a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

December 2015/January 2016 | Vol. 28 Issue 10 San Antonio, Tejas

Paz y amor en 2016

LA V

OZ

de

ESP

ERA

NZ

A •

Dec

201

5 |

jan

201

6 V

ol.

28

Issu

e 10

•LA

VO

Z d

e ESPER

AN

ZA

• Dec

2015 | jan 2016 V

ol. 28 Issu

e 10•

2 3

La Voz deEsperanza

December 2015 / January 2016vol. 28 Issue 10

Editor Gloria A. Ramírez

Design Elizandro Carrington

Cover & Editorial Art Liliana Wilson

Contributors Francisco X. Alarcón, Rachel Jennings,

Gilbert J. Murillo, Kamala Platt, Randi M. Romo

La Voz Mail Collective Mario Carbajal, Veronica Cordova,

Maria De la Cruz, Viktora De la Cruz, Charlie Esperiqueta, Mary Esperiqueta, Mildred Hilbrich, Josie Martin, Rachel

Martinez, Ray McDonald, Carmen Montalvo, Jan Olsen, Maria Reed, Robert

Rendón, Blanca Rivera, Armandina Rodriguez, Maria Rodriguez, Guadalupe

Segura, Rodger Singler, Cynthia Spielman, D.L. Stokes, Kiko Villamizar,

Helen Villarreal, Azul Z.

Esperanza DirectorGraciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza StaffImelda Arismendez, Elizandro Carrington, Elisa Pérez, Gianna Rendón, René Saenz,

Susana Segura, Amelia Valdez

InternsPaz García, Alexuss Green,

Conjunto de Nepantleras-Esperanza Board of Directors-Brenda Davis, Rachel Jennings, Amy

Kastely, Jan Olsen, Kamala Platt, Ana Lucía Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales,

Tiffany Ross, Lilliana Saldaña, Nadine Saliba, Graciela I. Sánchez, Lillian Stevens

• We advocate for a wide variety of social, economic & environmental justice issues.• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not

necessarily those of the Esperanza Center.

La Voz de Esperanza is a publication of

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212

210.228.0201 • fax 1.877.327.5902www.esperanzacenter.org

Inquiries/Articles can be sent to:lavoz@esperanzacenter.orgArticles due by the 8th of each month

Policy Statements* We ask that articles be visionary, progressive, instructive & thoughtful. Submissions must be literate & critical; not sexist, racist, homophobic, violent, or oppressive & may be edited for length.

* All letters in response to Esperanza activities or articles in La Voz will be considered for publication. Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups

will not be published.

ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a mailing address correction please send it to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. If you want to be removed from the La Voz mailing list, for whatever reason, please let us know. La Voz is provided as a courtesy to people on the mailing list of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. The subscription rate is $35 per year ($100 for institutions). The cost of producing and mailing La Voz has substantially increased and we need your help to keep it afloat. To help, send in your subscriptions, sign up as a monthly donor, or send in a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thank you. -GAR

VOZ VISION STATEMENT: La Voz de Esperanza speaks for many individual, progressive voices who are gente-based, multi-visioned and milagro-bound. We are diverse survivors of materialism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism, violence, earth-damage, speciesism and cultural and political oppression. We are recapturing the powers of alliance, activism and healthy conflict in order to achieve interdependent economic/spiritual healing and fuerza. La Voz is a resource for peace, justice, and human rights, providing a forum for criticism, information, education, humor and other creative works. La Voz provokes bold actions in response to local and global problems, with the knowledge that the many risks we take for the earth, our body, and the dignity of all people will result in profound change for the seven generations to come.

We end the year 2015 in anticipation of a better year. The new year promises to be interesting and scary. More mass shootings? Probably. War? They are itch-ing for it. A presidential election? Definitely. More months of winnowing out the candidates running for president, especially on the Republican side. That, for sure, is scary. They all seem to stand for all that is NOT progressive—anti-woman, anti-LGBT, anti-Mexican, anti-Islam or Muslim, anti-elders, anti-African American, anti-immigrant, anti-poor, anti-environment, anti-voting rights, anti-gun legislation and so on. Worst of all, Republican supporters are vocal and will come out to vote.

One remnant of the November issue of Calaveras shows up in this issue of La Voz—a calavera to candidate Donald Trump, by San Francisco-based writer/poet, Francisco Alarcón. He remains the front runner for the Republican nomination for president with a 20 point bump in the polls at this writing despite his inane com-ments and antics—36% favorability over his closest opponent, Ted Cruz at 16%. Republicans will come out in force in 2016 to vote while Democrats will struggle with more and more obstacles being put up to make voting harder for people of color communities, the elderly and students. We must get out the vote in 2016!

