hat, and they pointed at me. They continued to do so all fall, until the cold drove them in.

“They didn’t want me in their community,” he continues.

“The boys would harass me constantly in and out of class. The worst was a teacher, Miss Jones, who ragged me unmercifully.

Every night I would return to my room and pack my suitcase.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

along the road leading west. To the north we can see a ranch house but no sign of human life.

My father’s puzzlement and the afternoon heat overcome my usual temerity. I do not go gently into rural, western, Anglo space. It is a function of both acquired and transmitted wisdom, reinforced when we drive up to the ranch house and are met by two large dogs.

A woman, large and raw-boned, appears and calls to them.

From the safety of the car, I explain: “Sorry to trouble you.

We’re looking for Mills. My father was a schoolteacher there, in the 1930s. We found the post office but nothing else. Could you direct us?” She is hatless and sleeveless, and her exposed skin is a prickly red. Her face registers surprise and curiosity.

“Taught here, you say?” I nod. “In the 1930s?” I nod again.

“What was his name?” I tell her. “Taught business education?” she asks. “Yes,” I answer, nodding vigorously.

She invites us in. The dogs follow at a distance. It is a modest house. We enter the living room tentatively. Afternoon heat and summer dust hang in the air.

“Sam, we have visitors,” she calls out as she disappears into the back of the house. A bulky, elderly man appears from an adjacent room. He is wearing rumpled overalls and a faded work shirt. He has been napping. His hair is matted, his eyes swollen. The skin below his hairline is a ruddy red.

The woman returns with a pitcher of ice water and glasses.

“Man says he was a schoolteacher here in the 1930s,” she tells him. “Says he taught business education.”

He greets us and invites us to sit. “From Las Vegas?” he asks.

“Yes,” my father replies.

“I remember you,” he says.

We sit down, surprised.

“They’re looking for Mills,” she says. Her voice is loud, to compensate for his hearing, she tells us.

“Nothing left anymore,” he says, matter-of-factly. “We’re about the only old-timers here. Most people left during the Depression, when the federal government bought the land around here for the grasslands park. Only a few of us stayed.

Our children grew up and left.” He says it dispassionately.

There is no note of loss or regret.

“I’m one of the Johnson girls,” the woman tells my father. “I

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photo by Miguel Gandert

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

And every night my landlady would say to me, ‘Don’t do it, Mr. Madrid. Don’t leave. Don’t you see that’s what they want you to do?’

“I went home that first Thanksgiving,” he says. “After church on Sunday I took a bus to Springer and caught a ride east to the Mills junction. It was late afternoon by then. I started walking south toward Mills, sixteen miles away. The afternoon was cold, and as the sun dropped it got colder. There were no cars on the road. One came by after I had walked halfway to Mills. It slowed down, then sped off. I recognized the family. At dusk I left the highway and walked to a ranch house I saw in the distance. I offered to pay them to drive me the rest of the way.”

Raúl asks my father why he returned the next year. He laughs and says, “Nothing had changed. I needed a job, and the one at Mills was the only one available.” When we turn south onto the interstate, the sun is dropping behind the Sangre de

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Cristo range and the prairie to the east is luminous. He gazes into the distance. Finally he says, “Sam, the man we met, was one of the worst. He had already graduated but showed up with his brothers for every school function. They were particularly unpleasant at basketball games.”

Two weeks into his third year, my father was offered a position in Luna County at a higher salary. He packed his bag that night and left the next morning without collecting the pay due him. Although he knocked the dust off his shoes as he departed, Mills is deeply engraved in his memory, and the lines are etched as sharp as ever.

In the Country of Empty Crosses by Arturo Madrid is available at your neighborhood bookstore or preferred online retailer.

Bio: Arturo Madrid is Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio.

El Mundo Zurdo

The Int’l Conference on the Life and Work of

May 16-19, 2012, San Antonio, TX UTSA • Downtown campus

May 16 - Bus trip to the Valley; Visit to Hargill Cemetary / Luncheon at Univ. of Texas-Pan American: Speaker, Prof Aída Hurtado May 17 - Pre-Conference Workshops (Ari Chagoya and Deborah Kuetzpalin Vásquez/ Opening Reception/ Art Exhibit “Transformations: Entre el Cuerpo” May 18-19 - Conference Sessions,

Artwork “Liminal Incubation” by Adriana M. Garcia

Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar.

(Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.) - Gloria Anzaldúa

Plenary Speakers: Two leading feminist Chicanas, Prof. Norma Alarcón and Rusty Barceló, both founding members of the SSGA, will speak; Noche de Cultura: Performances by Carmencristina and Martha González y más

elmundozurdo.wordpress.com colfa.utsa.edu/English/emz2012.html

Resources for Raising Our Voices for All Texas Children... cont’d from pg7 require bold leadership. At IDRA, we are working to develop a set of tools to support such leadership. Here is a snapshot of three such tools.

meant as a tool for community-based leadership, stories can be downloaded and printed as part of a toolkit in making the case for excellent, equitable education. To add your story to the map, visit schoolfunding.crowdmap.com (see crowdmap photo on pg. 7)

Three New Tools for Strengthening Texas Education

Each of these tools was piloted in the fall through a series of roundtable gatherings with education, community, business, and family leaders in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, the lower Rio Grande Valley, Houston, and San Antonio, as part of Fair Funding

Online Interactive Data Maps: How Much Revenue was Cut?

Two interactive data maps are designed to provide searchable information on the total revenue loss for schools by Texas county and district (2011 to 2013).

Built on a Google platform, these maps can be placed (and fully function) on almost any website, providing resources that people around the state can use and share to answer one of the first questions emerging from the 2011 session: How much revenue was lost for my school district (or county)? You can visit the data maps on IDRA’s Fair Funding Now! webpage.

SB1 Funding for the Biennium in IDRA’s Our School Portal– How much revenue was cut?

How does this relate to other school district data?

Photo: Youth, Community, Family and School Leaders using IDRA’s bilingual OurSchool Portal at YA Es Tiempo education gathering in the Rio Grande Valley

. . . property poor and property wealthy districts from one neighborhood to another are often separated by thousands of dollars difference in per student spending.

Now!, a partnership with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Mexican American School Board Members Association (MASBA) and Texas Center for Educational Policy (TCEP). As a next step, we hope to refine them and roll them out statewide.

From caring comes courage School Funding Crowdmap How Are Funding Cuts When policymaking has shifted away from what matters most-Affecting Your School? making sure that every child in Texas has access to a high quality IDRA’s School Funding Crowdmap – harnesses the power of crowdsourcing to capture how funding cuts to education are impacting their local schools and communities. The publiclygenerated map is being used by family leaders to post reports of how funding cuts are already impacting teaching quality, transportation access, and student supports. Teachers are sharing how funding cuts impact class sizes and materials and school leaders are describing how cuts are affecting their capacity to provide for a high quality education for all children. The map is

education--courage and leadership can re-set the compass. Lao Tzu said “from caring comes courage.” Family, community and education leaders of Texas are sure to have courage, since certainly we care, abundantly, for our children.

Bio: Laurie Posner is a senior education associate with the Intercultural Development Research Association in San Antonio. IDRA is dedicated to strengthening schools to work for all children. (An earlier version of this article was published online by the KDK-Harman Foundation.)

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

IDRA’s OurSchool portal provides data on a set of key indicators for every public school district in the state. Launched in 2005, this bilingual (Spanish/English), web-based portal is organized around IDRA’s Quality Schools Action Framework – an action model that engages school, community, and family partners in examining key data and developing a joint action plan for improving the quality of public schooling. This fall, IDRA added searchable data on revenue changes resulting from SB1, and through the portal, has coupled this new data with existing information on student demographics, curriculum quality and college readiness. To register, visit Our School Portal.

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. a tortilleria where an elderly woman would make corn tortillas for they were made out of . . .our best a penny each. And, she was ancient. She was the oldest person hands, they looked I had ever seen, still breathing. like they were made doesn’t come from being We’d go in and if you had 5 pennies, you bought 5 of the corn masa tortillas. If you had 20 pennies, you bought 20 tortillas. It that she’d been someone else. Or, growing was easy. And the little kid from down the block would working all day cut line in front and slap 7 pennies on the counter and long. Her hands up somewhere else. Or, trying say, “siete tortillas, por favor!” And she would start to looked like count out these pennies one by one. She would say, masa.

And to imitate somebody else. It comes said, “She’sI “uuuuo-o-o-o, doooooos…”

So, I had a lot of time to stand there and stare. And from being who we really are. And older than while I stared Mexican food? at her, I saw who San Antonio No civilization that her face would be was brown and possible anywhere really is, is really wrinkled. It was in the universe so wrinkled that without Mexican special.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

Carmen Tafolla Poet Laureate, cont’d from pg. 6 . . .

