I love that this special community-based performing arts and education venue is right in my hood. That stop sign on the corner of Allen & Fifth is where you'll find my bicycle on the nights I'm hanging out for a concert, theater performance, poetry event, or Wednesday night yoga.....! Highly recommended.
WANG DANG DOODLE: DEUX
BBQ, Blues, & Bohemian Art Sale
Benefiting Arts Fifth Avenue
SATURDAY APRIL 29, 2006
\wang dang dood'l\: an unrestrained & one-of-a-kind event.
to play music with wild abandon. the song & lyric by
american blues great, willie dixon.
featuring
James Hinkle
with special guests:
K. M. Williams, Holland K. Smith,
Cookie McGee,
Aaron Burton, & Cheryl Arena
$25 per person - 6 pm to Midnight
ARTS FIFTH AVENUE, an eclectic neighborhood arts center and home of MONDO DRUMMERS is located at the corner of 5th Ave. & W. Allen Ave.in the Fairmount Southside Historic District of Fort Worth. We are open to the public for events, performances, rehearsal, and meetings and offer a variety of classes in music, dance, art and theatre for children and adults.
Partial funding provided by the Arts Council of Ft Worth & Tarrant County, The City of Fort Worth, Garvey Texas Foundation, RadioShack Corporation, McAfee Security, the William C. Perry & Paul A. Nelson Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation of North Texas, Humanities Texas, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
ARTS FIFTH AVENUE
1628 5th Avenue
Ft Worth, TX 76104
Ph: 817-923-9500
Email: artsfifthavenue@aol.com
Friday, April 28, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
Medicine for the masses - herbs for protesters
Journalist and friend, Patrisia Gonzales, writes a monthly column on Mexican indigenous medicinas. The April 3rd column of "Patzin" ("venerable medicine" in Nahuatl) focuses on remedios para movimientos. So timely, so necessary.
For now, I'll just share an excerpt or 2 here. To read the column in its entirety, please go here. (BTW--each column is posted in both English and Spanish.)
[excerpts]
"As the people march in the millions, placing their bodies on the line to proclaim their rights to be treated justly, I uphold the right to our medicinal knowledge as a human right and as la comadre Sylvia Ledesma has said, part of our self governance.
Elders say the plants and the four elements of life are our relatives, our witnesses, and our protectors. While there is a backlash against the peaceful protestors, the anger needs to be countered by medicine -- or turned into medicine. My grandmother used to say that coraje can be used for good – as in defense of el prove -- or coraje can create bad medicine. I offer this herbal arsenal, or herbs for protest and times of great movement and upheaval.
For long term stamina, eat chayote, and if you can get the leaves, make a tea to strengthen the kidneys and pancreas. During stress we use up lots of vitamin Bs. Drink or eat chaya for energy, a beloved plant by those who perform great physical sacrifices and need immediate results. Drink juice with chia seed, which is recorded in the ancient stories as one of the original foods given to the Mesoamerican peoples. Spirulina (another ancestral food) will take away hunger, give you energy and lots of amino acids and minerals. Bay leaf tea will gently strengthen the kidney’s ability to move energy in our body. Wild ginseng or American ginseng will nourish our adrenal system, as will boraja. Romero with yerba buena will brighten the brain but relax you so that you can get a bit more work done.
For sore throats from too much chanting, drink slippery elm tea or take a teaspoon of linaja/flax seed and let it set in a warm cup of water and drink as a tea with honey. For sore feet, a good baño from these recetas will do.
Purify your bodyspirit of mal aires picked up along the marchas or caminos with a limpia of the plantas of your land.
© Column of the Americas 2006
Patrisia Gonzales, as well as her partner and co-writer Roberto Rodriguez, can be reached at: 608-238-3161 or XColumn@aol.com or Column of the Americas, PO BOX 5093 Madison WI 53705.
For now, I'll just share an excerpt or 2 here. To read the column in its entirety, please go here. (BTW--each column is posted in both English and Spanish.)
[excerpts]
"As the people march in the millions, placing their bodies on the line to proclaim their rights to be treated justly, I uphold the right to our medicinal knowledge as a human right and as la comadre Sylvia Ledesma has said, part of our self governance.
Elders say the plants and the four elements of life are our relatives, our witnesses, and our protectors. While there is a backlash against the peaceful protestors, the anger needs to be countered by medicine -- or turned into medicine. My grandmother used to say that coraje can be used for good – as in defense of el prove -- or coraje can create bad medicine. I offer this herbal arsenal, or herbs for protest and times of great movement and upheaval.
For long term stamina, eat chayote, and if you can get the leaves, make a tea to strengthen the kidneys and pancreas. During stress we use up lots of vitamin Bs. Drink or eat chaya for energy, a beloved plant by those who perform great physical sacrifices and need immediate results. Drink juice with chia seed, which is recorded in the ancient stories as one of the original foods given to the Mesoamerican peoples. Spirulina (another ancestral food) will take away hunger, give you energy and lots of amino acids and minerals. Bay leaf tea will gently strengthen the kidney’s ability to move energy in our body. Wild ginseng or American ginseng will nourish our adrenal system, as will boraja. Romero with yerba buena will brighten the brain but relax you so that you can get a bit more work done.
For sore throats from too much chanting, drink slippery elm tea or take a teaspoon of linaja/flax seed and let it set in a warm cup of water and drink as a tea with honey. For sore feet, a good baño from these recetas will do.
Purify your bodyspirit of mal aires picked up along the marchas or caminos with a limpia of the plantas of your land.
© Column of the Americas 2006
Patrisia Gonzales, as well as her partner and co-writer Roberto Rodriguez, can be reached at: 608-238-3161 or XColumn@aol.com or Column of the Americas, PO BOX 5093 Madison WI 53705.
Lick it up - free cone day is tomorrow, April 25th
Ben & Jerry's offers single-dip freebie cones once a year, and tomorrow's the day--no strings (apparently) attached. Look for the B&J's outlet nearest your neck of the woods...click here.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Who's watching the watchers?
"AT&T violated U.S. law and the privacy of its customers as part of the "massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications" without warrants, the EFF alleged."
"Uh-oh, Chango!" (distress call in episodes of "Danger Island"---1970s tv)
I love the EFF, which was born in Silicon Valley (well, yeah) in 1990. A year later, Steve Jackson and others created EFF-Austin, which is now a separate nonprofit organization. Both groups, however, cover the same issues with their digital rights advocacy work. My kind of brainiacs....for sure.
Electronic Frontier Foundation: they're "Defending Freedom in the Digital World".
"To Each His Own"
Cri Nobody performing in the June 2005 presentation of TRASHIN' FASHION on the Firehouse Gallery lawn.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
"Trashin' Fashion" show - SAVE THE DATE: Friday, April 21st
"TRASHIN' FASHION" - a post-millennial display of unfashionable garments made entirely from recycled/trash materials
Friday, April 21st, 2006,
as part of the
Trash Art :: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
art exhibit
at the ROSE MARINE THEATER
1440 N. Main St., in north Fort Worth.
The "unfashion designers", led by performance/conceptual artist Tammy Gomez, will unveil a wildly irreverent critique of mass consumerism and the fashion industry, with a runway show of their outlandish garments, which will be modeled by TRASHIN' FASHION krewe members Angelique, Zoe Pardee, Cri Nobody, Andrea Gonzalez, Jeremy, Natalia Dominguez, Shaggy, and others.
Tammy Gomez states that, for her, TRASHIN' FASHION is "about the desires, fears, and other compelling emotions 'stitched' into our clothes and emblazoned on our bodies. If we are what we eat, then we do how we dress."
If you miss this encore presentation of TRASHIN' FASHION it will be the fashion faux paus of the season!
Show starts at 7pm.
(When last we performed this show (June 2005), we made the FASHION SECTION of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS!)
Friday, April 21st, 2006,
as part of the
Trash Art :: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
art exhibit
at the ROSE MARINE THEATER
1440 N. Main St., in north Fort Worth.
The "unfashion designers", led by performance/conceptual artist Tammy Gomez, will unveil a wildly irreverent critique of mass consumerism and the fashion industry, with a runway show of their outlandish garments, which will be modeled by TRASHIN' FASHION krewe members Angelique, Zoe Pardee, Cri Nobody, Andrea Gonzalez, Jeremy, Natalia Dominguez, Shaggy, and others.
Tammy Gomez states that, for her, TRASHIN' FASHION is "about the desires, fears, and other compelling emotions 'stitched' into our clothes and emblazoned on our bodies. If we are what we eat, then we do how we dress."
If you miss this encore presentation of TRASHIN' FASHION it will be the fashion faux paus of the season!
Show starts at 7pm.
(When last we performed this show (June 2005), we made the FASHION SECTION of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS!)
"There is no hierarchy of oppression" - Audre Lorde
[The following, a response to an article that recently ran in the Advocate--a national LGBT magazine--is circulating around the net this week. Both Ari C and Maggie J sent this to me. I'm really glad to see this kind of thinking. Even if you're not LGBT, there're some important points herein about our need to coalesce in our shared struggle against injustice and oppression everywhere.]
April 10, 2006
An Open Letter to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community:
We are a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color who work in the LGBT movement. We are writing to you in response to Jasmyne Cannick’s article "Gays First, Then Illegals”, which ran in The Advocate, in which she, a black lesbian, argues that she cannot support the current battle for immigrant rights because LGBT people have not yet won the right to marry. We are writing to express our profound disagreement with her, and to offer alternative LGBT perspectives to the current immigration battles happening across the country.