Finally, we end this year with an avalanche of hatred against immigrants espe-cially those coming from Syria or the Middle East but not excluding Mexican, Lat-in American, African and other immigrants of color. Talk of more immigrant camps or isolating them in no-man’s lands and doubling down on the vetting of Syrians entering the U.S. is rampant. With the recent San Bernadino killings the emphasis is on identifying “radical Islamic terrorists” rather than the banning of weapons that are used for mass killings—regardless of who uses them. All very scary.

On a lighter note, we began this Voz with a story of home where many of us will be fortunate enough to find ourselves during the holidays. Think of those who will not have homes as you count your blessings this season. We wish everyone the warmth of a happy home with love and kindness as we end 2015 and began 2016.

¡ Feliz Año

Nuevo !

My mother lives and works in a rural agricultural farmworker community that sits on the outskirts of Dade City, Florida. I love to go home to visit, this place where I too have lived and worked. But no matter how often I go home, it always takes me a bit of time to adjust to the sounds. Just outside the window there are lots of cars going by on the street at all hours with their stereos usually blasting really loud Mexican music. It’s always the whine followed by the quick riffs of the accordion that you hear first. Sometimes it’s other folk who come driving through and the bass rattles the windows, boom, boom and you can feel it all the way into the back of your teeth. Sirens at intervals punctuate the days and nights, their piercing cries a sharp reminder that it’s not only angels who walk among us. And every now and then a sheriff’s car rockets down the main street of this little community so fast it lifts shirt tails and blows back your hair. There are a lot of people who walk in this neighbor-hood; workers going to and from their jobs, mothers with strollers and little ones tagging behind like little ducklings all in a row. And there are always lots of teens trying to hold themselves at just the right angle to be considered cool enough, as they laughingly jostle one another while ambling down the street. Often the elders are out and about for their daily constitution, sometimes with grandchildren in tow. Calls of buenos dias along with the ensuing conversations fall like sporadic spring showers as people pass one another. Sure, this place where my mother lives is poor and it can even be called a “rough neighborhood”, but here in its humble poverty, man-ners still matter. The taco stand that sits across from my mom’s house stays busy. Cars and trucks pull in and out, doors slamming all hours of the day as people stop by for something to eat and perhaps a little visit with whomever else is waiting for their food. You can get the best aguas frescas there. I like the sandia the best. They also have my favorite tacos, barbacoa con cilantro, lime and onion with just the perfect salsa verde on freshly made hot corn tortillas. On Sundays the men line

up for their menudo to counter the cruda from their celebrations of the night before. The cov-ered tables are filled with people eating, talking and laughing. Children dart

between the tables and race around the little trailer

that is the heart of this enter-prise. An errant dog picks its

way carefully between the feet and legs tucked up under the tables

searching for bits of food that may have fallen to the ground.

Serving as a backdrop to this Sunday ritual at the taco trailer is a mixture of Mexican music from

nearby houses and cars driving by as well as the small Afri-can-American church on the opposite corner. The church has a speaker wired up outside and they broadcast their services. The musicians and singers are quite good and in some odd way all of the sounds mix together and sounds just right. And it is in the midst of this cacophony that I feel it most—that, this is home. But I must confess that there is one bit of noise that no matter where I have encountered it, I have never become accustomed to it; the crowing of a rooster. At home it is not uncommon for there to be various broods of chickens ranging about different parts of the community. Despite her claims that they are not her chickens, one such brood has taken up residence in my mother’s backyard, accompanied by their very own rooster. He’s a handsome devil; all brilliant greens, golds and reds with a swagger to match that of any player. This past trip home, this very same rude and overly ambitious rooster crowed me awake every morning around two am. Once he stopped—I would eventually fall back asleep, whereupon he would almost immediately begin his next round of crowing. It was as if he had a little chicken spy peering in the side of the blinds giving him the signal of when to commence again. Talk about your “peeps”! I truly desire to bring none harm, but I fear that had I not left and returned to my own home when I did—that there may well have been a rooster gone missing. And if anyone thought to notice the absence of Señor Gallo—that loud, rau-cous early morning songster—I would have smiled serenely as I ladled out servings of a delicious pollo en mole pobalno.

By Randi M. Romo

Hom

e is W

here the Rooster Crows

© Francisco X. Alarcón

una Calaca se colóa la última conferenciacon ojo a la presidenciaque Donald Trump ofreció

y cuando el Trompas comenzó

su afrenta racista ritualanti-inmigrante ya habitualla Huesuda se lo llevó

de las greñas rubias sin más;al inframundo lo arrastródonde piñata lo volviócon sus millones por demás

dicen que el muy arrogante billonario entre palos todavíael gran muro que proponíapara excluir a todo

