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a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

March 2014 | Vol. 27 Issue 2 San Antonio, Tejas

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ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a mailing address correction please send it in to lavoz@esperan-zacenter.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 sub-stantially 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.

La Voz deEsperanza

March 2014vol. 27 issue 2

Editor Gloria A. Ramírez

Design Monica V. Velásquez

Editorial AssistanceAlice Canestaro-García

Cover Art: Greg Harman

Contributors Itza Carbajal, Greg Harman,

Olga Kaufman, Elvia Mendoza, Elizabeth Ramírez, Marta Turok

La Voz Mail Collective Feliz Baca, David M. Collins, Diana De La Cruz, Michelle De La Cruz, Sara DeTurk,

Angela M. García, Josie Martin, Angie Merla, Lucy & Ray Pérez,

Kamala Platt, Maria E. Porter, Vanessa Sandoval, Josie Solis, Dave Stokes, Helen Suarez, Elva Pérez Treviño

Esperanza Director Graciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza Staff Imelda Arismendez, Itza Carbajal, Ramona Corpstein, Marisol Cortez, J.J. Niño, René

Saenz, Melissa Ruizesparza Rodríguez, Susana Méndez Segura, Monica V. Velásquez

Conjunto de Nepantleras-Esperanza Board of Directors-

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

Nadine Saliba, Graciela Sánchez

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

necessarily those of the Esperanza Center. La Voz de Esperanza

is a publication ofEsperanza Peace & Justice Center

922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212210.228.0201 • fax 1.877.327.5902

www.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.

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center is funded in part by the NEA, TCA, theFund, Coyote Phoenix Fund, AKR Fdn, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Fdn, Horizons Fdn,

New World Foundation, y nuestra buena gente.

of La Voz de Esperanza do not get lauded enough, but I often get

feedback on Voz articles in and outside of San Antonio with 99% of what I hear or read being positive. La Voz is made possible by a community that feels driven to speak out on a variety of issues affecting our city, our state, our nation, the world. Most writers come from the San Antonio area, although, we often publish articles from outside of Texas. Wherever we write from, we write with the hope that by sharing our insights we can be of one mind in the drive forward for a better world.

One would think that the names of the contributors to La Voz would be securely credited in every issue. The names ARE usually prominently displayed on the masthead at left. BUT, sadly, after finishing out the February issue, we noticed that we had left out the contributors’ list for the last two issues! Both Monica (our design person) and I were appalled!

After the mad rush of the November Calaveras issue where we listed the contributors at the bottom of the editorial — we forgot to restore the original masthead. I cannot apologize enough for that — so, I will list below, albeit belatedly, the writers of those two issues.

In the December 2013 /January 2014 issue, the writers included The Westside Preservation Alliance (Willful Neglect: San Antonio’s Historic Preservation Calamity), Dee Villarrubia (An LGBT Wit-ness to the Nondiscrimination Ordinance), Brad C. Veloz (La Boda de Dos Vatos) and Rogelio Saenz (Still Dreaming of Justice). The February 2014 issue included articles by David Spener (Chile Can-ta Al Mundo), Rogelio Saenz (Spanish and English versions of La Nueva Política del Aborto en Texas y Recordando a Rosie), Mary Ann Barclay (Standing Up for Justice in the United Methodist Church), Rachel Jennings (In Memory of Gene Leggett), Kamala Platt (the poems, Seasonal Still Life and Mary’s Gift) and Maria R. Salazar (¡Con Clave! Chata Gutiérrez, ¡Presente!)

I am happy to have written this editorial apology because it has given me the opportunity to look back and realize that strong writ-ers continue to provide us with timely and well written articles year after year. Perhaps this will encourage people to come forward with more food for thought in 2014 that will satiate our desire to know that people out there really care about our comunal well-being.

Finally, as Esperanza prepares for the April opening of a fracking exhibit, we begin this issue with, Storm the Crossroads, an original article on the fracking “revolution” by noted writer, Greg Harman who also provided the photography. Another timely article is Texas Needs Medicaid Expansion, Now! written by Olga Kaufman. Itza Carbajal writes about her first experience in civil disobedience in Arrested With the Univision Eight and we begin a new series on the San Antonio Four with Elvia Mendoza’s update and Elizabeth Ramírez’s Life Begins Again, a personal account of coming home from prison. We also sadly note the passing of folks that have had some connection to the Esperanza Center, most notably Doña Florentina López de Jesús, an internationally acclaimed elder weaver who was part of the 2010 Peace Market and whose funeral was witnessed by Marta Turok who writes a moving account in Spanish. As the year progresses, we invite you to write for La Voz. Send articles, artwork or stories to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. — Gloria A. Ramírez, editor

The writers

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by Greg Harman

How the fracking ‘revolution’ gambles our already-tenuous future

e idle at a crossroads. It’s a harried intersection, to be sure, at a twilight hour.

From one direction flow the railcars of explosive oil, streams of latticed drilling rigs, water-

sucking, chemical-spuming trucks, and the promise of mined Canadian oil sands snaking over the Ogallala – our nation’s largest freshwater aquifer – on its way to Houston refineries and the global market beyond.

From the south another force masses. Sometimes called a people’s movement, it is more than that. Famed biologist E.O. Wilson once compared the rise of environmental and anti-globalization activism to the earth’s immune response awakening.

“Intellectually, we know the fossil fuels age is over,” environmental activist Vandava Shiva said in January, concluding a landmark Rights of Nature Ethics Tribunal in Quito, Ecuador. “And yet those who can make quick money by mining the last reserves of gas or coal or oil ... they’re making their last desperate attempt.”

The traffic from the west demands a trade. The tens of billions of gallons of (mostly potable) water already shot down holes across South Texas for hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” of the oil-bearing shales below is the least of our worries. Thanks to the invisible but ubiquitous streams of methane pouring into the air from this most recent example of the oil industry’s rush to the bottom of the barrel, the bonanza of jobs and royalty payments represents nothing less than the possibly irreparable rupturing of the earth’s life-support systems.

