Archive for September, 2011
Charlie Vázquez’s bilingual (English/Spanish) poetry collection, Meditations/Meditaciones – Bronx/Salsa is an impressive one for its varied subject matter rooted in three basic themes: place, identity and the senses that tie us there.
The place is the Bronx but also places left behind and returned to as outsider like Puerto Rico. The identity Vázquez invokes in his poems is that of a son – not just to a father he is estranged from but also the son of multiple islands from which he is also estranged. The senses are physical ones. with poems like The Dance of Life, invoking Taino ancestry and spelling – we hear the origins and evolution of history through Rican/Cuban music and those who made it and move to it. Some of the characters are real living beings. Others are spirits.
The theme of sound and motion permeates the vast collection.
I was really struck by the number of pieces in the collection and the accompanying album list that included classics of salsa. Before I began delving into the poems I wondered if I should use the album list as a sort of soundtrack by which to read the collection. I opted not to after finding it difficult to sense the rhythm of each individual poem when it was competing with Celia Cruz or another salsa great.
Las Mujeres de Lares : The Women of Lares
7:10 pm By Maegan La Mala · history|Puerto Rico · Comments Off
23 Sep 2011There are times when I don’t believe in coincidences. I don’t believe it is coincidence that Palestine just put in a bid at the United Nations to be recognized on the same day that in 1868 a group of Puerto Ricans made a declaration of independence. El Grito de Lares was a revolutionary call against Spanish colonial rule in Puerto Rico and is recognized as a stepping stone for the modern struggle for Puerto Rican freedom as it remains a colony, now under the United States.
El Grito de Lares, with it’s strong abolitionist roots, is most often credited to Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis. Not to take anything away from the valiant men of the movement, but history, even revolutionary history tends to focus on the role of the heroic men while shoving aside the women who played critical roles in the same struggles. Puerto Rico’s National anthem, La Borinqueña, the original version with lyrics of machetes and canons, not the colonized version of flowers, sun and sea – was penned by poet Lola Rodriguez de Tio and written in the year of Lares and inspired by the activities of Betances. De Tio’s revolutionary beliefs forced her become an exile in Cuba, where she was also involved in the liberation struggle against the Spanish. She died and is buried Cuba. Many Puerto Rican events that I have been to open or close with de Tio’s words and it’s one of the first songs I ever sang to both my daughters as a lullaby.
In Mississippi, Promise of Immigration Changes Does not Equal Lessening of Immigrant Fears
9:44 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Labor|Mississippi · 2 Comments
21 Sep 2011While reports are written urging an end to Secure Communities and while the Obama administration and the Department of Homeland Security make announcements promising change to the “good & hardworking” undocumented immigrants, a months ago ICE audit in Ecru and Ripley (Northeast Mississippi) casts a long shadow over a community. This so-called kinder, gentler “raid lite” which took place in April at Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. resulted in the firing of hundreds because of “irregularities with I-9 forms.”
IC from the Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA) in Jackson, MS shared with me that many of the undocumented immigrants who lost their jobs after this event found other jobs in other factories, a few decided to leave the country, and a few decided to start small businesses, but none of them have filed suits with the EEOC or Department of Labor regarding back pay for wage theft they endured over the years because they are afraid.
What happened at Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. is a prime example of some of the problems that mandatory E-Verify cause and how widespread the impact can be. Inside the company supervisors, employees, managers and HR personnel encouraged identity theft. From the MIRA Newsletter:
One supervisor, Ricardo* and one HR Supervisor Jeff* collaborated in selling identities for anywhere from $400-600, and in selling jobs for anywhere from $300-1200, depending on the wages of the job involved. Ricardo went to jail for six months for his crime, but when he was released, the company gave him his old job back. During that time, various female employees accused him, of sexual harassment, while male employees often complained that he forced them to pay weekly quotas.
Certainly none of the displaced workers have been able to get their jobs back and workers that remain employed at Ashley have complained of lowered starting wages.
Today, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is pushing a bill in the House Judiciary Committee to make E-Verify mandatory nationwide. Given the current economic crisis and unemployment numbers, the focus on how E-Verify drives down wages and actually increases job instability for U.S. workers is understandable. However, the immediate impact on the lives of the undocumented workers shouldn’t be swept under the rug in the name of political expediency.
Secure Communities Task Force Issues Recommendations & Implodes
1:33 pm By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|Immigration · Comments Off
20 Sep 2011The farce of a task force, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Advisory Council Task Force, that attempted to tour the United States to instill confidence in a process that didn’t really exist, released a final report last week that included recommended tweaks to the mass deportation program.
The report contained no bombshell revelations. It confirmed what many advocates and activists have been saying since the program was expanded under President Obama (let us not forget that back then many advocates also said the program was ok since it targeted “criminals”). In fact many of the findings echo those in a report released last month by a coalition of organizations : its adverse impact on community policing; inaccurate and incomplete information about the program provided by ICE to state and local officials; and the lack of clarity on whether the program is in fact legally mandated.
