Eastside: The Future and Back Project - Youth Intern Application

Eastside: The Future and Back

An Intersection of Histories, Memories, & Places in San Antonio’s Eastside

Centro Por la Justicia (The Centro) provides cultural and educational opportunities in the community through a variety of outlets and programs. A large part of The Centro’s work and programming takes place in a community space known as the Movement Gallery, which was developed to create opportunities for local artists and cultural workers to share their voice and integrate their practices into a larger social justice framework. Using a cultural organizing model, The Movement Gallery fosters artistic and cultural expression to serve as a vehicle for representation, participation, critical analysis, and action in the immediate community and beyond. It is home to a series of rotating projects, art openings, community classes and meetings, as well as the permanent installation- La Biblioteca Clandestina/The Underground Library.

This summer Centro Por La Justicia, with support from The City of San Antonio Department for Culture and Creative Development, will develop a multimedia installation in the Movement Gallery focused on the theme of local history and storytelling. This new project will collect past Eastside neighborhood stories and connect them with the voices of the people and places coming into the changing neighborhood. These stories will focus on iconic places of memory in the neighborhood, current and past representations of Eastside identity, and the formation of new communities as people migrate in and out of the area. The installation will bring these personal and collective stories to life using audio, photography, video, and other digital and interactive art forms. 

Centro Por La Justicia is currently seeking 3 high school or college age youth interns to help guide this storytelling, art, and media making process. This project will require local research, preparatory interviews, and meetings between community members, community organizers, and artists in order to have multigenerational conversations that have not before taken place. The project artistic director will work with the interns through the research and preparatory phases, and guide them through the exploration of several media and art forms that will be used to tell the stories. The gallery opening on Saturday, September 7 will showcase the installation and will be open to the public.

Youth interns will:

·      Gain community research and organizing experience, as well as interviewing and storytelling skills

·      Build their artistic skill set and portfolio, and learn to develop their voice and point of view through storytelling and media production

·      Learn about local history and communities, and work with professional artists, community leaders, and community organizers

·      Earn a small stipend

Who is eligible?

·      Youth of high school and college age with an interest in art and media production and working with community members

·      Youth committed to fully participating, and available to work on the project 4-8 hours/week beginning in late June and wrapping up in late August (hours are flexible)

Interested youth should submit the application below to laura@swunion.org or in person at 1416 E. Commerce by June 20. For more information please call Laura at 210-299-2666. Centro Por La Justicia is committed to equity and representation and encourages youth of color, women, and LGBTQ youth to apply.

NAME: 

DATE OF BIRTH: 

ADDRESS: 

PHONE: 

EMAIL:

High school, college or university you are attending:

Describe yourself in one sentence, highlighting your talents, history, experience, or interests.

What do you hope to accomplish during this project? What do you hope to gain?

Tell us about a neighborhood or community you belong to, and why it is important to you.

Please share any community engagement, arts, or media experience you have.

What programs do you have experience with (e.g. InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut Pro, Word)?

Do you have any other commitments that will limit your participation in this project? 

World Social Forum Opening March: We're All in the Streets of Tunis!

I’ve never been to a world social forum before, but I imagine the 5-mile march that opened the World Social Forum Tunisia felt different than previous ones. The sense of urgency was still palpable in the crowd as we started at Place 14 Janvier 2011 at the site of many of the public protests leading up to the ousting of longtime President Ben Ali.

The Tunisian uprising, which spurred the wave of revolution across North Africa in the spring of 2011, began on these same streets where we marched. Flags waved, groups chanted, and songs were sung in (at the very least) Arabic, French, Spanish, and English.

While the struggles we face are still very real in the daily lives of the marchers, the feeling in the street was one of hope and solidarity after finding one another here in Tunis. We marched passed buildings and signs damaged during the revolution, others protected by high barbed wire fences, and banks, hotels, and neighborhoods. But I noticed the police presence seemed minimal, a departure from what we’re used to in the US. There was a genuine sense that these streets were ours.

Reclaiming and using public space in our movements, both a topic of dialogue and a piece of action in the world social forum, has been pivotal to popular resistance across the globe–the Arab Spring, Occupy movement, #idlenomore. And with the use of new social media and mapping technology local spaces instantly become global spaces and points of connection for our struggles.

