Sunday, June 18, 2017 the “Juvenile Lifer Rally for Justice” will be hosted at the Erma Henderson Memorial Park, 8810 E. Jefferson Ave., in Detroit, Michigan from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Event organizers Elena Herrada and Efren Paredes, Jr. are collaborating with over a dozen college students, who are locating and inviting community leaders, members of the media, faith-based groups, civil, and human rights organizations, and hundreds of ordinary citizens to attend this historic event.
Elena Herrada is a Detroit radio show host and adjunct professor at Marygrove College and Wayne County Community College. Efren Paredes, Jr. is a social justice advocate, blogger, and Michigan juvenile lifer.
The event will be calling on county prosecutors to stop delaying the resentencing of over three hundred juvenile lifers who are currently serving an unconstitutional sentence in Michigan.
It will also call on county judges to proceed with sentencing hearings if prosecutors continue causing delays, and to impose 25- to 60-year sentences on all existing juvenile lifers.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled five years ago that mandatory life without parole (LWOP) sentences for juvenile offenders are unconstitutional. Since that time less than 10% of the juvenile lifers have been resentenced.
A10-point platform for criminal justice reform in Michigan will also be presented at the event and an online petition will be unveiled that people can sign which sends an email to state legislators calling on them to reform the Michigan criminal justice system.
Funds are being raised to purchase banners, posters, flyers, T-shirts, postage, renting sound equipment, purchasing advertising space for the event on Facebook, and other costs associated with hosting a large event to accommodate an estimated 500 to 1,000 people.
Donors of $100 or more will have their names, businesses, or organizations featured on posters and banners at the event in a section featured on each item that states, “Made possible with donations from (your name).”
Your contributions to making this event a success would be most appreciated.
The textbook in question featuring an Aztec dancer many of us have not seen in the Texas danza circles.
Mexican Americans from Texas are no strangers to white supremacy and cultural genocide. We come from the state with the “special” Texas history books, the ones with the lies they pass off as truths to the millions of first nations children in Texas schools. The same state with public schools named after slave owners, confederate soldiers, and corporate capitalists.
Two weeks ago the Texas State Board of Education tentatively approved a “Mexican American studies” text produced by a company owned by renown white supremacist, Cynthia Dunbar, who also happens to be a former member of this same board.
Interestingly, this non-factual or reality-based “textbook” is the first from Dunbar’s publishing house. The book is entitled Mexican American Heritage and features an image of a random Mexica dancer on the cover. The authors are wasichu, and are unknown in MAS or across the broader Mexican American community in Texas.
Cynthia Dunbar
In recent years MAS has had its share of the national/international spotlight thanks to the years-long battle with the wasichu in Arizona against Mexican American Studies. The battle for MAS in Texas quickly came together, but despite statewide mobilization the State Board of Education refused to incorporate a full MAS class for Texas public school students…although they (interestingly) agreed to regulate a statewide textbook, which Dunbar is trying to have approved.
As could be expected, there was a widespread reaction of disgust from the community as well as folks from across the nation (and abroad) after the Texas Observer piece was published. Communities around the state began to mobilize to address this issue and will be discussing this issue (and the text itself) at an upcoming statewide summit in San Antonio. This event will be hosted by the hosted by The National Association for Chicana & Chicano Studies (NACCS) Tejas Foco Committee. (Link for more information: http://bit.ly/1TtC5lE)
Community leaders, culture workers, and educators had plenty to say about this latest attack against our children:
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 1: Rosa Tupina Yaotonalcuauhtli” open=”no”]
Name: Rosa Tupina Yaotonalcuauhtli Title: Spiritual Leader founder of Kalpulli Teokalli Teoyolotl in Austin, Tx
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
My initial reaction when I saw the cover was “this is beautiful”. Once I started reading I felt totally deceived! My reaction then was “esta peor el remedio que la enfermedad”!!
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
I am affected at different levels. I am affected personally because this is an attack to my person and my heritage and my roots as a woman who identifies as a Mexica and claims her indigenous roots, being born in Mexico and being an immigrant to this country. I am affected as a mother and grandmother who has children who are first generation in this country and grandchildren who are second generation. The thought of my grandchildren reading this book in school makes me very angry and my emotions are totally justified because this is a threat to me and my family. It affects me on a community level as a Spiritual leader and as a Professional Woman because my work revolves around empowerment and protection and preservation of our ancestry to maintain our growth with pride and values of worth as a group of people. I could write a dissertation on how it affects me!
