Month

Somos Primos
OCTOBER 2011 143rd Online Issue Editor: Mimi Lozano 2000-2011

ality: Persistence

Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues

Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research

merica

Read about Col. Ernest A. Montemayor, father of Hispanic Heritage Month, his amazing personal library and book collection, and his life-long dedication to the history of the Spanish/Mexican presence in the United States.

Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research P.O. 490, Midway City, CA 92655-0490 mimilozano@aol.com 714-894-8161

Board Members: Bea Armenta Dever, Virginia Gil Gloria Cortinas Oliver, Graciela Lozano, Mimi Lozano, Carmen Meraz Daniel Reyna, Letty Pena Rodella Viola Rodriguez Sadler, Tom Saenz John P. Schmal

Resource SHHAR Network Calenda http://www.sh http://www.somosp

"A tyranny may exist without an individual tyrant. A whole government, even a democratically elected one, may be tyrannical." . . . . Joseph
Sobran
Somos Primos Staff Mimi Lozano, Editor Mercy Bautista Olvera Roberto Calderon, Ph,D. Bill Carmena Lila Guzman, Ph.D John Inclan Galal Kernahan Juan Marinez J.V. Martinez, Ph.D Dorinda Moreno Rafael Ojeda ngel Custodio Rebollo Tony Santiago John P. Schmal Contributors to October Issue Dan Arellano Mercy Bautista Olvera Juana Bordas Eddie AAA Caldern, Ph.D. Sara Ines Calderon Gus Chavez Dorothy Cota Joan De Soto Sara Duenas Flores Maria Embry Charlie Erickson Rose Evans Brian De Los Santos George Farias Lorri Frain Carole Galvez Salazar Ricardo Gndara Daisy Wanda Garcia Eddie U. Garcia Lino Garcia, Ph.D. Cathy Gallegos Don Garrick Yvonne Gonzales Duncan Bobby Gonzalez Sylvia GonzalezHohenshelt Roberto Guadarrama Perez Jorge H. Gutirrez Neri Sergio Hernandez Odell Hardwell Kathie Kennedy Galal Kernahan Pablo & Ligia Leos Jos Antonio Lpez Raul Lozano Eddie Martinez Juan Marinez Don Milligan Alma Morales Riojas Dorinda Moreno Carlos Munoz, Jr. Ph.D. George Muriel Jess Nieto Cornel Nistorescu Rafael Ojeda Ricardo Ral Palmern Cordero Jose G. Pantoja Karren Pederson Juan Jose Pena Christopher Tony Platt Daryl Quintanilla Angel Custodio Rebollo Armando Rendon Crispin Rendon Rudi R. Rodriguez Viola Rodriguez Sadler Sister Mary Sevilla Ben Romero Norman Rozeff Tom Saenz Tony Santiago Richard G. Santos Mike Scarborough Alva Moore Stevenson Lenny Trujillo Kirk Whisler george.faas@cox.net rgrbob@earthlink.net rvazquez@LAREDLATINA.COM

Perez Peter Perez Richard Perry

Letter to the Editor Thank you Mimi for your continued work in elevating our Hispanic/Latino Heritage to a place of importance.
George Muriel muriel_george@montebello.k12.ca.us

Gracias this is wonderful. Your efforts are really appreciated Juana Bordas JBordas333@aol.com I just got the newest Somos Primos on my computer. Just thought I'd drop you a line & thank you for all the hard work you & your staff do every month. I read everything & learn a lot about our culture. Keep up the good work. Rose Evans rosebud2009@att.net

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

Many Backgrounds Many Stories. . . . One American Spitit 2011 Hispanic Heritage Month, Many Backgrounds, Many Stories, One American Spirit Colonel Ernest A. Montemayor, USAF-Ret., father of Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by Jos Antonio Lpez United States Senate 2011 Proclamation Portraits of US Heroes by Christopher Perez, Artist

For many Latinos, Hispanic Heritage Month means a plethora of receptions and awards ceremonies, but during the many events perhaps too few have stopped to think about the history behind the 30 days of celebration, which begins this week. Here are some key facts about Hispanic Heritage Month: The theme for 2011 is Many Backgrounds, Many Histories One American Spirit. Artist Everardo Sanchez designed the poster for 2011. Hispanic Heritage Month was originally established as a weeklong celebration in 1968, under President Lyndon Johnson. The initial day (September 15) is significant as the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It was officially enacted into law on August 17, 1988, by President Ronald Reagan. The theme for 2010 was, Heritage, Diversity, Integrity and Honor: the Renewed Hope for America. Some believe last years theme did not focus enough on unity among Latinos the worst thing

we can do as Latinos is separate from each other and say, I am Puerto Rican, you are Mexican. As the theme for 2011 suggests, Latinos have a myriad of backgrounds and diverse histories. Our slang and our accents identify us easily as from Spain, Central and South America and the Caribbean, but as a whole, we share much in common together we have experienced the best and worst that America has to offer. This month is a reminder that while we might practice different religions or call ourselves un Boriqua instead of un Chicano, we are a community. In Mario Barreras Are Latinos a Racialized Minority? in Sociological Perspectives, he addressed the problem of identifying Latinos as a race. We are, he asserted, a pan-ethnic group and as such transcend the conventional categories of race and nationality. This years theme of unity and its echo in sociological discourse are a reminder and an obligation to always remain true to our common heritage and advocate on behalf of our counterparts from other countries. Our pride in our culture spans countries and continents. Also, as a community, we must remember our obligation to be patriotic and contribute proudly to the American Dream that has become our own. Author: Daniel Davila does research and analysis of social media and mobile apps for a small government contractor. He has a background in business development, technical writing, and proposal writing and management. Latino entrepreneur, who currently owns and operates digingage LLC, a web design, development, and social media management company. Twitter: @ddavila41 NOW READ ABOUT THE MAN WHO HAD THE KNOWLEDGE, INSIGHT AND DETERMINATION TO GET GOVERNMENT APPROVAL TO PROCLAIM AN ANNUAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.

COLONEL ERNEST A. MONTEMAYOR USAF-RET.

A Tribute to an Extraordinary Life By George Farias

On July 16, 2009 the Armed Forces of the United States of America lost a loyal and patriotic retired officer. Up to the date of his passing Col. (Ret.) Ernest A. Montemayor faithfully served and supported his country as a member of the Navy, Army, and Air Force. His major participations were in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam advancing in rank from private to full colonel. He developed many skills in his varied military experiences and especially enjoyed his assignments in Spain and Latin America. In retirement, he remained grateful for the opportunities his profession had afforded him. He enjoyed the comfort of his home with his wife, Estela Ramirez, and his visits with her family, his children, Rosalinda and Miguel, and their families, and his youngest son, Diego, in addition to his brother, Arthur, and his family. A career such as this would have fulfilled most persons, but there was another very important side to him that gave extra meaning to his life. In my opinion. Col. Montemayor was the pioneer of Hispanic genealogical studies in the Americas. He dedicated over sixty-five years of his life to this pursuit accumulating over 15,000 books and related materials in a private library. To my knowledge, he was doing this work in the U.S. before anyone else. If anyone did it before him, and for those who have done it since, no one approached it with more passion, intensity and on the scale that he did. I do not believe that a similar personal' library exists anywhere else. The collection covers historical and genealogical information about Spain and Portugal, the United States borderlands, Mexico, Central and South America, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. He was an expert in the sources of Hispanic surnames and was a skilled editor of textual material learned as a staff officer. No correspondence went out of his headquarters without his stamp of approval. I was very fortunate to have obtained his friendship and confidence. A popular Arabian proverb says that "a friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take it and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away." Unfailingly, my friend Ernest always blew away my chaff and kept what was worth keeping. Genealogy research for him was not a hobby or idle pursuit intended only for relaxation. He expressed his purpose in a foreword he wrote in 1995 for my family history book. The Farias Chronicles; A History and Genealogy of a Portuguese/Spanish Family. By way of introduction he noted, " In seeking to write the history of your family you experience the joy of discovering information long forgotten, as well as the satisfaction of preserving data that might otherwise be lost forever. You are

in fact recreating the lives of those family members and ancestors you write about. You begin to understand why family members acted as they did down to how you came to be who you are. And, most importantly, it brings you closer to your parents, spouse, children and other kin, while providing you a sense of continuity. Our most basic and precious social unit has been, is, and hopefully will always be-the family. It takes some of us perhaps longer to better understand and appreciate this. At least it did me." Col. Montemayor was speaking from personal experience. Born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 22,1928, his parents divorced when he was five and his father moved to Mexico City. He had no qualms about telling family and friends about his delinquency, using the stories as a means to teach others about values. As a young adult he said he had no interest in school, was truant most of the time, ran away twice from home, once to Father Flanagan's Boys Town in Nebraska, and once to Pennsylvania and New York. He forged his birth certificate to join the Navy at the age of fifteen. He survived the sinking of his ship and when his true age was discovered he was honorably discharged and sent home. When he returned to San Antonio, his mother, Berta Urcullu, being at her wifs end, sent him to his father, Arturo, in Mexico to " straighten him out. " On the train ride south, the misbehaving youngster was apprehensive at meeting his father and the punishment sure to follow. Instead he was greeted with a warm embrace and his father asked, "What's the matter with you, Ernest? Why are you giving your mother so much trouble?" Taking him home his father presented him with a book on the early history of the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He told him that many of the persons in the book were his ancestors, including Diego de Montemayor, the founder of Monterrey, and Alberto del Canto, the founder of Saltillo. All of a sudden Montemayor recalled, "I felt ten feet tall." He said often that his father had given him an "inspirational push" and set him on a straight and narrow path. Recently, when I started to write his memoirs, he confessed to me that his delinquency was the result of his search for a father figure who could give him the guidance, love, and discipline he sorely needed, a void not unusual for a child growing up in a broken home. After his visit with his father, he dedicated himself to finishing school and obtained an advanced degree while in the Air Force. When he came back home from Mexico, he went to the San Antonio Public Library and began to copy book and magazine articles and any other information he could find about his ancestry. Thus began the lifelong habit of accumulating a library. One of his main objectives was to use his library in support of a Hispanic hereditary society. He found that there existed approximately 200 societies

in the country, such as the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, but none dedicated to the Spanish pioneers of America. In 1993 he incorporated a non-profit organization under the name "The Society of Spanish Pioneers and Patriots of America" but sadly, was never able to launch this part of his dreams. He was also very interested in Spanish colonial history and once wrote a book, Yo Solo, the Battle Journal of Bernardo de Galvez . One of his ancestors, surnamed Grima, had served under Galvez during the American Revolution, and he was very disappointed that Galvez, a governor of Louisiana, and-in effect-the commander in the Deep South during the American Revolution, has never received proper recognition for his courageous deeds in American history. During the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, King Juan Carlos de Borbon of Spain donated an equestrian statue of Galvez to the United States. Government approval is required to accept gifts from foreign countries and the Spanish Ambassador, Jaime de Alba, called on Col. Montemayor, who knew the King, to make the presentation in justification to Congress. The statue was accepted and is now located next to the U.S. State Department building.

Col. Montemayor inspired many other persons to follow his lead in genealogical research. His first cousin, Gloria Villa Cadena, who passed away in 2007, was the wife of the late honorable Judge Carlos Cadena. She paid him a visit when he lived in Washington D.C and became inspired by his library. She came back home to start her own research and library and founded Los Bexarenos Genealogical Society, a self-help group organized to train other persons in the art of ancestral research. She was a self-taught translator of Spanish colonial documents and one of the best in the field. She could read those difficult paleographic documents as if she were reading the Sunday papers. There are many similar examples of persons who followed this new trend as a result of the activities the Colonel set in motion. He helped create a grass-roots movement that continues to grow as people become aware of the role of our ancestors in the discovery, settlement, and growth of the Americas. The great legacy that he left was heightened awareness of the significant contributions made by the Hispanic pioneers of America that are only now beginning to be recognized in our popular history. His godfather and good friend. Dr. Felix D. Almaraz Jr., of the University of Texas at San Antonio, once said "for too long our people have been in the shadows of history." Ernest Montemayor began bringing our people into the sunlight many

years ago. In time, he will be recognized for the trail blazer and giant that he was in helping the Hispanic community become aware of their wonderful heritage.

Rio Grande Guardian

Lopez: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
By Jos Antonio Lpez SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 18 - Hispanic Heritage Month began when President Lyndon Johnson approved the celebration as a week-long salute. However, it was President Ronald Reagan who enacted a 1988 law that expanded it to a month-long event. It is a time when the entire country pauses to recognize Hispanic culture and to thank Hispanic descendants in the U.S. for their many contributions. The credit has been earned in both war and peace by the Jos Antonio large umbrella of Hispanos. It is well merited. However, (Joe) Lpez theres one key assumption in the way the tribute is presented that is inaccurate. That is, most people assume that all Hispanics in the U.S. are recent immigrants. What is not widely known is that Spanish Mexicans throughout the country whose roots originate in the Southwest (New Spain) are not immigrants to the U.S. They descend from pioneer families who were already here when Mexico was forced to cede over half of its territory to the U.S. after the U.S.Mexico War of 1846-1848. According to the U.S. Census, nearly 70 percent of U.S. Hispanics are of Mexican-descent. It must be noted that the majority have direct ancestral ties to Spanish-Mexican pioneers in the U.S. Why is it necessary to make the distinction? The answer is that modern-day citizens who look Mexican and speak Spanish have suffered the brunt of bigoted verbal and sometimes violent attacks. The offensive is led by those who fan the flames of the antiillegal immigrant mood and extend it to punish the entire Hispanic community. Who would have imagined when the honor was first bestowed by Presidents

Johnson and Reagan that intolerant views in the 21st Century would spurn Spanish as a foreign language in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas? These are states whose very essence today is pure Spanish Mexican. Sadly, many Southwest Hispanics in order to cope in mainstream society are intimidated and shy away from defending their distinctive heritage. There is no doubt that the persecution of Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens is caused by misinformation. In bad economic times, anxiety over the economy usually targets a scapegoat on whom to blame the countrys troubles. The assault on Mexico and by implication, Mexican-descent U.S. residents, is incessant. Ignorance feeds intolerance and knowledge feeds understanding. Through fact distortion, most U.S. citizens believe that the large Hispanic communities in the U.S. are recent phenomena and are being created by illegal immigrants. The truth? The core of the multitude of Hispanic hubs in other parts of the country, especially the north and northeast are not recent developments. Far from it. Spanish Mexican U.S. citizens from Texas have long migrated (not immigrated, mind you) to those distant locations in response to job prospects. During several times in our countrys growth, national emergencies, and manpower shortages such as the two World Wars, Hispanic families (U.S. citizens!) have answered the call armed only with faith and a strong work ethic. Separate from those seeking jobs in assembly plants and other fixed locations, South Texas migrant workers have been an answer to the prayers of Anglo farmers and ranchers for generations. At great risk and causing great harm to their childrens education, they made the vegetable and fruit picking circuit for generations. Although their help was crucial during harvest seasons and greatly enriched their employers, the well-known misery that these work-ethic practicing families endured is awful. Yet, they did it unconditionally just so they could provide for their families. On many occasions, some families decided to stay in some of those states that they visited. It was their choice. Their push to establish their homes in those faraway areas became magnets. The new neighborhoods naturally pulled other family members and friends, sharing heritage, language, and faith; all trademarks of culture. Their children grew up to be just like any other U.S. citizen; they served in the military, paid their taxes, etc Their preference to retain their traditions even in those faraway places should not be disparaged for it is that very sense of ethnic unity that we celebrate this month. Another impediment to giving Hispanic heritage a fair and balanced role in U.S. history is that mainstream history teaches that only English colonial heritage is what matters. The truth is that Spanish Mexican Southwest women and men have a rich, unique European colonial history in America of

their very own. They descend from pioneers who dont need anointing by exclusive Anglo Saxon blue-blood aristocratic organizations. Spanish Mexicans have a precious history second to none. By the time the English Colonies decided to organize as the U.S. in 1776, New Spain communities were already thriving. For example, Santa Fe, New Mexico was colonized in 1598. The San Antonio area was settled in 1718 and the Nacogdoches area in 1721. The Villas del Norte along the Lower Rio Grande were established in 1747. El Camino Real is the road that the first Anglo Saxons from the U.S. used to immigrate to Texas. Characteristics such as these serve as unmistakable Spanish Mexican DNA strands in the long history of the U.S. So, in this special time of the year honoring all Hispanics, Spanish Mexican citizens should quietly reflect. You have absolute ties to the U.S. that allow you to celebrate your heritage throughout the year. Of all ethnic groups, yours has the medals to prove your patriotism and prowess in the battlefield. Regardless of the condescending and unfair attacks others fire at you because you speak Spanish or wish to preserve your culture, take heed. No se rajen! You come from strong Spanish Mexican stock -- brave, gregarious, hardworking, and faithful pioneers that settled the U.S. Southwest beginning in the 1500s. You have no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed of your roots. In fact, take a bow. You deserve it! Jos Antonio (Joe) Lpez was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and is a USAF Veteran. He now lives in Universal City, Texas. Lpez is a direct descendant of Don Javier Uribe, one of the earliest families that settled in what is now South Texas in 1750. He is the author of two books: The Last Knight (Don Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Uribe, A Texas Hero), and Nights of Wailing, Days of Pain (Life in 1920s South Texas). Lopez is also the founder of the Tejano Learning Center, LLC, and www.tejanosunidos.org, a Web site dedicated to Spanish Mexican people and events in U.S. history that are mostly overlooked in mainstream history books. Published in Rio Grande Guardian, September 18, 2011

UNITED STATES SENATE 2011 PROCLAMATION Recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrating the heritage and culture of Latinos in the United States and the immense contributions of Latinos to the United States.