Those fighting for a habitable earth are mobilized by the warnings of climate scientists from across the planet. They tell us in report after report that the time is short for humanity to change course. The most recent prompt, a leaked report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, states we have but a few years to radically reduce our greenhouse emissions before the atmosphere becomes so saturated with heat-trapping gases that we will no longer have the ability to solve our crisis with existing technology. (1)

Greenhouse gases – mainly water vapor and carbon dioxide – have blanketed the earth reliably since before plant life first exploded in the seas, trapping the sun’s heat close to the earth and making the explosion of life possible. Throughout human history, these gases have existed at levels below 300 parts per million (ppm). But then people discovered how to turn coal and oil into energy and we’ve been unleashing their previously solidified stores of carbon into the air ever since. So much so that we’ve already locked in centuries of increased heatwaves, desertification, and drought.

Researchers like former NASA scientist James Hansen, who

resigned his position last year to become a full-time climate activist, has suggested that for a climate favorable to human life we must not exceed 350 ppm CO2 equivalent. Thanks largely to petrochemical production, oil-dependent transportation, and industrial agriculture, we’ve pushed that number nearly to 400 ppm in recent years. The IPCC and others have suggested developed countries like the U.S. must rapidly cut their emissions, yet thanks largely to the virtual and literal explosions of extreme extraction made possible by fracking, the United States has become the world’s top producer not of low-carbon, clean energy sources like solar (Germany leads in installed solar, China manufactures the most), but oil.

So what are they celebrating in polished board rooms of Chesapeake, Pioneer, and Apache, when they read the self-congratulatory proclamation of a Texas Public Policy Foundation scholar who derides the streams of U.S. Presidents who “futilely pledged energy independence” only to see it delivered at last by “energy entrepreneurs” cracking deeply buried rock? (2) What does “energy independence” even mean when what we rob from the earth is burning down our home?

Despite more than 20 years of promises by world governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the world shattered an all-time record last year, belching an estimated 40 billion tons. The U.S.

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What does “energy independence” even mean when what we rob from the earth is burning down our home?

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dumped nearly 6 billion metric tons, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (Somewhere across the intersection, our future approaches: Seven degrees average additional heat? More? A sizzling tropical zone spreads north and south. Swathes of the earth are abandoned. Uninhabitable.)

Rather than dig into the story of the biggest crisis of our time, the media has largely chosen simpler stories. A recent survey by The Project for Improved Environmental Coverage analyzed 17 months of headlines from 46 news organizations and found that only 1.24 percent of the stories were about the environment (compared to 7.25 percent about crime and 3.91 about entertainment, on average). (3)

The political right has dug in its heels, risking its own obsolescence in its denial of climate change.

“The possibility of an internationally binding treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions is viewed as a direct

threat to sustained economic growth, the spread of free markets, the maintenance of national sovereignty, and the continued abolition of governmental regulations – key goals of conservatives,” university professors Aaron M. McCright and Riley E. Dunlap concluded in 2011 after studying a decade of polling data.

Science becomes one more casualty in the pursuit of pure ideology, resulting in “serious implications for long-term societal resilience.” (4)

Before we understood what fracking was, those fighting dirty coal and dangerous nukes believed natural gas could be a lower-carbon “bridge” to solar and wind and energy storage breakthroughs. It’s a belief still held by President Obama, who pledged in his State of the Union this year to help usher in a new nationwide natural gas economy. Yet we now know that methane, the primary component of natural gas, is far more powerful greenhouse gas than we previously understood. In fact, the ghostly clouds recorded by the infrared cameras of activists fuming from pipelines, compressor stations, and tanks batteries are 72 times more potent at trapping heat as CO2 over a 20 year period. (5)

Even for a growing number of financial managers, fracking doesn’t make sense. In a February letter to investors, Jeremy Grantham, chief investment strategist of Grantham Mayo van Otterloo, a Boston-based asset management firm, warned his clients away from fossil fuels broadly and singled out fracking in particular. After ticking off its climate change hazards, the earthquakes the disposal of its sizable waste streams cause, and the inevitable triumph of renewable energy, Grantham concludes that, like the tar sands, fracking is just too labor and capital intensive, yielding “a relatively costly type of oil that you resort to only when the easy, cheap stuff is finished.”

Political progress may come from the collapse of the entrenched two-party system and the rise of the Latin@ vote. “The single ethnic group that cares about

climate change are Latinos,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change

Communication, tells me. “Gerrymandering has kept some of that at bay, but in terms of

where they are on this issue: they

Photo by Greg Harmon: Flare burning seemingly on top of a home south of Floresville (a children’s playgound is visible at bottom left).

Save the Date: Frack-aso!: Portraits of Extraction in Eagle Ford and Beyond opens April 18th @ Esperanza.

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care more about this than any racial or ethnic group in this country.”The most recent poll on the subject, found 9 in 10 Latino voters

surveyed want federal action on the dangers caused by climate change. “Of the issues we’ve polled, the only other national issue Latinos feel more intensely about is immigration reform,” said Matt Barreto, co-founder of Latino Decisions. (6)

Meanwhile, expanding on a years-long trend, 45% of those responding to a January Gallup survey identified themselves as “Independents” rather than as Republicans (24%) or Democrats (29%). (7) And political independents, it turns out, tend to side with progressives on the issue of climate change, Leiserowitz said.

Electoral strategies may prove futile, however, playing into the incrementalist approach preferred by industry interests. Something more is required. A healing, perhaps.

“It is human action, it is human greed, it’s human sin, and it’s human stupidity that is making Mother Nature react,” said Shiva. “That’s the reading [of] all communities that have related to the earth and haven’t separated themselves.”

The psychological “disease” that convinced so many that humans are not a part of nature reached its ultimate in the fossil fuel age, she added. It’s a dizzying event that allows for the disingenuous distancing of industrial cause from environmental effect. As with fracking and earthquakes. Fracking and water contamination. Fracking and the destruction of our atmosphere.