Public space, like institutions and policies, are places that can either reproduce or contest our social identities as women, poor people, people of color, etc, etc. These spaces are points of intersection for political and social engagement, which are essential to democratic and open societies. However social inequalities–inclusion and exclusion and subjugation and domination–are connected with particular spaces, whether they are parks, sidewalks, or streets.

In Tunisia, and in our own neighborhoods in the US, we are expected to “behave” in public spaces, in other words not contest the existing power structures that have been built upon the suppression of the people. The world social forum opening march told those who seek to dominate and control the people that we will not be silenced. This march felt monumental in its importance for people seeking change, dignity, and democracy. But reclaiming our public spaces, both daily as individuals and collectively with strategy, is critical to all our fights and to contesting the fear, silence, and absence upon oppression feeds. 

1 Year Anniversary of the Underground Library in San Antonio!

On March 12, 2012 the Librotraficante caravan made its first stop in San Antonio with banned books in tow. These books–by Cisneros, Anaya, Anzaldua, Baldwin, Shakespeare, and many others–had been taken out of classrooms in Tucson as part of Arizona’s suspension of the successful K-12 Mexican American Studies (MAS) program. The MAS program led to higher student attendance, enhanced student performance, and increased student graduation rates; however its opponents accused the program of fostering resentment towards white people. Thus directly targeting Tucson’s Mexican-American Studies program, the Arizona legislature passed HB 2281 -- a law banning courses that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, foster racial resentment, are designed for students of a particular ethnic group or that advocate ethnic solidarity.

After the banning of the Mexican American Studies program, organizers from Nuestra Palabra started the Librotraficante, or book-smuggling, movement, aimed at keeping banned books, our history and our stories in our communities and schools. The Librotraficante caravan established community libraries in cities across the Southwest, including Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Tucson. In the past year the movement has continued to grow and flourish despite the suspension of the program.

In San Antonio, SWU’s Underground Library has hosted numerous readings, book brunches, community meetings, events, and workshops focused on writers of color. This month we celebrate our 1 year anniversary with a series of writing workshops and an upgrade in our cataloging system that will improve our book check out process.

Meanwhile, in the past two months there has been good and bad news from Arizona. In just the last week a federal court “distributed extraordinary power to the state legislature when it upheld most of the mean-spirited Arizona law crafted to destroy the transformational and innovative Mexican American Studies program in Tucson high schools" (via our friend Mike Sayer). Apparently the judge decided that the law failed to show discriminatory intent. The court order states: “Although some aspects of the record may be viewed to spark suspicion that the Latino population has been improperly targeted, on the whole, the evidence indicates that Defendants targeted the MAS program, not Latino students, teachers, or community members who supported or participated in the program.”

Despite being upheld, the judge ruled the section of the law prohibiting courses tailored to students of a particular ethnic group was unconstitutional. Additionally, last month a federal judge ordered Tucson Unified School District to end segregation and improve educational outcomes for Latino and African American students. This order is linked to a 1974 desegregation lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) in which the court approved steps the district needed to take to eliminate existing inequalities in education. The judge ruled last month that the school district “had not acted in good faith because over those 25 years the District had not addressed ongoing segregation and discrimination in TUSD, both physical segregation and unequal academic opportunities for Black and Hispanic minority students.”

So what does this all mean?? That despite this setback and faulty reasoning in last week’s decision to uphold HB 2281, ethnic studies can make a comeback. And supporters of the MAS program say the fight is not over and they will file an appeal. As an Underground Library dedicated to keeping banned books and ethnic studies in our communities, we will continue to support organizing efforts in Arizona and work to empower and educate our community in the years to come.

Please join us for our upcoming writing workshops and other events, or stop in to check out our cataloguing process. Thank you to all that have supported us this year by coming to our events or donating your time, books, furniture, or dollars to the library!     

International Women's Day 2013

On International Women’s Day we recognize a time to celebrate, but also a time to call our community to action to lift up those voices of women and others who have been marginalized and quieted.

International Women’s Day (IWD) traces its origins back to March 8, 1908, when 15,000 women garment workers, many of whom were immigrants, marched in New York City to demand shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights. This march led to additional organized protests and strikes, particularly against Triangle Shirtwaist and other sweatshops. The subsequent tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, which killed 146 immigrant workers, women, and girls, pushed IWD, socialist, and union organizers to continue to demand workplace safety regulations.