To begin with, Cannick fails to realize an obvious fact – the LGBT community and the immigrant community are not mutually exclusive. There are thousands of LGBT immigrants in this country. There are thousands of black immigrants. And there are thousands of black LGBT immigrants. To put forward an argument that says "we should get ours first" makes us question who exactly is the "we" in that analysis. In addition, we recognize the historically interconnected nature of the immigrant and LGBT struggles — such as the ban on “homosexual immigrants” that extended into the 1990’s, and the present HIV ban, which disproportionately impacts LGBT people — and we believe that only by understanding these connections and building coalition can we ensure real social change for all.
And we ask those who share the destructive views of this article to remember the immortal words of Audre Lorde when she said that “There is no hierarchy of oppression”. We reject any attempts to pit the struggle of multiple communities against each other and firmly believe that "Rights" are not in limited supply. We condemn the “scarcity of rights” perspective espoused by Cannick and other members of the LGBT movement, and are surprised to see members of our community trafficking in such ugliness. But then, one reason why it has always been so hard to shift power in this country is because the ruling class has successfully made us believe that there are only a few deserving groups to whom rights can be given. This strategy has always been used to divide oppressed groups from coming together to work in coalition.
We are painfully aware that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities still lack many basic protections under the law in this country, including the right to care for and support all of our families, in the various ways in which we construct family and kinship. Nevertheless, supporting immigrant rights, while we continue to work for LGBT liberation, does nothing to hurt our cause. In fact, we believe the opposite to be true, and want to work towards building powerful coalitions between immigrant and LGBT movements to work together for social justice.
We are also aware that many immigrant right advocates have (intentionally or not) used anti-black rhetoric to move their agenda forward. Arguments such as “Don’t treat us like ‘criminals’” or “We are doing work that ‘other’ Americans won’t do” have the effect of positioning immigrant narratives as subtly juxtaposed with American stereotypes of non-immigrant black communities. They leave native-born black Americans as among the only people who do not have access to the immigrant narrative, and so are in a permanent position of subordination, as the state consistently negotiates and redefines citizenship and “American-ness” for almost everyone but blacks. Nevertheless, the solution to this problem is not to abandon support for the struggle of immigrant communities. Rather, we call on immigrant movements and (non-immigrant) black organizations to work together for real racial and economic justice in this country. Together these movements can work to end the exploitation and targeting of both communities, and to ensure that black folks and immigrants do not end up having to choose between competing for low-paying jobs, or being targeted for detainment or imprisonment.
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color, we support the current immigrant rights marches and rallies happening across the country this month, and we march too. We march because immigrants are among the most politically vulnerable, underpaid and exploited communities in the country, and are asking for basic human rights, including the right to live free from torture and exploitation, and the right to work. We march because we recognize the connections between the state attacks on immigrant and LGBT communities, and that LGBT immigrants in particular are disproportionately affected by much anti-immigrant legislation. We march because we oppose the heightened policing and criminalization of immigrant communities, including the increased militarization of the border, as mandated by HR 4437 and Senate bills. We march because we oppose indefinite and mandatory detention of noncitizens—as well as the mass incarceration of people-of-color-communities in the U.S. more broadly—and envision a society that ensures the safety and self-determination of all people, regardless of national origin, race, class, gender or sexuality. We march because we oppose the guestworker proposals, which would continue the exploitation of many low-wage workers. We march because we demand the repeal of the HIV ban. We march because our sexualities have been historically criminalized by this country, and we understand that “law” and “justice” are not the same thing.
It is our understanding that Jasmyne Cannick was writing as an individual, and not as a representative of either the National Black Justice Coalition (on whose Board of Directors she serves) or The Stonewall Democrats (for whose Black Caucus she serves as Co-Chair). As LGBT people of color, we call upon both of those organizations to publicly clarify their own positions in this ongoing civil rights discussion.
We also call upon our community to imagine how much more progress we could make if we all stopped thinking of social justice as a zero-sum game.
Sincerely,
Katherine Acey
Executive Director, the Astraea Lesbian Action Fund
Faisal Alam
Founder & Former Director, Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBTIQ Muslims
Samiya Bashir
Board Member, National Black Justice Coalition
Communications Director, Freedom to Marry
Board Member, Fire & Ink
Noemi Calonje
Immigration Project Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
Noran J. Camp
Office Administrator, Freedom to Marry
Chris Chen
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
immigrant from Taiwan 1997
Alain Dang
Policy Analyst, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Debanuj Dasgupta
Board of Directors, Queer Immigrant Rights Project
Carlos Ulises Decena, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Joseph N. DeFilippis
Executive Director, Queers for Economic Justice
Marta Donayre
Co-Founder, Love Sees No Borders
Andres Duque
Coordinator, Mano A Mano
Monroe France
Educational Training Manager, Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Eddie Gutierrez
Rep. for Christine Chavez, granddaughter of labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez
Priscilla A. Hale, LMSW
Executive Director, ALLGO
Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano
Director of Arts and Community Building, ALLGO
Kemi Ilesanmi
Surina Khan
Interim Vice President of Programs, The Women's Foundation of California
former Executive Director, International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Lee Che Leong
Director of Teen Health Initiative, New York Civil Liberties Union
Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Yoseñio Vicente Lewis
Board Member, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Latino, Trans Social Justice Activist, first generation U.S. Citizen
Glenn Magpantay
Steering Committee Member, Gay Asian & Pacific Islander Men of New York
Rickke Mananzala
Campaign Coordinator, FIERCE!
Gloria Nieto
National Latino Justice Coalition
Doyin Ola
Welfare Organizer, Queers for Economic Justice
Jesús Ortega-Weffe
Director of Community Organizing, ALLGO
Emiko Otsubo
former Board member, Queers for Economic Justice
Clarence Patton
Executive Director, NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project
Donna Payne
Senior Diversity Organizer, Human Rights Campaign
Earl L. Plante
Development Director, National Minority AIDS Council
President-Elect, Board of Directors, National Black Justice Coalition
Achebe Powell
Betty Powell Associates
Lorraine Ramirez
Public Policy Committee, Queers for Economic Justice
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Convener, the National Latino Coalition for Justice
Ignacio Gilberto Rivera
Founder, Poly Patao Productions
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Russell D. Roybal
Director of Movement Building, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Shay Sellars
Major Gifts and Events Administrator, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Pedro Julio Serrano
Communications Associate, Freedom to Marry
President, Puerto Rico Para Tod@s
Sarah Sohn
New Voices Legal Fellow, Immigration Equality
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Lisa Thomas-Adeyemo
Co-Coordinator, National People of Color Organizing Institute, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Director of Counseling, San Francisco Women Against Rape
Carmen Vazquez
Deputy Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda
Robert Vazquez-Pacheco
former Program Manager, Funders for Gay and Lesbian Issues
Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz
Capacity Building Project Director, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Andy Shie Kee Wong,
Coalition Manager, Asian Equality
Lancy Woo and Cristy Chung
lead Plaintiffs in the Woo vs Lockyer, marriage rights case
Miriam Yeung
Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, the LGBT Community Center
Mónica Taher
People of Color Media Director, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
Katina Parker
People of Color Media Manager - Communities of African Descent, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
[Organizational affiliation listed for identification purposes only]
April 10, 2006
An Open Letter to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community:
We are a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color who work in the LGBT movement. We are writing to you in response to Jasmyne Cannick’s article "Gays First, Then Illegals”, which ran in The Advocate, in which she, a black lesbian, argues that she cannot support the current battle for immigrant rights because LGBT people have not yet won the right to marry. We are writing to express our profound disagreement with her, and to offer alternative LGBT perspectives to the current immigration battles happening across the country.
To begin with, Cannick fails to realize an obvious fact – the LGBT community and the immigrant community are not mutually exclusive. There are thousands of LGBT immigrants in this country. There are thousands of black immigrants. And there are thousands of black LGBT immigrants. To put forward an argument that says "we should get ours first" makes us question who exactly is the "we" in that analysis. In addition, we recognize the historically interconnected nature of the immigrant and LGBT struggles — such as the ban on “homosexual immigrants” that extended into the 1990’s, and the present HIV ban, which disproportionately impacts LGBT people — and we believe that only by understanding these connections and building coalition can we ensure real social change for all.
And we ask those who share the destructive views of this article to remember the immortal words of Audre Lorde when she said that “There is no hierarchy of oppression”. We reject any attempts to pit the struggle of multiple communities against each other and firmly believe that "Rights" are not in limited supply. We condemn the “scarcity of rights” perspective espoused by Cannick and other members of the LGBT movement, and are surprised to see members of our community trafficking in such ugliness. But then, one reason why it has always been so hard to shift power in this country is because the ruling class has successfully made us believe that there are only a few deserving groups to whom rights can be given. This strategy has always been used to divide oppressed groups from coming together to work in coalition.
We are painfully aware that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities still lack many basic protections under the law in this country, including the right to care for and support all of our families, in the various ways in which we construct family and kinship. Nevertheless, supporting immigrant rights, while we continue to work for LGBT liberation, does nothing to hurt our cause. In fact, we believe the opposite to be true, and want to work towards building powerful coalitions between immigrant and LGBT movements to work together for social justice.