Among those who didn’t separate, as Shiva describes it, are those whose cosmovision and cultural lifeways preceded the verdicts of today’s climate scientists by centuries, if not millenia -- the world’s indigenous communities. Inspired by the defense of indigenous lands and lifeways against extractive industry, environmental law has witnessed the rise of an alternative paradigm to environmental regulation, and, indeed, to the land-as-property ethos that grounds the entire western legal tradition.

In Ecuador, where fracking was put on trial in January at the world’s first Rights of Nature Ethics Tribunal, the rights of nature have been enshrined in the national constitution since 2008. Bolivia passed the Law of Mother Earth in 2011, the world’s first such law recognizing nature as having rights equal to those of the human species.

“Earth is the mother of all,” said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera at the time, matter-of-factly.

Here lives the memory of our species as a part of the earth, not Her dominant. Here is knowledge of reliance and relatedness and a courage to see the evidence

of our illness. This force, too, has an endpoint: one committed to freezing the deep-sea drilling, the strip-mining and deep-earth rupturings. It would trade the extractive economy – rather than the living earth we ride through a void of space – for another future, another path. Sustainable energies and economies beckon.

The Latin@ vote represents a great hope in pushing local communities (and Washington, should Washington wish to remain relevant) toward cutting greenhouse emissions already making refugees in low-lying island states and promising to decimate agricultural lands throughout Mexico and Central America and create a state of “permanent drought” in the U.S. Southwest. (8)

Urging forward the immune response is the example of increasingly networked indigenous communities taking heroic stands in the defense of the land -- against neoliberal dam projects, multinational mining ventures, and, most recently (as with the promise of “epic opposition” to the Keystone XL pipeline by an alliance of North American Indian nations) tar sands pipelines and the expansion of fracking. (9)

As starkly conflicting visions gather to contest the world that will be, it will be those who storm and occupy the crossroads themselves who will prevail. Intriguingly, the growing caravan of the politically discontented, indigenous resisters, climate activists, all who know and prize our place on the land are embracing radical new visions of the rights of nature (and our obligations to all the earth’s families), promising to “idle no more.” v

Bio: Greg Harman is an independent journalist based in San Antonio. You can see more of his writing at www.harmanonearth.com.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/science/earth/un-says-lag-in-confronting-climate-woes-will-be-costly.html

2. http://www.texaspolicy.com/center/energy-environment/opinions/texas-hockey-stick-charting-lone-star-oil-boom

3. http://environmentalcoverage.org/ranking/4. http://www.climateaccess.org/sites/default/files/McCright%20&%20

Dunlap_Politicization%20of%20Climate%20Change.pdf 5. http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WGIAR5_WGI-

12Doc2b_FinalDraft_All.pdf6. http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2014/01/23/latinos-want-strong-

presidential-action-to-combat-climate-change/7. http://www.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx8. http://news.columbia.edu/record/22949. http://aptn.ca/news/2014/01/31/keystone-xl-black-snake-pipeline-face-

epic-opposition-native-american-alliance

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rowing up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, no one that we knew in our tight-knit farmworker community had health insurance, much less knew how health insurance worked. When someone got sick there were a few options, including crossing the border to see a doctor in Mexico or paying a visit to a local curandero or folk healer. Both of these options were affordable and families felt comfortable being treated by health providers that spoke their language and knew their culture. I remember many a visit to our doctor in Mexico or our curandero, Don Jacinto, when any of my seven siblings or I got a variety of childhood illnesses like measles, chicken pox, colic or had the occasional sprained ankle or broken limb.

This system seemed to work for families unless someone became seriously ill and required surgery or hospitalization. That was when families pulled together to raise the money needed for medical care. It was during these times that I first heard the word, seguranza (“insurance”) being whispered by the adults around me. That was also when I learned that insurance was something you had to have if you ever got into an accident or became seriously ill.

Today medical insurance is still not within reach for many families (especially Latinos) in South Texas or, for that matter, the rest of Texas. In fact, with the militarization of our border with Mexico, getting affordable healthcare in Mexico is no longer an option for Latino families. With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under President Obama the hope of having access to affordable healthcare for Texas families seemed within reach. The Affordable Care Act was designed to help working families have access to affordable health insurance by providing tax credits to purchase medical insurance in the private insurance marketplace. But there was another section of the Affordable Care Act that was just as important, Medicaid Expansion.

The Medicaid Expansion of the Affordable Care Act provides federal funding to individual states to expand their Medicaid programs so that families that did not make enough income (above 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines) to qualify for tax credits to purchase private insurance, could be insured

through Medicaid. However, Republicans in Congress and in Red states, including Texas, sued to declare the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was legal and constitutional; however, it also ruled that states could “opt in” or “reject” Medicaid expansion.

Immediately after this ruling Governor Rick Perry announced that he was rejecting Medicaid Expansion for Texas. In doing so, Perry also rejected the 100 billion dollars in federal dollars (over ten years) that had been budgeted for Texas’ Medicaid expansion budget. Perry’s reason for rejecting Medicaid expansion included claims that the Medicaid program was wasteful and that Medicaid expansion came with “hidden costs” and exorbitant start-up costs. In reality, the federal government will pick up all the start-up and administrative costs for the first three years and then gradually raise administrative costs over several years but it will never cost the state more than 10 percent. In addition to rejecting 100 billion dollars in Medicaid expansion funds, Governor Perry and the Republican State leadership have done everything in their power to thwart the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in Texas. They have refused to set up a state exchange for insurance marketplace so Texans have had to shop for their ACA insurance using the federal exchange. They have also enacted more stringent (and unnecessary) regulations for the navigators and other personnel that assist citizens to navigate the federal ACA website, www.healthcare.gov.