inmigrante

a los diablos del infiernocontinúa manifestandopara que no sigan llegando

tanto mexicano al averno

gracias Calaca queridapor librarnos del Gran

Trompasque con falacias idiotasdaña a tanta gente linda

a Calaca quietly snuck

into the last press conference

with an eye to the presidencythat Donald Trump offered

and when the Big Mouth started

his anti-immigrant racist affront

ritual that is already his usual shtick

the Bony Woman took him

by pulling his blonde hair without

further thought, dragging him to

the underworld, turning him into a piñata

not withstanding his many millions

they say that the very arrogant

billionaire between hits the great wall which he

proposedto exclude every immigrant

he is still trying to convince the devils of the world to

build itso Mexicans won’t keep

comingin great numbers to their hell

thank you, Calaca darlingfor getting rid of the Big

Mouthwhose idiotic fallacies intendto hurt so many beautiful

people

LA V

OZ

de

ESP

ERA

NZ

A •

Dec

201

5 |

jan

201

6 V

ol.

28

Issu

e 10

•LA

VO

Z d

e ESPER

AN

ZA

• Dec

2015 | jan 2016 V

ol. 28 Issu

e 10•

4 5

Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe,the church sign says. Below in small letters:Asistida por Jesuitas.Then the schedules: Las Horas de Oficina, El Horario de Misas.

On a side panel is a cork board with thumb tacks. Among flyers hawkingFamily Bingo Night,the Kickapoo Casino Trip, a sign announcestoday’s episode of Teresa de Jesús,an ‘80s miniseries.

This hot day in August,though I am Methodist,not Mexican Catholic,I want at once to watch the movie and be

asistida por Jesuitas, served by Jesuitswith ¡¡ FREE Popcorn and Tropical Punch !!

In my imagination,mis vecinos católicos y yowatch Teresa de Jesúson VHS tape in a 2nd-storyclassroom made cold by an AC in the window but not quite made dark by Venetian blindsimperfectly closed.

I picture Santa Teresa, the learned mystic,

in a wimple and brown habit. Across the dusty landscape, she rides her horsewhile reading a missal or mystical text like Osuna’s Third Spiritual Alphabet.

In just this way,

Methodism’s founder would have studied Scripture. The traveling nun is Juana Wesley,a circuit rider.

On her horse, she leaves the cloisteredconvent, then crossesAlazan Creeknear Los Corts, the railroad tracks enclosing the Westside,the Loop encirclingSan Antonio’s core.She finds the Hill Country,crossing the northern Pyrenean borderto flee Inquisitors.Holding her missalin one hand, the reins in another, she entersat last the thin place

between two cord-bound plastic slats.

She comes to release us.Teresa, mis vecinos,los Jesuitas, y yo

climb out windows,leap into space,cross one by onethe borderknown as dreamor the unconscious,that barbed fence,requiring a penance of piercing painor bliss, some say,beyond this room, the plain, prosaic afternoon.

—Rachel Jennings

Watching Teresa de Jesús

LA V

OZ

de

ESP

ERA

NZ

A •

Dec

201

5 |

jan

201

6 V

ol.

28

Issu

e 10

•LA

VO

Z d

e ESPER

AN

ZA

• Dec

2015 | jan 2016 V

ol. 28 Issu

e 10•

6 7Continued on p. 10

By Kamala Platt

In the 15th year of the 21st CenturyWater wars raged, as did fire & flood.The Calaveras of San Anto-- del Counsel Ciudad, had jumped at the chance to milk water from blood.

SAWS says, “Califas has done it for decades,”not mentioning it was “a strategy of lies.”1not mentioning Mono Lake, like Owens Valley before it,dried down to dust storms with the water diversionsand only, after the 1994 Water Board decisions, did Mono come back, until, that is, the Drought of Record sauntered in to CApiping away fears with songs of “Climate Change Denial.”

Not mentioning that the water spirits stayed behindto see Lago y tierra go dry, to see emaciated roots rot in gardens’ good earthearth, first worked by Pauite …earth still peopled by ancestors’ parched bones.

Catrina laughed…“Who to choose?… Who to lose?… Agua es Vida…”People say“Our gente built aqueducts and pipelines in CA.”COSA says“On water, in SA, we’re 200 years behind LA,…” SAWS saysOwens Valley Water flowed to Los Angeles… Built that City of Bedraggled Angels.Now we can bottle VR waterFor California’s Niagara…San Anto says, “No”But Seguin signs on, (a few less miles to pipebefore hill country water hits the bottle for the CA Company.)

70 years after Diego Rivera’s mural “Sueño de una tarde dominical

en la Alameda”

Catrina laughed…For decades,

Catrina La Calavera Garbancera was drinking from LA fountains

eating grapes de Haciendas de Güeros,

picked by Worker Calaveras, the first of us poisoned by pesticides.

Catrina could care less that long before CA’s drought of recordecosystems and gardens were

sacked when they lost their water.

Catrina, then turned eastsaying “Texas, Tejas, here I come.