We are also aware that many immigrant right advocates have (intentionally or not) used anti-black rhetoric to move their agenda forward. Arguments such as “Don’t treat us like ‘criminals’” or “We are doing work that ‘other’ Americans won’t do” have the effect of positioning immigrant narratives as subtly juxtaposed with American stereotypes of non-immigrant black communities. They leave native-born black Americans as among the only people who do not have access to the immigrant narrative, and so are in a permanent position of subordination, as the state consistently negotiates and redefines citizenship and “American-ness” for almost everyone but blacks. Nevertheless, the solution to this problem is not to abandon support for the struggle of immigrant communities. Rather, we call on immigrant movements and (non-immigrant) black organizations to work together for real racial and economic justice in this country. Together these movements can work to end the exploitation and targeting of both communities, and to ensure that black folks and immigrants do not end up having to choose between competing for low-paying jobs, or being targeted for detainment or imprisonment.
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color, we support the current immigrant rights marches and rallies happening across the country this month, and we march too. We march because immigrants are among the most politically vulnerable, underpaid and exploited communities in the country, and are asking for basic human rights, including the right to live free from torture and exploitation, and the right to work. We march because we recognize the connections between the state attacks on immigrant and LGBT communities, and that LGBT immigrants in particular are disproportionately affected by much anti-immigrant legislation. We march because we oppose the heightened policing and criminalization of immigrant communities, including the increased militarization of the border, as mandated by HR 4437 and Senate bills. We march because we oppose indefinite and mandatory detention of noncitizens—as well as the mass incarceration of people-of-color-communities in the U.S. more broadly—and envision a society that ensures the safety and self-determination of all people, regardless of national origin, race, class, gender or sexuality. We march because we oppose the guestworker proposals, which would continue the exploitation of many low-wage workers. We march because we demand the repeal of the HIV ban. We march because our sexualities have been historically criminalized by this country, and we understand that “law” and “justice” are not the same thing.
It is our understanding that Jasmyne Cannick was writing as an individual, and not as a representative of either the National Black Justice Coalition (on whose Board of Directors she serves) or The Stonewall Democrats (for whose Black Caucus she serves as Co-Chair). As LGBT people of color, we call upon both of those organizations to publicly clarify their own positions in this ongoing civil rights discussion.
We also call upon our community to imagine how much more progress we could make if we all stopped thinking of social justice as a zero-sum game.
Sincerely,
Katherine Acey
Executive Director, the Astraea Lesbian Action Fund
Faisal Alam
Founder & Former Director, Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBTIQ Muslims
Samiya Bashir
Board Member, National Black Justice Coalition
Communications Director, Freedom to Marry
Board Member, Fire & Ink
Noemi Calonje
Immigration Project Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
Noran J. Camp
Office Administrator, Freedom to Marry
Chris Chen
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
immigrant from Taiwan 1997
Alain Dang
Policy Analyst, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Debanuj Dasgupta
Board of Directors, Queer Immigrant Rights Project
Carlos Ulises Decena, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Joseph N. DeFilippis
Executive Director, Queers for Economic Justice
Marta Donayre
Co-Founder, Love Sees No Borders
Andres Duque
Coordinator, Mano A Mano
Monroe France
Educational Training Manager, Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Eddie Gutierrez
Rep. for Christine Chavez, granddaughter of labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez
Priscilla A. Hale, LMSW
Executive Director, ALLGO
Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano
Director of Arts and Community Building, ALLGO
Kemi Ilesanmi
Surina Khan
Interim Vice President of Programs, The Women's Foundation of California
former Executive Director, International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Lee Che Leong
Director of Teen Health Initiative, New York Civil Liberties Union
Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Yoseñio Vicente Lewis
Board Member, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Latino, Trans Social Justice Activist, first generation U.S. Citizen
Glenn Magpantay
Steering Committee Member, Gay Asian & Pacific Islander Men of New York
Rickke Mananzala
Campaign Coordinator, FIERCE!
Gloria Nieto
National Latino Justice Coalition
Doyin Ola
Welfare Organizer, Queers for Economic Justice
Jesús Ortega-Weffe
Director of Community Organizing, ALLGO
Emiko Otsubo
former Board member, Queers for Economic Justice
Clarence Patton
Executive Director, NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project
Donna Payne
Senior Diversity Organizer, Human Rights Campaign
Earl L. Plante
Development Director, National Minority AIDS Council
President-Elect, Board of Directors, National Black Justice Coalition
Achebe Powell
Betty Powell Associates
Lorraine Ramirez
Public Policy Committee, Queers for Economic Justice
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Convener, the National Latino Coalition for Justice
Ignacio Gilberto Rivera
Founder, Poly Patao Productions
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Russell D. Roybal
Director of Movement Building, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Shay Sellars
Major Gifts and Events Administrator, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Pedro Julio Serrano
Communications Associate, Freedom to Marry
President, Puerto Rico Para Tod@s
Sarah Sohn
New Voices Legal Fellow, Immigration Equality
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Lisa Thomas-Adeyemo
Co-Coordinator, National People of Color Organizing Institute, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Director of Counseling, San Francisco Women Against Rape
Carmen Vazquez
Deputy Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda
Robert Vazquez-Pacheco
former Program Manager, Funders for Gay and Lesbian Issues
Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz
Capacity Building Project Director, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Andy Shie Kee Wong,
Coalition Manager, Asian Equality
Lancy Woo and Cristy Chung
lead Plaintiffs in the Woo vs Lockyer, marriage rights case
Miriam Yeung
Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, the LGBT Community Center
Mónica Taher
People of Color Media Director, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
Katina Parker
People of Color Media Manager - Communities of African Descent, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
[Organizational affiliation listed for identification purposes only]
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Gabriela Anaya Valdepena in Fort Worth tonight - 7pm
"They call her Impetuous Delirious, Bride of Baudelaire, La Chacalaca, Goya's Maja, and by legal decree, Gabriela Anaya Valdepeña — Gabriela of Mexico City, of Texas, and of La Jolla. In coin bra and sequins, she reads and dances in library, theater, and college; in bookstores and salons by the sea. Read her poems in the air, in your dreams, in LanguageandCulture.net, Quill and Parchment, Megaera and Sauce Box. Her books, Exaggerated Gender Signals, Sun's Promise and Bride of Baudelaire, grace the clean and dusty shelves of the unruly and the well-groomed, the insane, and the lucid."
Gabriela Anaya Valdepeña,
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006
FORT WORTH COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER - formerly known as the Modern Art Museum - just S of the Amon Carter Museum
1300 Gendy Street (right off W. Lancaster)
Reception at 7p.m.
Performance at 7:30p.m.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
--------------------------------------
Gabriela Anaya-Valdepeña, the proud mom of a 17 year-old daughter, is a poet, artist, and dancer living in San Diego, California. Born in Mexico City, she spent much of her life in Texas. She is also an award -winning teacher, who taught poetry for the California Poets in the Schools and Border Voices programs.
"Pay me now for my dance, that I may eat the sins of trees,
that I may anchor sons, and teach the night's tongue to knot the cherry's stem.
My curses are involuntary.
I am as I was made, whilst heaven's scientists slept and the witches
of the bridge chanted 'round God's belly.
And on the eighth day, chewing jerky,
they rested their fat feet and saw that it wasn't bad."
(excerpt from Eve's Return)
"A Day Without A Mexican" - at TCU tomorrow, Wednesday, April 12th
John Singleton, who curates the KinoMonda (international) film series at TCU, announces that a screening of the 2004 film "A Day Without a Mexican" (directed by Sergio Arau), will take place tomorrow. A roundtable discussion featuring folks from campus (faculty and students) and the community (including John Hernandez, a lawyer who has worked within the Mexican government) will take place directly after the film. If you come early (or on-time), you can have FREE food as well, probably catered by a local Tex-Mex restaurant.
Wednesday, April 12th, 2006 - 6:30 PM
"A Day Without a Mexican" film screening & roundtable discussion
Location: Sid Richardson, Lecture Hall #1 on TCU's campus.
This event, sponsored by KinoMonda and the TCU Department of Spanish, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the International Students' Office at 817.257.7292 or send me your questions and I'll get back to you asap.
Go to the TCU website for maps and directions to the event.
Please participate in the ongoing discussion about immigration and the place of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and immigrants in U.S. society.
Let's keep this momentum (towards rationale and just U.S. policies) up!!
Saturday, April 08, 2006
swell proud joy - march today!
Para Patricia y para todos que sienten orgullo de nuestra America:
Todos en Fort Worth y Dallas estamos preparando para la gran marchas que van a comenzar hoy (domingo) el nueve de April in Dallas.
Thousands and thousands of people are expected to march. I am getting excited and noticing an increasing feeling of pride: funny, but it is a feeling of pride of BEING AMERICAN--U.S. American. For it is particularly when I am expressing myself, in full knowledge of my rights and privileges of being born in this nation, that I feel that something which I suppose could be national pride. Or perhaps it's something bigger than that--beyond ethereal and concrete fences of nation-state delineations--perhaps what I'm feeling is more like HUMAN PRIDE. Feeling like I am empowered enough to take my rightful place in a classroom, a jury box, voting booth, a job interview office, behind a steering wheel, on a bicycle, raising my fist, holding my picket sign, signing a petition, gathering in a park, shouting my existence, remembering my roots.
I feel like I belong---that I am the honored citizen that the Constitution was designed and signed to protect and respect. One of the most memorable experiences I have ever had is when I crossed the threshhold, passing a military officer (the final test!), to enter the Casa Blanca---la mera mera White House. It was amazing to realize that even someone like me--protest marcher, in-your-face spoken word artist, unabashed community leader--could step upon that White House welcome mat and be received as a guest, warmly and respectfully. That damn House is my house too. For I am part of the American Dream, right? I am here to protest or protect, as we see it and as we call it, so that those slogans and sound-byte exhortations come to have meaning (once more): land of the free, home of the brave, america the beautiful, let freedom ring...
