For Immediate Release                                                                             

January 24, 2012                                                                                              
CONTACT:
Tony Diaz, Nuestra Palabra Director
AztecMuse@aol.com 

 
Houston writers & activists organize a caravan of Librotraficantes to smuggle contraband books back into Arizona!

Houston, Texas – Local literary nonprofit Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say is organizing The Librotraficantes Banned Book Caravan from Houston, Texas to Tucson, Arizona leaving Houston on Monday, March 12 and culminating in Tucson, Arizona Saturday, March 17.

The caravan will be filled with authors and activists who will be taking banned books back into Arizona, to give to students.  The bus will include banned authors, new authors, as well as concerned advocates of First Amendment rights of Equal Protection and Freedom of Speech.

The Caravan will be making stops in Texas, New Mexico, and, of course, Arizona.

Banned writers have embraced the caravan and will participate along the route, including Mac Arthur Genius recipient Sandra Cisneros, who kicked off our fundraising efforts by making a generous donation; Guggenheim Fellow Dagoberto Gilb, whose work recently appeared in the New Yorker and Harpers; and best selling author Luis Alberto Urrea, who was the first to enthusiastically support the project through Twitter.

The caravan is intended to:

1. Raise awareness of the suspension of the Mexican-American Studies Program and the removal of banned books.
2. Promotion of banned authors and their contributions to American Literature, Non-Fiction and Poetry.
3. Celebrate diversity: Children of the American Dream must unite to preserve the civil rights of all Americans.

Founded in 1998, Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say has gone from the party hall of Chapultepec Restaurant to Exhibit Hall F of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Today, the entire city is our forum. When we began, we were told that there was not an audience for Latino literature. We are thrilled to say that today the largest book events in Houston are Latino events. We are proud to bring you Houston’s contribution to the Latino Literary Renaissance. WEBSITES:  www.Librotraficante.com and www.NuestraPalabra.org

Arpaio has until January 4 to settle an agreement with the feds, or he will face a law suit, and a judge will decide the fate of his department.

A few hours after the report was leaked, it was announced that the Department of Homeland Security cut off Maricopa County’s access to the Secure Communities program and terminated the agreement which allowed deputies to detain people due to their immigration status. According to DHS:

“The Department of Homeland Security is troubled by the Department of Justice’s findings of discriminatory policing practices within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office …Accordingly, and effective immediately, DHS is terminating MCSO’s 287(g) jail model agreement and is restricting the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office access to the Secure Communities program.”

It is prudent that the federal government is finally taking action, but I also look at the timing, and have a hard time believing that it is much beyond an election-year ploy. The Obama administration has deported more people than even Bush.

Obama himself has done nothing to move toward an agreement in which families are no longer separated. Instead, more than half of all federal inmates will be so-called Latinos this year, and the vast majority of these new inmates are facing prison for nonviolent immigration offenses. In effect, his policies are criminalizing our community for very mild offenses. The effects of this criminalization will be felt for generations to come.

Obama is nothing if not a master of the media. Keep in mind that even though these two programs, Secure Communities and 287(g), are being withdrawn from Maricopa County, all over the county, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, will continue to be subjected to the same programs that enabled Arpaio to act in this way. By withdrawing from this particular county, the Obama administration throws Latinos a bone, while he can continue to brag about the historic deportation numbers that his administration has processed.

The media picks up on his gesture and this provides him a little good faith among so-called Latino voters…or so he hopes. I don’t think that Obama will be able to drive an ample amount of Latino voters to the polls. Among issues most important to us, his performance has just been too shoddy.

Right here in Harris County, we have felt the effects of these programs. I remember marching in Washington DC over a decade ago in support of immigration reform. I could have never imagined a scenario, in which a Chicano sheriff in Harris County would be a proponent of these policies, but this is what we have in Adrian Garcia. It is true that Garcia did not decide on his own to implement these immigration policies, but he did recommend it to the County Commissioners Court.

It appears that a Houston man, Luis Alberto Delgado, was deported in 2010 due to one of these programs, or at least policies that encourage participation between local law enforcement and ICE.

The actions against Joe Arpaio are welcomed by Latinos in Maricopa County, Arizona, I am sure. This small gesture, however, does not make up for Obama’s general inaction on the issue of immigration. All of this speaks nothing of the bill that Obama intends to sign that will include “harmful provisions that some legislators have said could authorize the U.S. military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians, including American citizens, anywhere in the world,” according to a legal group.

I have often wondered how or why Obama ended up the way he has. Whatever the reasons, tokens won’t pay the bill owed to Latinos.

Most people suppose that Fernandez is a supporter of the Mexican people. He certainly makes enough money off of us. However, I’m not convinced. He also played for the Republican National Convention in 2000 at a time when Republicans were becoming radically anti-Mexican.

I understand that for some, questioning Vicente, is like questioning Jesus, but let us take a look at his decision in the context of the political situation in Arizona, and for that matter, the whole country.