Vámonos…”

And for SAWS & Catrina—It was love at first sight:

Burleson County officials would pump aquifers down

for a chance to make money on site.Abengoa from Spain says “Aquí Vengo.

The rocks and elder trees say,“Déjà vu! Take flight, this time.”

Then hill country people put up the good fight…

In the sixties and beyond Chicano Movimiento or La Causa activists sought after the right order of society on the behalf of the Mexican American poor living in segregated barrios or neighborhoods. The loyalists gathered for endless hours and days at organiza-tional meetings, workshops, regional meetings, etc., searching for the most humane and effective way to help la gente. These sessions were essentially reform (symptoms) versus structural (causal) debates. Though the landscape became dotted with La Causa-related organizations and projects, few were consistent in bringing about significant and long term improvements in the lives and social condi-tions in el barrio. Here in San Antonio, Citizens Organized for Public Service was an exception to the rule. COPS se-cured ample CDBG funds on their own for specific barrios during the 1970s and 1980s. Since then these funds have all but dried up.

The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center presently pro-motes La Causa a propos el barrio by serving as an intermedi-ate organizational or “mother ship” in improving the social conditions in el barrio. It is anticipated that it will continue to do more. This scenario is based on 1) Esperanza’s commit-ment to the primary purpose of La Causa, 2) an interpretation of Esperanza’s social justice practice with la gente del barrio, 3) Esperanza’s and its allies’ experiences with the Mayor’s Task Force and 4) the “Post-Task Force Coalition’s” prepara-tions for the COSA Housing Commission proceedings.

Esperanza’s multi-issue approach promotes La Causa’s values and objectives by operating a large array of “think glob-ally, act locally” programs. These include international and regional social justice issues, socio-cultural arts and educational programs, e.g. those related to the structural causes of gentrification. These learning experiences reveal the interlocking politi-

cal-economic systems which perpetuate, by commission or omission, social injustices.

Such are Sara De Turk’s findings in the recent study: Activism, Alliance-Building and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (2015). De Turk’s book casts Esperanza as “an instructive example of a social movement organization … (of) hard work, tactical sophistication and fidelity to its values ….” “Its central vision and strategies is (sic) especially worthy of note.” Esperanza’s numer-ous programmed activities infer the nature, limits, criteria, and validity of social justice practice in el barrio. I will draw selectively from these holdings so as to fashion a working definition of social justice practice vis-à-vis el barrio.

Natural Law depicts social justice as the sum-total of the virtues: “that moral, supernatural virtue, which inclines the will to render to others at all times what is strictly their due.” Esperanza’s priority among la gente’s many “dues” or human potentialities is clear: “[our] work helps individuals and grassroots organizations acquire knowledge and skills so that [they] can control decisions that affect … day-to-day lives in a way that respects and honors shared goals for a just society” (De Turk, p. 3). Accordingly,

LA V

OZ

de ESP

ERA

NZ

A • D

ec 2015 | jan

2016 Vo

l. 28 Issue 10•

9

LA V

OZ

de

ESP

ERA

NZ

A •

Dec

201

5 |

jan

201

6 V

ol.

28

Issu

e 10

•

8

and with Mi Agua Mi Vida the Alliance would see,Mighty SA begin to freeze in her tracks…Councilman Nirenberg would ask for the studySaying we need research behind our decisions.“Heretic” was uttered beneath bated breathbut only the crickets crawling the walls remember.

During September ‘s red moon eclipsewhile the water wizard took skinny dips…periodistas uncovered the missing Analysesshowing the Emperors’ Planswith their clothes gone missing:

Vista Ridge was “high risk”But SAWS pooh poohed the study,called Science “a joke,”3called research “gooey” like cookie dough,4

and lechuzas hooted, sleepily, that day,“Joke? On Youuu, On Whoooo, On Youuu…”

So it was that Mr SAWS Fuentes Was flailing his armsAs A & M Soto took red markersto Dr. Finch’s et al (degreed all) Water Policy Analyses

And Catrina, La Calavera GarbanceraWas stricken with recuerdos of her ancianos demiseWhen Lago Owens water went off to LAAnd the earth was parched for eternity.Then, she had laughed, but now she is somber

She steps back en la sombra del valle de los muertos

where she mopes, sin sonrisas…

“Can’t do it again,” she said with resolveand ran to tell El SAWS Vista Ridge Hombres,

“Es punto final.”

Catrina remembered her former self.Mustering up Mictecacihuatl

Mujer de Mictlan, she exclaims “Why here in our aquifers,

I’ve been all along. It’s time to keep my houseClean for awhile,

‘cause gente y vidas y aguaare coming and going, dripping through karst

slipping through the sands of …‘Time for a walk in the park.”

she declared,fling[ing] the final parting laugh.5

She called the peoples of the aquifers in newly-formed alliance

to meet en nuestro sueño de un tarde dominical…This time

the revolution starts with Día Mundial del Agua…This time we shed our colonialist, conquistador garb,

and treat all as kin,Knowing water runs in us all

.Footnotes available from: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

Note: In Nov. the SA City Council voted to increasewater rates and approved the Vista Ridge Project over the

objections of the community. The battle continues.