CEL11740 S.L.C. 112TH CONGRESS SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

1ST SESSION S. RES.

IN THE

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. REID) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on RESOLUTION Recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrating the heritage and culture of Latinos in the United States and the immense contributions of Latinos to the United States. Whereas beginning on September 15, 2011, through October 15, 2011, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month; Whereas the Census Bureau estimates the Hispanic population in the United States at almost 50,500,000 people, making Hispanic Americans the largest ethnic minority within the United States; Whereas 1 in 5 United States public school students is Hispanic, and the total number of Hispanic students enrolled in public schools in the United States is expected to reach 28,000,000 by 2050; Whereas the purchasing power of Hispanic Americans is nearly $1,000,000,000,000, and there are more than 2,300,000 Hispanic-owned firms in the United States, supporting millions of employees nationwide and greatly contributing to the economic sector, especially retail trade, wholesale trade, food services, and construction; Whereas Hispanic Americans serve in all branches of the Armed Forces and have bravely fought in every war in the history of the United States; Whereas, as of May 31, 2011, there are 29,204 Hispanics serving with distinction in Afghanistan and Iraq; Whereas 140,000 Hispanic soldiers served in the Korean War; Whereas more than 80,000 Hispanics served in the Vietnam War, representing 5.5 percent of individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in that conflict even though Hispanics comprised only 4.5 percent of the United States population at the time; Whereas, as of May 31, 2011, 605 United States military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan have been Hispanic; Whereas, as of September 30, 2009, there were approximately 1,332,033 Hispanic veterans of the United States Armed Forces;

Whereas 41* Hispanic Americans have received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the United States Armed Forces; Whereas Hispanic Americans are dedicated public servants, holding posts at the highest levels of government, including 1 seat on the Supreme Court, 2 seats in the Senate, 24 seats in the House of Representatives, and 2 seats in the Cabinet; and Whereas Hispanic Americans harbor a deep commitment to family and community, an enduring work ethic, and a perseverance to succeed and contribute to society: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate (1) recognizes the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15, 2011, through October 15, 2011; (2) esteems the integral role of Latinos and the manifold heritage of Latinos in the economy, culture, and identity of the United States; and (3) urges the people of the United States to observe Hispanic Heritage Month with appropriate programs and activities that appreciate the cultural contributions of Latinos to American life. *Mimi, They are wrong. It is 44. For example the Army has not recognized Rodulph Davila whose father was Spanish, Emilio Rodrigues Smith who was born in Hawaii as Hispanics, and consider them as Asian. Humbert Roque Versace's mother was Puerto Rican, and our recent MoH Leroy Petry's mother is Mexican-American. This is not the first time that they have made mistakes. They didn't recognized our only WW I MoH David Barkley as Hispanic until the they were under pressure to do so. Here is the true list which has been verified with the proper sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hispanic_Medal_of_Honor_recipients. Let them learn from us Hispanic Historians who are uncovering many facts about our contributions to this country, that have been ignored by our history books, and to those who have written them only to fall into the cracks of history to be forgotten.

Tony "The Marine" Santiago

Please check out classroom at http://www.somosprimos.com/heritage.htm Materials first developed by your editor 10 years ago, to simplify implementing activities in the classroom. Very little preparation time is needed. Sylvia Gonzalez from the office of National Trust for Historic Preservation sent along a website compiled by the Florida Department of Education, recommended reading in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, not only for children by grade level, but also recommended reading for adults: http://www.justreadfamilies.org/reading/hhm.asp MORE RESOURCES: I like the Diversity Store, more main stream poster for all of our Heritage Months Posters. Following Recommended by Rafael Ojeda, Tacoma, Washington: http://www.hmsdc.com/ds/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&Category_id=92 http://progress-index.com/news/military/dla-aviation-employee-wins-national-hispanic-heritagemonththeme-contest-1.1188813#axzz1YN37wqOu (Winner from Puerto Rico) http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/spanish/texttrans/2011/09/20110916121514x0.5235799.html#a xzz1YN4hd3Y5 (Pres. Proclamation in Spanish) http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/09/20110915170045su0.8251393.html# axzz1YN4hd3Y5 (English Proclamation) http://www.justreadfamilies.org/reading/hhm.asp

Artist Christopher Perez is creating a series of black/white posters. Please contact him directly at colordrunk2@yahoo.com These are wonderful for classrooms, recreation centers, or at business and work sites.

UNITED STATES
Month for Honoring our Hispanic Heroes by Daisy Wanda Garcia Save the Building by Daisy Wanda Garcia Hispanics Breaking Barriers, Second Volume, 2nd issue by Mercy Bautista-Olvera Hispanic Link and MEXODUS Report

Mexican journalists, endangered species by Brian De Los Santos & Jorge H. Gutirrez Neri Mestiza Leadership International Oct 6: MANA, 22nd Annual Las Primeras Awards Gala PEW Report on Topography of Faith Today's young Latinos are nation's future An Ode to America by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu Tidbits

Month for honoring our Hispanic heroes

Daisy Wanda Garcia of Austin is the daughter of civil rights pioneer Dr. Hector P. Garcia. She writes monthly for the Caller-Times. Email her at wanda.garcia@sbcglobal.net. Posted September 3, 2011 at 3 a.m.

CORPUS CHRISTI Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. It is the time to reflect on the contributions of Hispanics to the United States. Hispanics have made major contributions to this nation's history, arts, sciences and defense. Hispanics took part in the discovery of the Americas, the American Revolution, the Civil War and many other events. Following the Texas Revolution, the mainstream culture consistently suppressed Hispanic Americans in every area of life. After World War II, Hispanics veterans challenged the status quo and changed the destiny of Hispanics in the areas of health, education and law. Thus the Hispanic Civil Rights Movement was born. The activists mentioned in this article lived in Corpus Christi, except Dr. George I. Sanchez and Gustavo Garcia. Along with Dr. Hector P.

Garcia, they were some of the key players in the Hispanic civil rights movement. Attorney Gus Garcia had a distinguished career in the work of desegregating schools in Texas and other states. In 1952, Garcia was an attorney in the case of Hernandez vs. State of Texas. The case went before the Supreme Court. He argued that Hernandez did not receive a fair trial because he did not have a jury of his peers. Garcia presented such a brilliant case that Chief Justice Earl Warren allowed him an extra 15 minutes to present his arguments. The significance of this landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court was Mexican Americans and all other racial groups in the United States had equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Gus Garcia died in 1964. Sanchez dedicated his life to improving educational opportunities for Hispanics. He questioned school funding, the use of standardized tests, segregation based on non-proficiency in English and other discriminatory practices against Hispanic schoolchildren. In 1940, Sanchez accepted an invitation from the University of Texas at Austin to teach Latin American Studies. He achieved recognition for his research in education and law affecting Mexican Americans in his lifetime. Sanchez died in 1972. Physician Hector Garcia began his work by treating the indigent Mexican-American population pro bono. In addition, veterans were not receiving their benefits under the G.I. bill. In 1948, he founded the American GI Forum to advocate for veterans. Later the GI Forum expanded its scope to include the civil rights of Mexican Americans. The GI Forum was instrumental in desegregating public facilities such as hospitals and schools and the elimination of the bracero guest worker program. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan awarded Dr. Hector the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service to the community. Dr. Hector died in 1996.

Dr. Clotilde Garcia was one of the few women to become a physician in a field dominated by males. She believed in the importance of taking pride in our roots and culture. To this end, she promoted the research and collection of genealogical data on Spanish/Mexican settlers of South Texas. Dr. Cleo amassed a huge collection of genealogical books from Spain that she used during research. Dr. Cleo was an accomplished historian and wrote 10 books about the history of northeastern Mexico and South Texas. In 1984, Dr. Cleo was inducted in the Texas Hall of Fame. She was recognized for her service as a physician and for her concern for the needs of MexicanAmerican people. Dr. Cleo died in May 2003. James DeAnda began his legal career working for Carlos Cadena writing briefs. He was involved in the Hernandez vs. State of Texas trial.The results of this Supreme Court ruling gave Mexican Americans the right to challenge discrimination on all levels. Through his career, DeAnda challenged substandard schooling for MexicanAmerican children, voting rights, and employment cases. DeAnda handled a series of important school desegregation cases. Among the cases was Hernandez vs. Driscoll Independent School District. He helped to establish, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). DeAnda died in 2006. Let us honor and never forget the contributions and sacrifices of these individuals who secured our rights at great personal cost. 2011 Corpus Christi Caller Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAVE THE BUILDING By Daisy Wanda Garcia

Photos by Rick Leal

Dr. Hector P. Garcias clinic is located in the barrio in the west side of town in Corpus Christi, Texas. During his lifetime, it was the hub of the west side. Business, political and all types of community leaders walked through the revolving door of his clinic People wanted help of all kind whether for political elections or for medical treatment. In addition Papa let the neighborhood children watch TV and fed them Whataburgers. The American G.I. Forum and the AGIF youth would hold their monthly meetings at the clinic. There were many other community activities such as bake sales or celebrations. In the 1980ies, one of the notable individuals occupying the clinic was Bill Clinton, future president. Bill Clinton used the clinic for his base of operations when he was advance man for George McGovern and Jimmy Carter. Texas A&M Professor, Dr. Pat Carrolls daughters interned in the clinic. All the people who had contact with Papa were fiercely loyal to him during his lifetime and now in death. The list is endless. Tomas Ramirez lived around the clinic in a neighborhood barrio. His family was very poor. He tells of how Dr. Hector used to put him to work running errands and then feed him the customary Whataburger. Rick Leal recalls how Dr. Hector saved

his life from a serious illness. Lee Cantu said that Dr. Hector cured him of polio. I have heard this same story many times from his former patients and their children. Yet the names are different. Papa was a role model and inspiration to so many of the youth. Recently I received an email from Tomas. I was especially touched by his email because his father was a friend of my father. Every Saturday night, the men gathered at Papas clinic to play dominos. Papa encouraged Tomas to complete college. Tomas never did, but the lesson was not lost. Both of his sons plan to attend college. After the passing of our Dr. Hector P Garcia I made a promise to him and myself that my sons would both finish their education with 4yr college degrees their journey is not over and when that goal is met I will visit your fathers memorial and say your words did not go unheard just took some time and a generation to complete that day will come I promise you Wanda. My sons are the only boys to carry my fathers name. My father is still with us and I hope he will be there to see them graduate from high school and college. Most important my sons know even though they play baseball and involve in the arts, education is above all. Journey is not over still in progress. A group of concerned individuals and I are working to make Papas dream a reality. The name of our group is Save the Building. Last Sunday, Rick Leal, Sylvia Gonzales Hohensheldt and Amador Garcia toured the clinic to assess the work needed to restore the building. Rick Leal took these pictures of the clinic which clear show the damage to the building. The Historical Marker application is pending before the Texas Historical Commission. Jessica Savages article in the Caller Times brought visibility about finding a location for the historical marker. The overwhelming consensus of the community is that the marker should be placed in front of the building. Another positive benefit of Jessicas article is I received so many offers of help to restore Papas building. During a phone interview, Jessica Savage, Caller Times Reporter, asked me why I wanted to see the clinic restored and what do I plan to do with the clinic once restored. It was Papas dream to have the clinic used for his collection of American G.I. Forum memorabilia. Papa has been dead for 16 years and his dream is still not realized. The building has deteriorated beyond belief. When I walk through the building, I remember the way it used to befull of activity, patients and the hustle and bustle of the community and local politicos. Now it is a sad reminder that Dr. Hector Garcia is now gone, his energy and his world is gone as well.

My plans for the building are to restore it to its former state; especially his private office. After the restoration process, I would like to give the community an investment in the clinic by using it for various activities. I would love to have the American G.I. Forum, veterans groups and the community use the building for meetings, activities or just to hang out. Just like Papa did. No better tribute to Dr. Hector Garcia can be made than this. Que Dios los bendiga.

HISPANICS BREAKING BARRIERS Second Volume 2ndissue

By Mercy Bautista-Olvera

The 2nd issue in the series Hispanics Breaking Barriers focuses on contributions of Hispanic leadership in United States government. Their contributions have improved not only the local community but the country as well. Their struggles, stories, and accomplishments will by example; illustrate to our youth and to future generations that everything and anything is possible. Rafael Ancha: Texas House Representative, District, 103 Maritza Senz-Ryan: New Head of the U.S. Military Academys Department of Law Roger Hernndez: Assemblymember , California , District 57th Annette Quijano: Assemblymember , New Jersey General Assembly, Legislative District 20th Legislative Estela Chavez-Vasquez: Brownsville City Commissioner, District, At-large A

Rafael Ancha Representative Rafael Ancha has been reelected as Texas State Representative for District 103, which includes parts of Dallas , Irving , Carrollton , and Farmers Branch . Rafael Ancha was born on September 26, 1968, in Miami , Florida . He is the son of immigrants Julio Ancha, who came to Miami when he was 19-years-old. He was a former professional jai alai player from Spain , and Edurne, born in Mexico City of Basque heritage. Rafael is married to Marissa Ramirez-Anchia. The couple have two children; Sofia and Maia.

Rafael Ancha graduated from Miami Coral Park High School , where he was a member of the Young Democrats. His grades in high school earned him a scholarship to Southern Methodist University where he graduated with Honors. He also attended the Centro Estudiantil Internacional in Madrid , studying Spain 's, art, literature, politics, and history, and their influence in the Americas . A scholarship landed Ancha at Tulane University in New Orleans for his law studies where he concentrated on International and Public Law. In 1990, Ancha earned a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology, Ibero-American Studies, and Spanish, from Southern Methodist University. In 1993, he earned a Juris Degree from Tulane University School of Law. His participation in a "court observer" program inspired him to become a lawyer and enter public service. In law school, Ancha also served as a volunteer advocate for immigrant detainees denied the benefit of counsel. Ancha worked as an attorney with the law firm of Haynes & Boone, LLP. He specialized in public and corporate finance. In addition to his legal work, he has distinguished himself in pro bono service and contributions to his community, earning his prior firm's 2000 Pro Bono Associate of the Year award. Ancha began his public service at the local level where he was twice elected to the Board of Trustees of the Dallas Independent School District - the nation's 12th Largest district. During his tenure on the Dallas School Board, he served as First Vice President and chaired the Policy and Governance Committee. He helped lead the successful effort of the Dallas school district to win public approval of a $1.37 billion school bond package. The district benefited with new, improved, and lesscrowded classrooms. In 2003, Ancha received the "Rising Star" award from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas for contributions made to improving the lives of young people in his community. In 2005, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) honored Ancha as its national "Man of the Year" at its annual conference in Little Rock , Arkansas . Ancha served as Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund

for a three-year term. In 2007, Texas Monthly magazine, named Ancha one of the 10 Best Legislators. "If the Legislature were a stock market, Ancha would be Google," Texas Monthly concluded. In September 2009, Ancha received the Mexican American Legal and Education Defense Funds Matt Garcia Public Service, award.

In 2011, Ancha was appointed by President Obama to be a member of the National Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, a panel of industry group representatives and public officials that advises the U.S. Trade Representative on trade agreements. On May 23, 2011, Ancha became a recipient of the Ohtli Award, the highest acknowledgment that the Government of Mexico bestows upon individuals living outside Mexico who have contributed to the empowerment of Mexican or Mexican-American communities in the United States . Ancha has served as an Adjunct Professor, and instructor on Trade Policy with the Texas Technical University Law School at the University of Texas . Texas Monthly, magazine named Rafael Anchia "Rookie of the Year" during the 79th Legislative Session and one of the "10 Best Legislators" during the 80th Legislative Session. In 2010, Archa received the Latino Leaders Maestro Award. As the son of immigrants from Spain and Mexico , he has viewed educational opportunity and achievement as the gateway to personal and professional fulfillment. He watched his mother work her way through college and was proud when she became a public school teacher. His father, who mainly worked nights, emphasized education and taught him the value of taking pride in honest, hard work.