SB1070

SB1070 is one of the most onerous laws ever passed in the United States. The law requires local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration law, laws for which they have no authority, no training, and often no desire to enforce. The law lends itself to racial profiling. In one version of the law, police officers were obligated to check the immigration status for anyone whom they suspected of being undocumented…under any circumstances.

This could mean that a victim of rape, robbery or assault could essentially be deported for having reported such a crime. Such a policy would have led to lawlessness in our community. Eventually, some of the provisions were changed, and still others are being blocked by the Supreme Court.

Incidentally, similar measures could be coming to Texas.

It is these policies that the compañeros in Arizona are warning the country about, and this is why they are urging the boycott on Arizona, and on companies tied to such legislation like Budweiser.

Enter Chente

Vicente Fernandez, in one of his most famous songs, calls himself “The Son of The People.” I find it hard to believe that a true son of the people, especially after having made so much as a result of the people’s loyalty, could make a deal with a company and a state that has treated the people, our people, as animals. It makes me believe that he is a son of something other than the people!

The main group protesting Budweiser, Arizona and now Fernandez is a group known as Puente. They are urging people not to be tricked by a hypocrite like Fernandez.

They bring up some very good points. Why would you spend your money with a company, a singer or a state that turns around and uses that money to harm your community? Not only are you giving up the struggle, but you are buying the ropes with which they are hanging you.

The Boycott Theory

Many activists and organizers excuse the undocumented from the struggle for their own rights. They say that the cost of deportation is too high or that the undocumented people are too busy trying to put food on the table. I am not one of those people who accept those excuses. History has proved that the most successful struggles are those in which the people who are most affected stand up for themselves. What if Zapata or Villa or Cuauhtémoc had said that the cost for resisting was too high? Where might we be?

Even for those who believe in the excuses, there is no excuse for failing to participate in this boycott. All we have to do is NOT buy Budweiser, Arizona or Vicente Fernandez.

Reportedly, Fernandez wants to console the people through song. I hope that there is no part of our community which is dumb enough to be sung to death. For the rest of us, we won’t allow our money to be used to buy the ropes which will hang us.

“This is how the man does it, and if you don’ t wake up and find out how he does it, I tell you, they’ll be building gas chambers and gas ovens pretty soon– I don’t mean those kind you’ve got at home in your kitchen– [and] you’ll be in one of them, just like the Jews ended up in gas ovens over there in Germany. You’re in a society that’s just as capable of building gas ovens for black people as Hitler’s society was.”
-Malcolm X

In their new round of legislation, Arizona law makers have proposed some bills that make last year’s proposals seems tame. The Times:

(The children of the undocumented) would receive special birth certificates that would make clear that the state does not consider them Arizona citizens.

This gringo backlash attempts to indict our children from the day that they are born.

This land is our birthright, our heritage. We have traveled this piece of the world for 60,000 years or more. We must first understand that a simple piece of paper will never be able to grant or to deny us our rights to Anahuac. We are here to stay. The day that our presence requires justification from others is the day that we stop being a nation and start being nothing more than work horses.

It is easy for this bill to be laughed off as a symbolic act, but the truth is that it is a permanent mark on this group of children. Despite my admonition that we must never seek approval of others, the reality is that
the history of this nation is a sociopathic one. It wiped out countless societies while establishing its borders, and kept right on going. Even though we might not need its approval, we must never ignore the activities of any sociopathic nation, especially when its illness begins to flare.

It is for this reason that we must take this move as something profoundly dangerous to our future existence. The Nazis used differences in documentation as a a symbolic move toward ridding their society of undesirables. As they developed more and more power, these symbolic gestures and documentations became the channels that they used to carry out their Final Solution. They knew where all the undesirables lived. They marked the undesirables. When it was time, they simply used the channels and the markings to send in their death squads.

When the government begins marking your people, you have a choice to make, and you have to choose sides.

What will you do?

Houston United (HoustonUnido.org) protested in front of Houston’s Clear Channel offices. They were protesting Arizona-style bills proposed by State Representative Riddle, and the racist, slanted rhetoric found on 740 AM.

Michael Berry, a Clear Channel commentator, ridiculed the Latino community by saying that the protest would make his office look like a Home Depot. In his normal style he imitated a Spanish-language accent, in what many observers are calling a modern-day black face or “brown face” style.

Houston Unido protested many bills which have been presented by State Representative Debbie Riddle. Among the package of bills include legislation which would effectively require public school administrators to act in certain capacities as federal immigration agents, and legislation which effectively legalizes racial profiling. One bill would impose what some are calling a “Conservative Tax on Small Business,” because it would require employers to go to extraordinary costs to verify the residency status of job candidates or face felony charges. Many say this same bill will encourage racial discrimination, as many employers may not wish to consider Latino prospective employees at all, since unintentionally hiring an undocumented worker could foreseeably lead to felony charges.