LA V

OZ

de

ESP

ERA

NZ

A •

Dec

201

5 |

jan

201

6 V

ol.

28

Issu

e 10

•

10

LA V

OZ

de ESP

ERA

NZ

A • D

ec 2015 | jan

2016 Vo

l. 28 Issue 10•

11

Continued from p. 6 Esperanza staff/associates address la gente’s unique gift of reflec-tive reasoning, that is, the universal “natural right” to perceive, control, and choose. Reflective reason generates individual and communal (or cultural) meanings. Meanings are understandings, motivations, and actions that move us forward. Ultimately, our dearest meanings (conscious or unconscious) explain why we act the way we do. Esperanza helps resolve la gente’s identity, ethnic and classism issues by promoting programs such as oral history, family “fotohistorias”, and historic preservation. Additionally, staged events, art exhibits, “pláticas” and such, develops la gente’s multi-dimensional, spiritual-cultural role as history-makers.

In summary, Esperanza consistently nurtures la gente’s basic hu-man nature to perceive, anticipate events, predict observations by others and manage future events. Hence, Esperanza’s fundamental practice of justice may be understood as a process that moves hu-man potentialities along the continuum of becoming. How fully el barrio flowers its potential, the more la gente may realize theirs, and vice-versa. Or, more keenly: social justice practice is “bring-ing about maximum individuality within maximum community (Immanuel Kant).” Practically, the primary social justice action principle is: “Be all you can be as you help others be all they can be”.

Only part of Esperanza’s modeling work fosters barrio gente’s well-being and barrio improvements. Esperanza shares resources with other groups because of public/private contractual agreements for operating established social and cultural events. This requires a mountain of time and energy. For example, the Center features one

to two major events per month while maintaining three to four on-going programs and meetings with who knows how many walk-in individu-als and groups. Yet their unsettling experience with the Mayor’s Task Force and the signs of the times beckon for more.

On May 15, 2014, after months of fierce op-position by Mission Trails Mobile Home Park community and allies that included the Esper-anza, the San Antonio City Council approved the re-zoning of the area which allows for a 600 plus high-end apartment complex. The ruling swept away close to 300 long-time residents, the

majority elderly and children, and vaporized their right to live in a meaningful world secured by affordable housing. The Mayor’s Task Force was established to prevent such a tragic displacement of la gente in the future.

Esperanza staff and organizational allies spent hundreds of hours at the Task Force hearings, read through hundreds of pages of background information, e.g., national best affordable housing practices, and held many strategic sessions. In April 2015 the Task Force handed its uncompleted task over to a newly created COSA Housing Commission. Mayor Ivy Taylor describes the Housing Commission purpose as creating “stable, accessible, mixed use, mixed income neighborhoods throughout the city”. Esperanza and its allies reject this pronouncement as it sidesteps the structural causes of gentrification and displacement, and the importance in resolving them. This, of course was the original purpose of the Mayor’s Task Force.

Esperanza and others will participate and monitor the activities of the Housing Commission. Preparations included: 1) encouraging gente to apply for positions on the Housing Commission, 2) identi-fying structural causes of displacement and sounding out their find-ings at the Housing Commission, 3) developing a priority system for achieving the Housing Commission’s major recommendations (see below) and 4) forming a coalition for follow-up tasks such as providing information re: resources to barrio groups.

The Post-Task Force Coalition understands the Housing Com-mission’s long-term mandates as:

• Conduct a Systematic Assessment of Policies, Programs, and City Boards/Commissions to Determine their Impact on Dis-placement, Loss of Affordable Housing, and Neighborhood Change.

• Explore and Implement Workforce/Affordable Inclusionary Housing Policies for Residential Development

• Develop a Plan and Timeline for the Issuance of a Housing Bond for the Rehabilitation, Preservation, and Creation of Workforce/Affordable Housing.

• Identify Ongoing Sources of Funds to be utilized by the San Antonio Housing Trust and Nonprofit Housing Providers for the Rehabilitation, Preservation and Creation of Workforce & Af-fordable Housing. (From Task Force Recommendations)

Esperanza (see De Turk) is a trusted haven for marginal groups: the place and space for information sharing and individual/group support. It is also an organization with ample political experience, resources, and contacts. It is committed to protecting el barrio’s interests in the face of public officials and profit-driven developers, and in providing la gente del barrio access to public resources. But given Esperanza’s many on-going multi-issue commitments, one must ask—who will actually do the necessary seeding and culti-vating in el barrio? That is, who will devote the sizable time and

energy it takes to improve social conditions in a

specific barrio? Who will do what, when and how is being weighted by Esperanza and members of the coalition.