While the State Republican leadership continue to undermine the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Texas continues to lead the nation in the number of uninsured citizens. The state’s uninsured population now stands at 6.3 million and the number of Texans that qualify for Medicaid expansion is estimated to be

TEXAS NEEDS MEDICAID

EXPANSION NOW!by Olga Kaufman

Art by Meredith Stern | w

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1.7 million. In San Antonio, over 300,000 citizens are uninsured, and out of those, over 152,000 fall into the Texas Medicaid expansion gap. The number of uninsured in our state and our communities have a dire impact on all citizens, insured and uninsured. This impact comes in the form of higher property taxes, hospital rates and insurance rates. In short, we all pay the cost of the state’s high number of uninsured citizens. Lack of health insurance coverage affects all families in very personal and financially devastating ways. Having access to affordable health insurance means healthier families that do not have the burden of worrying that they will go bankrupt if they are diagnosed with a catastrophic illness or worry about the financial cost of the simple act of taking their child to a doctor.

Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation about the Affordable Care Act that many families in our community are reluctant to take advantage of the benefits available to them in the new insurance marketplace.This is why it is important for all of us to inform and encourage our fellow citizens about the Affordable Care Act and what it will mean to the health of families in our community. Every family deserves to have access to quality healthcare and the best way to make this possible is for everyone to have access to affordable health insurance.

In San Antonio and Bexar County, several community organizations are working together to assist as many families as possible to access the health insurance marketplace and purchase affordable insurance. A coalition of organizations involved in educating and enrolling citizens in the insurance marketplace work together, and individually, to assure that citizens in San Antonio and Bexar County have access to information about education and enrollment events in the area.

Information about ongoing and upcoming ACA education and enrollment events can be found at www.bexarhealthmarketplace.org or www.enrollsa.com. The deadline for enrolling in the insurance marketplace is fast approaching (March 31, 2014) and many of these organizations are working overtime to enroll qualified families in an affordable health plan before the deadline.

Once the open enrollment period closes on March 31st, families will not be able to enroll in the insurance marketplace until November 2014. This means that families that qualify for the ACA marketplace must buy their insurance policy within the next few weeks or face a fine when they fill out their income tax returns in April. The fine for not having health insurance coverage in 2014 is ninety-five dollars. In 2015 the fine increases to 325 dollars and more than doubles to 695 dollars in 2016. Families that fall into the Medicaid gap (income below 100% of the federal poverty guidelines) will not have to pay a fine; however, they need to enroll in the ACA marketplace so they can have proof that they are exempt.

In addition to all the organizations working on enrolling families in the marketplace, some organizations — such as the Texas Organizing Project (TOP) — are working on educating those left out of the ACA insurance marketplace about the failure of state leadership in regard to Medicaid expansion. Both Governor Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott made the choice to reject Medicaid expansion for hard working Texas families and, instead, turned away 100 billion

dollars in federal funds that would have provided affordable health care for 1.7 million Texans, improved healthcare services in underserved areas of our state, and stimulated the economy creating more jobs in the healthcare sector. These families deserve to know why they are being left out of the Affordable Care Act and how they can work towards bringing Medicaid expansion to this state. All Texans that care about the welfare of their fellow citizens need to make their voices heard in Austin and send a clear message in November by voting for candidates that support Medicaid expansion.

TOP provides families with the information they need about the ACA marketplace , M e d i ca i d e x pans i on and h ow th e y can b e c om e i n v o l v e d to bring about change in our current healthcare system through

workshops, enrollment information and civic engagement. For info contact TOP at www.organizetexas.org or (210) 900-0807. v

PASEO POR EL WESTSIDE IS AROUND THE CORNER!

~ CALL FOR BUENA GENTE ~

Want to help? Call 210.228.0201 to get involved in our ANNUAL MAY CELEBRATION of the HISTORIC and CULTURAL PRESERVATION of SAN ANTONIO’S WESTSIDE!

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The San Antonio FourO n September 20 of last year, many of you sat with us at the

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, after patiently waiting in line, to watch Deborah Esquenazi’s work-in-progress,

Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four. The film told the story of Cassandra (Cassie) Rivera, Anna Vasquez, Kristie Mayhugh and Elizabeth (Liz) Ramirez, the four women from San Antonio who many now believe were wrongfully convicted of aggravated sexual assault of two young girls in the 1990’s. Liz was tried first and sentenced to 37 ½ years in prison. A year later in a separate trial, Cassie, Anna, and Kristie were tried and sentenced to 15 years.

That night we got to know the women when they tore down the prison walls intended to keep them isolated. Over the speakerphone, we heard Anna advocating for herself and her compañeras. Even though she had been released on parole, her request to attend the screening and speak at the event was denied due to sex offender restrictions imposed on her at the time. The women’s voices and faces appeared on the screen. As they sat in prison and told us of some of the losses they have lived, we sensed their horror in seeing for how long this has gone on. We listened and we questioned over and over again, “How did this happen?” Perhaps we knew the answer but were compelled to still ask the question. Homophobia, flawed medical testimony along with allegations of satanic abuse ritual, all played a part according to their attorneys, journalists, and advocates, in sending these four women to prison for a crime that

never occurred, and for what one of the accusers also now says, never happened.

On November 18, 2013, Cassie, Liz, and Kristie were also finally released. But as you will read in Liz’ letter, their struggles are not yet over as they continue to fight for exoneration. All four women continue to move fiercely forward in putting their lives together and making up for time they will never get back for themselves or with their families. They are working at car washes, print shops, and tortilla factories to move closer towards living the lives that were taken from them over 16 years ago, but that they still insist on envisioning and realizing for themselves. They continue to fight for their exoneration, because as Liz clearly puts it, “…exoneration is the only justice that I feel will reveal that a crime never occurred and that our names will be cleared.”