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
Because we can not allow the Systems to continue approving this garbage to be fed to our children. It is lethal for their minds and sense of worth as human beings.
Any other comments or thoughts you would like to share about this issue or related topics?
I want to encourage our people to participate in boards and positions of power to stop this nonsense. We are educated and we need to represent nuestra gente if not these are the results. We need to write our own stories! Ya basta! Si no entonces we will see more of these attacks that are not subtle anymore. The sword is out in front of our face! Ya nos sacaron la espada!
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 2: Oscar Gomez” open=”no”]
Name: Oscar Gomez Title: Teacher
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
I am frustrated that decades of research and development of Mexican American history and curriculum were ignored. There is no desire among Chicanos to destroy society. There is a desire to educate our communities regarding our CONTRIBUTIONS to society
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
Whatever is considered Mexican American history or Chicano Studies is the collective stories that tell the narratives of people in my immediate family. I want the world to know the truth about my family without resorting to pseudo-religious paranoia.
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
Because the topics discussed educate and tell the truth about the history of our communities. These truths aim to instill pride and enhance the self-esteem of people in our communities. The paranoid narrative of “destroying society” is incorrect, and should be challenged
Any other comments or thoughts you would like to share about this issue or related topics?
The only ones destroying society are people like Cynthia Dunbar who spread lies for personal gain
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 3: Gabriel Hugo Sanchez” open=”no”]
Name: Gabriel Hugo Sanchez “The Fluid Chicano” Title: Community member
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
My reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer is that I am glad that there are people watching these folks who are actively trying to suppress an emerging group such as Mexican Americans and Chicanos. I believe they need to be called out as soon as possible when they make statements or when they enact laws that are designed to undercut the efforts and the historical presence of Mexican Americans/Chicanas-os.
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
I am a Mexican American and self-proclaimed Chicano. This affects me directly because it seeks to portray me and people like me as “alien” or “other”. We are American in the fullest sense. I believe that we have been living in an uneasy silence for far too long. The source of our silence for many of us has been a feeling of illegitimacy that these kinds of texts espouse. We have been told from early on that people like us are essentially the enemy, as stated in the proposed textbook that Chicanos “want to destroy this society.”
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
It is concerning that in spite of our tremendous historical contributions there are still individuals running negative narratives about our people. What is worse is that these narratives are, or seek to be, made part of the education system at any level. These narratives are propaganda designed to water down the face of the Chicano and Mexican Americans as a whole by lumping us together with other distinct backgrounds and labeling us “Latinos”.
Any other comments or thoughts you would like to share about this issue or related topics?
I believe that this issue and the rhetoric that is part of the presidential race, though it is disgusting and infuriating, represent a unique opportunity for Chicanos, Mexican Americans and other people because any time something is opposed it only grows. I believe we can use the momentum that this push represents to swing back harder, essentially using their push as a catalyst for our launch into a fuller sense of being first class American citizens. Using their force against them. Since the attacks are on the ideological, intellectual, and occupational front, our response should not be to focus on what negative things are being said or who is saying them. But our response should be on demonstrating our accomplishments at all levels of public and private lives. Every time you hear “Mexicans are drug dealers” publications, artists, writers and others should highlight stories of Mexican Americans or Chicanos in police uniforms or as agents combating drug smuggling. Every time you hear “Mexicans are rapists” we should highlight statistics that show that Mexican Americans have strong marital commitments, and stay together longer as nuclear and extended families compared to other groups. Every time you hear someone say Chicanos are destroying this society you should publish stories highlighting the artistic, cinematic, literary, musical, and political advances that Chicanos have contributed to this society; not to mention its significant contribution in blood in every war since the war of Texas independence.
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 4: Monica Jean Alaniz-McGinnis, PhD” open=”no”]
Name: Monica Jean Alaniz-McGinnis, PhD Title: Scholar & Educator
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
I find it disheartening and sad that a text book that has contributors such as Ms. Dunbar, who clearly have prejudices against Mexican Americans. As a state, we are finally getting to a point where we can present Mexican American Studies to a younger, broader audience, but this text does not present the right type of information and is biased in a negative way towards the very people it is supposed to present in an academic, inspiring way.