The emerging objectives from discussions and notes taken are 1) to provide early warnings and assistance to el barrio, e.g., regarding re-zoning and other types of encroachments, and 2) to give information about available resources and how to enlarge the pie, e.g., new housing bond elections. Esperanza is already work-ing with groups like West End Hope in Action and Fuerza Unida in advancing similar defensive and offensive objectives.

Various methods come immediately to mind about how this might happen: run a regular column in La Voz with a list of fund-ing resources, develop a leadership course, set up a traditional and digital library, etc. But these are organizational decisions.

The reality is some group must direct a bottoms-up strategy for whatever good or indecisiveness comes from the COSA Housing Commission proceedings. Otherwise, we can expect more of the same COSA top-down planning. Hence, funding will continue to be based on a “get re-elected” political agenda at the District level.At the urban level it will remain focused on private/public econom-ic development (read “cheap money” for private developers) based on the “trickle-down theory” that to date is a dismal failure in San Antonio’s poverty segregated neighborhoods. (see the 2015 COSA FY 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and FY 2016 Action Plan espe-cially pages 31-32 re: los barrios). Stay tuned for developments as the 2016 year begins. Editor’s note: Observations and analysis expressed in this article are

solely those of the author.

The 2015 Peace Market proved to be one of the most challenging to date. The days leading up to the mer-cado made all of us nervous with rain and cold in the forecast. On Tuesday, Graciela decided to have a tent put up in the patio area and one leading into the Esperanza’s back entrance. Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, proved to be hectic with two tents being put up in the patio while indoor vendors arrived to set up their spaces with no place to park and drop off boxes.

When Friday arrived, vendors were pleasantly surprised to see a tent in the patio. However, it meant reconfiguring spaces as vendors arrived— because the tent took away about two feet from the perimeter of the patio that vendors were counting on to display their wares. Somehow, the sponta- neous assignments worked and the market began on time. Street vendors worried all day that there would be no place for them to go if the rains hit— but they could only wait and see.

The rain finally came down hard in the late afternoon causing the street vendors to scurry about packing and breaking down their setups. Soaked, they began check-out early while indoor vendors and those in the patio continued to sell until 6 pm.

On Saturday we lost a few outdoor vendors and more shifting took place. Those remaining on the street faced the cold, but no rain. A few vendors moved into the patio. Somehow, we managed it all

and were blessed to have two full days of Peace Market that were well attended.

We are truly thankful to all who made the 26th Peace Market possible—the vendors who were flexible and help-ful throughout, the performers who performed despite the weather and the buena gente who donated food and time making the 2015 Peace Market a sucess both days! Many thanks to all!

Buena Gente:Carol Ann AgueroMario E. CarbajalCortez CasanovaElizandro CarringtonMary Ann ContrerasOlga CrespinElizabeth Joy DelgadoImelda O. DeLeónSara DeTurkJuan DíazLupita DominguezMargarita ElizardeJennifer GarcíaPaz GarcíaAllie GomezMarcie GutierrezAraceli HerreraAmy KastelyJimmy KitchenEmi MagaloniRebel MariposaRachel MartínezSandra MartinezLuis MercadoAngie MerlaJosie Merla MartinJan OlsenJulie Perales

Mary Angel PérezJenny PoskeyMaria QuezadaGloria A. RamírezRubyMaría ReedSylvia ReynaAlison ReynoldsBlanca RiveraMaya RodríguezGrace RosalesRodolfo RosalesTiffany RossLilliana P. SaldañaBernard SánchezIsabel & Enrique SánchezGustavo SánchezLeticia SánchezMike E SánchezAdolfo M. SeguraFito SeguraGuadalupe SeguraDebra SifuentesRhett SmithSarah StrybosRaul SolisCynthia SpielmanLillian Stevens

LA V

OZ

de ESP

ERA

NZ

A • D

ec 2015 | jan

2016 Vo

l. 28 Issue 10•

13LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • Dec 2015 | jan 2016 Vol. 28 Issue 10•12

2 6 t h A n n u a l

Peace MarketMil Gracias

Dave StokesElva Pérez TreviñoMagdalena TrujilloDorelia VelaMartin Vélez SalasZurina Wason- CarringtonDulce Zuniga 2015 Peace Market vendors who donated food & raffle items

Restaurants:Camaron PeladoLa BotánicaLiberty BarThe CoveLilly’s CookiesMadhatter’s Tea House & CafePanchito’s Shahi’s MarketSimi’s Indian RestaurantTorres Taco HavenVegeria

...y muchos mas!

LA V

OZ

de

ESP

ERA

NZ

A •

Dec

201

5 |

jan

201

6 V

ol.