I've decided to participate in the Dallas marcha. This afternoon. Angelique, Machete, Violeta are also planning to go to Dallas. So are the professors (from Denton and Arlington) who I met yesterday at the all-day teach-in on UTA campus. Machete's going with a UNT-Denton student group called MUEVE. I hope to hear more from this group in the coming months.
I will stand in my colors, with my compas and others, proclaiming our rightful place on this tierra--our original home continent--and we will do so as we yell, drum, sing, dance, wave flags, and celebrate loudly.
For evolution and revolution needs to be about dancing and living without shame. When I return from what promises to be an ecstatic event in Dallas, I will be super-charged to (continue to) do the work that I need to do in forte wes (FW). I need the surge of love and unconditional acceptance that marching will make me feel, and I have a right to walk with the proud masses gathering from all over the country. (Yes, I've heard that folks from out-of-state are driving to Dallas to make that march a special and huge procession.)
We will march for you, Patricia, and any other Americanos from this continent who want an opportunity and a kinship with the U.S. that will cause truer bridges to be made than those overseen by the migra and border patrol officers.
Todos en Fort Worth y Dallas estamos preparando para la gran marchas que van a comenzar hoy (domingo) el nueve de April in Dallas.
Thousands and thousands of people are expected to march. I am getting excited and noticing an increasing feeling of pride: funny, but it is a feeling of pride of BEING AMERICAN--U.S. American. For it is particularly when I am expressing myself, in full knowledge of my rights and privileges of being born in this nation, that I feel that something which I suppose could be national pride. Or perhaps it's something bigger than that--beyond ethereal and concrete fences of nation-state delineations--perhaps what I'm feeling is more like HUMAN PRIDE. Feeling like I am empowered enough to take my rightful place in a classroom, a jury box, voting booth, a job interview office, behind a steering wheel, on a bicycle, raising my fist, holding my picket sign, signing a petition, gathering in a park, shouting my existence, remembering my roots.
I feel like I belong---that I am the honored citizen that the Constitution was designed and signed to protect and respect. One of the most memorable experiences I have ever had is when I crossed the threshhold, passing a military officer (the final test!), to enter the Casa Blanca---la mera mera White House. It was amazing to realize that even someone like me--protest marcher, in-your-face spoken word artist, unabashed community leader--could step upon that White House welcome mat and be received as a guest, warmly and respectfully. That damn House is my house too. For I am part of the American Dream, right? I am here to protest or protect, as we see it and as we call it, so that those slogans and sound-byte exhortations come to have meaning (once more): land of the free, home of the brave, america the beautiful, let freedom ring...
I've decided to participate in the Dallas marcha. This afternoon. Angelique, Machete, Violeta are also planning to go to Dallas. So are the professors (from Denton and Arlington) who I met yesterday at the all-day teach-in on UTA campus. Machete's going with a UNT-Denton student group called MUEVE. I hope to hear more from this group in the coming months.
I will stand in my colors, with my compas and others, proclaiming our rightful place on this tierra--our original home continent--and we will do so as we yell, drum, sing, dance, wave flags, and celebrate loudly.
For evolution and revolution needs to be about dancing and living without shame. When I return from what promises to be an ecstatic event in Dallas, I will be super-charged to (continue to) do the work that I need to do in forte wes (FW). I need the surge of love and unconditional acceptance that marching will make me feel, and I have a right to walk with the proud masses gathering from all over the country. (Yes, I've heard that folks from out-of-state are driving to Dallas to make that march a special and huge procession.)
We will march for you, Patricia, and any other Americanos from this continent who want an opportunity and a kinship with the U.S. that will cause truer bridges to be made than those overseen by the migra and border patrol officers.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Don't Hate the Media - Be the Media
Heads up, folks! A new grassroots community weekly program is coming to cable tv (channel 28) in Fort Worth. Fellow organizers and Green Party people Diane and Ramz are the brains behind this media-making initiative. Training sessions have been happening and at least four other folks have joined the production team. It's also likely that Tunde Obazee, programming director for community radio station (heavy on public affairs shows in the weekday mornings which are ever so rad and mind-opening) KNON--"The Voice of the People", will be contributing his skills to the tv program. In other words, a formidable team is coming together, and if you want to be involved and/or submit program ideas and news, just lemme know. (Post a comment here, or email me directly at tammygomexican@yahoo.com.)
The production team could also use some more video production-experienced folks to serve as consultants and advisors.
I hear that the show is likely to start as a 30-minute weekly and will be called "Grassroots Pulse." Netcasting the show is also a future possibility.
Check back here for more information and broadcast schedule details.
The production team could also use some more video production-experienced folks to serve as consultants and advisors.
I hear that the show is likely to start as a 30-minute weekly and will be called "Grassroots Pulse." Netcasting the show is also a future possibility.
Check back here for more information and broadcast schedule details.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
MY FORT WORTH: Thursday, April 6th - Chicano Luncheon
Thursday, April 6th at 12 noon, folks!
Please come out to the Chicano Luncheon scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, April 6th.
La Trinidad United Methodist Church
1300 Gould Ave., corner of Northside Drive and Gould Streets (about a 4 minute drive north of the Museum District)
Fort Worth, 76106 - (817) 924-1997
Specifically tomorrow, the focus will be on immigration legislation that is being forged on Capitol Hill; on community responses to this debate on immigration; and on the recent (and future) actions of resistance and opposition that are happening in the 817 (including last week's student walk-outs).
If you know ANY student who participated in a school walk-out last week and who MIGHT want to share his/her story at the Luncheon (on-camera for later multiple broadcast on cable tv), PLEASE share this invitation with him/her ASAP. Ask them to look for me tomorrow, as I will be there at the Luncheon.
Thanks and much love,
Tammy aka sunlit doorway
General info:
Hour-long luncheons first and third Thursday each month to discuss Hispanic community issues. Guest speakers featured. Guests can sign-up at each luncheon to make announcements, either on- or off-camera--as the entire public presentation is videotaped for later broadcast on Community Cable Television of FW (channels 7 and 31). Cost for the luncheon is $5.
For this week’s Community Cable tv broadcasting schedule, go to: www.cctfortworth.com/Schedule/
Please come out to the Chicano Luncheon scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, April 6th.
La Trinidad United Methodist Church
1300 Gould Ave., corner of Northside Drive and Gould Streets (about a 4 minute drive north of the Museum District)
Fort Worth, 76106 - (817) 924-1997
Specifically tomorrow, the focus will be on immigration legislation that is being forged on Capitol Hill; on community responses to this debate on immigration; and on the recent (and future) actions of resistance and opposition that are happening in the 817 (including last week's student walk-outs).
If you know ANY student who participated in a school walk-out last week and who MIGHT want to share his/her story at the Luncheon (on-camera for later multiple broadcast on cable tv), PLEASE share this invitation with him/her ASAP. Ask them to look for me tomorrow, as I will be there at the Luncheon.
Thanks and much love,
Tammy aka sunlit doorway
General info:
Hour-long luncheons first and third Thursday each month to discuss Hispanic community issues. Guest speakers featured. Guests can sign-up at each luncheon to make announcements, either on- or off-camera--as the entire public presentation is videotaped for later broadcast on Community Cable Television of FW (channels 7 and 31). Cost for the luncheon is $5.
For this week’s Community Cable tv broadcasting schedule, go to: www.cctfortworth.com/Schedule/
Join Cri (and others) at Saturday's 10th Annual "Victory Over Violence" foot race
This scheduled race is a benefit for the anti-violence programs of the Women's Center of Tarrant County (which recently benefited from the "Art of Music" festival at the Axis back in December 05).
My friend and fellow comrade, Cri de Coeur aka Cridom, sent me the following information, accompanied by a call for assistance. Cri has such bravado, and it's shown in such a warm, funny, & embracing style. No wonder so many people love him..
Cri says:
"Join me at the VICTORY OVER VIOLENCE race at the Trinity Park Duck Pond.
Saturday April 8th, 2006
The 1K Race Begins at 8am sharp!!! (The 5K Walk/Run begins at 8:30am.)
$18 goes to the Women's Center! (Registration for children is a mere 7 bucks)
I will be racing and creating some kind of visual spectacle to Illustrate the Necessity for Men to be Publicly Involved in Denouncing and Eradicating Rape and Sexual Violence in Our City, County, Region, Planet! Let it Echo through the Minds of Men Everywhere....
The Strength of a Man Exists For Respecting Women, Children, and Life! Our Might is For Bear Hugs Not Control! Denounce Violence Against Women!
The Race:
I will be racing dressed as an 'Old-Fashioned Weight Lifter Guy'. Remember those Bald Dudes in Leopard-Print Tarzan Outfits that would lift weights at the beach? Maybe you don't remember them personally, but you've seen cartoons with them! The weights I will be carrying will read:
RESPECT FOR WOMEN
RESPECT FOR CHILDREN
LOVE FOR MYSELF
LOVE FOR OTHERS
I hope to make more presence for this cause by handing out small packets of soil with a seed in them. Each packet will invite people to 'Overgrow the Systems of Oppression' by planting the seeds and giving them respect, love, consideration, and water! There will also be a statement enclosed to further the conversation about ending Rape and Sexual Violence.
PLANT A SEED TO OVERGROW THE SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION!
How You can Help!