What you will read next is a letter from Liz briefly sharing how it has been for her, Cassie, Kristie, and Anna as they reconnect with their families and what they lean on to get by on a daily basis. It is the first of a series of letters/essays they will write in La Voz to keep us informed about their lives after being released and in seeking exoneration. In reading their words, we continue to create with them — a space of animo and respaldo —from where energy is continuously regenerated to fight alongside them and their families, until they themselves say, it’s over. v

Info: www.sanantoniofourmovie.com www.fourlostlives.com

by Elvia Mendoza

UTSA’s Women’s History Month 2014 presents

Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four Film Screening and Discussion Tuesday, March 4th @ 6:30pm | Free@ UTSA Downtown, Buena Vista Bldg, Aula Canaria on the 1st FloorPanelists: The SA Four (Anna, Cassie, Elizabeth, & Kristie); filmmaker, Deborah Esquenazi; attorney Mike Ware of The Innocence Project of TX; and activist/scholar, Elvia Mendoza

210-458-4426 | Free parking in Lot D, corner of S. Pecos - La Trinidad St & W. César E. Chávez Blvd.

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Life Begins Againby Elizabeth Ramírez

After many years of praying and having faith that the law would change and that we would be cleared of all charges —

finally, a door has been opened with the Junk Science Law. Our writs have been filed in the court of criminal appeals as we wait for

our exoneration. We continue to share our story and attend conferences that may keep our voices alive and in everyone’s thoughts as we

continue to keep our focus knowing that God is in control of everthing. We have been truly blessed with Darrell Otto, Mike Ware, Keith

Hampton, the Innocence Project, the organization NCRJ and all those that continue to contribute to our fight for our exoneration.

For myself exoneration is the only justice that I feel will reveal that a crime never occurred and that our names will be cleared. I will never forget

what these last 16 years have been like for me. I lost all those years with my son who will be graduating this year. He was about to be 2 years old when I got convicted: How do you tell a child that his mother will be gone for 37 ½ years and that I refused to take probation to be able to stay in his life? I did what I thought was right and stood up for what I believed in. How can you get convicted of a crime that never happened? This experience in life cannot be erased but it is now an opportunity to start a future with our families and children. As someone who survived a harsh sentence such as mine, I have found that it is because God guided my steps and provided everthing I needed in life spirtiually, emotionally, and financially. God has placed people that would fullfill His will in my life. Today, I still try to keep that relationship with Him active — as I try to attend mass and read my bible and devotions daily. I have been spending a whole lot of time with family and the girls (my compañeras in this experience). It’s amazing how we all knew that our families were suffering with us as well but now that we hear it from them it has truly had an impact on us. For example, I have spoken to Cassie and she has shared a lot about what the children have told her — stories of what they have been through. Anna, too, has been able to spend quality time with her nieces and nephews. Kristie has been spending a lot of time with all our families and has been in contact with her mother as well. We are all family-oriented and it has been wonderful to spend time with our mothers and families. We all believe they are the core of our strength in our lives and they continue to support us all as one family. Our bond is great and I believe that it will always be.

We have all come back into society working and trying to get life back into perspective. We all hope to build our futures with some kind of career

or dream that we were cheated from. Until then, all we can do is stay focused in what we truly believe in. Stand firm and stay grounded. The truth will always set you free. Thank you for the opportunity

to share our story. It’s not over yet but it is a beginning. v

From left: Elizabeth’s mother, Gloria; brother, Mark; sister, Monica; and Liz.

Elizabeth with her son, Hector: “First time I held him when I got out since he was 4 years old — It was amazing.  It felt like I had life all over again.”

Elizabeth with her son, Hector, as an infant.

Letters from the San Antonio FourA special La Voz series: Part 1

San Antonio artist and designer, David “Chance” Reyes, who had a fine eye and hand that created beauty and serenity in his artwork, has passed into spirit. Most recently, he was a key figure in the annual celebration of La Gloria. David and his family have a place in the history of Esperanza and made significant contributions. The Esperanza Center staff, board and Buena Gente extend our heartfelt condolences to his children — Jamila, Adar and Magnus, and to their mother, Gabriela Gutiérrez, in this time of transition. Que en paz descanse.

was born April 30, 1922 in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up on the Westside of San Antonio. The eldest of ten children, he attended

Lanier High School where he met his sweetheart, Bertha Magdalena Ribakowski. After graduating from Lanier, he signed up for the US

Air Corps to escape being drafted, and was eventually shipped to the German front as a tail gunner. He survived the German theater, evaded

the Pacific theater, and returned to San Antonio to work for the US Postal Service, marry Bertha, and help raise a family that eventually

included 14 children, 22 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. On January 13, 2014, Ramiro passed away at the age of 91 years, and

was buried in San Fernando Cemetery No 2. alongside the grave of his wife, Bertha. He lived a hard life in many ways, but was fiercely proud of what he accomplished and made possible for those who came after

him. May he find rest and peace, at last. The Esperanza Center, staff and Buena Gente extend our sincerest condolences and abrazos to staffmember, Marisol Cortez, and her family. May he rest in peace.

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The Esperanza board, staff and Buena Gente extend condolences to the family of Bill Sinkin whose life came to a graceful end at 100 years of age. A man who served his community well in the areas of civil rights and the environment, Bill Sinkin was one of those rare individuals who, along with his wife, Fay, went beyond his comfort zone to bring about social change in the San Antonio community. He will be missed.

Rest in Peace

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called my father at around 10 p.m. from the San Antonio city jail. Earlier in the day, I had crossed the chain link fence separating the sidewalk and the soon to be destroyed Univision building. I refused to leave. Before being escorted off the Univision property by San Antonio police, I ate tacos on a picnic style patio table while supporters and comrades called the press and gave encouraging words. I remember filming the group of about eight San Antonio police officers who awkwardly recited to me my first Miranda rights. I remember

laughing along with Graciela Sánchez and Antonia Castañeda as we posed for pictures in the paddy wagon and desperately tried to post them on Facebook as a testimony of our continuing good spirits and tireless energy.