Colonel Maritza Sanz-Ryan

Colonel Maritza Sanz-Ryan is a lawyer and Head of the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy at West Point . She became the first woman and Hispanic West Point graduate to be an academic head at West Point in its 210-year history, where she made it a top priority to increase women on the faculty. Maritza Senz-Ryan was born in New York to immigrant parents; a Puerto Rican father and a Spanish mother. She is married to Robert Ryan. The couple have two children. In 1970, Senz-Ryan was accepted to West Point , and graduated in 1982. She was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. Senz Ryan was a member of only the third class to include women cadets at West Point . Senz-Ryan was assigned to the 1st Armored Division Artillery in Nuremberg, West Germany, then returned to United States, served under the U.S. Armys Funded Legal Education Program and attended Vanderbilt University Law School in Tennessee. After graduation, she was selected to attend the Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society, the purpose is to encourage excellence in legal education, and admitted to the New York Bar. Senz-Ryan was then re-assigned to the Judge Advocate Generals Corps (JAGC) to serve as a trial counsel at Fort Sill , Oklahoma . Reaching the rank of Captain, she was deployed overseas during Operations Desert Shield, and assigned as the Brigade Legal Counsel for a Field Artillery brigade of 1,000 soldiers in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shieldone of a small number of women officers and soldiers in the brigade. Senz-Ryan was selected as one of the military lawyers to attend the staff school at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . She was chosen by the Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps to assume a significant position at the JAG headquarters in Washington , D.C. She has the distinction of also being the most senior ranking Hispanic Judge

Advocate. Senz-Ryan earned a Masters Degree in Law from the Judge Advocate Generals School in Charleston , Virginia . In 1999, while attended the Command and General Staff College, doctors found and removed a cancerous tumor from her leg. SenzRyan recovered, and was retained on active duty by the Army. She then applied for a position as an Academy professor at West Point . In August 2001, she was appointed Deputy Head, Department of Law, at the U.S. Military Academy. Her Commanding officer and mentor, Brigadier General Pat Finnegan, allowed her to receive treatment for her condition and to have a full recovery before she could assume her position full time. In 2000, Senz-Ryan was named one of the top 100 Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Magazine. In 2006, former President Bush nominated Senz-Ryan to serve as professor and head of the Law Department, requiring presidential nomination and congressional confirmation. On August 7, 2010, Senz-Ryan was among the recipients of the Margaret Brent Award. The ABA s (American Bar Association) Commission on Women in the Profession gives the award annually to female lawyers who have achieved professional excellence in their field and share a commitment to champion other women. Senz-Ryan has received many medals and ribbons for her service in the military such as Joint Services Commendation Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal ( Saudi Arabia ), Army Overseas Service Ribbon, among many other awards.

Roger Hernndez Assemblymember Roger Hernndez represents the 57th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, La Puente, West Covina, Irwindale, Industry, and the unincorporated areas of San Gabriel Valley Los Angeles County, including Bassett, Charter Oak, Citrus, East Arcadia, Hacienda Heights, North Whittier, Ramona, and Valinda. Roger Hernndez was born on July 29, 1975, in El Monte , California . He is the son of immigrant parents Rogelio Hernndez and Obdulia Hernndez. Roger is the eldest of three other siblings; Gilbert, Veronica and Jaime. Hernndez was the first in his family to pursue higher education goals beyond high school.

Roger Hernndez graduated from Nogales High School , in La Puente , California . He earned a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Political Science at the University of California at Riverside, a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne , and a Master's in Governance Certificate from the California School Boards Association (CSBA). Hernndez was a Professor of Government at Rio Hondo and Citrus Community Colleges , both in California . He served as Mayor and as a Councilmember for the city of West Covina . From November 1999 to July 2003, Hernndez was elected and served on the Rowland Unified School Board. From March 18, 2003 to December 6, 2010, Hernndez served as a Council member. During his time, he championed the creation of a city-run ambulance service. West Covina was able to cut emergency response times and able to generate cost savings and revenue for the city while enhancing the citys emergency services to the public.

Hernndez was appointed to the leadership position of Assistant Majority Whip by the Speaker of the Assembly, and was selected to serve as Chair of the Select Committee on Low High School Matriculation Rates. In addition, he served on the Committee on Banking and Finance, the Health Committee, the Utilities and Commerce Committee, and the Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife. In November 2010, Roger Hernndez was elected to represent the 57th Assembly District. In the Assembly, Hernndez priorities are on rebuilding the states education system for children; promoting health and wellness issues; creating jobs; breaking the state budget gridlock by advocating for long-term fixes for Californians; and protecting open spaces so residents of the San Gabriel Valley can have the quality of life that they so richly deserve. Roger Hernndez has always appreciated the value of hard work, largely credited to his father, and the examples he set for him and his siblings, his father held two jobs so his children could gain opportunities, and he refused to let that sacrifice be in vain.

Annette Quijano

Annette Quijano is currently serving her second term in the New Jersey General Assembly as the first Latina representative for the 20th Legislative District. Annette Quijano was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Her parents divorced when she was 2-years old. She has a stepfather; Ruben Diaz. Her mother Herminia Diaz, grandmother: Doa Ana and great-grandmother: Doa Juana raised Quijano. Both her parents remarried and both had one son each. She has two half brothers; Mark Anthony and Raymond. As a teenager, she spearheaded a grassroots movement to dispute a

local cable companys decision to eliminate Spanish language programming. This issue was important in the community since cable was the only link most had to the outside world. This action helped her to an elected position with the statewide Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey, wish supports cultural, educational and social community activities. She served as the youngest board member, executive board member and then as its Vice-President. She earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Management from Rutgers , and a Juris Degree from Rutgers School of Law. She was admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania and New Jersey . She continued her education, and attained a Project Management Certification from Villanova University. In 1992, former Senator Raymond Lesniak named Quijano Coordinator for Latino outreach when he was state Democratic Committee Chairman, then he hired Quijano as Chief of Staff for his legislative office. "She has a wealth of experience. She knows the system going in," stated Senator Raymond Lesniak. From 2002 to 2003, Quijano served as a private Attorney and clerk for Union County . She then joined Governor James E. McGreevey's administration as an attorney. She continued in that position for governors Richard J. Codey and Jon Stevens Corzine. Quijano also served on the United Way Hispanic Advisory Council of Union County, as a Commissioner for New Jersey s Congressional Redistricting efforts. She has been the primary sponsor of many important bills enhancing workers rights, attracting and retaining quality teachers in urban schools, and to protecting womens health care. She also has worked to provide foreclosure counseling and assistance, create county homeless trust funds, and restructure businesses taxes. Quijano has been at the forefront of the fight to protect environment and promote alternative energy production. Quijano has brought Trenton to Union County through a series of workshops. In a recent legislative session, she hosted a successful job fair that brought over 1,500 competitive job seekers to meet and interview with prospective employers. She has also committed herself to providing constructive bilingual services to constituents and

organizing in-district workshops for businesses, big and small, and diverse constituent groups. Come Grow with Us in Union County was one of her initiatives that were developed to bring food producing gardens to neighborhoods and non-profits in Union County . The produce grown in these community gardens serves to benefit local food pantries and soup kitchens, which sometimes are not able to secure fresh produce. Quijano is also the recipient of various leadership awards including the Women of Excellence in Government, and LUPEs Power of Women award. She is also serves as a member of the Hispanic Bar Association and as a member of PRIMER, an organization to promote Hispanic leadership in the public and private sector. In addition to her responsibilities as an Assemblywoman, Annette Quijano is also an adjunct Professor at Kean University as well as a per diem prosecutor for the City of Elizabeth . She currently serves as Chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Preparedness Committee and as Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Regulatory and Oversight Committee. Quijanos recalls her mothers extended hours as a small business owner and draws inspiration. She continues to draw inspiration from her mother. Her upbringing has helped her understand the struggles her constituency has to manage on a daily basis.

Estela Chavez-Vasquez Estela Chavez Vasquez is the Brownsville City Commissioner at Large A, District. She was born in Brownsville , Texas . She is the seventh child of a family of 13. Estela Chavez-Vasquez, born into a family of migrant workers, is the familys first generation college graduate. She is married to Antonio Vasquez; an optometrist; the couple have three children.

In 1997, Estela Chavez-Vasquez graduated from Rivera High School . Soon after, she attended the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College . In 2006, she earned a Juris Degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

She worked for the Houston Independent School District and Brownville Independent School District , she taught Language Arts and Math. She became the owner of the Law Office of Estela Vasquez; PC, and served as an attorney, My career has prepared me to analyze situations and resolve conflict in a professional manner. As a former teacher, I know the value of education and the importance of creating educational opportunities to promote a strong, educated community, stated Chavez-Vasquez. I intend to work towards promoting education and educational initiatives to assist our students, strengthen city finances by identifying necessities and exercising fiscal judgment by effectively investing city resources, take an active role in supporting educational opportunities to develop a highly educated and skilled workforce. [I] want to open up the process to restore the publics trust in city government, [I] want to bridge the gap between the public and the city government to help make changes that will benefit our community and build consensus among the city commission, community leaders, business community, and city entities, stated Chavez-Vasquez. Chavez-Vasquez further stated, Our City is a family-oriented community that deserves to live in an economically progressive environment. Through economic development, we must continue to attract and retain quality businesses, increase job availability, support quality-of-life projects. As a former migrant worker, she knew the only way to end poverty was to obtain an education.

The August 29, 2011 issue of Hispanic Link, Vol 29, No.13 is the result of a collaboration with student journalists of MEXODUS and Charlie Erickson, founding editor of HispanicLink.org. Hispanic Link is now in its 29th year.

HISPANIC LINK
1420 N Street NW Washington, D.C. 20005-2895 Phone (202) 234-0280 E-mail: carlose@hispaniclink.o rg Publisher: Carlos Ericksen-Mendoza Editor: Charlie Ericksen National Rep.: Hctor Ericksen-Mendoza ANNUAL ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTIONS: Institutions $140 Personal $118 Students $59 Trial (13 issues) $40 The MEXODUS journalism project truly crosses fronteras. Mexodus is an unprecedented bilingual student-reporting project that documents the flight of middle class families, professionals and businesses to the U.S. and safer areas of Mxico because of soaring drug cartel violence and widespread petty crime in cities such as Ciudad Jurez. We believe Mexodus sets the bar for future collaborate investigative journalism that builds bridges across academic, national and language borders, in this case English and Spanish, the U.S. and Mexico. The web and digital technology facilitated the collaboration, as well as expertise from professional trainers from Investigative Reporters and Editors and research by Fundacin MEPI in Mxico City. The project received funding from Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

The result is more than 20 stories in two languages, videos, slideshows, photos, info graphics and charts produced by participation from nearly 100 student journalists from four universities, University of Texas El Paso, California State University Northridge, and Tecnolgico de Monterrey in Chihuahua and Mxico City. Although it was difficult for students to quantify the dislocation of Mxicos middle class due to the violence researchers and demographers estimate the Mexodus at about 125,000 more empirical studies will likely reveal a larger number of refugees pushed out by growing violence, perhaps twice as many, according to some. Another remarkable finding of the nine-month-long project is that the number of Mexicans filing for asylum in the U.S. has skyrocketed by 300 percent in the last five years, during the height of the drug violence, among those requesting asylum are several well-regarded journalists. Of course, numbers alone do not tell the full story. The people of the Mexodus do. In the project you will read about Mariana, a teenager whose parents paid an $8000 ransom to kidnappers in Jurez and now struggles to fit into a U.S. public school, how residents of Jurez, Tijuana and Chihuahua have moved their businesses to the U.S. or to safer parts of Mxico to escape threats from extortionists, about Jurez youth who have relocated to El Paso and are transforming soccer culture there, about strategies some Jurez residents devise to survive in the city. Our students also spoke to residents of Chihuahua State who say despite violence and impunity they will not leave their country. As pleased as we are by the quality and quantity of the student-produced journalism, there have been roadblocks. Many sources understandably refused to allow us reveal their real names for fear of more threats reaching them from across the porous border. Surprisingly, student reporters were denied an interview with the Superintendent of Schools at one El Paso area district. Later, the school spokesperson requested she submit her questions in writing, and instructed her not to use the full name of teachers and counselors although these sources had already fully consented to be interviewed and quoted by name. This was frustrating to her and her editors, but at the same time an important learning moment for the promising student journalist. One last note: The broad scope of Mexodus is largely due to the five professors (their names are listed on the webpage), most with professional journalism backgrounds, who guided the students through the painstaking process of digging for statistics in government data bases, filing Freedom of Information Act requests, interviewing dozens of officials, experts and researchers, and overseeing the writing and rewriting the news and feature stories. A project of this complexity also required expert editing by Borderzine executive editor David Smith-Soto and visiting editor Joe Kolb of Gallop, New Mexico, and the technical skills of Webmaster Lourdes Cueva Chacn who worked closely with graphic designer Brandon Carrillo to develop a logo and special layout for all the stories and multimedia. Translation experts Myriam Cruz and Roberto Perez Diaz translated all the stories (more than 20,000 words) from

English to Spanish or Spanish to English. I invite you to wade into Mexodus and marvel at the extraordinary work of talented U.S. and Mxico college student journalists on an important social topic of bi national significance. Adelante! Zita Arocha Borderzine.com, Director All Mexodus stories are available in English and in Spanish at mexodus.borderzine.com along with videos, picture slide shows, graphs, and interactive maps. All stories for this Hispanic Link Special Report were selected and laid out by Kristian Hernndez (UTEP) and edited by David Smith Soto. http://mexodus.borderzine.com/ Sent by Charlie Erickson, charlie1@hispaniclink.org

Mexican journalists are an endangered species

Extract from: By Brian De Los Santos and Jorge H. Gutirrez Neri in MEXODUS report

Mxico is the most dangerous country in the world to work as a journalist, according to a report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. According to the Mxico Secretariat of the Presidents Office [Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pblica], during the last 10 years at the national level extortions have increased sevenfold and kidnappings have doubled.

Adela Navarro Bello, general manager of the weekly Zeta in Tijuana, said her publication has witnessed firsthand the impact of government corruption and narco trafficking on journalists. Impunity is the norm in the case of assassination attempts against journalists and this puts all reporters at risk, said Navarro Bello. In Mxico you can assassinate a reporter and come out unpunished. The news magazines founder Jess Blancornelas survived several assassination attempts, but died of cancer Nov. 23, 2006. At El Diario de

Jurez, veteran crime reporter Armando Rodrguez, known as el chuco, was shot to death outside his home in 2008 and a young photographer was assassinated in 2010. Some news outlets acknowledge they have stopped reporting about organized crime or drug trafficking for fear of also becoming targets. Journalists themselves have begun to censor what they write about drug trafficking, said Jorge Morales, a writer for La Opinin, a Spanish-language paper in Los Angeles. Self-censorship began because of the reprisals, because reporters are fearful when they write about narco trafficking, and because of the messages sent by the Mafia itself to the media, he said. Journalism in Mxico has had to adapt to the criminality the cartels have brought upon the country. Many Mexican media have changed how they publish their stories about corruption and drug trafficking. List of Mexican journalists killed since 2000. Luis Roberto Cruz Martnez 2/1/00 Pablo Pineda Gaucn 4/28/00 Jos Ramrez Puente 4/28/00 Hugo Snchez Eustaquio 7/10/00 Jos Luis Ortega Mata 2/19/01 Jos Barbosa Bejarano 3/9/01 Sal A. Martnez Gutirrez - 3/24/01 Flix A. Fernndez Garca 1/17/02 Gregorio Urieta 8/15/02 Jos Miranda Virgen 8/16/02 Jsus Meja Lechuga 7/10/03 Roberto Javier Mora Garca 3/19/04 Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco 6/22/04 Leodegario Aguilera Lucas 8/9/04 Francisco Arratia Saldierna 8/31/04 Gregorio R. Hernndez 11/22/04 Alfredo Jimnez Mota 4/2/05 Ral Gibb Guerrero 4/8/05 Guadalupe Garca Escamilla 4/16/05 Jos Reyes Brambila 8/18/05 Hugo Barragn Ortiz 11/1/05 Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo 3/9/06 Agustn Lpez 10/08/07 Flor Vzquez 10/08/07 Gerardo I. Garca Pimentel 12/08/07 Armando Rodrguez Carren 11/13/08 Teresa Bautista Merino 4/07/08 Felicitas Martnez Snchez 4/07/08 Alejandro Z. Fonseca Estrada 8/24/08 Miguel A. Villagmez Valle 10/10/08 Jean Paul Ibarra Ramrez 2/13/09 Luis D. Mndez Hernndez 2/22/09 Carlos Ortega Samper 5/03/09 Eliseo Barrn Hernndez 5/26/09 Martn Javier Miranda Avils 7/12/09 Ernesto Montaez Valdivia 7/14/09 Juan Daniel Martnez Gil 7/27/09 Norberto Miranda Madrid 8/29/09 Fabin Ramrez Lpez 10/11/09 Jos Bladimir Antuna Garca 11/02/09

Rosendo Pardo Ozuna 3/29/06 Enrique Perea Quintanilla 8/10/06 Bradley Will 10/27/06 Misael Tamayo Hernndez 11/10/06 Jos Manuel Nava Snchez 11/16/06 Ramiro Tllez Contreras 11/21/06 Roberto Marcos Garca 11/22/06 Ral Marcial Prez 12/08/06 Rodolfo Rincn Taracena 1/20/07 Amado Ramrez Dillanes 4/06/07 Sal No Martnez Ortega 4/16/07 Mateo Corts Martnez - 10/08/07

Jos Emilio Galindo Lpez 11/24/09 Jos Alberto Vzquez Lpez 12/23/09 Jos Luis Romero 12/30/09 Valentn Valds Espinosa 1/12/10 Jorge Ochoa Martnez 1/29/10 Jorge Rbago Valdez 3/02/10 Evaristo Pacheco Sols 3/12/10 Juan Francisco Rodrguez Ros 6/29/10 Mara Elvira Hernndez Galeana 6/29/10 Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas 7/06/10 Marco Aurelio Martnez Tijerina 7/10/10 Guillermo Alcaraz Trejo 7/11/10 Noel Lpez Olgun 3/08/11 Misael Lpez Solana 6/20/11 Miguel ngel Lpez Velasco 6/20/11 Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz 7/25/11

Juana Bordas President of MLI Inspirational Speaker, Author of "Salsa, Soul, and Spirit"

In Salsa, Soul, and Spirit, Juana Bordas shows how incorporating Latino, AfricanAmerican, and American Indian approaches to leadership into the mainstream has the potential to strengthen leadership practice and inspire today's ethnically rich workforce.