1. You can come to Run this weekend!
2. You can make your own sign or use something I've written and put it on a sign!
3. You can Donate Money to the Women's Shelter! http://www.womensshelter.org/givehelp.htm
4. You can Organize a Meeting about this topic at 1919! (I will come!)
5. You can pass this Message to others!
Thanks for Reading this Message, Cri Dom"
[For more info, you can reach Cri via these channels: cri@riseup.net and http://www.myspace.com/cri_nobody]
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Three truck accidents - in one day in FW
While eating my brunch today, I turned on the tube to watch the noon news. Not one, but TWO, truck accidents had happened in a single 12-hour period. And they were both in central FW, one on I-30 (at Forest Park Blvd.) and the other on I-20 (at McCart Ave.). Later in the day, while driving from Wedgwood MS (where i teach writing and performance), I heard about yet ANOTHER truck accident in the city. In one case, there had actually been a chemical spill.
If three truck accidents can happen in one inner city on a single day, what are the chances of a radiation exposure/spill happening in an accident involving a vehicle transporting radioactive waste? It might be a good idea to consider how freely we let haz mat-carrying vehicles traverse our inner city roads--where human population density increases the likelihood of mass exposure to harmful toxins. It might be a good idea to read this and this. One quote from the Lone Star Sierra Club report is pretty ominous: "...Texas does not have a good truck driving record - in fact, in 1993, was number one in the U.S. in total number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes."
To read more about the truck accidents that happened in Fort Worth today, go here.
If three truck accidents can happen in one inner city on a single day, what are the chances of a radiation exposure/spill happening in an accident involving a vehicle transporting radioactive waste? It might be a good idea to consider how freely we let haz mat-carrying vehicles traverse our inner city roads--where human population density increases the likelihood of mass exposure to harmful toxins. It might be a good idea to read this and this. One quote from the Lone Star Sierra Club report is pretty ominous: "...Texas does not have a good truck driving record - in fact, in 1993, was number one in the U.S. in total number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes."
To read more about the truck accidents that happened in Fort Worth today, go here.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Lorna dice y dice -- prolific Xicana poet in Dallas this weekend!! Don't miss her!
My grrl Lorna Dee's in town (Dallas) for the Writes of Spring confab. But you gotta know that she and i have quite a little history: back in 1988, when i was doing the Naropa Institute summer program, she excitedly approached me at some Boulder bar open-mic, insisting that i submit work to her (now-legendary) litzine RED DIRT. Of course, I never submitted poems cuz i just wasn't doing that back then--i was into performing and sharing my work live onstages throughout the southwest. After that, de vez en cuando we would cross paths, like the time when raulrsalinas of Resistencia Bookstore brought her (AND Jose Montoya of the "Royal Chicano Air Force") to do workshops and perform in Austin. Back in '96 or so. She did a slammin' performance of her classic poem "Coffee", wherein she passionately lists off every single person by name who was murdered (we know it was the Mexican gov) in the Acteal Massacre. Tremendously powerful. Several years later, Lorna Dee contacted me--from her office in the Creative Writing Department at UC-Boulder--about joining her for a new project in Mexico. She had the idea to start an annual summer writing workshop at Isla Mujeres (Women's Island) off the coast of Cancun (a four dollar ferry ride floats you to the 5-mile long by half-mile wide--at its narrowest--sleepy little island), and she wanted me to be there as co-facilitator (literary bar-back, if you will).
The workshop, dubbed Taller Ixchel--after the Mayan goddess--was an opportunity for Chicanas (and other women) to meet up for a week of writing, thinking, lit discussions, some impromptu performances (i'll never forget one cypher in a late-night cantina), and, of course, plenty of swimming, drinking, and eating (mmmm, barracuda...mmmmm, Pacificos). We did this for two summers in a row with about 15 different women joining us from the States. Lorna Dee made sure we had the sweetest digs for our island stay, but i'd say that the second summer at la Mera Mera Mansion, the super-deluxe rental with three floors, oceanside pool, and volleyball court was damn near too much. (Imagine Lorna Dee giving a short talk on poetics as we encircle her in the pool on/in our own separate floaties.)
Lorna Dee's a prolific writer, but she doesn't publish often. Poetry collections such as EMPLUMADA and CABLES OF GENOCIDE: POEMS ON LOVE AND HUNGER are two of her earlier releases. Prior to the 2006 release of DRIVE, her last book was published in 1991. That's a long time between books, and when it's a book by Lorna Dee Cervantes, that's like a long time between sips of sumptuous, mineral-laden, thirst-quenching, natural springs water. Drink up, folks. The water is fine.
From Publishers Weekly:
"One of the first Chicana poets to achieve wide U.S. recognition, Cervantes did so with just two books, Emplumada (1981) and From the Cables of Genocide (1991); this substantial, versatile follow-up consists (subtitle not withstanding) of five distinct collections, that can be considered as discrete works. All show fire and range, and all draw on Cervantes's life on the streets as a teen and on her left-wing activism as an adult. The first, How Far's the War?, comprises poems of activism and protest against a global spate of injustices, from Latin American dictatorships to shortages in Eastern Europe: "La plumage de justicia hangs from the broken/ arrows of palabras [words] breaking the media block/ Of Truth and Consequences of Free Trade Agreements." The last, Hard Drive, collects warmly convincing poems of erotic and parental love, remembered, promised and achieved: "Come,/ and let us eat/ up the hours/ between us." BIRD AVE, perhaps the strongest, concentrates on Cervantes's youth, recalling "what girls/ did in/ the barrio/ to get/ their 15/ minutes of fame." About 10 poems are abbreviated appropriations of very famous poems by Bishop, Williams and others, with new titles. But this five-in-one volume reestablishes Cervantes as a singular voice."
And, finally, here's the exhortation (poem advertisement?) that exploded outta me the very night that i sipped from DRIVE for the first time:
drop everything (for lorna)
drop your underwear to your feet
drop your drawers to the floor
drop your quarters outta your pocket
forget to pick up the magic penny from the street
drop your lines on opening night
drop your knees as if to make things right
drop everything drop everything
drop the beat
drop the rhythm drop a beat, drop the music
if you have to , for a minute
even the tears that must be dropped
they must be, drop the rain, make sure you
let it go, let it drop
let the spills tranquil the rivers, make certain
song on the levee
but drop everything drop everything drop everything
drop mathematics
forget that subtraction scuffs the world
drop the fingers on the keys
drop the dripdry clothes
drop the coins into universal slots like eyes
newly-opened from the dark
drop the gumdrops, the cordial gems
that gum the teeth, drop even them,
drop all things lemon and cough and dew
drop the droppy droppping things
but drop everything drop everything drop everything
drop your people off at work
drop the names of all the fools
that forget to drop their egos at the door
drop the bop, drop the bebop, drop the flop and the flipflop
drop in, drop out, drop out and then drop back in again,
but i tell you, you gotta drop everything drop everything
drop everything i mean
everything, drop it drop it hard
drop it like it’s hot drop it like it’s hot
drop it like it’s hot
but drop it
and then let the other shoe drop
let everything drop
drop everything drop everything drop everything drop every---
thing---
and please,
(ya gotta)
read
lorna
dee
cervantes
now.
drop your bad english accent
drop all pretensions
drop even your i-n-g’s
drop kick your jesus through the
goalposts of life
drop the mail in the mail drop
drop the clothes off at the cleaners
drop the dollop of whipped cream
in the coffee cup
drop a penny in the blind man’s tin plate
but drop everything drop everything drop everything
drop drop drop drop
everything
drop the needle in the haystack
drop the pinprick in the hysteria
drop the pindrop so it’s noisy
drop the windchop so drop the sail
and drop the drama
with your egg soup
on your drop down menu
drop your shoulders
drop your weapons
why resist
drop your classes
drop the subject
and the object
drop the preposition
and drop the proposition
and all your plans,
yes, drop your plans,
drop acid and drop the charges,
drop the ball, fumble it even, just drop it/but drop it,
drop your hatcheck
drop the formality
drop the temperature
and drop your boyfriend,
drop it drop it drop everything
and please
read lorna dee cervantes
now
march 2-3, 2006
(wreck room to my room)
after reading DRIVE at the Wreck Room on a thursday night accompanied by a bottle of Rahr Blonde and to the beat of
African drum music on KNON-FM.
Advance yourself with your own DRIVE experience. HIghly recommended.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Chill w/ me over spoken word & drinks @ the Absinthe Lounge in Dallas
The first annual WRITES OF SPRING BOOK AND AUTHOR FESTIVAL happens in Dallas at Southside on Lamar this weekend. I will be leading a spoken word performance at the ABSINTHE LOUNGE at 9:30pm, as part of this festival.
Friday, March 31st -- 9:30-11pm or so
Joining me will be poets Cesar Hernandez, Patricia Greene, Claudia Acosta, and Rodney Garza (star-performer of the current hit "El Chuco y La Che" which plays through Saturday night). I am hoping that my dear poet-mentor and kick-ass Xicana movimiento mujer, Lorna Dee Cervantes, will make an appearance as well since she's in town for Writes of Spring. Vamos a ver.
See you at the Absinthe Lounge!
Friday, March 31st -- 9:30-11pm or so
Joining me will be poets Cesar Hernandez, Patricia Greene, Claudia Acosta, and Rodney Garza (star-performer of the current hit "El Chuco y La Che" which plays through Saturday night). I am hoping that my dear poet-mentor and kick-ass Xicana movimiento mujer, Lorna Dee Cervantes, will make an appearance as well since she's in town for Writes of Spring. Vamos a ver.