I told my father I had been put in jail and he responded with a light chuckle — the type your best friend gives you when you recount a memorable but dangerous night. He neither yelled nor criticized my actions. His stories of student protests at the university in Honduras remain engraved in my mind. I am an avid listener of oral stories due to my father’s insatiable storytelling drive. I grew up listening to his accounts of student protests and civil discontent during the tumultuous 1970s and 1980s in Latin America particularly in my parent’s home country of Honduras. The stories recounted family members participating in both the clandestine communist movement and the violent student movement that sought better conditions for both teachers and education. Even before those struggles, other family members had traveled to the rural mountain regions to teach campesinos (farm workers) how to read and, in turn, access political awareness. These stories shaped my understanding of what could be considered normal and what was not.

I cannot say that I was surprised that I chose to embrace prison. I remember crying as I read Galeano’s Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America). I realize and still acknowledge that I may not be present at every injustice and every wrong, but I can and should still feel for those who I call compañeras and compañeros. At one point in my life, I sought ways to help others because I knew that it made me feel good. For a while, the focus on the “me” drove my decisions despite my desire to help those along the way. That changed the moment I came face to face with the reality that my needs

Editor’s note: The Univision building in San Antonio, Texas was the birthplace of Spanish-language broadcasting in the U.S. and deserved to be saved. The Texas Historical Commission had declared the building eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. On Tuesday afternoon, November 12, 2013, eight protesters, including members of the Westside Preservation Alliance, Save KWEX and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, were arrested trying to save the building that had housed KCOR-AM, the first commercial Spanish language radio station and later KWEX-TV, the first Spanish language television station in the U.S. The building built in 1955 was demolished to make way for a new, $55-million apartment development. Ironically, a few weeks later, TV-Azteca, Mexico’s second-largest media group, chose San Antonio as the second U.S. city, after Los Angeles, to get one of the network’s television stations. They noted that San Antonio’s demographics and proximity made it “a sin” not to have a presence here. The sin is that city officials did not recognize the significance of the Univision building and continue to make invisible the Mexican presence in San Antonio. The accompanying article is a story by the youngest person arrested trying to save the Univision building.

Arrested with the Univision 8 by Itza Carbajal

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and desires mattered very little compared to the needs of the community — in particular, the children that would come after me.

On November 11, 2014, I chose to go to prison for many reasons — some that may make sense and some that may not. I remember looking at the bulldozer through the chain link fence and suddenly finding myself only a few feet away. I remember seeing a group of about seven or eight people as each one looked towards the haunting bulldozer and the crumbling Univision building. As the news spread that the police would soon arrive and as we waited, I saw some of those same people leave the property as they weighed their ability to be arrested.At that moment, I thought to myself, “can I afford to be arrested?”

I had no children or elderly parents to care for. While I knew that my mother would wholeheartedly disapprove of my actions, I had already outgrown the desire to please her or anyone, for that matter. Finally, I remembered the horrible circumstances other peers my age, younger, or older had experienced in their struggle for justice. It felt, not only right to join their ranks, but necessary to continue civil disobedience as a legitimate form of protest.My actions reflected my core beliefs of justice. I believe in movements and struggles as avenues for change. People drive movements and luchas, not just one person or an elite few. My contribution to the Univision arrests had not been an act of righteousness, but rather my contribution to a struggle that goes beyond myself.

I did not get arrested because Univision or KWEX imparted sweet or sour memories of life in San Antonio. Many newspaper articles kept repeating the line of “How far would you go to save your heritage?” To me, this phrase disassociates the general public from the subtle struggle for cultural preservation that affects us all. My fellow Chicano, Tejano, Mexican American sisters and brothers not only lost a physical statement of their role in building the city of San Antonio, but they also face a

brutal reminder of the lack of importance this city places on their significance as people. The city of San Antonio serves as smaller example of the reality in this country.

The United States constantly reminds us that as Latinas and Latinos, our own contributions to this country and its history goes unnoticed and ignored. I continue to expand this to say that the history of all people of color in this country is ignored. The role of women even to this day remains distressingly uneven in history books. The importance of the working class, the laborers, the actual Have Nots remain in obscurity so long as history is written by those who Have. The children in this city and all those who will pass along the street of Cesar Chávez lost a monument of their history as children of immigrants, as non-english speakers, as descendants of a people that despite the racism, classism, sexism, colonialism that exist in this country continued to thrive and push forward.

If given the opportunity to save another building or at least highlight the heartless destruction of a people’s history, I would do the same. Whether it is a building testifying the significance of the African-Black American, Chinese, or Native American community, I will gladly be there. In this struggle for not only the right to live and live well, but also the right to be acknowledged and valued, I choose to not simply stand by the saying “in solidarity.” I value the role of the “we” in a struggle and remain committed to being a body and not just a “me.” v Author’s update: Shortly after the Univision demolition, our struggle became national news. The Atlantic Cities: Place Matters magazine listed the Univision building in the article: “Important Buildings We Lost in 2013.” While the City of San Antonio never apologized for its mistake, it did hint in the San Antonio Express News at its own defective city policies saying that the city “could change demolition rules” as stated. The struggle for cultural preservation is not over. With each defeat and victory, we come one step closer.

Bio: Itza Carbajal, a staffmember at the Esperanza Center, is a recent graduate of UTSA and has an interest in continuing her studies in archival work and cultural preservation.

It felt . . . necessary to continue civil disobedience as a legitimate form of protest.