[Read more about Juana] Mestiza Leadership International http://mestizaleadership.com/ Mestiza Leadership International

Cordially invites you to the 22nd Annual Las Primeras Awards Gala which will be held on October 6, 2011. at 101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Rooftop, Washington, DC 20001 For 22 years, MANA, A National Latina Organization has proudly recognized Latinas who have accomplished "firsts" at its annual Las Primeras Awards Gala. In doing so, MANA has helped raise awareness on the accomplishments of Latinas, while raising funds to support educational programs for Latinas across the country, mentor girls (Hermanitas) ages 11-18, college age (Hermanas), senior Latinas (Abuelitas) and advocate on issues important to the health, education, economic well being, and advancement of Latinas to help grow their communities. We are celebrating our 2011 "Las Primeras" and we would love for you to be a part of it. The Gala will kick off with a unique "Paris" reception followed by the award ceremony and closing with a LatinoFrench dessert cafe au lait at the rooftop terrace overlooking the spectacular United States Capitol and Independence Mall Please click on the link below to register or RSVP. Register Now! If you have any questions, please call (240) 704-3438 or (703) 927-0986. Sincerely, Alma Morales Riojas President and CEO MANA, A National Latina Organization manaceo@aol.com (703) 927-0986

PEW Report on Topography of Faith

The Pew survey sorts people into major religious groupings - Christians; other religions, including Jewish and Muslim; "unaffiliated", which includes atheist, agnostic and "nothing in particular".

You can roll your cursor over the map to see how faiths and traditions break down by state. http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/pew-religion08/flash.htm Editor: The data that jumped out at me, was the current small presence Muslims in the United States. In most of the states, the Muslims were half of a percent .05% of the US population. In seven states, the percentage was 1%: Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee. Nevada was the only state that even reached 2%. It surprised me because the Muslims influence has become very powerful. Concessions to Muslims believers have reached into every aspect of the U.S. structure. A recent decision by the U.S. military reflects the confusion on dealing fairly with Muslims in our midst. A conscientious objector status was given to a U.S. Muslim soldier who refused to go to Afghanistan with the possibility of killing a Muslim. The soldier said as a Muslim, it was a sin to kill another Muslim. Since Muslim nations, rebels, and terrorists are killing one another all over the world, the rationale to seek conscientious objector status based on Muslims don't kill Muslim goes against what is happening everyday, Muslims are killing Muslims. Why was the argument accepted, when it goes against actual observable Muslim behavior? In addition, why was the young soldier given an honorable discharge? He did not earn the perks that Veterans are entitled to receive. With an honorable discharge he will be entitled to free education, free medical, and other benefits. WHY? Sent by Karren Pederson

Today's young Latinos are nation's future

By Rogelio Saenz, September 14, 2011

Latinos have increasingly become the engine of the demographic future of the United States. The 2010 census enumerated more than 50 million Latinos. Much like the post-WWII baby boomer generation (born from 1946 to 1964), Latinos will have a significant impact on all the nation's institutions.

As detailed data from the 2010 census have been released, we have seen the actualization of demographic projections. For example, whites now hold the slimmest of a majority in babies less than 1 year of age with 50.2 percent and the balance being minority. In fact, Latinos now account for slightly more than one of every four babies less than 1 year of age in the country and they represent more than half in New Mexico (59 percent), California (54 percent) and Texas (51 percent), and more than two of every five in Arizona (45 percent) and Nevada (41 percent). These kids will be entering school in the next few years and represent the high school graduating classes of 2027 and 2028, the years in which the last cohorts of today's baby boomers will be reaching retirement age. A just-released study by the Pew Hispanic Research Center reported that in the last year Latinos were primarily responsible for college enrollment increases among persons 18 to 24 years of age. Between 2009 and 2010, 349,000 more Latino students were on college campuses compared to a decline of 320,000 white students. Latinos now represent the nation's largest minority group of college students with an enrollment of 1.8 million. Latinos will account for an expanding share of college students in the coming decades. With these trends as backdrop, the Girl Scouts of America appointed Anna Maria Chavez, a first-generation Latina, as its 19th chief executive and the first Latina as the organization prepares to celebrate its centennial. The membership of Latina young girls in the organization shot up by 55 percent over the last decade. Hopefully, in the near future we will see glass ceilings shattered for additional Latinos to take on key leadership positions across our institutions. There continue to be major challenges facing Latinos. Despite their increasing presence on college campuses, Latinos continue to have the lowest educational levels among all racial and ethnic groups. High dropout rates still plague many Latino youth, and they lag significantly behind their white peers in reading, writing and math. Many Latino youth who have spent

most of their lives in this country without documentation encounter barriers to pursuing higher education. Finally, the ongoing economic crisis has been particularly harsh on Latinos. The nation's future demographic script and cast has now been set. Latinos will increasingly shape the future of the United States. Just as we saw baby boomers impact all societal institutions as they moved across the life course from entrance into elementary schools to reaching retirement age beginning this year Latinos will similarly have a major impact on our institutions. To maximize the future, we need policymakers with the will and courage to plan for the future of these children using a long-term policy lens. The establishment of a supportive educational path can make today's Latino youth not only a future economic asset but also civically engaged citizens. Rogelio Saenz is dean of the College of Public Policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Today-s-young-Latinos-arenation-s-future-2168925.php#ixzz1XwZqrgWI Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

An Ode to America

We rarely get to read the thoughts of citizens of other countries regarding America. Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning, 'Ode To America' in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !' I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth unites the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion. Only "freedom" can work such miracles.* Cornel Nistorescu Sent by Kathie Kennedy mftkathie@msn.com

TIDBITS
Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on Americas rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color. http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp New Social Security Compassionate Allowances: Please pass this info to our Somos Primos' reader. with these hard times maybe those that need medical help the most, can see if they qualify for these benefits. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/conditions.htm

Articles touching on all the categories, plus, YouTube programs Culture, Economy, Education, Food, Health, Immigration, Politics, Technology, Latin America http://www.newstaco.com/

WITNESS TO HERITAGE

The Tejano Heritage Effort (THE) by Dr. Lino Garcia, Ph.D. and Jos Antonio Lpez

The Tejano Heritage Effort (THE)

By Dr. Lino Garcia, Jr. and Mr. Jos Antonio Lpez

What is the Tejano Heritage Effort (THE)? It is a concern-driven group whose true grass roots originated on April 28, 2008, in Edinburg, Texas. Mr. Lpez was there to do a presentation on his book The Last Knight (Don Bernardo Gutirrez de Lara Uribe, A Texas Hero). As part of the Q&A session at the event, the conversation slightly shifted to dedicating our efforts to counter misinformation contained in mainstream Texas history reports in the media. The topic continued to evolve the next day during a breakfast gathering attended by Dr Garcia, Alex Moreno, Dr. Chance, and Joe & Cordy Lpez. It was then that Dr. Garcia and Mr. Lpez decided to do something about our common interest. Whenever we read erroneous history information in newspapers or magazines, we constructively offer corrections to the articles as soon as possible. We then send them to the media concerned. The result was THE. Basically, following is our pledge:

To correct all and any misrepresentation of Tejano History and the Spanish Mexican roots of the entire U.S. Southwest. To inform, in a respectful manner, all and any individual, enterprise, newspaper, journal, or media when they give misinformation to the general public related to Tejano History. To continue to be vigilant regarding any article, book, essay, or any other media that portrays the Tejano in a derogatory manner and to quickly correct such version. To make sure that the Tejano Story is properly included in all versions detailing the history of Texas, from its beginnings as part of New Spain. This includes the direct lineage with their extended family in Mexico, and their Native American kindred on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border also known as the Borderlands. To write articles and books dealing with the true history of the Tejanos as creators of the ranching and cowboy ways of life in Texas, and their immense contributions as founders of this great place we call Texas. In so doing, liberate all Texans of all persuasions from the erroneous version of Texas history that has been perpetrated to our youth for many decades.

At the moment THE consists of the two founding members. However, we would like others to join us, especially early Texas history aficionados who share our passion and agree with THE pledge above. There are no dues and no meetings. The only condition is that THE writers must abide by one of the most important parts of the pledge. That is, that they be respectful in making their point. In our view, that is the only way to spread the word about our rich pre-1836 history. More importantly, thats how the media is more likely to learn of our story and publish supportive pre-1836 Texas and Southwest history articles. The fact is that although interest in early Texas and Southwest history is increasing, political and history articles continue to be published that contain erroneous or distorted information. The trick is to identify the misinformation and then to quickly, clearly, and briefly offer the writer the correct information. If you are interested in joining or wish to suggest ways to improve pre-1836 Southwest history reporting, please contact Dr. Garcia and/or Mr. Lpez, (drlinogarcia@sbcglobal.net ; jlopez8182@satx.rr.com ) If you want to find out how we do it, following are samples of letters we have written. A. The Texas Monthly recently published an article in which the writer indicated that David Crockett ...had founded a Republic..., so the response

to this erroneous interpretation of Texas History is below. To: Editor of Texas Monthly, February 28, 2009 From: Dr. Lino Garcia, Jr. /Professor Emeritus I just finished reading the latest Texas Monthly magazine and found that the person who wrote a short introduction on David Crockett again has misinterpreted the true History of Texas. Allow me to point out some discrepancies: 1.) David Crockett had ONLY been in Texas a few months before the Battle of the Alamo of 1836--hardly enough time to found a Republic". Tejanos had been fighting for justice and to separate themselves from Spain in 1811 ( the de las Casas Revolt to oust then Spanish Governor of Texas Manuel Salcedo in San Antonio) and again in 1813 at the Battle of Medina where 900 Tejanos perished in their attempt to separate themselves from Spain and find a new Republic. So you see the attempt to find a new Republic originated with the early settlers- the Tejanos, and NOT with David Crockett. 2.) In addition to many other brave Texans, eleven Tejanos also died at the Battle of the Alamo of 1836. How about Juan N. Seguin who helped bury the dead patriots? Now, there is a true Texas Hero. He was born in Texas with his genealogy going back many generations before1836, and certainly not David Crockett, a recent arrival in Texas, who for all we know came into Texas as undocumented ( remember that it was Mexico and the Tejanos who ALLOWED northerners to come into Texas in 1824) , and the Tejanos had been in Texas since 1528. 3.) Surely, your distinguished magazine can find some Tejano to mention as being prominent in early Spanish Texas. How about Lorenzo de Zavala- a patriot, statesman, first Vice President of the Republic of Texas, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, designer of the Lone Star flag (YESde Zavala designed the Lone Star Texas flag); or Antonio de Navarro, a prominent Tejano of early Texas in whose hacienda Sam Houston planned his battles, and who later on he and de Zavala introduced laws to establish the first public university in Texas? It was Col. Juan N. Seguin who with his Tejano Cavalry helped defeat Antonio de Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto. Blas Herrera, hero of the Alamo, who alerted the Texas troops that Mexican troops were near San Antonio, and who served as Senator from the newly created district of the Republic?

Sir, the world had changed, the demographics of Texas have changed dramatically, and we still have to contend with centuries old myths, old historical data that continues to misinform the public. In addition, the David Crockett story belongs in Hollywood, and is based on a certain group's desire to elevate itself, to bathe in its own heroes, with the idea of creating a sub-group within Texas society, whose role in the making of Texas is minimized, when historical data tells us a different story. With the emergence of a vocal and dynamic Tejano community, THE TEJANO STORY WILL BE TOLD! Cordially yours, Lino Garca, Jr., Ph.D, Professor Emeritus/UTPA

B. The January 2011 Texas Monthly issue devoted a large portion of their magazine honoring the 175th anniversary of Texas Independence. As a result, Mr. Lpez sent the following letter: Dear Editor You are getting better at recognizing the role of the long-ignored Tejanos in the history of Texas independence and the positive contributions of presentday Tejanos and Mexican Americans in this great place we call Texas (Tejas). For that, I salute you. However, you continue to mis-lead the public. It is the 198th Anniversary of Texas Independence, not the 175th. The honor of the first visionary to see Texas as independent belongs to Lt. Colonel Bernardo Gutirrez de Lara who responded to Father Hidalgos Grito on September 16, 1810 (el Diezyseis) and began his quest for Texas independence. He accomplished that feat on April 6, 1813, by becoming the first President of Texas. He wrote and signed the first Texas Declaration of Independence on that day and signed the first Texas Constitution a week later. In truth, Tejanos had already done much of the heavy lifting, sacrificing, and dying by the time Sam Houston crossed over the Sabine River. In other words, Houston took over a work in progress. Equally important, you must be reminded that the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and the other battles are a chronological chapter of Mexicos history, not the U.S. Texas did not join the U.S. until 1845, when the Anglos traded their independence for statehood as a slave state.

(Response from Texas Monthly 2/16/2011)

Dear Mr. Lpez, Thank you so much for your kind letter and your feedback about the March issue. You make an excellent point about the important contributions of Lt. Colonel Jos Bernardo Gutirrez de Lara. In April 2009 I edited a story by Gary Cartwright called Ghosts of War that discussed Gutirrez and Augustus Magees Republican Army of the North, and though we did not go into such great detail in the current issue, we did include the Battle of Medina, which put an end to the Green Flag Republic of Texas, on our list of 175 places to visit. After reading your letter, however, I do wish that I had included the significance of April 6, 1813, as part of that writeup. But even with the enormous amount of space that we gave to the story, we werent able to include everything. For example, we did not have room to mention another step toward independence, the Republic of Fredonia, which was declared nine years before the Battle of Gonzales, though it would have also been a great addition to the story. I am also intrigued by your statement that Anglos traded their independence for statehood as a slave state. For the Behind the Lines column in the current issue, I interviewed Professor Randolph Mike Campbell, who wrote the book Gone to Texas, and he discussed that very issue. He was shocked when he arrived in Texas more than forty years ago from Virginia and discovered that very fewif any scholarly works had been written about slavery in Texas. In fact, he told me that while he understood why some people would make the case that the revolution itself was not about slavery (he isnt so sure), there is no doubt that independence and the constitution of the Republic guaranteed that Texas would have slaves, who accounted for thirty percent of the population in 1860. That too is another fascinating (and sad) aspect of our history that is often overlooked. Again, I am grateful for your letter and hope that you enjoy the rest of the list. And I hope that you will follow our discussions of the issue on Facebook and Twitter as well as on texasmonthly.com. Best wishes, Brian Sweany, Editor

C. The following is a letter that Dr. Garcia wrote regarding a letter to the editor containing erroneous Tejano history information. To: Editor-San Antonio Express News, March 11, 2011 Re: Dont lionize de Lara (Letter by C.F. Eckhardt)

Eckhardt was unfairly sarcastic in criticizing Jos Antonio Lpez for connecting the dots in his Texas Independence Guest Voice, March 8th. Allow me to explain. Eckhardt said: ...the title of "Don" was ill-conferred, that Don Bernardo Gutirrez de Lara was a blacksmith." He was a Creole who happened to be a blacksmith. What is wrong with that? He was also a skilled horseman, rancher, merchant and community leader. He was educated and gifted communicator. He became Mexico's first ambassador to the U.S. and successfully took on President James Monroe one to one. Not bad for a "blacksmith! Eckhardt said: de Lara ordered the murder of Spanish General Manuel Salcedo and his entire staff". That is false. When the rebels rode into San Antonio - April 1-2, 1813, Capt. Antonio Delgado saw the head of his father on a bloody pole displayed among other decapitated heads. Enraged, he blamed General Salcedo. So, Delgado and his men killed Salcedo and other prisoners. De Lara acknowledged responsibility for the actions of his men, resigned and went into exile in Louisiana.

Eckhardt said: "...His constitution was a sham... De Lara modeled the first Texas Constitution after the U.S. Constitution. Enough said. Eckhardt proved again that some people cannot accept pre -1836 events as part of the seamless telling of our state's history. Get over it! De Lara may not fit the Sam Houston focused mainstream Texas history, but that does not make his less of a Texas Independence hero. Eckhardt should read some scholarly books on the vast contributions of the Tejanos toward the development of Texas. Hopefully, this will enlighten you. The Tejano Story will be told in spite of such continued opposition. Lino Garca, Jr., Ph.D, Professor Emeritus Edinburg

D. In an Aug 4, 2010 article announcing the placing of a celebration banner in downtown San Antonio. Mr. Lpez wrote the following:
Mr. Huddleston (Scott), reference your SA Express-News and Conexin articles regarding the Alamo banner to be displayed downtown, marking the 175th anniversary of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. I agree that the Alamo is the biggest tourist draw to downtown. That is all well and good because the San Antonio area and the entire state of Texas profits. However, isnt it time to start putting the story of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo in perspective? Most of your articles readers (and most people, in general) do not know that the 1836 Battle of the Alamo is a chronological chapter of Mexicos history, not the U.S. (Texas did not join the U.S. until 1845 as a slave state.) If historians (and reporters) insist on writing about it as part of U.S. history, then they should claim not just nine years to 1836. In fairness, they should go back to the spark that lit Texas independence Father Miguel Hidalgos Grito on September 16, 1810 (el Diezyseis). That is when Don Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara began his quest to make Texas independent; a goal he accomplished three years later. For that reason, the number of years on the proposed banner should refer to those key events and read 200 and not 175 years. In my view, much of the meanness directed against the Southwest Hispanic culture, its people, and the speaking of Spanish during the ugly on-going immigration issue is caused by those who are terribly ignorant of Texas history and the Spanish Mexican roots of the U.S. Southwest. Most have no clue that this is New Spain, not New England. It is time to market the Alamo and the La Bahia Presidio for their strength, beauty, and creativity of their Spanish Mexican builders. They should no longer be showcased because armed Anglo illegal aliens from the U.S. died there. In short, we need a more fair, balanced, and inclusive approach in the telling of Texas independence. The descendants of Spanish Mexican pioneers, the first citizens of Texas, have been waiting for justice for over 170 years. Thank you.