See you at the Absinthe Lounge!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
MY FORT WORTH: Tuesday, March 28th student walk-out
So--A and I were looking over garments for our upcoming "Trashin' Fashion" encore performance in April. We head out to porch for some reason, and I notice hubub. Out of the usual noise, movement, something was in the air. Okay, well, there *was* a helicopter in the air (news station or cop chopper?), but then there was something else. Kids, alot of kids. Walking Chicanitos/Chicanitas on the street, streaming down my block, stepping lively on the sidewalk in front of my house. Then i notice cop cars--funny how the presence of po po can help contextualize a situ--and it dawns. The kids are all alright, the kids have walked out. Just to test, I ask a few striding past my house--A has snagged her ever-ready videocam and is shootin' the scene--"what are y'all doing?" Their responses: "We just walked out." "We're marching for our rights." "We can't just let them say this about Mexicans."
I phoned Ramz, as the squad cars--tailing many of the kids--were slowly heading in the direction of his place. I hoped that he would eyeball the situation and monitor for rights abuses. From my street corner, I couldn't tell exactly what the cops' intention was. After reaching Ramz and giving him the 411, me and A decided to follow the action. You have to imagine this: there were also more than the usual number of cars filled with boisterous h.s. youth passing to and fro. It reminded me of the flurry of animal activity in the moments before a storm--when they sense climactic shifts and know to scurry to their proper places. It was kinda like that, but what i wanted to know about these students was what WAS their proper place--like where were they headed?
We pieced together the story by getting quick sound bites from kids: apparently, they had walked out of their schools and converged downtown for a big shout-out to the powers that be, making their presence and their outrage (against some of the proposed anti-immigrant legislation being bandied about in the big house of Capitol Hill) known to any who would hear it. So, basically, these kids had done their bit and were proudly, surefootedly, hoofing it back to campus (in this case, Paschal).
Near the corner of Eighth and Morphy Streets, we happened upon a Star-Telegram Reporter interviewing two male students--both from Paschal. The most outspoken of the two, quite articulate and well-poised, told me that campus- and city-wide text-messaging campaigns had helped the highschoolers make their momentous decision to make today the day that Fort Worth high schools got emptied for marches in the streets. (Of course, not even a class clown in a hinterland school could have avoided hearing about the anti-immigrant hysteria getting whipped up in DC congressional sessions the past 2-4 months. It's increasingly become the talk of the town as it is of the nation.) Angelique kept shooting footage, as we listened to student Roberto describing his walkabout day. He told us that he knew that Northside, Trimble Tech, and South Hills, as well as Paschal students had joined in the walkout. He also mentioned that Paschal seems to have been the most tough school to leave, as administrators there (and security, i suppose) made the leaving rough.
A and I eventually got in my car and headed down towards Paschal, to see the situation there. Ramz had earlier indicated that larger numbers of kids were heading south on Eighth, so that's where we went. But first, i grabbed my "Who's the Real Alien, Pilgrim?" poster of an Aztec warrior. I wanted to show solidarity any way i could. (It was a bit of a challenge to drive while holding the poster out the window for students to see...) My heart was pounding, as somewhere on a visceral level, i guess i was conjecturing "this is what it might look like if we ever have to deal with martial law". A cop car was stopped in the turn lane of Eighth Ave.--just planted there between Texaco and Fiesta--and i wondered "are they going to make an arrest, or chase some of these kids?" After a few more seconds, i could tell that they were just watching, maybe with their own documentation camera gear... When three more squad cars started to encircle Cici's Pizza--for gawd's sake--we felt that someone might be "going down." There was a throng (never use the word 'mob' when we're talking about our own..) of students crowded near the entrance to the 'za parlor, and we hoped that this wouldn't give the cops reason enough to draw weapons, spray mace, and do all those AP photo moment things i've seen on too many front newspages and indywebsites. We also spotted this tableau, on a grassy knoll near the parking lot: 5-8 Chicanitas/os standing proudly together, with a five-foot Mexican flag held upright by one of the taller boys. Now i'm not into flags as much as maybe the next person, but in that moment those kids holding that flag symbolized something like cultural integrity and a steadfast refusal to be invisibilized by a xenophobic mainstream society. These Raza youth were not munchin' pizza.
Once we could tell that the cops' buzzard circling was not meant to draw blood, we pulled away from Cici's (who wouldn't?) and drove again towards Paschal. A few kids here and there, walking casually, but no big rallying location was seen. We concluded that the kids were just heading calmly back to campus and class. Responsible and accountable. After a pitstop at my place--where a message from Ramz directed us to go downtown to City Hall--we retooled and veered north, passing lots more students on foot, near Trimble Tech. In downtown, we parked near City Hall, though we could hear and see that the action was directly in front of the Traffic Court Building on Throckmorton. This was the corner where the students stationed themselves, yelling Raza pride chants and raising power fists when drivers honked to demonstrate solidarity. I was amazed to see that adults (parents?) actually were dropping students off at this site, facilitating the young people's participation in this thing called democracy. Cool. One day of missed high school to cry foul in the face of bigotry and ignorance is a small price to pay. A, never missing a moment, kept the camera tape rolling. We interviewed several students, letting them share whatever they wanted. Students had actually walked all the way from South Hills HS, which is down on Altamesa for gawd's sake...! I asked again, how did the organizing happen. Again, "cell phones", "text-messaging", "email". As they walked out of South Hills HS---according to one student--teachers and administrators taunted them, saying "You're going to get tired, your feet will hurt, you'll get thirsty, then you'll come back." And the living proof was that these bad-ass students walked their talk (a talk that many of us are not willing to hear because the voices are younger, from kids of color). I gave my "alien, pilgrim?" sign to a young woman who eagerly accepted it and pushed her way to the curb to hoist it in the air for passersby to read.
I stepped towards Chief of Police Ralph Mendoza, who was conversing freely with several people (students, reporters?). A turned the camera on us, and I began to ask Mendoza some few questions. He was very personable and notably NOT defensive. I looked past him, where a line-up of cops cast a severe edge to what otherwise seemed a laidback police presence. (I guess they were standing that way to keep students from rushing the entrance to the courthouse.) Mendoza said that he "respected the students' rights" to be out in the streets, marching and speaking up for what they believe in, and that the role of the police in this situation was primarily to make sure the students were safe and to make sure that no property was damaged. He smiled and surveyed the layout of the scene with what seemed to be at least a bit of cultural pride. I was glad, in that moment, that he is a Hispanic and that he was directly present there.
(I heard later---via local tv news--that the FWPD actually did arrest THREE students. I don't know what the charges or causes for action were in any of the arrests.)
Before we left the courthouse scene, we met another indie media person doing some taping, as well as a mom ("Angie") of three of the South Hills HS students. She basically drove the "sag wagon" for the students, providing water and adult supervision along the march route from Altamesa Drive in southwest FW. She told us that her son "text-messaged me that he was going to leave [the school]" at around 10:30 this morning. Angie drove to the school to meet with the principal(s), asking about any possibly punitive measures they might take against the students for leaving campus. To her relief, she was told that the students would not be punished. She said she was very proud of her three children--including one daughter who is 6 months pregnant!--for marching today.
Later, on my way in to Wedgwood Middle School--where i teach performance and writing in an after-school program--I asked a few Latino/a students if they had walked out too. The answer: no. The reason: "They turned the sprinklers on all around the school to keep us from going."
My niece, who attends J.P. Elder, which is predominantly Latino, did not walk out--though she did mill about on-campus debating the possibility. Campus monitors corraled students together, as best as they could, and a few kids who had run from campus were caught and hauled in to the principal's office. My niece told me that alot of kids wrote MEXICAN FOREVER and other pride slogans on their foreheads and arms. (One girl, afraid to draw attention from punitive faculty, merely wrote on the palm of her hand.) My niece had written MEXICAN in red ink on her arm. Wow. She's looking forward to Friday, the day after her UIL chorus competition. Friday, she says, is the day she will walk out.
[Note: According to a local newscast at 10 tonight, the DISD schools have now instituted a zero-tolerance policy for any students who walk-out: truancy arrests, and other punitive measures will be meted out (big boo hiss). BUT--in FW schools, students who walk-out will 1) get an "unexcused absence" on their record, and 2) will have to make up missed classwork (less boo hiss).]
I phoned Ramz, as the squad cars--tailing many of the kids--were slowly heading in the direction of his place. I hoped that he would eyeball the situation and monitor for rights abuses. From my street corner, I couldn't tell exactly what the cops' intention was. After reaching Ramz and giving him the 411, me and A decided to follow the action. You have to imagine this: there were also more than the usual number of cars filled with boisterous h.s. youth passing to and fro. It reminded me of the flurry of animal activity in the moments before a storm--when they sense climactic shifts and know to scurry to their proper places. It was kinda like that, but what i wanted to know about these students was what WAS their proper place--like where were they headed?
We pieced together the story by getting quick sound bites from kids: apparently, they had walked out of their schools and converged downtown for a big shout-out to the powers that be, making their presence and their outrage (against some of the proposed anti-immigrant legislation being bandied about in the big house of Capitol Hill) known to any who would hear it. So, basically, these kids had done their bit and were proudly, surefootedly, hoofing it back to campus (in this case, Paschal).