Five of the task force’s 19 members, including all three who represented labor unions, and the former police chief of Sacramento Arturo Venegas, resigned, citing objections to the recommendations contained in the committee’s final report.
While the resignations are noteworthy, they are as much of a show as the task force itself. The resignations, happening after task force tour meetings were met with protest after protest, carry no weight, no consequence. A far stronger and more principled stance would have been to not participate in this toothless process from jump. Additionally, while across the board, the non-profit responses have been in support of the resignations and non-surprise at the findings and recommendations of the task force, with the additional demand of shutting down the program completely, there is still a centering on how S-Comm comes between police and community and/or negatively impacts “community policing”. While #altopolimigra is the most favored hashtag of the moment, I have yet to see a defining of “community policing” or any real acknowledgement of how even without enforcement programs, local police tend to terrorize immigrant people of color communities.
Sources : NY Immigration Coalition Press Release, National Immigration Law Center Press Release
Hispanic Heritage Month has officially started (September 15 to October 15). The month, which is not really a proper month if you think about it, was built/invented around the independence (from Spain) days of some Latin American countries (i.e. Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua – 9/15, Mexico 9/16, Chile 9/18). For those countries/nationalities whose independence days fall outside this range, or for those, like my own Puerto Rico, who have yet to have an independence day, we are expected to rest easy knowing that within this invented month is included October 12 – Columbus Day/Dia de la Raza/Discovery Day/genocide day so that we are all included via our “creation” as an identity if you will.
The issue of naming the 30 days set aside to acknowledge the existence of Latinos complicates things further. Originally called Hispanic Heritage Week and later turned into the month we now know , the government label of “Hispanic” makes the role of the Spanish/European conquest central to the “celebration”. Some people, who reject the label “Hispanic”, prefer to call the month “Latino Heritage Month” in an attempt to deemphasize the conquista and focus on the survival and growth of the diaspora/mestisaje.
Clearly I’m somewhat comfortable with the label Latino – defined by me as including the diaspora of those colonized in Latin America, the Hispanic/Latin@ identity is complex and controversial and certainly not universally accepted. The idea of Latinidad is sometimes – and rightfully to some extent – accused of erasing certain aspects of what have made Latinos who we are today. The mixing of the indigenous with the European and the European with the African was not based on mutual consent but conquest, rape, violence, and war. All other variations were based on survival. This not a matter of ancient history, this is a matter of looking at how right now across Latin American governments are actively committing acts of theft and violence against indigenous communities. It is not a matter of ancient history the way many among “us” claim/re-claim our Indigenous identities to the exclusion of our African roots or vice-versa or claim none of the above at all.
Read more…
Puerto Rico, Policing, and Colonial Politics
1:28 pm By Maegan La Mala · Police Violence|Puerto Rico · 2 Comments
15 Sep 2011Earlier this month the United States Department of Justice issued a report accusing the Police Department of Puerto Rico of engaging in a pattern and practice of civil rights violations including suppressing free speech, using excessive and even deadly physical force when it was not warranted, and engaging in unlawful searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
From the report :
Indeed, the marked disconnect between residents and tactical officers, who routinely enter neighborhoods en masse with high-caliber rifles drawn amid children, seniors, and other bystanders, reveals PRPD’s reliance on law enforcement strategies that run counter to widely accepted models of community-oriented policing. Distressingly, an officer assigned to one of these units told us openly and without objection from his supervisors that officers need to violate civil rights to fight crime and meet the goals set by government officials. This conduct deprives the people of Puerto Rico of their rights guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law.
The report also points to ethnic profiling against Dominicans on the island, which is is important considering that Puerto Rico is a Secure Communities jurisdiction, meaning police officers check the immigration status of those they arrest.
In a police state, women are especially vulnerable, not just because of direct physical and sexual assault by law enforcement itself, but also by not acting when called to cases of sexual and physical assault. The Puerto Rican police are accused of failing to adequately police sex assault and domestic violence cases including spousal abuse by fellow officers.
Win FREE tickets to Erika Lopez’s The Welfare Queen
2:23 pm By BiancaLaureano · Arts · 5 Comments
13 Sep 2011
Vivir Latino readers have the opportunity to win 2 FREE tickets ($50 value) to Erika Lopez’s limited run performance of THE WELFARE QUEEN opening this week on Wednesday September 14-Saturday October 8, 2011.
FREE tickets for the show will be for this week Wednesday September 14-Saturday September 17, 2011 (choice of evening open to winner). Show begins at 8pm at the Clemente Soto Velez Center. Below is the press release for the show. To win please comment on this post and send an email to bianca@monstergirlmagazine.com . First person to leave a comment AND send an email gets the tickets!
This is co-sponsored by Monster Girl Media, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!), and the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, Inc.
Arizona Boycott Called Off? NCLR Says So.
12:53 pm By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration · 10 Comments
13 Sep 2011This past weekend, when I received an email announcing that the National Council of la Raza (NCLR) was declaring the economic boycott of Arizona over, I admit that my first reaction was confusion.