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
As someone who has been part of the Mexican American Studies community since I studies Ethnic Studies at UT Austin and as a current program coordinator in Mexican American Studies as well as a member of the RGV Coalition for MAS, I have a vested interest in the way that MAS material is presented to the community. My institution has several dual enrollment classes that might end up using this text book. I have also been part of a coalition that has been trying to get MAS into the high schools in the area and this is definitely not the type of textbook that we had in mind.
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
Studies have shown that students who get culturally relevant education, such as MAS, have better academic success. This is due to the fact that they are finally able to see themselves in a positive light. They see themselves and their ancestors as positive contributors to the American experience. MAS courses do not relegate them and their stories to the background. It would be detrimental to offer MAS courses only to have textbooks that continue to spout the same, negative, sometimes hateful rhetoric, that they already encounter on a day to day basis in their other classes. Individuals who care, understand the history of Mexican Americans, and are well versed in the culture should be the ones contributing to these types of texts, not individuals who have already shown their negative attitude towards the community/culture.
Any other comments or thoughts you would like to share about this issue or related topics?
There are a lot of people who are working very hard to make Mexican American Studies part of the regular curriculum in the K-12 arena. Now that we are finally being given the opportunity to do so, text like this make it so that we are back to square one since the right material has not been included. Has this text even been peer reviewed by scholars in Mexican American Studies? Would it be possible for scholars to request the text for review if we want to do so?
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 5: Guadalupe Medina” open=”no”]
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
frustration
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
As already part in creating a response to this kind of politicization of education (Re: Librotraficante Movement) it is alarming to see this happening in TX. Seeing it and continually fighting it, is needed and reminds me that collectively, we must be vigilant against this kind of erroneous rewriting of history.
As an educator, I can not stress the need that exists for books, articles, resources created about cultural/ethnic/racial history that is not rooted in 1492. Already, there are too few academic studies done about “ethnic minorities” when it comes to medical/environmental/educational racism, but tons of false narratives. There are not enough academic works collected together about cultural/ethnic/ racial issues that are available for educators to dig into, especially for those of us who teach on the middle school , high school level. As of now, it is piecemeal. Some books we use are older, some books are currently being written, and now, because of “Momentum Instruction” – we will have to create a response to this other false narrative.
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
This “creative work of fiction” from Momentum Instruction might be the “go to” source for any school district wanting to teach MAS – I can put my money on it and bet that this isn’t the only book they will put out. They will want to provide books for Asian-American, African – American, Indigenous -American studies courses. This issue should be of concern to all families in Texas – as someone is controlling the story and its not us…
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 6: Anel I. Flores” open=”no”]
Name: Anel I. Flores Title: Author. Artist. Realtor.
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
This piece is very informative and they have chosen the appropriately, most problematic statements in this horribly racist, incomplete, classicists, nationalist book.
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
I am affected directly as I have 14 years of teaching behind me, as well as two daughters who have gone through the public and private school system defending their xicana identity, as have I as a writer and artist.
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
because, it is just another textbook that does not provide our xicano population resources to be empowered and knowledgeable of their ancestors and lineage- both which are necessary to provide our children to develop self worth and begin tearing down (institutionalized) shame.
Any other comments or thoughts you would like to share about this issue or related topics?
There a PLENTY of Xicanos who write academic work _Norma Cantu, Rudy Rosales, Antonia Castañeda, Rita Urquijo Ruiz, Sonia Saldivar and many more who could contribute to an anthology that could be used.
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[su_spoiler title=”Community interview 7: Maria” open=”no”]
Name: Maria Title: Community member
What is your reaction to the piece in the Texas Observer?
Wow!! So they are giving our kids a book to shut up the parents. Pretty much telling them their version of a messed up history. No real facts no read education. Just give them any whitewashed info to say they gave something. Then they can sweep us back under the rug. Its horrible to think this is the american dream our kids deserve again telling us and our children we dont matter. Wow.
Why is this issue important to you? How are you affected by this?
Im mexican american
Why should the community/the public be concerned about this issue?
Because its time we get included. We have been part of this country since before it began and we will be here tomorrow. Our children deserve to know about their history and the people that came before. Its time. And the rest of the kids need to know the difference between mexican american and “latino”. They need to know we are not just mexican we really are american. They need to know we are not just tacos and beer and cinco de mayo.