Employers

Debbie Riddle (also known as La Bruja in our community) recently filed a bill which would make felons out of people who have employed undocumented workers.  Under the bill, it would make people who “intentionally” or “recklessly” hire undocumented workers felons in the eyes of law.  It is my belief that this bill will backfire on Debbie Riddle, because it is an attack on small business people around the state.  It puts employers who might unknowingly hire undocumented workers on the defensive, because they will have to prove their innocence.  This is a wakeup call for employers all over the state, who will have to choose sides.  Employers can choose to support those who would make them felons or they can choose to support those who are fighting for human rights and full documentation on all workers. I think for most small business people, the choice is an easy one.

The Mexican Work Ethic

South Carolina State Senator Robert Ford was raising an argument as to why Arizona/apartheid-style immigration laws should not be imposed upon his state against undocumented workers.  He charged that undocumented Mexicans work harder than blacks or whites.  In so doing, Ford, who is black, echoed sentiments made by other black leaders in the past, including Minister Louis Farrakhan.  We welcome support of all types for dignity for our undocumented brothers and sisters.  However, it is a sad state of affairs when rights are granted or subtracted based on the commercial production of an individual.  It is my hope to convince our allies that comprehensive immigration reform should come about as a matter of justice and equity, and not merely a matter of profits.

Elections

The 2012 elections will be an important cycle for people who believe in justice.  Immigration and education reform are the most often cited issues of importance to our community.  Health care reform could very well be voided by the Supreme Court by a very basic but prudent argument.  Every interested person should have his or her eyes focused on the 2012 elections.  For many years, I did not participate vigorously in the election process.  I still believe that regardless of who is in office, people must organize all of their resources outside of the electoral system to influence the process.  However, outside of Congress, there is no other body in the United States that can create the short term gain in immigration that we need.  The Republicans have refused to meet our needs, and these Democrats have not been astute enough to do so.  So we must prepare ourselves to find another way.  It does our community no good to send Democrats who promise the moon (like Obama) but can’t deliver peanuts. Some of us are already discussing strategy for next year. I hope that you will join us.

Brisenia Flores

Our cover story focuses on Brisenia Flores, a young girl who was killed by anti-Mexican terrorists.  The story was not reported by the national press.  For months, I believed that the story was ignored.  As I began interviewing people closer to the story, they made me understand that our community was not simply being ignored, but that the press did not want to deal with the backlash from the anti-migrant community.  We have not been ignored; we have been consciously blacked out of coverage.

Egypt

The popular movement in Egypt is forcing their president from power.  This is instructive for those of us wishing to better conditions for our people in this country.  The mass uprising in Egypt came after years of small protest of no more than one thousand people.  In the end, it was neither leaders nor parties who are forcing the president out of office; it was the people.  Egyptian protest organizers say the same thing that many of said before the mass rallies in the US a few years ago: they could not have planned or seen the mass uprising coming in Egypt.  When the people decide that their situation would be best improved by standing up like men and women, no forces are powerful enough to oppose them.  Egyptians shut down the country for days on end, and they are achieving their goal.  In the all the protests in the world may be available, but it will not be until the masses of our people decide that they will stand like men and women, regardless of the potential consequences, that we will achieve some of the goals to which we strive.

Some of them are members of Union Del Barrio, an organization from which I derive great inspiration. That these brothers and sisters can speak the truth AND WIN ELECTIONS is a great beacon of hope for me.

Congratulations!

The Social Justice Education Project (SJEP) and our Critically Compassionate Intellectualism model have and are showing profound effects on academic success, graduation rates, and participation in post-secondary education. Evaluation already in place determined the following information for the students who participated in the program.

Comparing the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) pass rates over six academic years (2004 to 2009) for SJEP students and non-SJEP students who failed the AIMS their sophomore year, we have found significant differences among these same students and their junior year (SJEP year one) performance on the AIMS exam:

       ♦SJEP students passed at the rates of 68% (reading), 76% (writing), and 54% (math).

       ♦Non-SJEP students passed at the rates of 23% (reading), 17% (writing), and 21% (math).

The data reveals that SJEP students are:

♦3 x more likely to pass the reading portions than their non-SJEP peers.

♦4 x more likely to pass the writing portions than their non-SJEP peers.

♦2.5 x more likely to pass the math portions than their non-SJEP peers.

Student surveys indicate:

        Almost all SJEP students agree that the SJEP has better prepared them for college and that

        working on their projects has helped them believe that they have something worthwhile to

        contribute to society (97% and 98% respectively).

The SJEP shows great impact on the post-secondary participation of our graduates:

      ♦67% of SJEP students enroll in post-secondary education when they graduated high

        school. This is 179% greater than the national average of 24% for Mexican American

        students.

SJEP students explain how the program transformed their perceptions of themselves and the world:

      ♦”[SJEP] made me realize what everything is and who I am…It just gives

   you power to do better for yourself — to keep learning, want to keep doing things.”

      ♦“I love the project, it was great, and it helped me feel smarter … and the project gave the   

          idea that I could help my community; and that is what I am going to do with my life.”

Social Justice Education Project

Tucson Unified School District &

The University of Arizona