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it looked like food. I think, she’s the little brown oldest breathing creature squares, just like in the universe. That’s the dirt in San what it is!” And, just then Antonio in the she finished and she said, summertime, “Sieeeeete.” in the charcos She stuck the 7 pennies when they’re in her delantal and turned all dried up and around to yell to the back they look like of the house for help, for Carmen with Reyes Cárdenas and Cecilio García-Camarillo, little brown someone to come help her co-authors of her first book, Get Your Tortillas Together, in front of the Westside Tortilleria, El Titán in 1975. squares and I turn the tortillas, because said, “that’s it!” when you’re the oldest That’s why she and the dirt look alike. They’re the same age. breathing creature in the She’s the oldest breathing creature on the face of this planet. And universe, you deserve a little respect, a little help, so she turned she said, “treeeesssss.” around, she yelled to the back of the house, it was just a house And I looked at her hair which was so white and the sunlight with a front counter where they sold tortillas and they lived in that came in through the window, that looked like it was sending the back, and she yelled, “Mamá!” And her mother came out and messages back and forth through her hair. They were talking to helped her turn those tortillas. And, I thought I had nothing to each other. They were sending rays or vibrations, or something write about! and her hair would say, “Eey, ¿cómo te va?” And, the sun would And I did write. And I wrote some more, and I wrote some say, “okay, last century ‘taba bien gacho, hijole.’” You know, they more. And then I found out that there was one little poem that was were talking to each other, her hair and the sun. And I said, “I know published more than anything else. It wasn’t about New York, or why! Because she and the sun are the same age. She’s known Central Park or the Statue of Liberty. It was a little, tiny poem him forever, they were kids together, you know. That’s what it is! about the little old lady and the tortilleria and her mother.

That’s why she and the sun communicate so well because she’s So, when we think about that, we realize that our best doesn’t the oldest breathing creature in the solar system.”And just then come from being someone else. Or, growing up somewhere else. she said, “seeeeis.” I knew we were getting close.

Or, trying to imitate somebody else. It comes from being who we And I looked at her hands, and her hands didn’t look like really are. And who San Antonio really is, is really special.

Join us at the 3rd Annual Paseo por el Westside, Sunday May 6th where Carmen will perform and read poems she shared with us at the inaugural ceremony and, perhaps, share some stories of the Westside where she lived and worked.

Carmen helps unload a deer in her neighbor’s driveway on the Westside in 1957. The whole block was happy because everyone would be getting venison tamales.

See back page for more info or check www.esperanzacenter.org

Editor’s note: Carmen goes on to share three poems representing different eras of San Antonio’s history and of her life: the first, a short little poem entitled, San Antonio, written in the 70s when the city was struggling to break out of the stereotypical image of a lazy, little town; the second poem, This River Here, from the 90s, “came from a time when we were beginning to recognize that, as a city, we are all connected” and the last poem, San Antonio is a young Yanaguana woman, finished in 2012, paid tribute to our river roots and was dedicated to our children.

As Carmen noted, “it is about recognizing that no matter how much we build and how much we learn and how much we grow, our strength comes in remembering who we are, and where we come from. And to quote the poem, ‘trusting our river roots.’”

Dando a luz In the midst of birth pains My mother smiled.

I her first girlchild hurt her, I know I did.

Yet she welcomed me. Welcomed her pain, Vale la pena, she whispered.

That cold January unforgiving madrugada The doctor interrupted his billiards game My uncle, Tío Güero, Cipriano García Sent to fetch him. I imagine him ruddy faced In the cold. His blue eyes worried, he rolls a Bugler And takes a puff.

And my mother. How was that 21-year old coping?

The men around her: el doctor, mi tío, my father, too, All worried about her and me.

And the women helping her: Her mother, and her sister: Celia and Eloisa.

photo and poem by Norma E. Cantú

. . . because love is sacred. hence it is called LOVE; love is the tender smile adorning the face of God . . .

Entre mi mano virgen se anidó el beso flor de tu boca.

Within my virgin hand your kiss in bloom came to nestle

Entre mi seno, tu niño –mis brazos de madona.

In my bosom, your son –my arms of a madonna.

En mi regazo materno los arruyé a los dos:

Upon my lap maternal to sleep I lulled you both;

y el que pretenda juzgarme no nació hijo de Dios…

a bilingual art poem by Angela de Hoyos, Año Internacional de La Mujer, 1975

and whoever presumes to judge me was not born a child of God.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

. . . porque el amor es sagrado, por eso se llama AMOR; el amor es la tierna sonrisa que adorna la faz de Dios . . .