Any other comments or thoughts you would like to share about this issue or related topics?
Stop short changing education
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The book is set to be voted on and approved sometime around August.
The community will not sit idly by. Xica Nation will continue to cover this special topic and update the community on upcoming actions and events.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Usage of the term “wasichu” is not a reference to skin color or “race.” The word “wasi’chu is Lakota and translates into “takers of the fat.” That word also emphasizes the human path one should not walk in relation to the earth and all creation. Click here for a more detailed explanation.
In honor of American Indian/Raza Heritage month, from October 12 to November 19th Palo Alto College will be hosting an amazing event/platica series in San Antonio, Texas. This event is free and open to the public and will be live streamed here: http://pacms.alamo.edu/Mediasite/Catalog/Full/d9aa451c50b74896bdd530a3f241a54321
Click on image to view PDF
PALO ALTO COLLEGE
AMERICAN INDIAN/RAZA HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION 2015
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Mon Oct 12 Indigenous Opening Ceremony & Blessing
12-1:30pm: Dr. Michael Flores/President, Palo Alto College
Central Courtyard San Antonio Poet Laureate Laurie Ann Guerrero
Free Food/Drinks American Indians in Texas Yanaguana Drummers Nina Diaz In Concert Nina Diaz is the former lead vocalist and guitarist for the award-winning San Antonio all- female rock band Girl in a Coma. She will be performing with her new band.
Fri Oct 16 Free Friday Film Series
9am-5pm/SC Annex 9am & 1:15pmSelena The true and tragic story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a Tejana singer who rose from cult status to performing at the Astrodome, as well as having chart topping albums on the Latin music charts.
11:15am & 3:30pm La Bamba Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of early rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens (Ricardo Valenzuela) from California who died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.
Sat Oct 17 World Premiere of 100% NDN
8-9:30pm Theater/Dance production by Isaac Álvarez Cárdenas featuring Jesse Borrego
9:30-10:15pm Dr. Carmen Tafolla will moderate and lead a panel discussion on Indigenous Identity Performing Arts Center with Isaac Cárdenas and Jesse Borrego.
Main Theater Carmen Tafolla is an award-winning author of more than twenty books, and currently the 2015 Texas Poet Laureate and Associate Professor of Transformative Children’s Literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Mon Oct 19 Juan Tejeda
2-3:30pm/Ozuna Library The Civil Rights Movement/Latino Americans “Peril & Promise” Film & Discussion Juan Tejeda is an Instructor of Mexican American Studies & Music and Lead Faculty for the Center for Mexican American Studies at Palo Alto College, as well as a writer, publisher and button accordionist for the Conjunto Aztlan.
Wed Oct 21 John Phillip Santos
12-1:15pm/SC Annex “Ancestral Journeys to Now: Reflecting on Chicano/a Identities in Deep Time” John Phillip Santos is the University Distinguished Scholar in Mestizo Cultural Studies, teaching in the Honors College, at the University of Texas at San Antonio, a Rhodes Scholar, award-winning media producer and author of three books including Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation.
Thurs Oct 22 PAC Poetry Rap/Slam
12-1:15pm/SC Annex National Grand Slam Poetry Champions Anthony The Poet & Amanda Flores perform their poetry and host PAC students as they slam their original poetry and raps.
Tues Oct 27 Dr. Josie Méndez-Negrete
12-1:15pm/SC Annex “Embodied Epistemologies: Life’s Lessons” Josie Méndez-Negrete is an Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, scholar, editor, activist and author of Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, an autoethnography,and A Life on Hold: Living with Schizophrenia.
Thurs Oct 29 Adriana García, Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark & Daniel González 12-1:15pm/SC AnnexExcerpts from the documentary film Latina Artist Exploring Who I Am: Adriana García, with a panel discussion that includes visual artist Adriana García, Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark and Daniel González. Adriana García is an award winning artist, muralist and scenic designer. Born and raised in the west-side of San Antonio, she has created community murals with Southwest Workers Union, Bill Haus Arts, San Anto Cultural Arts Center and Casa de la Cultura in Del Rio, Texas.
Ellen Riojas Clark, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research examines self-concept, teacher identity, ethnic identity, efficacy, and Latino cultural studies. Daniel Alejandro González, MA, is a researcher and ethnographic filmmaker from San Antonio, Texas. His work examines visual arts, identity, communities of practice, community organizing, and organizational structures.