Response from the San Antonio Express-News writer 8/5/2010: Mr. Lopez, thank you for making contact. I'll try to take time later to carefully read and reflect on your ideas. But I

wanted to respond quickly, and just acknowledge that I think you have expressed, very eloquently, some well-grounded sentiments about historical interpretation. This week's dust-up with the banner brought out, once again, some of the harsh realities associated with the way Texas history has been interpreted. You're absolutely correct about balance and inclusivity. I'm hopeful that the 175th anniversary of the Texas Revolution will provide an opportunity to promote those ideals and heal old wounds. I'm currently talking to some of my colleagues here at the Express-News on how we can accomplish that. Respectfully, Scott Huddleston, staff writer, San Antonio Express-News

ERASING HISTORIC REALITY

PERSISTENCE OF THE BLACK LEGEND

La Mentira Historica Desvelada: Genocidio en Las Americas Stereotypes, Misconceptions, Genocide and the Black Legend by Richard G. Santos The Plight of the miseducated in Search of an Identity by Richard G. Santos

A Spanish lawyer, at the time of the celebration of the 500 anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by the Spaniards, and seeing so much animosity against the Spanish decided to write a book about the so called Black Legend. It is a book in which he researches all the literature written about the subject ( in his own words he has concentrated on non-Spanish authors in order to dispel a bias accusation). The title of the book is La Mentira Historica Desvelada: Genocidio en Las Americas The author is Juan Luis Beceiro. Regards, Antonio Valdes valdeja@desertgate.com Forwarded by Juan Marinez

STEREOTYPES, MISCONCEPTIONS, GENOCIDE AND THE BLACK LEGEND By Richard G. Santos richardgsantos@yahoo.com For the first half century after the first voyage of Cristobal Colon (aka Christopher Columbus), the Spanish Church and State deliberated the nature of the Native Americans. The Native Americans did not speak Spanish, Latin, Chinese, Arabic or Hebrew. They were not Catholic, Moslem or Jewish. Moreover, they were not mentioned in the Bible. So, were the Native Americans human? Did they have a soul? Could they go to heaven? Were they created by the same Creator? These were important questions from 1492 to 1540 as they would be today if earthlings were to encounter intelligent life from a different planet. As the debates in Spain and the Vatican raged concerning the nature and humanness of the Native Americans, the European settlers of the Caribbean Islands took their own course. Due to the absence of European women, the Spanish, Portuguese and Sephardic Jewish settlers unofficially resolved the issue by forming common law unions with the Native Americans. As an example Hernan Cortes fathered Catalina Pizzarro with a Carib woman while in Cuba. Later in New Spain, Hernan Cortes fathered Martin Cortes with la Malinche and Leonor Cortes with a daughter of Moctezuma and finally Luis Cortes with Antonia de Hermosillo. Cortes recognized each and every single child as his legitimate children. Incidentally, Leonor Cortes (grand daughter of Moctezuma) married Juan Tolosa. Their daughter Isabel Tolosa (de Cortes y Moctezuma) married Juan Perez de Onate, founder of the city of San Luis Potosi and New Mexico colonizer. However, between 1492 and 1540, the children of such common law unions of a Spanish citizen and a Native Americans created a serious problem. By law, since the Native American had not yet been declared a human being, the mestizo children could not inherit their fathers estates. The Native Americans were finally declared human with all rights of a Spanish citizen and Las Nuevas Leyes of the 1540s so informed all citizens of the Empire. The loophole in the law was that any Native American who resisted or rebelled against the Spanish Church and State could be enslaved. Consequently, many North American frontiersmen were enslaving Native Americans declared hostile or rebellious.

The loophole was closed in 1588 when the King of Spain issued a Royal Cedula forbidding the enslavement of Native Americans under any pretext. As a footnote, Hernan Cortes (New Spain), Nuno Beltran de Guzman (present Pacific Northwest Mexico), Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (U.S. Southwest), Juan Perez de Onate (New Mexico) and Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva (Nuevo Leon) were all indicted and tried for maltreatment of the Indians and removed from their respective governorships. Many tribes and clans of various Native American Nations continued to resist the Spanish advancement onto their respective geographic areas. Hence political and trading treaties paved the way for the Evangelization program initiated in the 1680s with the creation of the colegios de propaganda fide (Colleges for the Propagation of the Faith). In areas where the Native Americans lived in communities, the missionaries erected a church, created a city council and declared it a pueblo (township). Where the Native Americans were nomadic like in South and Central Texas, the missionaries founded reducciones (communities where the Indians were reduced from a nomadic existence to Church governed and protected townships). In both pueblos and reducciones, a Native American governor was elected by the Native Americans themselves. As a footnote, the last Indian Governor of Mission San Francisco de la Espada in San Antonio Texas was Mariano Tejeda in 1800. He was the father of Francisco, father of Mariano, father of Francisco, father of Mariano and he was the father of the late U. S. Congressman Frank Tejeda. I know this because in the early 1980s I did the Tejeda family tree at the request of then Bexar County Commissioner Robert Tejeda. I thus met, became and have remained a close friend of the Tejeda family. The bilingual, Spanish mono-cultural evangelization program plus the October 12, 1837 Resolution of the Republic of Texas (mentioned in last weeks article) were so successful that today there are no Indian reservations for any native Texas Indian Nation. The three reservations that do exist are for cultures that migrated to Texas! This is contrary to what is taught or at best omitted in the U. S. History and Texas textbooks. Compare the Spanish policy toward the Native American with the U. S. Government to which the only good Indian was a dead Indian. The U. S. genocide attitude was recorded by Major William Emory in his Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey: published in two volumes by the U. S. House of Representatives (34th Congress, 1st session) in 1857. Emory was the head of the U. S. Corps of Engineers studying, surveying and mapping the lower Rio Grande from its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico to the Pecos River north of present Del Rio, Texas. He wrote after studying the character and habits of that class of Indians called wild Indians, I have come to the deliberate conclusion that civilization must halt when in view of the Indian camp, or

the Indian must be exterminated. Unfortunately, the U. S. Government took his advice and that led to the Indian Wars in the U. S. Southwest after the U. S. Civil War. We stress it was the U. S. Government and not the Spanish colonial or Mexican governments who mounted genocide, ethnic-cleansing programs against the Native Americans. So in reply to the University professor who asked who was the best colonist the British, Spaniards or Americans you, the reader answer the question. On one hand you have the Native Americans who preserved some of their culture in the reservations. On the other hand you have the Spanish-Mexican assimilated Native Americans with no idea that they are of Native American ancestry. You have the basic facts, so you judge the actions of our ancestors. Zavala County Sentinel . 7 8 September 2011 Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

THE PLIGHT OF THE MISEDUCATED IN SEARCH OF AN IDENTITY By Richard G. Santos richardgsantos@yahoo.com I used to tell my students and now tell audiences when the occasion arises, that U. S. history is written and taught in black and white images from the East Coast and east of the Mississippi. This automatically means that the anti-Spanish, anti-Mediterranean Black Legend is subtlety taught to students who do not know they are being brain washed. Without them knowing, they are mis-educated to believe that everything Spanish, Mediterranean and Roman Catholic is inferior to the White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) culture. The history text books reflect this approach as all Spaniards are depicted as blood thirty, gold hungry, murdering Catholics who killed and/or enslaved the Native American cultures. The textbooks and WASP perspective on history, never teach or discuss Spanish legislation such as Las Nuevas Leyes of the 1540s or the more important Recopilacion de Leyes de Indias of the mid 1600s, that recognized the civil rights of the Native Americans as citizens of the Spanish Empire. Other than listing and illustrating the textbooks with photographs of the Franciscan missions, the textbooks never discuss the evangelization program of the Spanish Catholic Church and the Religious Orders (ie. Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits et. al.) who through bilingual education assimilated many Native American

cultures to Spanish North American society. Simply put, at one point a Spanish speaking Native American was baptized a Catholic, given a Spanish name, and socially transferred from being considered a government protected neophyte to a Spanish citizen. Once assimilated, the Spanish speaking, Roman Catholic Native American had all civil and religious rights within Spanish society. The socio-political-economic limitations experienced by the assimilated Native Americans were ruled by the Spanish caste system. Both Spanish Church and State identified 28 social castas with the Spanish-born citizen at top of the social structure. They were called Gachupin. Spanish citizens born on the Iberian peninsula (ie. Spain, Portugal, Viscaya, Navarre, Provance, Galicia) were called peninsular. These first two groups represented the ruling class of the Spanish Empire. They were the viceroys, generals, admirals, archbishops, bishops and religious missionaries who tried their best to enforce Spanish law and policy. A person born in the New World of European stock without Native American, Asian or Black ancestry were called espanoles or criollos. They were the second class citizens of the Spanish Empire. As such they were the military officers from colonel down to alferez (lieutenants), vicars, monsignors, parish priests, local merchants, cattle barons, hacendados (large property owners) and encomenderos who were vast property owners charged with the protection, maintenance and religious instruction of the Native Americans on their estates. The founding families of townships and communities of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Tamaulipas and South Texas were espanoles and criollos of Spanish-Portuguese-Italian Sephardic Jewish, Basque, as well as devout Old Christians and converso New Christians ancestry. The only exception were the 15 families (59 people) from the Canary Islands who founded the Villa San Fernando de Bexar (now San Antonio) in 1731. However, they themselves were of Sephardic, Old Christian and New Christian background. The children of a union of a European and Native American were the third class citizens. Originally (1500s to mid 1600s) if the father was of European stock and the mother Native American, the children were called castizos. If the father was Native American and the mother of European ancestry, then the children were called mestizo. By the late 1600s the term and social designation of castizo was dropped and all children of such unions are commonly referred to as mestizos. This was probably brought about by the marriages of castizos and mestizos which did not produce an alternate social identification tag. This social casta represented the majordomos, clerks, domestics, ranch hands, cattle hands, farmers, masons, and local militia

members. The fourth class casta were the Native Americans divided into two groups. First and foremost were the Spanish-speaking, Roman Catholic, mission Indians and their land-owning descendants. They represented the manual intensive labor force of the Spanish American colonies. The totally assimilated Native Americans (such as the Tlaxcaltecans) were usually referred to as gente de razon as they were frequently employed as colonists in new areas to serve as an example to the local Native Americans of the benefits of becoming a Spanish-speaking, Roman Catholic, land-owning person who dressed and lived like their mestizo and criollo neighbors. The 200 Tlaxcaltecans who founded San Esteban de Tlaxcala opposite the river from Saltillo, Coahuila in 1598 are a good example. Some of their descendants were among the settlers of the third founding of Monclova, Coahuila in the 1680s and the original Villa de Bexar in 1716 - 1718 (now San Antonio, Texas). Not all Native Americans went through the missions. On October 12, 1837, Jose Francisco Ruiz presented a Resolution to the Senate of the Republic of Texas stating the people called Lipan (Apache), Karankawa (Texas Gulf Coast) and Tonkowa (south central Texas from Waco to Atascosa, Wilson, Medina and Frio counties) your committee considers part of the Mexican Nation and are no longer to be distinguished from that Nation. They occupy the western part of Texas. In 1837, West Texas began at Colorado River and extended to the Rio Grande. Hence, the Native Americans family clans of diverse tribes and nations not killed by the recently arrived settlers from the United States, were socially and legally declared Mexican but not Mexican citizens. Many eventually moved into the communities of South Texas where in time they became part of the Tejano and Mexican American population. It is unfortunate that the standard U. S. and Texas history textbooks do not include any of this historical information and insights as it is very important to understanding the cultural diversity of the Tejano and Mexican American population of South Texas. Not knowing any of this and brainwashed with the WASP Black Legend version of U. S. and Texas history, many reach out for a false identity they consider more positive than their cultural identity, or succumb to an inferiority complex due to not knowing their respective family background. Zavala County Sentinel 31 August 1 September 2011

HONORING HISPANIC LEADERSHIP

Shifra M. Goldman, Pioneer in the study of Latin Americam and Chicano Art 1926-2011 Jos Crdenas, pioneering educator for Latinos Sgt. Robert Lemiszki, Tribute to a Fallen Hero by Tony "The Marine" Santiago

"I was never in the mainstream, never in all my life. I was born on the margins, lived on the margins, and have always sympathized with the margins. They make a lot more sense to me than the mainstream."

Shifra M. Goldman 1926-2011

Shifra Goldman, a pioneer in the study of Latin American and Chicano/a Art, and a social art historian, died in Los Angeles on September 11, 2011, from Alzheimers disease. She was 85. Professor Goldman taught art history in the Los Angeles area for over 20 years. She was a prolific writer and an activist for Chicano and Latino Art. In Dimensions of the Americas: Art and Social Change in Latin America and the United States, one of her award winning publications, she stated that part of her lifes work was to deflect and correct the stereotypes, distortions, and Eurocentric misunderstandings that have plagued all serious approaches to Latino Art history since the 50s. Born and raised in New York by Russian/Polish immigrant parents, art and politics were central to her entire life. Goldmans mother was a trade

unionist and her father, a political activist. She attended the High School of Music and Art in New York , and entered the University of California , Los Angeles (UCLA) as a studio art major when her family moved to Los Angeles in the 1940's. As an undergraduate, she was active in the student boycott against the barbers in Westwood who refused to cut the hair of the Black Veterans entering UCLA on the GI bill following the Second World War. After leaving UCLA, she went to work with Bert Corona and the Civil Rights Congress, a national organization working to stop police brutality against African and Mexican Americans, and the deportations of Mexicans and foreign born political activists. Living in East Los Angeles , Goldman learned Spanish and became immersed in Mexican and Chicano culture. In the 1950s, during the repression of the Cold War, Goldman was subpoenaed before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC). Two decades later, she lost her first college teaching job because a background check revealed that she had been called before HUAC. In the 1960's, after supporting herself and her son, Eric, as a bookkeeper for fifteen years, Goldman returned to UCLA to complete her B.A. in art. After receiving her M.A. in art history from California State University , Los Angeles (CSLA), she entered the Ph.D program at UCLA where she ran headlong into Eurocentrism when she was unable to find a chair for her doctoral committee because her topic of choice was modern Mexican art. Goldman refused to choose a more mainstream topic, and waited several years until a new faculty member finally agreed to work with her. Her dissertation was published as Contemporary Mexican Painting in a Time of Change by University of Texas Press in 1981, and republished in Mexico in 1989. She also initiated and co-authored the bibliography and theoretical essay, Arte Chicano: A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of Chicano Art, 1965-1981 (1985) with Dr.Toms Ybarra-Frausto. Professor Goldman taught her first class in Mexican Art in 1966, possibly the only one given at that time in all of California . She later went on to a full time teaching position in art history at Santa Ana College where she taught courses in Mexican Pre-Colombian, Modern and Chicano Art for 21 years. She was one of the organizers for the Vietnam Peace Tower in 1966. Goldman also co-founded the Los Angeles chapter of Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, in 1983, and was instrumental in bringing solidarity with the Central American struggle to the Los Angeles community. In 1968, she began the campaign to preserve the 1932 Siqueiros mural America Tropical in Olvera Street , and in 1971 approached Siqueiros for a new mural derived from the original. According to the California Ethnic and

Multicultural Archives (CEMA), he agreed but the plan was thwarted by the artists death in 1974. His last mural in Los Angeles , Portrait of Mexico Today, 1932, was restored and moved to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California with Goldmans advice and assistance. Goldman has published and lectured in Europe, Latin America and the United States and led several delegations to Cuba to attend their Art Biennials. In 1994 she became a Research Associate with the Latin American Center at UCLA and taught art history there. Goldman is also Professor Emeritus from Santa Ana College , Santa Ana , CA . In February 1992, she received the College Art Association's (CAA) Frank Jewett Mather Award for distinction in art criticism and, in February 1993, an award from the Women's Caucus for Art for outstanding achievement in the visual arts. She was elected to the board of the CAA, 1995-1999. In 1996 she received the Historian of the Lions award from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. The Shifra Goldman Papers, including her slides, books, and videos are part of the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA) at the University of California , Santa Barbara . Her extensive Chicano poster and print collection is at the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles . She will be remembered for her important contributions to Latin American Art scholarship and for her seminal work in Chicano/a Art History and support of the Chicano/a art community. Professor Goldman is survived by her son Eric Garcia, daughter-in-law Trisha Dexter, and grandson Ian of Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Avenue 50 Studio [www.avenue50studio.com], Center for the Study of Political Graphics http://www.politicalgraphics.org/ and/or Tropico de Nopal http://www.tropicodenopal.com/ . The date and location of an October memorial will be on all of the above websites. Sent by Kathy Gallegos http://www.avenue50studio.com Mercy Bautista-Olvera scarlett_mbo@yahoo.com and Sister Mary Sevilla msevilla@ca.rr.com RELATED: A wider sense of history: the pioneering work of Shifra Goldman Q&A with Shifra M. Goldman Getting at heart of Mexican art