Also worried but like women taking charge Helping me be born with their female energy Welcoming me soothing my cries, my fears Como siempre, there for each other.

She would give birth ten more times.

My mother.

But I was the first to teach, to learn.

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* community meetings *

Amnesty International #127 meets on 4th Thursdays at 7:30 pm at Ashbury United Methodist. Call 210.829.0397.

Anti-War Peace Vigil every Thursday (since 2001) from 4-5pm @ Flores & Commerce See: ivaw.org veteransforpeace.org Bexar Co. Green Party info@bexargreens.org or call 210.471.1791.

Celebration Circle meets Sundays, 11am @ JumpStart at Blue Star Arts Complex. Meditation, Weds @ 7:30 pm @ Quaker Meeting House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533-6767 DIGNITY S.A. mass at 5:30 pm, Sun. @ Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church, 1101 W. Woodlawn. Call 210.735.7191.

Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo, Hwy. 210.927.2297, www.lafuerzaunida.org Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteer orientation @ 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.

LGBT Youth Group meets at MCC Church, 611 E. Myrtle on Sundays at 10:30am. 210.472.3597 Metropolitan Community Church in San Antonio (MCCSA) 611 East Myrtle, services & Sunday school @ 10:30am. Call 210.599.9289.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs @ 7pm, 1st Unitarian Universalist Church, Gill Rd/Beryl Dr. Call 210. 655.2383.

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PFLAG Español meets 1st Tuesdays @ 2802 W. Salinas, 7pm. Call 210.849.6315

Be Part of a

Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy each Thursday at 7 pm at 325 Courtland. Call 210.736.3579.

Progressive Movement

The Rape Crisis Center, 7500 US Hwy 90 W. Hotline @ 210.3497273. 210.521.7273 or email Drominishi@rapecrisis.com The Religious Society of Friends meets Sundays @ 10 am @ The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. 210.945.8456.

San Antonio Communist Party will meet Sunday, May 6th, 3-5pm @ Bazan Library, 2200 W. Commerce St. (corner w/Nueces) Contact: juanchostanford@yahoo.com San Antonio Gender Association. meets 1st & 3rd Thursdays, 6-9pm at 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Community Church downstairs.| www.sagender.org SA Healthcare Now Coalition meets 1st Thursdays at 6:30pm @ National Nurses Organizing Committee office 7959 Fredericksburg Rd. 210.882.2230 or healthcarenowsa.org Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Center classes are on Tuesdays at 7pm, & Sun. at 11:30 am. at 1114 So. St. Mary’s. Call 210.222.9303.

The Society of Latino and Hispanic Writers SA meets 2nd Mondays, 7 pm @ Barnes & Noble, San Pedro Crossing.

S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Contact Barbara at 210.725.8329.

Voice for Animals Contact 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org for meeting times

in San Antonio

¡Todos Somos Esperanza!

Start your 2012 monthly donations now!

Esperanza works to bring awareness and action on issues relevant to our communities. With our vision for social, environmental, economic and gender justice, Esperanza centers the voices and experiences of the poor & working class, women, queer people and people of color. We hold pláticas and workshops; organize political actions; present exhibits and performances and document and preserve our cultural histories. We consistently challenge City Council and the corporate powers of the city on issues of development, low-wage jobs, gentrification, clean energy and more.

It takes all of us to keep the Esperanza going. When you contribute monthly to the Esperanza you are making a long-term commitment to the movement for progressive change in San Antonio, allowing Esperanza to sustain and expand our programs.

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Notas Y Más May 2012

The National Women’s Studies Association’s (NWSA) Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize cites books that make significant mutli-cultural feminist contributions to women of color/transnational scholarship.

It includes a $1,000 prize. Next deadline to submit books for the award is May 1st.

Visit www.nwsa.org/awards.index.php.

Brief notes to inform readers about happenings in the community.

Send announcements for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org or by mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212.

The deadline is the 8th of each month.

SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco will present Mourning and Scars: 20 Years After the War on February 1–28, 2013– an exhibition about Salvadoran immigrant community issues for the 20th anniversary of the Peace Accords. Deadline for artwork proposals from Salvadorian artists in the U.S. is May 31st. Email Roxana Leiva at rxnleiva@gmail.com.

Westside Honors Gala: “Éxitos en Nuestro Barrio”

honoring four individuals who have lived, worked or contributed to the Westside in business, arts, culture, public service, education or healthcare.