I was confused because I didn’t remember the boycott solely being “owned” by any one organization. I was confused because I thought that the boycott (which I have been following and respecting as have my children) was supposed to remain in effect until the anti-immigrant law SB1070 was repealed. Did I misunderstand?
So I went back.
Various organizations and localities called for boycotts. No one can own an act of resistance.
The demand of the boycott was that SB1070 be repealed.
That hasn’t happened.
According to reports in the media, NCLR is cancelling the boycott because they feel that they have successfully discouraged other states from enacting similar laws (never mind not so successfully discouraging the president from his enforcement/deportation party). NCLR and other orgs are pointing the millions of dollars lost because of the boycott including the cancellation of conferences and conventions in the state. Additionally, The Arizona Republic says Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s office sent NCLR letters last month asking it to end the boycotts and work toward immigration reform. Based on the official press release announcing the calling off of the boycott, it’s all about the money honey. Both the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau are quoted in the official release, talking about the importance of “getting back to business”.
I know I am not the only one confused by this decision. Certainly the boycott in and of itself is controversial. There is debate as to the effectiveness of such an action, just like there is debate as to the effectiveness of civil disobedience. What both boycotts and cd’s share in common is that on their own, they are useless. On a small scale, people not buying a Stone Cold Creamery ice cream cone or blocking a highway are meaningless unless they are connected in a real way to work on the ground for a long time. The work of protest is not supposed to be easy. That is why it is called struggle. And to clarify, work on the ground does not just mean funded policy promoting as is currently happening with across the board in the immigrant rights advocacy world. The immigrant “movement” at the moment has been completely co-opted by non-profit orgs and their funders. There is no direction while on our blocks deportations rise.
And then we wonder why we are unable to find a Latino “leader”.
And then we wonder why Latinos are criticized for being unable to create sustained actions.
I’ve gone from confusion to cynical anger at the state of “movement building”.
Does NCLR’s backing off the boycott mean their national convention will be in Phoenix next year?
Happy Belated Birthday Don Pedro
6:46 am By Maegan La Mala · history|Puerto Rico · Comments Off
13 Sep 2011Don Pedro Albizu Campos, born 1891, considered by many as the father of the modern Puerto Rican independence movement, would have celebrated his birthday yesterday. The Afro-Puerto Rican Nationalist was a graduate of Harvard, spoke eight languages, and was a member of the U.S. Army. That army experience is actually credited with deepening Albizu’s understanding of U.S. colonialism. His work in Puerto Rico led to his arrest and torture by the U.S. government, including human radiation experiments, corroborated by the US Dept of Energy under Pres. Clinton.
I first learned of Don Pedro as a high school student, when a classmate of mine, upon learning that I was Puerto Rican, gave me a book, written by her father, on the life of Albizu Campos. This was the start of a long and sometimes painful awakening politically and personally. (Thanks Guale).
I think in struggles for liberation we have a habit of forming cults around our leaders from the past. Let us remember that those who have come before us were human and imperfect as they moved the important work we strive to continue in our own imperfect ways.
Remembering and Not Forgetting
9:21 am By Maegan La Mala · Chile|history|New York City · Comments Off
11 Sep 2011I have written about 9-11 for as long as this website has been in existence. I remember to write about it every year because my head and my heart do not forget. They are two separate things – remembering and not forgetting but they are the same in that they are both subjective, victims of our own age, our biases, our challenges.
I remember being stuck underground for hours in a subway car that filled with smoke and darkness, not knowing that the World Trade Center was collapsing above me and that my mother was running just ahead of it.
I remember walking the streets from downtown to Queens, half crying, half in a daze because an officer has told me at 14th Street that there was no more World Trade Center and I remember hearing that as there is no more mommy.
I remember my mother and I finally finding each other back home – she walked out of the World Trade Center and on that walk to Queens she thought I too was dead.
I remember kissing my then 4 year old daughter and trying to call Chile to let her father know we were ok but I will not forget that I was also checking to see if he was ok because his September 11th had happened already. He knew already of searching for bodies with pictures in the hands of mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children. He knew of checking and rechecking lists of names.
On 9-11-96 I will not forget that I first tasted and absorbed tear gas by the Universidad de Chile, surrounded by students whose families had their own planes, their own dead and disappeared. I will not forget that they eyed me with suspicion – gringa – Norte Americana – representative of the sponsor of their 9-11.
I will not forget how I have a whole generation of students who have grown up in the last 10 years being told to fear terrorism and that they, as Muslims, as brown are the terrorists.
I remember all the dead – the men and women I used to call almost on a daily basis from work who would answer from their top floor office in the WTC. The lists stacked floor to ceiling in the Vicaría de la Solidaridad de Chile of names, some shared by my Chile-Rican daughters.
They do not remember. One was a pre-schooler. The other wasn’t even a thought But they cannot forget that histories like memories are subjective and layer upon one another to form identity and policy and the space between truth and lie. I will not let them forget.
Hola!
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