Jos Crdenas, pioneering educator for Latinos, dies

By Elaine Ayala eayala@express-news.net Monday, September 19, 2011

Jos A. Crdenas, a nationally recognized teacher, researcher and pioneer in the field of education for U.S. Latino children whose civil rights work zeroed in on educational justice and equity, has died. An authority in school finance reform and early-childhood, multicultural and bilingual education, Crdenas was found dead in his home Saturday, September 17. He was remembered for pioneering educational approaches and programs now considered standard, including his theory of incompatibilities. He pioneered the idea that children who are bilingual learned differently, longtime colleague Rosie Castro said. It was a novel idea that the education culture had never looked at and was well proven out later. In the '60s and '70s, it was very new. Crdenas, who was 80, suffered strokes in the past several years, son Dr. Michael Cardenas said, and never fully recovered. A Laredo native, Jos Crdenas started college at the University of Texas at Austin at 15. Described as brilliant, with a keen intellectual curiosity, UT named him a distinguished alumnus in 1997. The Jos Crdenas Early Childhood Center in the Edgewood Independent School District is named for him. He served as superintendent of Edgewood schools in the late 1960s and early '70s on the heels of student-led walkouts that brought to light unqualified teachers, deteriorating facilities and unequal educational opportunity for its poor, Mexican American students. He played a role in the landmark case brought by Edgewood parents against the state that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. He testified in, or consulted on, more than 70 education-related civil rights cases. We have lost a real champion, said Al Kauffman, former attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He was the leading Latino educator in the history of the United States. He was a man

of great vision, great courage and great action, said Mara Cuca Robledo Montecel, president and CEO of the Intercultural Development Research Association, a nationally known institution that produces research and develops curriculum and education theory. Crdenas founded IDRA in 1973. But his son remembered the man who came home after a long day's work. He always maintained that our first teachers are our parents, he said, holding back tears, and he was a very good teacher. Crdenas wrote several books on education, including Texas School Finance Reform An IDRA Perspective and My Spanish-Speaking Left Foot, and was IDRA's director emeritus at the time of his death. He was still actively engaging leaders in the field who continued to look to him for guidance. Dr. Crdenas' legacy is one that would have all of us focus on children to provide them the best, highest-quality education and to do so without regard for the language they speak, the side of town they come from or the color of their skin, Robledo Montecel said. Many of us throughout the country will remember him as a man who cared deeply about children, about education and about opportunities that education brings to young children. Crdenas earned a bachelor's degree at UT in 1950, a master's from Our Lady of the Lake University in 1955 and a doctorate, again from UT, in 1966. He was an incredible thinker, intellectual and strategist, said Castro, who taught in an early Crdenas-inspired program that put teachers on the road to Michigan, following children of migrant cherry pickers, so that they wouldn't fall behind. He was a real innovator. Crdenas also was remembered as a civil rights activist who challenged the status quo. He spoke his mind, and he was a role model for so many educators that followed, Castro said. His greatest contribution has been the huge number of young people who pursued their doctoral studies, said retired educator Bambi Crdenas, another longtime colleague. It's hard to imagine the progress that would not have been made without his undaunting pursuit of that goal. His contributions will be hard to match. She remembered Crdenas' visits to Edgewood school counselors in the

early '70s in which he directed them individually to stop ranking students and concentrate on getting them into college and finding scholarships for them to help our kids transition to college. The word transition' hadn't been used. His focus was to push the kids all the way to college, she said. Crdenas initiated schools within schools, creating smaller populations of students so none would fall through cracks, and forged early initiatives to get 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds into preschool. He even reached out to low-income Hispanic homes of children as young as 18 months. Bambi Cardenas said his Valued Youth Program, using older students with reading problems as tutors for young children, has gained tremendous acceptance all over the world. In terms of his integrity, su palabra era oro (his word was gold), said Aurelio Montemayor, a senior staff member at IDRA. He committed himself to educational justice for all children. His career was a straight line from there. Crdenas is survived by his wife, Laura Doreen Tobin Cardenas; two sons, Jos Angel Crdenas Jr. and Dr. Michael Crdenas; two daughters, Christine Crdenas Boehme and Laura Crdenas Schwarz; and eight grandchildren. Services are pending.In lieu of flowers, contributions should be made to the Jos Angel Crdenas Valued Youth Stipend Fund, IDRA, 5815 Callaghan Road, Suite 101, San Antonio 78228. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Pioneeringeducator-for-Latinos-dies-2176871.php#ixzz1YTkQEloI

Tribute to a Fallen Hero

By: Tony "The Marine" Santiago
Sgt. Robert P. Lemiszki Jr.

R.I.P.

Last weekend, Ashley Lemiski sent me an e-mail with the extremely sad news that on September 16, my friend Sgt. Robert Lemiszki USMC passed away. He was not only my friend; he was in a way like a son. He was also a friend to all Hispanics. The incredible thing is that I never met him in person, I became friends with Robert through my writings in Wikipedia.. but before I continue I would like to tell you about him. Robert was born on April 13, 1985. His parents were Linda Bradford Lemiszki and Robert P. Lemiszki, Sr.. Robert was a Boy Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow. He graduated from Fonda Fultonville High School and like so many of our brave and honorable youth; he joined the armed forces to defend our country after it was so viciously attacked by terrorist. He joined the United States Marine Corps, one the factors which made our bond strong. Robert was deployed twice times to Iraq. His first deployment was from February 2994 September 2004 and his second was from July 2005 November 2009. He joined Wikipdeia and that is how we became friends. Robert was concerned about how the Hispanics were being treated and collaborated with me in many Hispanic related articles, including the Hispanic Medal of Honor series which I wrote for Somos Primos. An example of his concern can be found in a conversation which we had about Sgt. Rafael Peralta of which I am providing: I surely hope that they reconsider, it is obvious even to a mere corporal that this process was contaminated by politics. I read the article in this week's MCTimes , and I was surprised to read that a medical/forensic panel was used to help determine whether or not he was approved... Since when do awards, even the highest award, need anything other than eyewitness statements? I'm a bit confused too on another part: if the award was on President Bush's desk, then how did Secretary Gates reject it and lower it to a Navy Cross? I was hoping you might have some glimmer of an answer for me, but I understand if you are as frustrated as I am.

2009 pictured with Tony and his granddaughters, Isabel and Nina, with the flag and certificate which Robert sent.

In 2009, he sent me a gift; it was a flag which was flown over the 2nd MAW Headquarters in Iraq where he was stationed as the Maintenance Chief of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Fwd. I cherish that flag. That same year, my granddaughter Isabel and her 6th grade class adopted him in what I started as Adopt a Marine and sent him a package.

Our hero was awarded the Action Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with 1 Service Star, Navy Sea Service Deployment Medal with 2 Service Stars (3rd award), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Navy Unit Commendation. He married his sweetheart, Ashley and had a bright future ahead of him. However, after his discharge, like so many of our heroes, the traumas and stressful situations which he faced overseas took the better part of him. In my opinion, as a former Marine, I believe that our government should bare some of the blame for what happened to my friend Robert and many other veterans like him. Our young men and women in the military are under extreme situations and when they are discharged the government does little to help them. They are sent to combat in foreign lands where they are not appreciated by the majority of the locals and have to face the reality of seeing others die. The government spends thousands of dollars training our youth to kill, but when they are discharged from the military they are not placed in a process of debriefing which would allow them to face civilian life once more. Our government has spent over 60 billion dollars on the war and sends billions of taxpayers dollars to fuel the economies the governments of countries who hate us. Maybe if our government paid more attention to the needs of our men and women who suffer from PTSD and instead of misspending our

taxpayer dollars, create a debriefing programs before returning our heroes back to civilian life, Robert and others like him, would have been able to cope with the situations which they will face once they are discharged from the military. I dont know what happened nor what went through his mind that fateful day, I just know that he is no longer with us and that when I received the news I was beyond myself in grief. I will miss you Robert, I hope to see you in heaven someday where side by side we will guard the gates of heaven. Semper Fi, your friend Tony The Marine Santiago

Tribute to Victor H. Baez, Architect

Victor Henry Baez of Austin, Texas, passed away on October 5, 2010. Victor was born to Adolfo and Petra (Hernandez) Baez on August 1, 1945 in San Antonio. Victor was valedictorian of his graduating class at Burbank High School, after which he attended San Antonio College and the School of Architecture of the University of Texas at Austin, and pursued a successful career as an architect in Austin. Family Victor loved his family deeplyhis wife, Alex, and his three children, Rebecca, Peter, and John. That unconditional love extended to his siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins, and other family members. He truly loved his friends. Last but not least, he loved his precious beagle, Caty (Doncella Maria Catarina de Baez y Allardnamed for his great grandmother!), with all his heart. This about family -- comes from Victors son, Peter Baez: There isn't a single word more appropriate to describe my Dad other than Family. To Dad, family meant being a part of a Legacy . . . a Legacy of people who share the same compassion for the bonds, values, and humility which unites them no matter if they share the same bloodlines or not. Dad always went out of his way to make sure he was able to share the things he loved with the ones he loved. It didn't matter if he just met you or had known you his whole life, Dad was inviting, warm, and sincere to all. Dad admired his older brother, he was proud of his sisters, he was honored to be the son of Adolph and Petra Baez. Dad was a man of moral dignity and of principle, and with those traits, Dad led by example in everything he did. And the most important thing he did was be the leader of our family.

Family meant more to Dad than anything else. It was so important that he wanted to understand where he came from so that he could appreciate the sacrifices of his ancestors. Dad knew that a solid understanding of his ancestry would enable him to be even more proud of the family of which he was a part. Family History/Genealogy Early in 1994, Victor and Alex were having dinner at the old Christies Seafood Restaurant on Broadway in San Antonio. The discussion came around to the family, and Victors wish that his childrenRebecca, Peter, and Johnwould be able to learn more about their ancestry and heritage. That discussion lit a spark, and Baez family research began. In May of that year, Victor, Alex, Victors cousin Henry Baz, and Victors brother-in-law Alfred Trevio, made a trip to a town called Candela, located in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, on a clue about a great-great grandfather. Victor would never forget cousin Henry Baz, shouting across the square, Primo, primo! Come over here to the church!because Henry had just found the Baez name honored on a plaque on the front of the church. Years of historical research have brought to light that Victors family descends, through his great-grandmother, Catarina Ramon, from Spanish explorer and military leader, Diego Ramon, who was Comandante of the Presidio of San Juan Bautista (near present-day Piedras Negras) and was the third governor of Coahuila, in New Spain, from 1691 to 1698, and was the founder of Mission San Francisco Solano that later became The Alamo. All genealogical roads lead to Victors descent from the family of Simon Vaez Sevilla, international trade and silver mining entrepreneur and a leader of the Jewish community of Mexico City in the early 1600s. Also from this lineage, Victors fifth great-grandfather, Juan Lorenzo Baez, was mayor of the city of Monterrey from 1765-1766. Victors mothers family comes from the Tlascaltecan community of the city of Saltillo, and, ironically, his grandfather, Wilfredo Hernandez managed construction sites around the United States for Brown and Root Company in the early 1900sand was an expert onyou guessed itconcrete as a building material! Culinary Arts From Peter Baez: Dad put all the love and attention he had into each meal he would make. I'm not sure you would be able to take notes so that you could put together a recipe from what he made, because it was always a pinch here and most times it was throw the rest in . . . Dad never really used measuring tools . . . a little strange for an architect . . . but it didn't matter because it always turned out unique and Delicioso! If you were to ask about influences . . . Dad always would talk about how Grandma would make food and he adored her so much that he tried to emulate her cooking

and the comfort it brought him. Dad enjoyed barbequing in the back yard. You could always count on Dad having some Chili around (not your normal "hot" sauce). It was the kind in which taste was measured by how much your nose would run and your eyes would tear up. Not only was the food that Dad would cook unique in its creation . . . but it was made with Love and Pride, and Dad made sure you had enough of it. Alex remembers two barbecues where Victor received standing ovations for his barbecued brisket. Victor also loved building and carpentry, welding, gardening, drawing and sculpting. Architecture Along with his family, his true love was architecturedesigning and constructing buildings. With the support of his first mentor, Mr. Piepers of Burbank High School in San Antonio, Victor was able to begin to learn his craft. With the support of his second mentor, Dr. Alan Taniguchi, Dean of the School of Architecture at UT-Austin, Victor received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from UT in 1970, and was one of the first minority students to receive this degree from UT-Austin. During a sabbatical from university, Victor worked in Los Angeles, CA, for Ted Grenzbach and Associates, designing remodels for celebrities and professionals in the entertainment industry, including Cary Grant, Dinah Shore, Nancy Sinatra, James Coburn, Audrey Meadows, and the Henry Fondas, among others. One of Victors fondest memories was visiting with Cary Grant at his poolside, with his Scottish butler, Angus, serving tea and biscuits. Dinah Shore insisted on making Victor a ham sandwich, served with a glass of milk, on his first visit to her home. Ted Grenzbachs firm was remodeling Dinahs kitchen, and Victor had become the design firms liaison with the stars. After returning to Austin and completing his architectural degree in 1970, Victor joined Lundgren and Maurer Architects (1971-1974), worked as a partner with Lundgren & Baez (1974-1980), and founded Baez Architects, a design-build architectural firm, in 1980, where he worked until his retirement in 2004. To his credit, Victor designed over 275 hotels and completed construction on 150, worldwide, including the design concept of the round hotel high-rise for Lundgren & Maurer Architects adopted primarily by Holiday Inns worldwide. The Holiday Inn on Town Lake in Austin, Texas, the first round high-rise hotel in the world, was the prototype from which dozens of similar hotels were built, throughout the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world. In addition to his hotel designs, Victor designed and built numerous residences utilizing unique design modes such as the earth house, a stone

pyramid, California coast ranch-style, and traditional Spanish-Moorish designs. Churches, schools, convention centers, multi-unit dwellings, commercial businesses, banks, and public libraries, including the University Hills Branch Library and the original George Washington Carver Library in Austin completed his repertoire. Victor admired the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Mies Van Der Rohe, Corbusier, Kenzo Tanji, and Luis Barragn, and was a fan of Japanese brutal architectural design. He loved the properties and design possibilities of concrete as a building material. Victor believed that architecture should be organic and in keeping with the site, topography, and geography of the land on which the structure is built. Victors Faith Born into a Roman Catholic family, Mr. Baez practiced Judaism in the later years of his life, was strong in his faith, and he loved to read the Torah and loved to hear the Psalms of David read to him. He said he gained strength from lighting the Shabbat candles on Friday evening, and he kept the Sabbath sacred. He was proud to honor his faith and his Jewish family heritage in this way.

NATIONAL ISSUES
Spotlight on US Naturalization Trends Drug War Tidbits, Mad Maxstyle Narco Tanks Found Political correctness prevents Army from recognizing sedition Muslim students guilty of disrupting Jewish speaker

Spotlight on US Naturalization Trends Nearly 620,000 immigrants one-third from Mexico, India, the Philippines, and China became US citizens in 2010. MPI's Anne Nielsen and Jeanne Batalova take a detailed look at the latest naturalization

trends in the United States.

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?id=844 I invite readers to go to the site and WONDER as I do, who the other twothirds of the immigrants are . . . NO Arab countries are identified in this study. Are we to assume that the other two-thirds are from Arab countries??

DRUG WAR Tidbits MAD MAXSTYLE NARC O TANK S FOUN D Mexica n authorit ies say they have discove red more than 100 homemade narco-tanks in recent months, dubbed "Los Monstruos," or the Monsters, by the Mexican media. The military recntly discovered two more in a a Tamaulipas warehouse allegedly belonging to the Gulf Cartel. The tanks are covered in inch-thick steel plates and feature portholes for snipers. Soldiers found two other trucks as well as 23 powerful big-rig trucks that were apparently going to be armored. The vehicles can carry up to 20 people and are built to resist grenades and machine gun fire in battles with rival drug gangs. They can seemingly only be disabled using anti-tank weapons, according to the Mexican military. The ingenious homemade designs are reminiscent 'narco-subs' in Colombia, semisubmersibles built to carry loads of cocaine up the Pacific coast. Source: PODER magazine, Aug/Sept 2011, pg. 20.

Sheriff: Suspect tended opium Fort Bragg, CA: Authorities say the suspect in the fatal shooting of a city

councilman had been living for months in the woods, tending opium poppy plants. Mendocino County Sheriff's officials said 35-year Aaron Bassier was the sole tender of about 100 opium poppies. Bassler is suspected of shooting 69-year-old Fort Bragg City Councilman, Jere Melo. Melo was shot in a rugged area outside Fort Bragg while searching for marijuana farms. Melo was no armed. His friend had a weapon and returned fire before escaping on a train. OCRegister, 9/1/11 Drug cartels stymied by a crackdown in Mexico may have sent a quarterton shipment from China of methylamine hydrochloride, used in making the drug crystal meth, that was found at Los Angeles International Airport, a U.S., custom spokesman said. OCRegister, 9/2/11 Estimated 40-50,000 killed since the war on drugs started by President Calderon.