Wed Nov 4 Juan Felipe Herrera/U.S. Poet Laureate
12-1:15pm/SC Annex Reading & Discussion
6-7pm Free Reception & Book Signing
7-9pm Free Public Reading & Discussion
Performing Arts Center Introduction by Texas Poet Laureate Carmen Tafolla and
Main Theater San Antonio Poet Laureate Laurie Ann Guerrero Juan Felipe Herrera is the first Chicano/Latino U.S. Poet Laureate in history (2015- 2016). A former California Poet Laureate (2012-2014), Herrera is the author of thirty books, including collections of poetry, prose, short stories, young adult novels and picture books for children. His collections of poetry include Notes of the Assemblage (2015), Senegal Taxi (2013), Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (2008), a recipient of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler (2002). He recently retired from the Creative Writing Program at the University of California Davis. Fri Nov 6 Free Friday Film Series/Indigenous Documentaries 10am-9pm 10am Reel Injun Peabody Award-winning documentary that explores the “Hollywood Indian” portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema. Performing Arts Center 11:35am Gente de Razón: People of the Missions Main TheaterJourney through the changing landscape of the San Antonio River Valley capturing the essence of the indigenous people who occupied the valley before, during and after the Spanish colonization of the
land and “missionization” of the Indians. 12:05pm Yaquis: The Story of a Peoples’ War and a Genocide in Mexico The longest-running armed struggle in Mexico’s history (1867-1909); a righteous struggle that was dragged to its end through a malignant ten year program of brutal “systematic military destruction” against the Yaqui people.
1:10pm Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians The urgent story of the mystical Wixarika People, the Huicholes: one of the last pre-Hispanic cultures alive in Latin America, and their struggle against the Mexican government and multinational mining corporations to preserve Wirikuta, their most sacred territory and home of the famous peyote cactus.
3:15pm The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code This film tells the story of how little known Vatican documents of the fifteenth century resulted in a tragic global momentum of domination and dehumanization that led to law systems in the United States, Canada and elsewhere in the world, that are still being used against Original Nations and Peoples to this day.
4:20pm Cartel Land A physician in Michoacán, Mexico leads a citizen uprising against the drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Across the U.S. border, a veteran heads a paramilitary group working to prevent Mexico’s drug wars from entering U.S. territory.
6:10pm Children of Giant Unearthing deeply wrought emotions surrounding de-facto segregation of Anglos and Mexican Americans in the small West Texas town of Marfa, before, during and after the month-long production of George Stevens’ 1956 Hollywood film, Giant, filmmaker Hector Galan weaves clips from the feature film with the voices of the Mexican American and Anglo townspeople, cast and crew who experienced this unique conjunction of art and life.
7:45pm Discussion with Hector Galán, award-winning film and television Producer/Director of Children of Giant
Tues Nov 10 Dr. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
12-1:15pm/SC Annex “Culture of Conquest and the Doctrine of Discovery: The United States
as a Colonialist Settler-State”
6-8pm Lecture, Discussion & Book Signing
Performing Arts Center Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a veteran social justice activist, historian, and professor
Recital Hall emerita of Ethnic Studies. She is author or editor of twelve books, including Indians of the Americas: Human Rights and Self-Determination and An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, which was selected for the American Book Award in 2015.
Wed Nov 11 Dr. Antonia I. Castañeda
12-1:15pm/ SC Annex “Writing Chicanas into History” Antonia I. Castañeda is a scholar/activist and recently retired Chicana feminist historian who received her Ph.D. in U.S. History at Stanford University. A collection of Castañeda’s scholarly essays, Three Decades of Engendering History: Selected Works of Antonia I. Castañeda, was published by the University of North Texas Press in 2014.
Wed Nov 18 Juan Mancías & Ramón Juan Vásquez 12-2pm/SC AnnexDiscussion & Open Forum on Indigenous Identity & Rights Juan B. Mancías is the Tribal Chair of the Yen Nawi’s Kiapan’k Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and promotes the preservation, maintenance and respect of tribal identity, tribal Language, and tribal self-determination. Ramón Juan Vásquez is the Executive Director of American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions. AIT is a non-profit organization located in San Antonio that serves the indigenous population of Central and South Texas.