13

Fallece Florentina López de Jesús tejedora amusga de Xochistlahuaca, Guerrero. Con gran tristeza nos avisaron

desde la Cooperativa la Flor del Valle que se nos fue Tina, una de las grandes tejedoras que puso en alto el tejido amusgo. Desde los años 1970 trabajo incansablemente para elevar y mantener la calidad, asi como para formar nuevas generaciones de tejedoras, enseñando cada verano a decenas de niñas y jóvenes, siempre esperando que surgieran más “Tinas” enamoradas del algodón y el telar de cintura. Con su compañero inseparable Agapito Valtierra, a partir de 3 semillas de algodón verde que les donaron lograron darle dignidad al algodón blanco, coyuchi y verde sembrado orgánicamente e hilado a mano con malacate. También abrazó la innovación, con AMACUP, A.C. se introdujeron los hilos delgados de máquina de Omega, abriendo nuevos mercados, además de apoyar y orientar a las tejedoras en aplicar las ideas que llevabamos. Que les puedo decir, una amistad de 40 años. A empacar para tomar el autobus de las 9pm y acompañarla a su ultima morada:

El rostro de Tina reflejaba una gran paz y la dulzura de siempre. Era igual a la de la imagen, solo con los ojos cerrados. Familia y amistades nos acercábamos a platicarle, a despedirnos, como si estuviera tan solo en un sueño. Tenía tiempo que sufría de presión alta, había tenido un desmayo durante el desayuno del domingo, provocado por un

derrame cerebral que derivo en un paro cardíaco, a pesar de

que lograron trasladarla a Ometepec ya no se pudo hacer más, se nos fue a los

74 años. Entre alabanzas y rezos, un ejército de cocineras estuvieron alimentándonos con pancita, mollejas, huevo en salsa y después barbacoa de res y cientos de deliciosas tortillas de puro maíz.

A medio día noté la llegada de varias personas y niñas con huipil brocado con hilos color verde seco, falda a tono y los hombres con cotón y calzón de tramas discontinuas también con el mismo verde. Curiosa pregunté si el color estaba de moda, con risas me explicaron que es el uniforme que han adoptado en la Escuela Primaria, El Porvenir, un proyecto pionero, autogestivo de educación bilingüe e interculturalidad que tiene ya casi 25 años, un esfuerzo extraordinario del cual Tina era parte integral como guía moral y maestra de hilado y tejido, que busca afianzar la autoestima y dignidad de la cultura Ñomndaa (amusga) entre los maestros y alumnos.

Rodeada de flores y coronas a las 5pm llegó el féretro, donde la pasaron de una mesa. Sobre su pecho se colocó doblado un exquisito huipil de gasa brocado blanco sobre blanco, la pureza de su espiritú, encima del féretro otro huipil de gasa policromado, su alegría y optimismo, y dos servilletas con coyuchi, todos estos textiles la acompañan ahora que es una estrella más en el firmamento donde seguirá alumbrando el camino de sus aprendices. Eramos más de un centenar que salimos de su casa, cada mujer con un ramo de flores, bajando de su casa se hizo una parada y despedida en el local de La Flor de Xochis, donde

la recordaron sus compañeras entre llanto y agradecimiento, la palabra “maestra”, “guía” fue lo más común; también la Caja de Ahorro la recordó como fundadora. Una cuadra abajo la aguardaba el ayuntamiento, otra parada, más elogios a su decidida participación política, dos veces fue regidora.

La despedimos ya anocheciendo en el abigarrado camposanto de Xochis. Descansa Tina, honremos tu misión, apoyemos los proyectos culturales Ñomndaa por la supervivencia y recreación cultural. v

Renowned Amuzgo weaver, Florentina López de Jesús, of Xochistlahuaca, Guerrero in Mexico has died. As part of the Cooperativa la Flor del Valle, Tina worked tirelessly with her husband, Agapito Valtierra, to elevate and

preserve the quality of weaving by teaching new generations of weavers to cultivate and love cotton and the art of weaving on a backstrap loom. The Esperanza Center had the privilege of hosting Doña Florentina during the 2010 Peace Market. We extend a heartfelt pésame to Tina’s family and community. Below is an announcement and account of her funeral by Marta Turok, anthropologist specializing in Mexican folk art and Tina’s friend of 40 years. Marta accompanied her to the Peace Market and witnessed her final journey to the spirit world. Florentina will live on in the hearts and hands of her students and admirers.

Florentina López de Jesús

1939-2014by Marta Turok

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Start your 2014 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

One City, One Day, One Goal!The Big Give S.A., part of Give Local America,

is a 24-hour national day of giving that takes

place from midnight to midnight on

Tuesday, May 6th, 2014. The purpose of this community-wide giving challenge is to

increase public awareness of the impact local nonprofits make

in addressing San Antonio’s social challenges by connecting

people to the causes that move them the most.

Of course, this also makes giving FUN! Hundreds of cities

across the country will come together May 6th to Give Local.

We encourage you to support the Esperanza with

year-round giving, but especially on May 6th,

a charitable holiday! It’s a day to celebrate

San Antonio’s spirit of generosity and help raise

Esperanza’s profile within the city.

Plus, gifts made on The Big Give S.A. website during this 24-hour give may be amplified by matching funds and prizes for the

Esperanza! There will even be a celebratory party

that night for all who participate!

www.theb i g g i ves a.org

Amnesty International #127 info. Call Arthur Dawes @ 210.213.5919.

Bexar Co. Green Party: Call 210. 471.1791 or info@bexargreens.org

Celebration Circle meets Sundays, 11am@SA Garden Ctr., 3310 N. New Braunfels @ Funston Pl. Meditation: Weds @7:30pm, Quaker Mtg House, 7052 Vandiver. 210-533-6767.

DIGNITY S.A. gathers @ 5:15 pm, mass @ 5:30 pm, Sunday @ Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church, 1101 W. Woodlawn. Call 210.340.2230

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

Energía Mía meets as-needed for the time being. Call 512.838.3351.

Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo Hwy. See www.lafuerzaunida.org or call 210.927.2294

Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteer orientation, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.

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

S.A. International Woman’s Day March & Rally planning cmte. meets year-round. Call 210.262.0654 or see www.sawomenwillmarch.org

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

Overeaters Anonymous meets MWF in Spanish & daily in English. See www.oasanantonio.org or (210) 492-5400. People’s Power Coalition meets last Thursdays. Call Marisol 210.878.6751.

PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs. @ 7pm, University Presbyterian Church 300 Bushnell Ave. Call 210.655.2383. Parents of Murdered Children, meets 2nd Mondays @ Balcones Heights Community Ctr, 107 Glenarm See www.pomcsanantonio.org.

The Rape Crisis Center 7500 US Hwy 90W. Hotline: 210.349. 7273/210.521.7273 Email: sgabriel@rapecrisis.com

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

S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursdays, 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.