Political correctness prevents Army from recognizing sedition

By Retired Navy Adm. James A. Lyons, Commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations. The Washington Times, July 12, 2011

Today, the mind-numbing disease of political correctness has so infected the American military leadership that it is a threat in itself. The political correctness mentality was the principal reason why Fort Hood's alleged murderer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was not cashiered out of the Army after a shocking June 2007 PowerPoint presentation he gave as part of his psychiatric residency program. In that presentation, he reportedly warned his Army colleagues and supervisor at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center of "adverse events" that would occur if the Army did not accept the precepts of Islamic Shariah law and grant Muslims serving in the Army conscientious objector status.

He went on to describe what he meant by adverse events, citing previous cases of Muslims murdering their fellow soldiers, spying against the United States, deserting their units and refusing to deploy. None of his fellow doctors or his supervisor reported his remarks, most likely out of fear of being labeled a bigot or racist, which in today's military could end one's career. Now it seems the Army has embraced Maj. Hasan's position in an incredible decision made last month by the secretary of the Army to grant conscientious

objector status to Pfc. Naser Abdo. He is a 21-year-old soldier, a member of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., who refused to deploy to Afghanistan, claiming that Shariah law prevented him from killing other Muslims. The fact that Shariah law is totally incompatible with the U.S. Constitution and has no legal basis in the United States was somehow overlooked in the Army's decision process. Shariah is a totalitarian legal-military-political system that is designed to control every aspect of an individual's life and is antithetical to our concept of freedom and democracy. By its dictates, Shariah is seditious. By acceding to the dictates of Shariah, the Army has tacitly endorsed an absurd position that in effect sanctions Muslim service members to kill nonMuslims but forbids them to kill Muslims. Further, it is an unbelievable basis on which to classify them as conscientious objectors. When Pfc. Abdo enlisted, he stated he initially believed that he could be a soldier and a Muslim at the same time. What changed his vision? He stated that his understanding of Islam "changed" as he went through training ahead of a planned deployment to Afghanistan. He worried whether going to war was the right thing to do. This would indicate that someone in the Army training process for an overseas deployment in the 2009-10 time frame was indoctrinating Pfc. Abdo and other Muslim soldiers. Could it have been one of the Muslim chaplains personally selected by Abdurahman Alamoudi, who currently is serving a 23-year sentence in a federal prison? He was convicted of terrorism-related charges and was proved to be a senior al Qaeda financier as well as a strong supporter of the terrorists groups Hezbollah and Hamas. As a result of his close connections in the Clinton White House, Alamoudi had the lead role in establishing the Muslim chaplain program. He nominated and approved which Muslim chaplains could serve in the U.S. military. The chaplains have never been vetted. This, together with a review of how Muslim military personnel currently are being indoctrinated, needs to be examined on an expedited basis. Who helped the Army come to this inconceivable position on classifying Pfc. Abdo as a conscientious objector? My guess would be the Army received "guidance" from its Muslim "outreach partners," who it believes are operating in America's best interest. This would be classic stealth jihad at its finest. By granting conscientious objector status to Pfc. Abdo, the Army is tacitly accepting a key tenet of the Islamic doctrine of jihad, as embraced by al

Qaeda and other terrorists groups, which states that any incursion by nonMuslims into the Islamic lands makes it the duty for all Muslims to fight the "occupiers." This view is shared by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has challenged American efforts in Afghanistan as "unwelcome outsiders," in effect, occupiers. The U.S. military is the finest in the world. It represents the best of America. We have many Muslims serving honorably in the U.S. military and their service should not be tainted by Pfc. Abdo's conscientious objector designation. His discharge from the Army is currently on hold because he has been charged with possession of child pornography. That should not be surprising: Shariah sanctions marriage of girls 9 years old and younger, in effect, legalized pedophilia. Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, llcarranza@yahoo.com http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/12/disarmed-byshariah/print/

Sent by Odell Hardwell hirider@clear.net

Muslim students guilty of disrupting Jewish speaker Amy Taxin - Associated Press Writer
9/23/2011

SANTA ANA, CA - Jurors found 10 Muslim students guilty Friday of disrupting a lecture by the Israeli ambassador at a California university in a case that stoked a spirited debate about free speech. Jurors delivered the verdicts in Orange County Superior Court in the case involving a speech by Ambassador Michael Oren in February 2010 at the University of California, Irvine. The students were also convicted of conspiring to disrupt Oren's speech. They were charged with misdemeanor counts after standing up, one by one, and shouting prepared statements at Oren such as "propagating murder is not an expression of free speech."

About 150 people, including relatives and supporters of the students and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, attended the verdict.

Some community members gasped and started crying when the verdict was read and about a dozen of them walked out. The students showed little reaction but later huddled with their attorneys and shared hugs with family and friends. Shakeel Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California said he was shocked. "This is yet another reaffirmation that Islamophobia is intensely and extensively alive and thriving in Orange County," he said. "I believe this will be used as precedent now to suppress speech and dissent throughout the country. This is the beginning of the death of democracy." Prosecutors said the students broke the law by interrupting Oren's speech on U.S.-Israel relations and cutting short the program, despite calls to behave from campus officials. Defense attorneys argued the students had a right to protest. Nearly 200 people packed the courtroom to hear closing arguments at the trial that some community members called a waste of taxpayers' money and an effort to single out the defendants because they are Muslim. Prosecutor Dan Wagner told jurors the students acted as censors to block the free flow of ideas and infringed upon the rights of 700 people who had gone to the Irvine campus to hear Oren. Wagner showed video footage of university officials pleading with students to behave, but they kept interrupting the lecture. Wagner also showed emails sent among members of UC Irvine's Muslim Student Union planning the disruption and calculating who was willing to get arrested. Defense attorneys countered there were no hard rules for the speech, and the students might have been discourteous but didn't break the law. Lawyer Reem Salahi, who represents two of the defendants, said the demonstration was modeled after a series of protests at UC Irvine and elsewhere in which students shouted at lecturers but weren't arrested. She said the students never intended to halt Oren's speech entirely but wanted to express their views on the Israeli government's actions in Gaza. During the case, attorneys showed dueling pie charts breaking down how much time the students demonstrated, how long their supporters cheered and how much time Oren spoke. The evidence was intended to show whether the meeting suffered a significant disruption. Attorneys for the students -- who attended UC Irvine and nearby University of California, Riverside -- argued before the trial that charges should never have been filed and that the issue was already handled on campus. In 2010, the students were cited, released and disciplined at UC Irvine, which revoked the Muslim Student Union's charter for a quarter and placed it

on two years of probation. Earlier this year, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas filed criminal charges against 11 students, prompting an outcry from the American Civil Liberties Union and a host of Jewish, Muslim and campus groups. Charges against one defendant later were dropped.

Editor: This is an extremely important free speech case. I have been watching the progress of this incident from the day of the event, shocked with the obvious organized effort to not allow Oren to speak. It was worrisome because the original taping of the event showed the action of the students, like bullets, one right after the other shouting down Oren's attempt to speak. Some even had little slips of paper that they were reading off of. A later edition of the taping mounted by a local newspaper had edited the tape, slowing down the timing of the student's interference. It suggested that the newspaper was in support of the student's and the editing was done in an effort to shape public attitude before action was taken by the District Attorney. The Muslim students use for their legal argument our free speech laws, to take away Ambassador Michael Oren free speech rights. The disturbing aspect of this case is that the students and their supporter do not seem to grasp the principle of free speech. Free speech applies to everyone's right to express their thoughts, not just what they want to hear. It is not their right to censor the free speech of others by their disruptive, mob behavior. I am grateful to a District Attorney for taking action and a jury of Americans citizens who understand the principles of American free speech. Very comforting that America's free speech has been saved in Orange County.

ACTION ITEM

The City of Anaheim Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation

Photo Lft to Rt: Back row: Charles Sadler, Robert Ponce, Chuck Sadler. Front: Yvonne Gonzalez Duncan, Letty Rodella, Viola Sadler and Carmen Meraz. Yvonne is representing LULAC, Anaheim.

The rest of us are from the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). All of us are residents of Anaheim, CA. Coordinated by SHHAR Board member, Viola Sadler was joined by other Board members and LULAC of Anaheim to request a proclamation from the city. Below is Viola's speech in acceptance of the proclamation.

Dear Ones, Thank you so much for all your kind words. I have heard from several of you. I have posted the pictures of our Anaheim group and of the proclamation on my Facebook page. I think the link below will get you there. I also wrote to Eddie Martinez to let him know that the inspiration for my speech was his work on "Latino Blood, American Hearts." I still have that poster here. Eddie deserves the kudos for doing all the research on the military history. Thanks for your support, especially those who were with me in front of the city council. It was a great night. Viola https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a. 1996322308330.2100199.1251649623&l=3 b534b8a6f&type=1 Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 Viola, Congratulations and a Million thanks for giving such a wonderful speech on behalf of all Americans of Hispanic decent. I was very proud to stand behind you this evening at the Anaheim City Council as you received the Proclamation. Your speech about the contributions that Hispanics have made during all our wars was very uplifting. You reminded the audience of the patriotism that we Hispanics have for our country. A speech, such as yours, that comes from the heart and backed up with facts is a powerful

one. Please share it with others so that they too can enjoy it. Letty

City of Anaheim Issues Proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, City Council Members. Thank you for granting this proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month. My name is Viola Rodrguez Sadler. I have been a resident of Anaheim for 45 years. I asked for this proclamation in the name of two organizations: the Society for Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research, and for League of United Latin American Citizens, Council #2848 of Anaheim. With your permission, I would like to address a few words to you and to all who may hear my message: Some may ask: Why do we need to recognize Hispanics? Why cant they just assimilate? My answer is, I do believe we assimilate, but that does not exclude pride in our ancestry and celebration of our culture. Our ancestors have been in what is now the United States since before its birth. AMERICAN REVOLUTION: One of the more important figures to assist the Colonies struggle for independence was BERNARDO DE GALVEZ. He helped George Washington and the Revolutionary cause through diplomatic, financial and military exploits against the British in the Mississippi River Valley, the Gulf Coast, including Florida, Louisiana and in the Gulf of Mexico.

THE CIVIL WAR: We Hispanics were there, tooand on both sides. Recipients of the Medal of Honor for service in the Union Army were awarded to SGT JOSE DE CASTRO, US Army, from Boston, Massachusetts in 1863; SEAMAN JUAN ORTEGA, native of Spain, US Navy, 1864; and REGULAR SEAMAN FELIPE BAZAAR, native of Chile, in 1865. WORLD WAR I: We were there, too. During WWI the military discrimination against Hispanics was rampant. However, one Hispanic American soldier did receive the Medal of Honor. Private MARCELINO SERNA single-handedly captured 24 German soldiers in France. WORLD WAR II: So many Hispanics served gallantly, but for tonight I narrowed the list to one. PRIVATE GUY LUIS GABALDON, US Marine Corps. Born in East LA, Guy learned street Japanese. On July 8, 1944 Gabby captured 800 suicidal Japanese. Overall, he single-handedly brought in 1,500 Japanese soldiers and civilians in the island of Saipan. Saipan was the last major outpost for Japans colonial empire. KOREAN WAR: Yes, we were there, too. Nine Hispanics were awarded the Medal of Honor, and more than 100 others received Distinguished Service Crosses and Silver Stars for acts of combat bravery. VIETNAM WAR. We were there, too. Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez, Green Berets, suffered seven major gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel holes, and both arms had been slashed by a bayonet. Roy Benavidez's ordeal began at Loc Ninh, a Green Beret outpost near the Cambodian border. It was 1:30 p.m., May 2, 1968. He won the battle and lived. President Reagan noted when he awarded Benavidez the Medal of Honor, if the story of what Roy accomplished were made into a movie, no one would believe it really happened.

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: These wars are still raging as we stand here tonight, and sadly the list of our Hispanic heroes keeps growing because, yes, we Hispanics are there, too. I salute you, the City of Anaheim, I salute you for posting the Banners of Honor along Lincoln Av, not far from this chamber. I live in West Anaheim and often drive by the banners on Brookhurst Street, right by Brookhurst Junior High where the students can also view them. I feel sadness, but it is sadness mixed with pride, because I noticed some of the surnames of the honored include: GONZALEZ, ARIZMENDEZ, SANTIVANEZ, GODOY, MARTINEZ, PALMA, ARIAS, HURTADO, PENA, and the latest one, NORBERTO MENDEZ HERNANDEZ. In closing, again, we thank you for recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month. WE HONOR OUR GREAT HISPANIC ANCESTRY AND HERITAGE. WE CELEBRATE OUR WONDERFUL CULTURE. But, please, make no mistake of ever doubting our patriotism and love for this country, the United States of America. Thank you.

BUSINESS

Annual LATINA Style Business Seven Latino Fortune 500 CEOs

Latina Style Business Series Event By Lilian de la TorreJimenez September 2011 Volume 4 Issue 9

Pat Danel, Maria de Lourdes Sobrino, Robert Bard and Yobany Banks-McKay (photo: Bill Rich Photography)

More than 300 women business owners, mostly from Orange County, California gathered on August 10 at the Disneyland Hotel to participate in the annual LATINA Style Business Series. We are thrilled to have so many of you here today and want to thank our honorary co-chairs for all their help in making this such a successful event, said Robert Bard, President and CEO of LATINA Style Magazine, during the opening session. The honorary event co-chairs were NHBWA advisory board member and owner of Lulus Desserts, Maria de Lourdes Sobrino, NHBWA president and Area Sales Mananger at UPS, Yobany BanksMcKay and Businesswomen Martha Montoya and Betty Uribe.

Im honored to have received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and want to thank LATINA Style for making this recognition

possible, said Norah Briceo owner of Mil Jugos restaurant, who just expanded its location on 5th Street in Downtown Santa Ana. Briceos Venezuelan restaurant is a favorite of Dodgers players as well as Los Angeles Angels, where they cater frequently. Im so excited that many local businesswomen had the opportunity to learn from industry experts in various fields and to network. LATINA Style Business Series provided the platform for this gathering and we are excited to be part of it, said honorary co-chair Banks-McKay. We want to thank Robert Bard for his vision of bringing so many women together in this event that takes place in major cities of the United States. We are excited that the tour includes a stop in Anaheim, said honorary co-chair Sobrino. The Luncheon Awards Keynote Speaker was Sonia Marie De Leon de Vega, community leader and founder of Santa Cecilia Orchestra. The guest speaker was Azucena Maldonado, founder of Latina Golfers Association and the mistress of ceremonies was Telemundo Anchor Azalea Iiguez. The Business Series, unique to LATINA Style Magazine, is a well known development program empowering Latina entrepreneurs since 1998. Some of the event sponsors included Macy's, Inc., Hyatt Hotel & Resorts, Verizon, Wyndham Worldwide, PepsiCo, Inc., Comerica Bank, UPS, State Farm Insurance, Sodexo Health Care, Beauty Control, South West Airlines, and Teleflora. 2024 N. Broadway, Suite 100, Santa Ana, CA 92706 - 714-836-4042 http://nationalhbwa.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/September2011-News-Brief.pdf National Hispanic Business Women Association 2024 N. Broadway STE 100 Santa Ana, CA 92706 http://www.nationalhbwa.com/ 714.836.4042

Seven Latino Fortune 500 CEOs:

Antonio Perez, Eastman Kodak Co. Alain J.P. Belda, Alcoa Cristobal I. Conde, SunGard Data Systems Jos Maria Alapont, Federal-Mogul Fernando Aquirre, Chiquita Brands

Alvaro G. de Molina, GMAC William Perez, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

EDUCATION
People with False Cultural Identities Derived at School by Richard G. Santos Focusing on the Needs of Latino Students by Manuel HernandezCarmona Better Schools on the Cheap Go Back to School, You Might Qualify for a Grant Indiana vouchers prompt thousands to change schools Eighth-grade dropouts: part of a separate nation Lopez: Where Do We Go From Here? By Jos Antonio Lpez

PEOPLE WITH FALSE CULTURAL IDENTITIES DERIVED AT SCHOOL By Richard G. Santos richardgsantos@yahoo.com