Thurs Nov 19 Palo Alto College Music Ensembles Concert
12-1:30pm/SC Annex PAC Jazz Ensemble, Mariachi Palomino & Conjunto Palo Alto perform
Sep-Oct Mexico: Splendors of 30 Centuries Exhibit
Ozuna Library
Oct-Nov Perú Mestizo: Life & Art in a Colonial Kingdom Exhibit
Ozuna Library
A season of spiritual artivist happenings to honor womyn in mind, body & spirit
When: Sunday, March 8th @ 5:30 p.m.
Where: Legacy LA, 1350 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA (map)
The highly anticipated Annual Intercultural, Interdisciplinary, Intergenerational Mujeres de Maiz Artivist concert, ceremony and festival featuring womyn of color and Q/T performers honoring our 18th Anniversary, International Womyn’s Day and Womyn’s Herstory Month and the coming of Spring & Mexica New Year since 1997.
“The mission of Mujeres de Maiz (women of the corn) is to bring together and empower diverse women and girls and through the creation of community spaces that provide hollistic wellness through education, programming, exhibition and publishing.”
“Mujeres de Maiz was founded in 1997 as a grassroots, multimedia women’s activist organization based in East Los Angeles, California. Mujeres de Maiz utilizes community partnerships, mainly those developed with local artists, performers, educators, and organizers in the creation and implementation of our programming. These partnerships are primarily with Chicana/Latina college graduates between ages 25-65 who are involved in the cultural, artistic and educational tapestry of the greater Los Angeles area. We invite partners to perform (music, dance, theater), exhibit their artwork, and facilitate interactive workshops, demonstrations, and classes on topics that range from sustainable urban gardening to self defense for women. Mujeres de Maiz regularly collaborates with women artists and educators of African, Central and South American, Jewish, Filipina, Asian, Native American and Sri Lankan descent who recognize the need and potential of cross-racial solidarity.”
What are the goals for the future for Mujeres de Maiz?
Mujeres de Maiz celebrates their 20th anniversary in 2017. A retrospective museum exhibit and published anthology in honor of this milestone are being organized. The anthology currently consists of artistic works, academic essays and critiques, as well as Mujeres de Maiz artist/activist memoirs and visual materials that chronicle 20 years of art and activist work. In addition, MdM strives to develop more youth programming including workshops, assemblies and conferences. With our future programming we hope to only give opportunities for womyn artists, stage, and wall, but also with professional development, jobs and training. To do this Mujeres de Maiz is considering transforming into a non-profit organization. Stay updated to support their future projects at www.MujeresdeMaiz.com
How can folks that don’t live in California get involved or support your work?
MdM works local but vision is global. They have inspired collectives and chapters across the southwest. Their zine is open to any self-identified womyn of color to submit original work in art, and poetry for publication. In addition their are calls for artists for visual exhibitions on a yearly basis. Artists and writers from down the street and around the world have been published in their Zines as well as performed on their stages, so consider becoming part of Mujeres de Maiz in these ways. In addition supporting their work via their Mujer Meracado and Publications page enables them to continue and grow.
On SATURDAY, February 14, 2015, at 6pm La Mujer Obrera & Sin Fronteras/Alianza Nacional de Campesinas will join with activists around the world for ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE at Café Mayapan, 2000 Texas Ave.
CALL TO ARTISTS: V-Day Revolution Art Display
La Mujer Obera seeking local artists for Tonantzin Rising: Revolution Against Sexual Violence Art Show on Feb. 14th @ Cafe Mayapan. Artists working in all media are eligible.
Interested Artists, please SUBMIT by 2/10/14 & contact 915.799.2890 / [email protected] for details.
The campaign recognizes that we cannot end violence against women without looking at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Impunity lives at the heart of these interlocking forces. Women along the border have suffered the brunt of economic changes, poverty and violence. El Paso women are rising to demand the protection of our community spaces as vital sources for transformation and the creation of a world free of violence.