SA–NOW is back! Call 210.887.1753 or see womansa.com for info.

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

Shambhala Buddhist Meditation classes: Tu. 7-8pm & Sun. 9:30am-12:30pm, 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

San Antonio’s LGBTQA Youth Group meets every Tuesday from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm at University Presbyterian Church, 300 Bushnell Ave. See fiesta-youth.org

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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.March 2014

EntreFlamenco San Antonio begins their 2014 season with a premiere on March 1st at 8:30 pm. Shows are also scheduled on April 4th & 5th. Call 210.842.4926 or check: www.entreflamenco.com

Las Tres Laureadas celebrates Tejana po-ets — Rose Catacalos, 2013 Texas Poet Laureate; Dr. Carmen Tafolla, San Anto-nio’s 1st Poet Laureate; & Gwen Zepeda, Houston’s 1st Poet Laureate, all literary advocates that symbolize challenges of the present and future on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, 6-8 pm @ UTSA Down-town Campus, Buena Vista Theater.

The Latina/o Literary Landscape a sym-posium of the American Literature As-sociation & the Latina/o Literature and Culture Society takes place March 6-8 at The Sheraton Gunter Hotel, 205 E. Hous-ton St. in S.A. Norma E. Cantú, Univ. of Missouri, will keynote Friday, March 7th at 6. Reception at 4:15pm.. Michael Nava, author of The Henry Rios Mystery Novels will keynote Sat, March 8 at 7pm, Recep-tion at 5:10pm. Check: www.americanlit-

eratureassociation.org/calls/symposia/

The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) conference will be held in Irving from March 9-13. The theme is “Break the Box: Collective Ac-tion Against Sexual Violence.” Check: taasaconference.org/speakers/

Learn to make organic cosmetics from Cacao with Marucha Ilhuikatzin (Mex-ico, DF), traditional medicine-maker on Wed. March 12th from 6-9pm @ Casa de Cuentos on 816 S. Colorado. Registra-tion w/supplies is $50. Contact Karla Aguilar to preregister: 832-290-0162 or karlitaguanaca@gmail.com

MALCs 2014 Summer Institute, Map-ping Geographies of Self: Woman as 1st Environment, will be held in North-ern New Mexico College in Española on July 30-Aug 2. Call for Papers Deadline: March 15. www.malcs.org

Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Stud-ies invites submissions for a special issue on Transnational Feminism. Deadline:

May 1st. frontiers.osu.edu/submissions

International Society for Criminology will hold the XVII World Congress of Criminology focusing on Gangs, Traffick-ing & Insecurity: Empowering the Com-munity in Monterry, Nuevo Leon, Mexico @ the Cintermex Congress Center, August 10-14. Call for Papers Deadline: April 1st. www.criminology2014.com

Resistencia Bookstore, Casa de Red Salmon Arts, the longest running Chi-can@/Latin@ Native American bookstore in Aztlán is back in the Eastside of Austin where Raúl Salinas first opened. Resisten-cia, now at 4926 E. Cesar Chávez St, Unit C1 (corner of Spencer Ln.). Contact rev-olu@resistenciabooks.com or salmonrojo.tumblr.com.

Haymarket Books presents The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 with fresh ar-chival information on the movement from 1967 to 1975 and its dynamic participants, including Angela Davis and Stokely Car-michael. See: www.haymarketbooks.org

March 28 & 29 performances by

SALTA World Theatre Day - SA

San Antonio Latino/a Theatre Al liance

March 27 - 29, 2014 @ Palo Alto College Performing Arts Center Free and Open to the Public

Inaugural Teatro Rasquachismo Award Ceremony and

World Theater Day Message Honoring Dr. Tomas Ybarra-Frausto.

The evening includes actos, testimonios, and music.

Thursday, March 27

—with support from—

For More Information : www.facebook.com/SALTASanAntonio

Carmen Tafolla’s Rebozos Selena Navarro Janie Sauceda Anna De Luna Alison Vasquez

Zombie Bazaar Jo Reyes-Boitel Centro Para la Semilla

SAY Si ALAS Youth Theatre Co. GCAC’s Discover Animo & TAPP

invite you to come share historias, memories, coffee & laughter with us every 2nd Saturday! Bring your frijolitos recipes for our cookbook!

Corazones de Casa de Cuentos NEXT CONVIVIO: Saturday, March 8th 10am - 12pm @ Casa de Cuentos

816 S. Colorado (at Guadalupe St.)

www.corazonesdelwestside.blogspot.com or call Cynthia at 210.396.3688.

Center for Reproductive

Rights & National Latina Institute for

Reproductive Healthinvite you to attend

the release of a human rights report

documenting the impact of Texas’ 2011 family planning cuts

on Latinas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Friday, March 7, 2014 from 3:00-4:30pm

@ Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

Refreshments provided.

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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

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • March 2014 Vol. 27 Issue 2•

cesar chavezJESUS ALONZO’S JOTOS DEL BARRIO

OPEN AUDITIONS@ ESPERANZA PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER

Fri, March 14 / 6pm & Sat, March 15 / 3pm

Director: Maria A. Ibarra

Casting four multi-talented men and one extraordinary transgender womanwww.esperanzacenter.org

Radical Women Film Series March 21 & 22, 2014 @ Esperanza

Saturday March 29th 8pm $5 más o menosEsperanza Peace & Justice Center

Our monthly concert series

Noche Azulde Esperanza

returns to Saturdays!

Las Jaraneras

vuelvenFriday, March 28th

@ Esperanza 7pm $5 mas o menos

24th Annual San Antonio International

Woman’s Day March + RallySaturday, March 8th, 2014

10am Start @ Plaza de Zacate End @ HemisFair Park

www.sawomenwillmarch.org

210.262.0654 | FB: Mujeres Marcharán

18th Annual César E. Chavez

March for Justice

Saturday, March 29, 2014 | 10amAssemble at Avenida Guadalupe | March to the Alamowww.cesarlegacy.org