28

Issu

e 10

•LA

VO

Z d

e ESPER

AN

ZA

• Dec

2015 | jan 2016 V

ol. 28 Issu

e 10•

14 15

Notas Y Más Brief news items on upcoming community events. Send items for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

or mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212. The deadline is the 8th of each month.

Notas Y Más Brief news items on upcoming community events. Send items for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

or mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212. The deadline is the 8th of each month.Dec 2015 | Jan 2016

—2015—The Flor de Nopal Literary Festival 2015 at Austin’s Emma S. Barrientos Mexican

American Cultural Center, 600 River St., offers the final featured reading of 2015 on Friday, December 4th at 7 pm in the Black Box Theatre with Dan Vera, Sarah A. Chávez, José Antonio Rodríguez, Ben Olguin, ire’ne lara silva, Vincent Cooper, Wade Martin, Sarah Shaney and Nicole Moore. The final 2015 workshop is on Saturday, December 5th led by Sarah A. Chávez and José Antonio Rodríguez from 2-5 pm in the Raul Salinas Room. All events are free! Email: flordenopal@gmail.com for reservations. Check flordenopalliteraryfestival.wordpress.com

Wings Press, celebrating 40 years of publishing announced the release of three new books just in time for holiday purchases: Rant. Chant. Chisme. by National Slam finalist, Amalia Ortiz; Apology to a Whale: Words to Mend a World by Cecile Pineda; and Transcendental Train Yard with poetry by Norma Elia Cantú and Art by Marta Sánchez. See www.wingspress.com

For the rebels on your gift list get Haymarket Books! Titles such as

Winona LaDuke’s All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life, BRICS: An Anticapitalist Critique edited by Ana Garcia and Patrick Bond and Noam Chomsky’s Culture of Terrorism, plus more, can be found online at HaymarketBooks.org. Use code Holiday40 for 40% off all books with free shipping on orders over $25. See: ww.haymarketbooks.org

Barrio Dreams, Selected Plays by Silviana Wood edited by Norma E. Cantú and Rita E. Urquijo-Ruiz is the first book to collect the work of one of Arizona’s foremost teatristas who forged a reputation as a playwright, actor, director and activist. Her works form a testimonio of Chicana life, steeped in art, politics, and the borderlands. Part of her genius is the way she portrays life in what Gloria Anzaldúa called “el mundo zurdo”. The book is available from www.uapress.arizona.edu. Use the promo code FLR to order for 20% off or call 800.621.2736.

—2016—The San Antonio Feminist Film Festival, Scene and Heard, will take place January 19th and 21st at the Alamo Drafthouse, Park North from 6:30-9:30pm with a guest celebrity, speakers, food and drink. View four films over two nights with the common goal of reflecting the changing global

impacts of education, health, political and social wellbeing of women. For details: joyce.townsend@hotmail.com

Life and Death on the Border 1910-1920 will be on exhibit at the Bullock State History Museum in Austin from January 23 to April 3, 2016. It re-examines the events and context that represent some of the worst racial violence in U.S. history. Through display of rare artifacts, photographic records, court documents, newspapers, family histories and eye witness accounts, the exhibit will provide a fresh perspective on a little-known story that shaped the Mexican American civil rights movement and still has an impact today. It is the centennial remembrance of the violence that occurred along the US-Mexico border between 1915-1920. Check: http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/visit/exhibits/life-and-death-on-the-border or facebook page, Refusingtoforget.org

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans support up to 30 New Americans, immigrants or the children of immigrants, who are pursuing graduate school in the U.S. Each Fellowship supports up to two years of graduate study in the U.S. with up to $90,000 in support. Applications for the 2017-2018 academic year will open in mid-April of 2016. Check www.pdsoros.org/apply

* co

mm

unity

mee

tings

*Amnesty International #127 Call Arthur @ 210.213.5919.

Bexar Co. Green Party meets 1st Sun. Call Antonio @ 210.542.9271 or Rachell @ 210.542.9278 or bexarcountygreens@gmail.com

Celebration Circle meets Sun., 11am @ Say Si, 1518 S. Alamo. Meditatn Wed. 7:30pm @ Friends Mtg House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533.6767 |www.celebrationcircle.org

DIGNITY SA mass, 5:30 pm, Sun. @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,1018 E. Grayson St. Call 210.340.2230

Adult Wellness Support Group of PRIDE Center meets 4th Mon., 7-9 pm @ Lions Field, 2809 Broadway. Call 210.213.5919.

Energía Mía: Call 512.838.3351.

Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. www.lafuerzaunida.org | 210.927.2294

Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteer training, 6pm, Habitat Office, 311 Probandt.

LULAC Council #22198, Orgullo de SA, meets 3rd Tues. @ 6:45pm at Papouli’s, 255 E. Basse Rd. To join e-mail: info@lulac22198.org

NOW SA Chapter meets 3rd Weds. Check FB/satx.now | 210.802.9068 | nowsaareachapter@gmail.com

Pax Christi, SA meets monthly on Saturdays. Call 210.460.8448

Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy meets Thurs. 7pm, 325 Courtland.