About One Billion Rising
One Billion Rising was the biggest mass action in human history. The campaign began as a call to action based on the staggering UN statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On 14 February, people across the world came together to strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women. Over 10,000 events took place on the ground and the campaign took over media and social media worldwide for 48 hours, trending in 7 countries – 4 times in the US alone. The wildly successful grassroots campaign was covered widely by media in all corners of world including The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and many more. www.onebillionrising.org
About V-Day
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. The V-Day movement has raised over $100 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Egypt, and Iraq. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements and awards and is, one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. V-Day’s most recent global campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, galvanized over one billion women and men on a global day of action towards ending violence against women and girls. www.vday.org
#USTIRED2: 43 U.S. CITIES TO HOLD VIGILS, PROTESTS DEMANDING OBAMA, CONGRESS END “PLAN MEXICO” DRUG WAR FUNDING
In the wake of the Human Rights Crisis Exposed by Disappearance of the 43 Students in Iguala, Mexico, Latino and other Communities Participating in Dec. 3 National Mobilization for Peace in Mexico Will Begin Process of Holding Elected Officials Accountable on Mexico Aid.
Attention Houston: March 1st from 10 am to 2 pm join us to start the envisioning of a state wide network that will provide a clearinghouse and directory of native organizations that advocate for native families around issues such as housing, domestic violence, education, and other issues that affect our identities and cultural life ways. We will be facilitating a round-table discussion targeting the main issues that affect the daily lives of our native relatives throughout the country and focusing on our issues in Texas. A door prize will be raffled to one of the fortunate that attend. An RSVP is requested for the count for lunch.
Thank you and hope to see you at the Northwest Mall by I-10 W Katy Freeway and 610 w loop off of Hempstead road.
For more details please contact Juan B. Mancias, Native Voice Network Weaver at [email protected]
The International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers is coming together for their FIRST EVER WOMEN’S GATHERING to pass on their wisdom and ways of connecting through prayer and ceremony for our Mother Earth.
The Elders have been speaking of this time, when women would rise together to ignite the Feminine Spirit on the planet. Our Mother is calling us to restore balance, and to awaken our remembrance.
On the Spring Equinox 2014 , we will gather on sacred lands in Yavapai County, Arizona, where the Grandmother Council will guide us to return home to ourselves, each other, and Mother Earth.
>>>THE GATHERING<<<
Our gathering will begin on the Spring Equinox, and the opening ceremony will be led by the local Yavapai women, as they welcome us to the land in their traditional way. The International Council of the Thirteen Grandmothers will follow initiating our sacred time together with a ceremony to celebrate a turning toward a new way of being and doing: a way that recognizes, honors, and builds upon the ways of our Ancestors.
We will be camping on magical lands alongside the banks of the beautiful Beaver Creek. We will be guided through a variety of ceremonies that represent the teachings and unique Medicine Ways of each of the Grandmothers’ lineages and traditions, in ways that invite us into our own personal and authentic way of relating to and honoring our relationship with Mother Earth.
On World Water Day, we will pilgrimage to Montezuma Well and hold a Water Blessings Ceremony joining the millions of others who will be uniting with us from their homes to pray for the waters #inthenameofthemother
>>>THE CALL<<<
For those that will not be able to physically join us, we are sending a call to women everywhere to join us in SPIRIT, in the sacred space of ceremony, in the name of our Mother Earth. This place is where it all begins, in the feeling realm of intention, where we can unite our thoughts for the greater good.
It is time for us to wake up to our planetary unity, and women will lead the way. We represent the feminine way, the beauty way, in our remembrance, we return to our source.
Like Thomas Berry said, our long motherless period is coming to a close. When we refer to earth, as our Mother, we come into relation with her. When we identify ourselves as her children, children of planet earth, children of the universe, we treat her differently. Relationship needs to be re-established. The title MOTHER needs to return to EARTH.
So this movement is being seeded by women on the Spring Equinox 2014 at the first ever all women’s gathering with the International Council of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.
This powerful group of Grandmother Elders and Medicine women are coming together from the four corners, to join in sacred ceremony and are sending out a call: a collective call that many women have been hearing, and responding to. As we do this work together, we energetically activate the feminine way, through ceremony, ritual and prayer.
So on World Water Day, March 22nd, 2014, if you feel called, join us in spirit. The Grandmother Council has issued forth a water blessing ceremony that you can do from where ever you are. May all our sacred hoops connect and activate the field of consciousness that we are a part of. May we activate it with our prayers and with our love, and our vision of a new world that cares for our Mother Earth and all living things. United we stand, IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER.
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Name: Oscar Gomez
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