Near the corner of Eighth and Morphy Streets, we happened upon a Star-Telegram Reporter interviewing two male students--both from Paschal. The most outspoken of the two, quite articulate and well-poised, told me that campus- and city-wide text-messaging campaigns had helped the highschoolers make their momentous decision to make today the day that Fort Worth high schools got emptied for marches in the streets. (Of course, not even a class clown in a hinterland school could have avoided hearing about the anti-immigrant hysteria getting whipped up in DC congressional sessions the past 2-4 months. It's increasingly become the talk of the town as it is of the nation.) Angelique kept shooting footage, as we listened to student Roberto describing his walkabout day. He told us that he knew that Northside, Trimble Tech, and South Hills, as well as Paschal students had joined in the walkout. He also mentioned that Paschal seems to have been the most tough school to leave, as administrators there (and security, i suppose) made the leaving rough.
A and I eventually got in my car and headed down towards Paschal, to see the situation there. Ramz had earlier indicated that larger numbers of kids were heading south on Eighth, so that's where we went. But first, i grabbed my "Who's the Real Alien, Pilgrim?" poster of an Aztec warrior. I wanted to show solidarity any way i could. (It was a bit of a challenge to drive while holding the poster out the window for students to see...) My heart was pounding, as somewhere on a visceral level, i guess i was conjecturing "this is what it might look like if we ever have to deal with martial law". A cop car was stopped in the turn lane of Eighth Ave.--just planted there between Texaco and Fiesta--and i wondered "are they going to make an arrest, or chase some of these kids?" After a few more seconds, i could tell that they were just watching, maybe with their own documentation camera gear... When three more squad cars started to encircle Cici's Pizza--for gawd's sake--we felt that someone might be "going down." There was a throng (never use the word 'mob' when we're talking about our own..) of students crowded near the entrance to the 'za parlor, and we hoped that this wouldn't give the cops reason enough to draw weapons, spray mace, and do all those AP photo moment things i've seen on too many front newspages and indywebsites. We also spotted this tableau, on a grassy knoll near the parking lot: 5-8 Chicanitas/os standing proudly together, with a five-foot Mexican flag held upright by one of the taller boys. Now i'm not into flags as much as maybe the next person, but in that moment those kids holding that flag symbolized something like cultural integrity and a steadfast refusal to be invisibilized by a xenophobic mainstream society. These Raza youth were not munchin' pizza.
Once we could tell that the cops' buzzard circling was not meant to draw blood, we pulled away from Cici's (who wouldn't?) and drove again towards Paschal. A few kids here and there, walking casually, but no big rallying location was seen. We concluded that the kids were just heading calmly back to campus and class. Responsible and accountable. After a pitstop at my place--where a message from Ramz directed us to go downtown to City Hall--we retooled and veered north, passing lots more students on foot, near Trimble Tech. In downtown, we parked near City Hall, though we could hear and see that the action was directly in front of the Traffic Court Building on Throckmorton. This was the corner where the students stationed themselves, yelling Raza pride chants and raising power fists when drivers honked to demonstrate solidarity. I was amazed to see that adults (parents?) actually were dropping students off at this site, facilitating the young people's participation in this thing called democracy. Cool. One day of missed high school to cry foul in the face of bigotry and ignorance is a small price to pay. A, never missing a moment, kept the camera tape rolling. We interviewed several students, letting them share whatever they wanted. Students had actually walked all the way from South Hills HS, which is down on Altamesa for gawd's sake...! I asked again, how did the organizing happen. Again, "cell phones", "text-messaging", "email". As they walked out of South Hills HS---according to one student--teachers and administrators taunted them, saying "You're going to get tired, your feet will hurt, you'll get thirsty, then you'll come back." And the living proof was that these bad-ass students walked their talk (a talk that many of us are not willing to hear because the voices are younger, from kids of color). I gave my "alien, pilgrim?" sign to a young woman who eagerly accepted it and pushed her way to the curb to hoist it in the air for passersby to read.
I stepped towards Chief of Police Ralph Mendoza, who was conversing freely with several people (students, reporters?). A turned the camera on us, and I began to ask Mendoza some few questions. He was very personable and notably NOT defensive. I looked past him, where a line-up of cops cast a severe edge to what otherwise seemed a laidback police presence. (I guess they were standing that way to keep students from rushing the entrance to the courthouse.) Mendoza said that he "respected the students' rights" to be out in the streets, marching and speaking up for what they believe in, and that the role of the police in this situation was primarily to make sure the students were safe and to make sure that no property was damaged. He smiled and surveyed the layout of the scene with what seemed to be at least a bit of cultural pride. I was glad, in that moment, that he is a Hispanic and that he was directly present there.
(I heard later---via local tv news--that the FWPD actually did arrest THREE students. I don't know what the charges or causes for action were in any of the arrests.)
Before we left the courthouse scene, we met another indie media person doing some taping, as well as a mom ("Angie") of three of the South Hills HS students. She basically drove the "sag wagon" for the students, providing water and adult supervision along the march route from Altamesa Drive in southwest FW. She told us that her son "text-messaged me that he was going to leave [the school]" at around 10:30 this morning. Angie drove to the school to meet with the principal(s), asking about any possibly punitive measures they might take against the students for leaving campus. To her relief, she was told that the students would not be punished. She said she was very proud of her three children--including one daughter who is 6 months pregnant!--for marching today.
Later, on my way in to Wedgwood Middle School--where i teach performance and writing in an after-school program--I asked a few Latino/a students if they had walked out too. The answer: no. The reason: "They turned the sprinklers on all around the school to keep us from going."
My niece, who attends J.P. Elder, which is predominantly Latino, did not walk out--though she did mill about on-campus debating the possibility. Campus monitors corraled students together, as best as they could, and a few kids who had run from campus were caught and hauled in to the principal's office. My niece told me that alot of kids wrote MEXICAN FOREVER and other pride slogans on their foreheads and arms. (One girl, afraid to draw attention from punitive faculty, merely wrote on the palm of her hand.) My niece had written MEXICAN in red ink on her arm. Wow. She's looking forward to Friday, the day after her UIL chorus competition. Friday, she says, is the day she will walk out.
[Note: According to a local newscast at 10 tonight, the DISD schools have now instituted a zero-tolerance policy for any students who walk-out: truancy arrests, and other punitive measures will be meted out (big boo hiss). BUT--in FW schools, students who walk-out will 1) get an "unexcused absence" on their record, and 2) will have to make up missed classwork (less boo hiss).]
Monday, March 27, 2006
"El Chuco y La Che" - held over 'til April 1st
Rodney Garza is a compa and fellow performance artist, who i've known since back in the day (or days) of mid-to-late 1990s Austin. He was always working on some project on another, but always keeping the vibe and the flow muy suave, sin ansia--no worries, homie. He went on to create/found an active Chicano theater company whose name deliberately (so we think) yielded an acronym so dear to the corazon: Teatro Humanidad Cansada. Killer theater, dude. Funny, rascuache, and of the times, for sure.
Now, my home bro has launched his own one-vato show: "El Chuco y La Che", which no--is not about shoes or Che Guevara. It's not even about gang violence and overwrought "Hispanic" stereotypes. It's un estory, historia muy cute, somewhat enlightening (for those of you who lack Brown people in your worldview), and purty damn clever. You see, the "Che" that is paid tribute is the "ch" of the Spanglish/Spanish language. You may think it's one long extended pinche punche line, but you gotta hand it to Rodney for shaking down the Spanglish dictionary to the chones to reap finely-rendered wordplay. I say, lay down your plumas y pencils, Raza. My man Garza done wrote the book on the "C-H", so charpen your Chicano/a poeta tongue on some other letra, y ya.
Chale, chulo, get cho butt down to the Latino Cultural Center this weekend to check out this churefire hit. For more infos, click here.
Now, my home bro has launched his own one-vato show: "El Chuco y La Che", which no--is not about shoes or Che Guevara. It's not even about gang violence and overwrought "Hispanic" stereotypes. It's un estory, historia muy cute, somewhat enlightening (for those of you who lack Brown people in your worldview), and purty damn clever. You see, the "Che" that is paid tribute is the "ch" of the Spanglish/Spanish language. You may think it's one long extended pinche punche line, but you gotta hand it to Rodney for shaking down the Spanglish dictionary to the chones to reap finely-rendered wordplay. I say, lay down your plumas y pencils, Raza. My man Garza done wrote the book on the "C-H", so charpen your Chicano/a poeta tongue on some other letra, y ya.
Chale, chulo, get cho butt down to the Latino Cultural Center this weekend to check out this churefire hit. For more infos, click here.
NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE - anthology book release/reception/booksigning this Friday, Mar.31st
March 27, 2006
Contact:
Tammy Gomez
817.924.9188
sound_culture@hotmail.com
Gracey Tune
817.923.9500
artsfifthavenue@aol.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
++++ Fort Worth-published NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE, anthology which commemorates Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda,
features local writers and scholars ++++
==> Reception and reading from the anthology, followed by booksigning, scheduled for Friday, March 31st--as part of
Spring Arts Goggle 2006--at 7pm at Arts Fifth Avenue in FW. (Free and open to the public.)
Arts Fifth Avenue, Inc. and Sound Culture/Tejana Tongue Press (community arts organizations in Fort Worth), announce the
release of the innovative anthology NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE, which was co-published by both organizations--with funding from Humanities Texas.
NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE, which features new poems and essays by local writers, is a tribute to the legacy and literary
influence of esteemed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda--whose 100th birth anniversary was celebrated worldwide from
2004-2005. As part of this anniversary celebration, Fort Worth organizations Sound Culture/Tejana Tongue Press and Arts Fifth Avenue, Inc. coordinated a year-long program of literary readings, documentary film screenings, and community lectures throughout Tarrant County.