SA Women Will March: www.sa womenwillmarch.org|210 262.0654

Metropolitan Community Church services & Sunday school @10:30am, 611 East Myrtle. Call 210.472.3597

Overeaters Anonymous meets MWF in Spanish & daily in English: www.oasanantonio.org | 210.492.5400.

People’s Power Coalition meets last Thursdays. Call 210.878.6751

PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs. @ 7pm, University Presbyterian Church, 300 Bushnell Ave. Call 210.848.7407.

Parents of Murdered Children, meets 2nd Mondays at Balcones Hts Community Ctr, 107 Glenarm See www.pomcsanantonio.org.

Rape Crisis Ctr 7500 US Hwy 90W. Hotline: 210.349.7273 | 210.521.7273 Email: sgabriel@rapecrisis.com

The Religious Society of Friends meets Sun. 10am at The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. 210.945.8456.

S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursday, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Cmty Church.

The SA AIDS Fdn 818 E. Grayson St. offers free Syphilis & HIV testing, 210.225.4715 | www.txsaaf.org.

SAWomenWillMarch www. sawomenwillmarch.org 830.488.7493

SGI-USA LGBT Buddhists meet 2nd Sat. at 10am @ 7142 San Pedro Ave., Ste 117. Call 210.653.7755.

Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Tues. 7pm & Sun. 9:30am 257 E. Hildebrand Ave. Call 210.222.9303.

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

Voice for Animals: 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforanimals.org for info

SA’s LGBTQA Youth meets Tues., 6:30pm at Univ. Presby. Church, 300 Bushnell Ave.www.fiesta-youth.org

¡Todos Somos Esperanza!Start your 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. What would it take for YOU to become a monthly donor? Call or come by the

Esperanza to learn how.

¡ESpEranza vivE! ¡La Lucha SiguE, SiguE!

FOR INFO: Call 210.228.0201 or email: esperanza@esperanzacenter.org

Be Part of a

progressive Movementin San Antonio

Start your 2016 tax-deductible donations to Esperanza today!

for more info call 210.228.0201

Please use my donation for the Rinconcito de Esperanza

$35 Individuals$100 Institutions

La Voz Subscription

Anna Marie Marinez December 3, 1924 - October 20, 2015

Our deepest condolences to the family of Anna Marie Marinez who passed into spirit this year. A believer in the power of prayer to change the world, she prayed for those she loved as well as for strangers, notably wounded warriors. She had a special devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and dearly loved her children, their children and their children’s children. She had a passion for music, dance and smiling. She made grand entrances wherever she went. She raised her family alone after

divorcing in 1970 and inculcated in her children a love of knowledge and the arts modeling a continuing thirst for knowledge throughout her life— reading daily and taking courses in business school and in college and universities well into

her sixties. Her mind was so keen and sharp she worked her crosswords in ink. Her indefatigible spirit allowed her to live past 90 in spite of numerous predictions from doctors and nurses of her pending demise. Anna Marie Marinez will not be forgotten.

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • Dec 2015 | jan 2016 Vol. 28 Issue 10•

Non-Profit Org.US Postage

PAIDSan Antonio, TX

Permit #332

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center922 San Pedro San Antonio TX 78212210.228.0201 • www.esperanzacenter.org

Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address? TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL lavoz@esperanzacenter.org CALL: 210.228.0201

Artwork: Mary Agnes Rodríguez

Noche Azul de Esperanza

GuadalupeSaturday, December 12, 2015Doors open at 7:15pm • Program Starts at 8pm$5 Mas O Menos at the Door

Check the February issue of La Voz for

Noche Azul’s 2016 schedule of shows!

Dear Buena Gente,Esperanza was founded in 1987 with the dream of creating a place where people working for peace and justice could come together to share our vision, our resources, and our hope for the future. Today, decades later, Esperanza continues the work of bringing people together across our differences to work for justice and build a better world. As 2015 ends and the promise of a new year begins, we ask you to include Esperanza in your end of year tax deductible donations. Our community grows stonger when we all give what we can in the spirit of solidarity. Send your donations (see Voz p.14) to Esperanza at 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, Tx 78210 or call 210.228.0201 to sign up as a monthly donor. Visit www.esperanzacenter.org for online giving options.¡Muchisimas gracias, y Feliz 2016!

Much love and peace for the coming year!

—-Esperanza staff, board and buena gente-

every month for photo scanning and story sharing

Gather your Westside photos, 1880 -1960 & bring them to El Rinconcito de Esperanza,

816 S. Colorado

Next Convivio:Saturday, December 12, 2015

10am @ Casa de Cuentos, 816 S. Colorado (@Guadalupe St.) Call 210-228-0201

Second Saturday