While legislation has since passed to increase workplace safety, establish equal pay, and secure women’s right to vote, it remains necessary to reflect back on the struggles that led us here and not lose sight of where we still need to move forward. Women are more a part of the governance process than ever before, yet women still earn less than men for the same job, are more likely to live in poverty, and are underrepresented in the electorate due to lower voter registration rates. 

Today is a day to use the media and heightened public awareness to tell these stories and many others in order to show that women's voices in governance and public debate are critical to a thriving democracy. 

So what are some of the stories we want to share and hear more about?

We want to tell the stories of domestic workers, the largely immigrant female workforce that remain outside of labor protections and are often invisibly exploited. See the recent report findings here of local and national domestic worker conditions.

Stories of modernday garment workers that organize against huge corporations and create alternative opportunities in their community. 

Stories of young women organizers navigating and overturning machisto frameworks. Stories from LGBTQ and women voices highlighting the violence and oppression against our bodies. The stories we collect from of our abuelas, mothers, tías sisters, friends, and the stories we write and tell ourselves as women.

Please take a look at these articles & some of our favorite blog picks that lift up these voices we're spotlighting today everyday. And please feel free to share your own with us! 

http://mujerestalk.malcs.org/

http://blackgirldangerous.org/

http://herkind.org/

http://www.crunkfeministcollective.com/

http://feministing.com/

See you tomorrow at the International Women's Day March for a day of action, solidarity, and celebration of all women and the love we share for our community.  

Organizing Around L-O-V-E

When President Obama made his acceptance speech last November, one specific word stood out. It came at the end of a poetic construction explaining the essence of “American values.” He concluded: “This country has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that’s not what makes us strong….What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth; the belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations; the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love…”

Now, after love came some more traditional values we associate with political rhetoric–patriotism, etc.–but I kind of stopped listening. Still cushioned in some of the traditional American exceptionalism speak, it was a profound reframing technique to talk about love as an outstanding political and national value, which extends from our own families to our neighbors and communities. It is the idea that this value extends beyond our personal lives and into our civic lives and the process of governance itself; and vice versa–beyond our civic and government-enforced lives and boundaries, and into our real interactions and relationships with other people.         

SWU members at Zamora Middle School

But love is something our communities have been organizing around for a long time. Love as a value keeps the fight for a decent living wage going because we know how poverty affects our families and community. Love guides our fight to end the school to prison pipeline and to empower our youth through knowing their own histories. Love as a value–as well as a right and responsibility–keeps us fighting to end criminalization in migrant communities and keep families together. Love moves our fights forward against deep-seated root causes such as racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, hate and fear, and informs our ongoing policy and community building work. No, love is not new speak to us. But if we have the politicians saying the L-word, then we know a shift is happening. So let’s keep spreading the love, hold our politicians accountable to the values they claim to believe in, and build our movement to a tipping point.

Please join us in actions of love this week. Whether it is in the street or in community spaces, whether you come for your family, your community, yourself, or all of the above–help us strengthen the bonds and share the love in our community! No roses or jewelry required! …(but chocolates are always nice)

Love in the Streets: Action in Support of Just Immigration Reform

The members and organizers of Southwest Workers Union (SWU) will be out in the streets this Valentine’s Day in support of the people we love–undocumented workers, families, and students. Join us in a direct action at U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s office to call for immigration reform shaped by the values of justice and dignity.

Date: February 14, 2013

Time: 12pm

Place: U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s Office, 600 Navarro St. (at Houston St.)

Lalo Alcaraz's Dreamer

Underground Library February Book Brunch

Join us for some tacos, pan dulce and cafecito on Saturday February 16th for our monthly Book Brunch. We will be focusing on books and authors in celebration of Black History Month in context and dialogue. We encourage everyone to bring a favorite book to discuss and recommend to others. Book swapping, checking out, and general book-love encouraged. Joining us will be our guest Asar Imhotep discussing "The Philosophy of Hip Hop Culture as a Framework for a Modern African-American Human Rights Struggle" and his current works and projects.