The program culminated with the publication of the anthology, which features introductions by each contributing writer,
describing the influence and impact that Neruda has had on their own literary and/or personal life. The year-long program,
in fact, referred to Neruda as a “global citizen” whose experiences led him to write about the cultures and peoples he encountered around the world. In the “post-911 world”, writers cannot help but reflect the tenor and spirit of the times, and the anthology demonstrates this with poems evoking compassion and sensitivity to issues and concerns of this decade.
Gracey Tune, founder/director of Arts Fifth Avenue, Inc., is renowned nationally as an accomplished tap dancer and
promoter of tap dancing history and performance. Ms. Tune has one poem featured in NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE--her first publishing credential--which was inspired by Neruda’s BOOK OF QUESTIONS. Quoting Ms. Tune from the anthology: “His [Neruda’s] work encourages the poet within us...”
The anthology will be released publicly at Arts Fifth Avenue (1625 5th Avenue in the historical Fairmount district), on
Friday, March 31st, at 7pm. Contributing writers will read selections from the book, followed by a reception and booksigning.
There will be no admission charged for this event, but copies of NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE will be available for sale to the public.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE: poems, essays, testimonios
in tribute to Pablo Neruda
edited by Tammy Melody Gomez
contributors and titles
Gracey Tune - “Questions from the Lake”
Greg Johnson - “Improvised Tribute Poem”
m.m. harris - “I like not knowing” and “Ode to a Green Pen”
Jeannette L. Strother - “Ode to Honeysuckle”
Claudia Acosta - “Para nuestras perdidas muertas”
cesar hernandez - “My dear, Neftali!”
Geethanjali - “A Leader of World Literature”
Susan Vogel Taylor - “Mindlessness and Infinity” and
“Sisters of the Fertile Moon”
Marc Rains - untitled
Josh Khatena - “Neruda, a word”
Tammy Gomez - “in this love”
Helen S. Jones - “Pablo, Jr.”
Robert Wynne - “Ode to the Belt”
Patricia Greene - “Caracolas”
Dr.Teresa Marrero - “Pablo Neruda, ‘Global Citizen’”
Contact:
Tammy Gomez
817.924.9188
sound_culture@hotmail.com
Gracey Tune
817.923.9500
artsfifthavenue@aol.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
++++ Fort Worth-published NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE, anthology which commemorates Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda,
features local writers and scholars ++++
==> Reception and reading from the anthology, followed by booksigning, scheduled for Friday, March 31st--as part of
Spring Arts Goggle 2006--at 7pm at Arts Fifth Avenue in FW. (Free and open to the public.)
Arts Fifth Avenue, Inc. and Sound Culture/Tejana Tongue Press (community arts organizations in Fort Worth), announce the
release of the innovative anthology NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE, which was co-published by both organizations--with funding from Humanities Texas.
NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE, which features new poems and essays by local writers, is a tribute to the legacy and literary
influence of esteemed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda--whose 100th birth anniversary was celebrated worldwide from
2004-2005. As part of this anniversary celebration, Fort Worth organizations Sound Culture/Tejana Tongue Press and Arts Fifth Avenue, Inc. coordinated a year-long program of literary readings, documentary film screenings, and community lectures throughout Tarrant County.
The program culminated with the publication of the anthology, which features introductions by each contributing writer,
describing the influence and impact that Neruda has had on their own literary and/or personal life. The year-long program,
in fact, referred to Neruda as a “global citizen” whose experiences led him to write about the cultures and peoples he encountered around the world. In the “post-911 world”, writers cannot help but reflect the tenor and spirit of the times, and the anthology demonstrates this with poems evoking compassion and sensitivity to issues and concerns of this decade.
Gracey Tune, founder/director of Arts Fifth Avenue, Inc., is renowned nationally as an accomplished tap dancer and
promoter of tap dancing history and performance. Ms. Tune has one poem featured in NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE--her first publishing credential--which was inspired by Neruda’s BOOK OF QUESTIONS. Quoting Ms. Tune from the anthology: “His [Neruda’s] work encourages the poet within us...”
The anthology will be released publicly at Arts Fifth Avenue (1625 5th Avenue in the historical Fairmount district), on
Friday, March 31st, at 7pm. Contributing writers will read selections from the book, followed by a reception and booksigning.
There will be no admission charged for this event, but copies of NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE will be available for sale to the public.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NORTH TEXAS NERUDA LOVE: poems, essays, testimonios
in tribute to Pablo Neruda
edited by Tammy Melody Gomez
contributors and titles
Gracey Tune - “Questions from the Lake”
Greg Johnson - “Improvised Tribute Poem”
m.m. harris - “I like not knowing” and “Ode to a Green Pen”
Jeannette L. Strother - “Ode to Honeysuckle”
Claudia Acosta - “Para nuestras perdidas muertas”
cesar hernandez - “My dear, Neftali!”
Geethanjali - “A Leader of World Literature”
Susan Vogel Taylor - “Mindlessness and Infinity” and
“Sisters of the Fertile Moon”
Marc Rains - untitled
Josh Khatena - “Neruda, a word”
Tammy Gomez - “in this love”
Helen S. Jones - “Pablo, Jr.”
Robert Wynne - “Ode to the Belt”
Patricia Greene - “Caracolas”
Dr.Teresa Marrero - “Pablo Neruda, ‘Global Citizen’”
Thursday, March 23, 2006
MY FORT WORTH: Rally/march, Rally/fest, and Alterna-skool this wk-end
It's gonna be a great weekend to BE ACTIVE in the comunidad aqui en Fort Worth ("forte wes").
Some events to attend this weekend:
1. Annual "SI, SE PUEDE" ("Yes, we can") marcha and rally in tribute to Cesar Chavez, movimiento activista and founder of the United Farmworkers Union (UFW).
FRIDAY, MARCH 24th - marcha at 6pm, rally afterwards in school cafeteria.
The march will start and end @ Cesar Chavez Primary School, located at 3710 Deen Rd, Fort Worth. The march begins at 6:00 p.m., & will travel through the area neighborhood for one mile. Cesar Chavez Primary School will host a carnival with games and food for parents, students, and the community. A rally will be held in the school cafeteria with speakers and entertainers.
In the spirit of Cesar Chavez, this is an event to bring the community and school together to celebrate the memory of the selfless crusader for justice and the importance of education.
[Note: I am on the slate of speakers for the rally. I will "speak" at approx. 8:15pm.]
2. "Free the Vote Rally and Performance Event"
SATURDAY, MARCH 25th - 12noon-7:30pm (or so) - Trinity Park Shelter, Fort Worth.
A day of festivities, music, spoken word, and info-sharing. Bring blankets, food. Sponsored by the Tarrant County Green Party. This event will launch the petition drive for the Tarrant County Green Party to obtain ballot access for November elections.
[Note: Both CodePink FW and Peaceful Vocations (PV) will be tabling at this event. Come on out; the weather should be warmer, with sunshine predicted.]
and
3. EXAMINED LIFE! - AFTER THE MARCH
This the latest in an ongoing series of "liberation school"-type days that the folks at 1919 Hemphill periodically coordinate.
SUNDAY, MARCH 26th - 2pm to 10pm (another long day!)
$10 donation (dinner is included) for all the learning you can eat. Don't let the money thing be a deterrent; no one will be turned away. Sessions and skill-shares on such topics as: comic book-making, menstral (sic) health, basic HTML for websites, DIY theater (with Zoe), yoga, and more! PV is scheduled to lead a session at 7pm. Childcare, apparently, will be provided.
hasta la victoria!
[post a comment if you have questions about any of these events...and i'll try to reply asap.]
Some events to attend this weekend:
1. Annual "SI, SE PUEDE" ("Yes, we can") marcha and rally in tribute to Cesar Chavez, movimiento activista and founder of the United Farmworkers Union (UFW).
FRIDAY, MARCH 24th - marcha at 6pm, rally afterwards in school cafeteria.
The march will start and end @ Cesar Chavez Primary School, located at 3710 Deen Rd, Fort Worth. The march begins at 6:00 p.m., & will travel through the area neighborhood for one mile. Cesar Chavez Primary School will host a carnival with games and food for parents, students, and the community. A rally will be held in the school cafeteria with speakers and entertainers.
In the spirit of Cesar Chavez, this is an event to bring the community and school together to celebrate the memory of the selfless crusader for justice and the importance of education.
[Note: I am on the slate of speakers for the rally. I will "speak" at approx. 8:15pm.]
2. "Free the Vote Rally and Performance Event"
SATURDAY, MARCH 25th - 12noon-7:30pm (or so) - Trinity Park Shelter, Fort Worth.
A day of festivities, music, spoken word, and info-sharing. Bring blankets, food. Sponsored by the Tarrant County Green Party. This event will launch the petition drive for the Tarrant County Green Party to obtain ballot access for November elections.
[Note: Both CodePink FW and Peaceful Vocations (PV) will be tabling at this event. Come on out; the weather should be warmer, with sunshine predicted.]
and
3. EXAMINED LIFE! - AFTER THE MARCH
This the latest in an ongoing series of "liberation school"-type days that the folks at 1919 Hemphill periodically coordinate.
SUNDAY, MARCH 26th - 2pm to 10pm (another long day!)
$10 donation (dinner is included) for all the learning you can eat. Don't let the money thing be a deterrent; no one will be turned away. Sessions and skill-shares on such topics as: comic book-making, menstral (sic) health, basic HTML for websites, DIY theater (with Zoe), yoga, and more! PV is scheduled to lead a session at 7pm. Childcare, apparently, will be provided.
hasta la victoria!
[post a comment if you have questions about any of these events...and i'll try to reply asap.]
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