Thursday, May 10th, 6-9pm Rosedale Park, 340 Dartmouth

honoring Patti Radle, Alex Briseño, Ramiro Cavazos and Enrique & Isabel Sanchez.

www.westsidedevcorp.com

• 207.0039

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s st

31 Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival May 15-20th,

Guadalupe Theater & Rosedale Park

Schedule: www.guadalupeculturalarts.org

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4•

Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) invites submissions for URBAN-15 is looking its 2012 Summer Institute, July 18-21 at for outstanding short UC – Santa Barbara. This year’s theme movies from filmmakers is “Todos Somos Arizona:” Confronting 21 years or younger for the Attacks on Difference. Proposals for the 6th Annual Josiah papers, workshops and performances on Media Festival. Almost this theme must be electronically date- $2000 in prizes will be awarded. Deadstamped and uploaded by May 1st. Email line for submissions is June 1st. Call malcs2012ucsb@gmail.com for more.

URBAN-15 at 210.736.1500 or email josiahfestival@urban15.org.

Domestic Workers in Action of San Antonio/ The Mexico Solidarity Network offers Trabajadoras del Hogar summer courses June 3-30 in Mexico en Acción de San An- City on Mexican Elections and from July tonio will sell enchi- 1-28 in Chiapas on Zapatismo and the lada plates on May 5th, Other Campaign. For more information 11am-2pm to raise funds contact MSN at 773.583.7728 or check to go to Washington, D.C. Venderemos msn@mexicosolidarity.org platos de enchiladas para colectar fondos para ir a Washington, D.C. • $6 • 1416 Master the techniques of writing supeE. Commerce St. • Habrá bebidas, rifa, rior and winning proposals by attending A mercadito y música. Also, drinks, raffle, Professional Grant Development Workshop sponsored by The Grant Training bazaar & music. Call 210.299.2666.

Center on June 6th to 8th from 8:30 am The Foundation of the Alliance for to 4:30 pm to be held at the University of Community Media (ACM) hosts the in- Texas @ Austin. See granttrainingcenter. augural 2012 Philadelphia Youth Media com/ for other workshops offered.

Summit on May 8th from 10am-3pm at Pierce College, 1420 Pine St. Free! Open The Smithsonian Latino Center (SLC) to all. See info@allcommunitymedia.org. sponsors the 2012 Latino Museum Studies Program (LMSP), The InterpretaThe 10th Annual National Latino Writ- tion of Latino Visual and Material Culers Conference convenes on May 16-19 ture, from July 2nd to August 10th with in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Na- Smithsonian professionals, scholars from tional Hispanic Cultural Center. See renowned universities, and leaders in the NHCCNM.ORG or call 505.724.4747. museum field. Visit www.latino.si.edu/ programs/programs_LMSP.htm.

F2C: Freedom to Connect will be held on May 21st & 22nd at AFI Silver Theatre The 2012 Recovering the U.S. Hispanic in Washington, DC. The Schools, Health Literary Heritage in the United States and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coali- Conference, “Literatures of Dissent, Cultion will present another conference im- tures of Resistance” will be held on Octomediately following F2C. Email isen@ ber 19th & 20th. Contact Dr. Carolina A. isen.com or call 888.473.6266 or see: Villarroel in Houston 713. 743.3128 or at freedom-to-connect.net/ for more. artrec@mail.uh.edu for more info.

The Westside Development Corporation

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LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • May 2012 Vol. 25 Issue 4• Casita de MujerArtes 1412 El Paso St (210) 223-2585

Mother’s Day Exhibit and Sale handcrafted ceramics for mom!

Friday, May 4, 5-8pm Sat & Sun, May 5 & 6, 10am-2pm

Noche Azul

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Join us for our monthly concert series

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Sunday, May 6, 2012 ¡Vengan, enjoy a day of fun, films, photos and food!

• Paseos/Walking Tours 9 & 10am • Westside murals’ bike tour 11am

Bring family photos from 18801960 to share...

• Performance by Poet Laureate Carmen Tafolla 1:30pm • Música en vivo con Rita Vidaurri, Beatriz Llamas, Perla Tapatia, Eva Ybarra, Jacinto Guevara all day!

• Exhibits & pláticas by Westside community historians and sabi@s on plantitas, pan dulce, y preservation • Y vengan a jugar w/ papalotes, canicas, trompos y más

Presented by Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in collaboration with Westside Preservation Alliance, City of San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Ctr, SA Public Library Texana/ Genealogy Dept, San Anto Cultural Arts

Rinconcito de Esperanza, 816 S. Colorado, 78207 For more info: (210) 228.0201 or www.esperanzacenter.org