Date: Saturday, February 16, 2013

Time: 11am-1pm

Place: SWU’s Underground Library, 1412 E. Commerce

Loving the Diversity in our Community

SWU’s domestic worker organizers will be hosting a lunch (enchilada plate sale) and discussion on the topic of immigration reform. This discussion will include issue analysis, action steps, and also highlight personal stories of migrant experiences from many different perspectives.   

Date: Saturday, February 16, 2013

Time: 1pm-4pm

Place: SWU’s Underground Library, 1412 E. Commerce

MESOAMÉRICA RESISTE - Beehive Collective in SATX

--> Wednesday, February 27, 2013  at 6pm 

The Movement Gallery/ Southwest Workers Union Office

1412 E. Commerce, San Antonio, TX

Free Event. RSVP on Facebook.

Mesoamérica Resiste is the final installment in a trilogy of graphics that began with posters about Free Trade and the Drug War, and reflects the bees' efforts to go beyond illustrating just the bad news to also sharing stories of grassroots organizing, collective action, and inspiration. The double-sided poster explores the legacy of colonialism in the Americas and the impact of industrial development plans and resource extraction today. It highlights many examples of resistance and alternatives to these plans throughout the region, especially organizing led by indigenous peoples. Celebrating the ecological diversity of Mesoamerica is also a goal of this graphics campaign; its cast of characters includes hundreds of endemic, endangered, and requested species of insects, animals and plants.

This collaboratively produced, educational illustration was created through an intensive and ongoing process of grassroots research, starting with an initial team of bees traveling from Mexico to Panama in 2004 to meet with communities directly impacted by mega-infrastructure projects. The Beehive's design and illustration process is also a team effort. Many hands have worked on conceptualizing, laying out, sketching, and inking the graphics. After nine years in the making, the Beehive is finally ready to send the Mesoamerica graphics campaign to print this year. Thousands of posters (accompanied by narrative storybooks) and many huge banners will be printed to be distributed across the Americas as tools for storytelling, popular education, organizing, and movement building. The Beehive depends on grassroots fundraising and individual donations to sustain this unique approach to activism! Posters and patches of other Beehive graphics will be available for purchase by sliding scale donation. 

--> The Beehive is an all-volunteer swarm of educators, artists, and activists using images to communicate and educate about the complex realities of our times. The dizzyingly detailed, hand-drawn, large-format posters and banners they tour with are portable murals that come alive through storytelling, illuminating how single issues are interconnected and part of bigger systems. Join in as the Bees deconstruct often overwhelming global issues in an accessible and engaging picture-lecture presentation.  --> For more information, visit www.beehivecollective.org.
 

San Antonio in Solidarity with Canada’s #IdleNoMore

For Immediate Release:                                                                   

Contact: Diana Lopez 210.535.7060

 San Antonio in Solidarity with Canada’s #IdleNoMore

An action in support of First Nation tribes’

struggle for sovereignty and land rights

San Antonio (January 11, 2013) – Southwest Workers Union calls on communities in Texas to stand in solidarity with our indigenous brothers and sisters in the North. We will meet at the Consulate General of Canada’s office to call on the Canadian Government to honor indigenous sovereignty, which protects the land and water.

Date: January 11, 2013

Time: 12pm

Place: Office of the Consulate General of Canada

106 S. St. Mary’s Street #800

(One Alamo Center Building)

On October 18, Canadian Prime Minister Harper’s government introduced bill C-45, labeled the “Jobs and Growth Act.” The bill erodes the Indian Act, the Navigation Protection Act, and the Environmental Assessment Act, which will ultimately speed up the process and make it easier to degrade the water and land within indigenous areas. After an escalating series of protests against the bill, Prime Minister Harper agreed to meet with the Assembly of First Nations on January 11 to discuss some of the issues faced by indigenous people in Canada. Over 130 events will take place worldwide on this day in indigenous and non indigenous communities to show support for the Idle No More movement.   

The legacy of claiming land for profit is all too familiar in Texas. From displacement to long term health effects, low income communities of color are continuously the most affected by these transactions. We have seen push back from these communities rising over the past years, from the Occupy Movement to the struggle against the Keystone XL Pipeline. On January 11, we are calling on our community to stand united with the Indigenous people of Canada to call for the right to sovereignty and clean water. 

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