Internet friend Mimi Lozano told me about Wanda Garcia becoming a monthly columnist for the Corpus Christi Caller. In return, I asked her to tell Ms. Garcia that she will rarely hear from people who agree or like what she writes but will frequently hear from people who disagree and do not like what she writes. My last two columns have been the opposite of what I wrote Ms. Garcia. In fact, people who enjoyed the columns outnumbered those who did not by an eight to one ratio. Those who disagreed did so due primarily for personal reasons or not understanding and not properly reading what I wrote. That is, that the mis-teaching of history, the

white and black perspective textbooks and the Black Legend have caused identity problems and in some cases inferiority complexes among some Tejanos and Mexican Americans in South Texas. Moreover, the articles were a direct result of four people I had met, interviewed and exchanged phone calls or email with the last 45 days. Allow me to give you two examples. Ms. M is a 52 year old Mexican American (third generation from Mexico) who can easily pass for a petite young lady in her early 30s. She takes pride that her three sons (in mid 20s to mid 30s) are usually thought to be her brothers. Although a San Antonio, Texas native, Ms. M currently lives outside the state and identifies herself as a Latina. Ms. M said she only dates (and trice married) Anglos and not Latinos and especially not Mexicans. According to her, Latinos are drug dealers, drug users, drunks, have beer bellies and beat their women. Anglos on the other hand, she said, treat their women like princesses. I asked if she had ever heard of Ted Bundy, Son of Sam, Gacy and other serial killers. She replied she was not and has never been interested in history. However, that is basically not true as she contacted me wanting to know something about her familys origin. All she knows is that her grand parents migrated from Mexico to a rural community in South Texas. Her parents moved to San Antonio and her mother was active in the Chicano movement of the 70s and 80s. Ms. M considers her mothers activist involvement to have been a waste of time and nonproductive. Moreover, she dislikes her hometown saying San Antonio has become a low life Mexican city. In fact, the only thing she seems to like about San Antonio are the wide variety of tacos that she cannot get where she lives. Notwithstanding Ms. Ms harsh look on life, we continue to be email long distance friends. I send her selected columns as I see this as peeling an onion one layer at a time. Mr. R who was the last of the four people I recently met, admitted he has an inferiority complex. He blames the gringos, my invader-American ancestors (meaning the Spanish colonists of Texas) and the U. S. Judicial system. He refers to me as his enemy and does not understand why I do not feel the same way about him. As he explained it, I am his enemy because my invader-ancestors killed his people and never recognized them as human beings. He erroneously states that both Spanish and U. S. law have declared the Native American as a non-American. He does not know history and hence the last two columns. When asked about his family background, Mr. R said he is a Coahuiltecan Indian. This is a problem as four of the five people I have met in San Antonio claiming to be Coahuiltecan are third to

fifth generation from Mexico. One told me his grand parents moved to the Alamo City from San Luis Potosi. I pointed out the major Native American culture is that area are the Huichols and not the South Texas Coahuiltecans. Two others revealed their grand parents were from central Tamaulipas. As for Mr. R, his grand father was a vaquero at the King Ranch and supposedly left it during the Great Depression of the 1920s. Without questioning the timeline contradictions, I asked where they had come from or moved to. He did not know their point of origin but did know the family lived in a ranch outside of Kingsville. I pointed out to him that IF his grand parents were indeed Native American of that area, they would have been either Karankara or Tamaulipecos but not Coahuiltecan. In many ways Mr. R reminds me of the hundreds of students and non-students I have met these last 40 years who have no idea as to the origin of their families but have concluded they do not want to be seen or considered as Mexican American, Chicanos or Mexican; all of which they consider negative. Hence I have met many who erroneously claim to be Coahuiltecan, Sephardic Jewish., and Canary Islanders (in regard to the founding families of San Antonio, Texas). I have even met wanna-be cousins/relatives who because their last name is Carvajal erroneously assume they are descendants of Nuevo Leon founder Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva or his nephew Luis Rodriguez de Matos, aka Luis de Carvajal el mozo (the younger). The wanna-be cousins react in disbelief when I point out that neither Luis had any children and that the Inquisition burned the last name (Carvajal y de la Cueva) at the stake with only the in-laws with different surnames having survived. This is like many in the Chicano Movement of the 70s and 80s moving Aztlan from the Mexican state of Nayarit to Colorado. And to make things more interesting, proclaimed all Chicanos to be of Aztec descent! On the other hand, is this any different from the Anglos who claim their grand mother was a Cherokee Indian princess? First of all, the Cherokees did not have kings, queens, princes or princesses. Second, why not an Arapaho, Delaware, Mohawk, Seminole, Pawnee, etc.? The answer is simple, based on what was and is taught at school, the person identifies with a culture considered to be more positive than their own family background. ZAVALA COUNTY SENTINEL . 14 15 September 2011

Focusing on the Needs of Latino Students: Parental Support by Manuel Hernandez-Carmona

mannyh32@yahoo.com Focusing on the needs of Latino students is imperative for educators, scholars and parents alike. On August 28th, we celebrated the 48th anniversary of one of the most powerful speeches of all time, the I Have a Dream Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincolns declaration about civil rights and slavery. As a result of Kings speech, America woke up from its hibernation and dared to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 elections. There are indeed power in words, speeches and declarations. Not withstanding the responsibility of Government and its role in education, there is scientifically based research that supports the importance of parental support in a childs education. Regardless of general trends in the academic underachievement of Latino children, there are disadvantaged children from low income families that academically surpass and succeed against all likelihood. Much of the success has to do with the positive influence of parental support. According to recent research, there is a strong relationship between the role of parental support and the academic achievement of Latino children. When we learned more about Sonia Sotomayors path to the United States Supreme Court Justice seat, we read about her mothers striving commitment to her education. Despite growing up in impoverished circumstances, the support of a single parent got her into an Ivy League school and a quality education. Second, the day to day verbal and non-verbal expressions of support are also essential in attaining academic achievement. One of Americas top educational advisor, Dr. Samuel Betances, grew up in extreme social circumstances, but positive reinforcement reiterated by mentors awoke a spirit of achievement that encouraged him to undertake an academic journey and complete an education at Harvard during the unsettling years of the 1960s. Last, the nationwide mentorship programs established in the 1990s by Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch have also been crucial in the education of more than one million Latinos. These three strategies have already been proven beyond any reasonable doubt to be successful in cities across America. Although the Latino population is diverse and unique regarding its demographics, it is important that we Latino leaders go beyond our micro influence to create and construct national strategies which can serve as springboards for specific and concrete necessities depicted in school districts. When one or both of the parents are absent, identity, pride and culture take a setback in the scale of values of a child. As a consequence, the academic interests of Latino students lag and

fall into an abyss. Just like Sotomayor, Betances and Castillo were able to reach within and transform their personal experiences in gateways of success, we Latino leaders of the 21st century must work together to make a difference for future generations of Latinos. While some were blessed to receive the parental support needed, others may need strategies to have the opportunities that all of our children deserve. Although there are many that will achieve inspite of their upbringings, let us focus on helping those who will become a mirror of assessments for the already disturbing statistics. Enough said, this is the time to organize and coordinate a national Latino conference to specifically design an agenda on Latino parental support. Lets do it! (The author is an English Staff Development Specialist for the Department of Education, an associate at Souder, Betances and Associates and a professor at the University of Phoenix, Puerto Rico Campus.

BETTER SCHOOLS ON THE CHEAP

This doesnt look like a ghetto anymore The demographics at Sparks Middle School, La Puente havent changed for years:

The student body of 500 is poor and Latino. Many parents work in minimum-wage jobs and live in apartments that are federally subsidized. Criminal street gangs operate in the neighborhood, but the school has shed its reputation for tough kids. Its tough in academics now. Sparks algebra scores today are the highest in the district. In the 2009-2010 school year, 64 percent of Sparks students were proficient or advanced in algebra, compared to 34 percent of all students statewide. Seventy percent of Sparks eighthgraders were proficient in science, compared to 54 percent statewide.

A number of students are not yet fluent in English, and the school lags in reading. But there is progress on all fronts, not all of them purely academic. The grounds are newly landscaped and the students raised funds to buy umbrellas for the lunch patio. This doesnt look like a ghetto anymore, a student told Franson. Sparks scored 807 points out of 1,000 on Californias Academic Performance Index during the 2009-2010 school year, making it No. 1 on the list of the states 100 middle

schools serving low-income minority children. Last year, Sparks officials conducted 10 tours for visitors from other districts who wanted to learn the secret of their success. http://www.miller-mccune.com/magazine/2471/ http://www.miller-mccune.com/education/teacher-collaboration-givesschools-better-results-34270/

http://degrees.classesusa.com/schools/30300-page1.cusa

Indiana vouchers prompt thousands to change schools

Associated Press, 8/29/2011

SOUTH BEND, IN - Weeks after Indiana began the nation's broadest school voucher program, thousands of students have transferred from public to private schools, causing a spike in enrollment at some Catholic institutions that were recently on the brink of closing for lack of pupils.

It's a scenario public school advocates have long feared: Students fleeing local districts in large numbers, taking with them vital tax dollars that often end up at parochial schools. Opponents say that violates separation of church and state. Supporters respond that parents, not government, decide where the vouchers will be spent. Under a law signed in May by Governor Mitch Daniels, more than 3,200 Indiana students are receiving vouchers to attend private schools, and nearly 70 percent of them are switching to Catholic schools. Sent by Odell Hardwell hirider@clear.net

Eighth-grade dropouts: part of a separate nation

" Let us concede that we have decided to let our children grow up in two separate nations and lead two separate kinds of lives. If, on the other hand, we have the courage to rise to this challenge to name what's happening within our inner-city schools, then we also need the courage to be activist and go out and fight like hell to change it." -Jonathan Kozol, author: "Savage Inequalities"

For the first time ever, a new state tracking system sheds light on one of the root problems contributing to the high dropout rate in California among Latinos, African-Americans and English learners. This documentation reports that 3.5 percent of the state's eight-graders, or over 17 thousand students, drop out of school each year and don't return for the ninth grade. In

a 10-year period, this results in about 100,000 14-year olds being discarded onto the streets. This is the loss of a whole generation of young people who are our most valuable resouce. This damage inflicted on children's lives is a vital moral issue that necessitates having the political will to wage a political struggle that is led by a broad coaliton of community and civil rights organizations, school districts, and unions, who put aside their narrow differences and adult interests, and by doing so, place the educational well-being of these children and their futures in focus as the unifying and strategic goal to be achieved. Continue reading... Source: LatinoPOV.com

Where Do We Go From Here? By Jos Antonio Lpez Rio Grande Guardian Sunday, August 28, 2011

SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 28 - The encouraging response to my last article 12 Things we must all know about Texas reveals an increasing thirst for knowledge regarding the lost pages of our states early history.

Two issues in particular caught the discerning eye of various readers. (l) They were pleasantly surprised to see the 1836 Battles of the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto in a new light, since they are clearly a chapter in Mexicos history, not the U.S. (2) Similarly, many Hispanics had never stopped to realize that the lamo and La Bahia Presidio have long been marketed primarily as post-1836 Texas Anglo Saxon history tourist sites, when in reality they rightfully belong in their own Spanish Mexican pioneer history in Texas.

Likewise, a chorus of support endorsed my closing comments that speaking Spanish and practicing our unique heritage in Texas must no longer be seen as sins of U.S. citizenship. However, where do we go from here?

Sadly, we live in an era where mere rediscovery of our ancestors history may not be enough to preserve it. Ignorance feeds intolerance, while knowledge feeds understanding. Driven by ignorance, extremist right-wing politicians continue to use illegal immigration as a whip to punish the entire Spanish Mexican heritage. Ironically, they enact reckless anti-Hispanic bills at the same time that Hispanics are poised to again become the majority in Texas. So, Spanish Mexican-descent citizens in Texas find themselves still playing defense. Still, the dark cloud of bigotry may have a silver lining. As sometimes happens in history, the unjust persecution of vulnerable people often backfires, resulting in strengthening the targeted group. In writing Texas history articles, my goal has been to convince others that theres a direct connection between pride in ones history and level of education. My focus has centered on the dilemma of Texas Hispanics and education. It is a well-known fact that Spanish-surnamed students rank at the lowest level of the education ladder. Why is that so? A major reason may be that for over 150 years, Spanish Mexican-descent citizens have been treated as foreigners in their own homeland. How can we turn things around? I believe that the answer is to use early Texas history as a teaching tool. That brings me to the purpose of this paper. There is evidence that pride in ones history does matter. For example, the Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin recently hosted a genealogy/history workshop that attracted an overflowing attendance of Hispanic citizens who for the first time want to learn about their ancestors. There is more proof. Recently, young Evelyn Jurez, a student at Carlos F. Vigil Middle School, Santa Cruz, New Mexico, won the first-ever Spanish National Spelling Bee. How symbolic that Evelyn lives in Nuevo Mxico, a region named and settled in the 1500s by Spanish Mexican pioneers that is much older than the U.S. itself. Increasing the knowledge of history and raising the level of Hispanics education are very compatible ideas. Hispanic kids are just as intelligent as any other group. However, as they gain in numbers in our schools, their level of education continues to stagnate at the bottom of the scale. The only way to fix that is to commit ourselves to improving their chances to succeed. The question is: Are Spanish-surnamed Texans prepared to assume leadership positions? The answer is yes if we adopt a 2020 vision. That is, by the year 2020 or earlier, every Hispanic student will be expected to complete high school and enter and graduate from a four-year college. Are they up to the challenge? Yes. Below is a plan to make it happen. To Hispanic students in elementary through high school grade levels: You need to understand that you are the main characters in the story. Being a winner depends on three things: high self-esteem, confidence, and hard

work. Focus on this success recipe and you will have a dependable lifeline for the rest of your lives. To Parents, Teachers, and Professors of Hispanic Students: Yours are important roles, too. Hispanic youth of today deserve a better tomorrow where earning a college degree is the rule, not the exception. It is within your power to forge a new Texas Hispanic. It wont be easy, given the antiEducation and anti-Hispanic climate created by several state legislatures, including Texas. Working together, you can stop the damage that high school drop-out rates, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, gang membership, and other risky behaviors do to our youth. Parents, your ancestors left you a sense of pioneer spirit. Tap into it! Relearn the virtue of sacrifice! Have courage! Secure the three ropes of hope for your children: (l) Build up their self-esteem by reminding them of their rich heritage. (2) Demonstrate a can-do attitude so your children will attain confidence. (3) Lead by example so that they can see that hard work pays off. Instill in your children the value and power of education, self-discipline, and an unrestrained level of aspiration. Encourage your children to be enthusiastic about going to school to learn. No matter what it takes, your children must stay in school and participate in wholesome activities. Insist that they learn English well, but not at the expense of maintaining Spanish fluency. Heritage and language go together. Dont be intimidated by certain monolingual Anglos who not only envy your ability to converse in two languages, but they seek to destroy your Hispanic heritage in Texas. Many adult Hispanics today regret their parents didnt emphasize the importance of speaking Spanish. Do not make the same mistake. Do your civic duties. Join the PTA. Hold politicians and school officials accountable. Vote! To the many successful Spanish Mexican-descent citizens across the country: You have made it in mainstream society, so consider helping those who need a hand to reach their potential. Be a mentor in science, math, and computer science. Help anyway you can, but get involved! Positive change in student behavior will emerge only if you are there to encourage their performance. Support teachers. Tell politicians and elected officials to stop bullying teachers every year during budget debates. Their conduct only hurts students in the classroom. To historians: Do the right thing for the right reasons. First, Texas history does not start in 1836. Second, treat our intrepid Spanish Mexican ancestors with the same level of dignity and respect that Anglos in Texas have enjoyed since 1836. Likewise, its time that you advocate their individual stories as examples of American Exceptionalism. The long-overdue Tejano Monument is showing the way. It is your job to continue the message in history books.

To all college students, especially history majors: You have two roles. One is that you educate others about the importance of early Texas history. You dont have to be Hispanic to do so. The second role is that you will consider doing your Masters Theses and Doctoral dissertations in the fascinating topic of Spanish Mexican heritage. For Hispanics, write your family stories down. Hopefully, your efforts will result in additional Tejano history books. Thats the best way to fill the Texas history sections of our libraries and book stores. Finally, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic citizens agree. Pre-1836 people and events are basic in the telling of Texas history. A sense of a strong Spanish Mexican pioneer identity is the only key that has not been tried to unlock a long-lasting mystery. What keeps Hispanic students from success? Most everything else has been tried. It is time to use the right key to help them escape the cycle of despair that Hispanic families have endured for generations. To that end, we need to fix the problem from the ground up. For example, Spanish Mexican historic buildings must be admired for their strength, beauty and creativity of their Spanish Mexican builders. The lamo and La Bahia Presidio must no longer be promoted only because armed Anglo expatriates from the U.S. died there. Nowhere else in history has one ethnic group robbed another groups heritage to embellish their own. Yet, that is what has been done in Texas. Once and for all, we must end this incongruous charade that has been allowed to exist in Texas for over 150 years. It is time for the fair and balanced telling of mainstream Texas history. After all, Texas is in New Spain, not New England. Paraphrasing the words of Attorney Gus Garcia in his address to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954, We didnt cross the Rio Grande, the Rio Grande crossed us. Sam Houston was one of the original illegal aliens in Texas. Spanish Mexicans didnt invade the Southwest, we were already here and came with the real estate. We are still here! Jos Antonio (Joe) Lpez was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and is a USAF Veteran. He now lives in Universal City, Texas. He is the author of two books: The Last Knight (Don Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Uribe, A Texas Hero), and Nights of Wailing, Days of Pain (Life in 1920s South Texas). Lopez is also the founder of the Tejano Learning Center, LLC, and www.tejanosunidos.org, a Web site dedicated to Spanish Mexican people. Sent by Eddie Martinez e.martinez1512@gmail.com and Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu and Sara Duenas Flores

sara36g64@yahoo.com

CULTURE
Series of 7 Recommended websites: A List of the Top Latino Endearments by Sara Ines Calderon Dos Pocitos Is A Play About Identity, Pride And More Mexican Novelas are Fun but Reinforce Negative Stereotypes Prez, Famous Comic Book Artist by Efrain Nieves & Victoria Cepeda

Una comunidad con el gusto de la cultura. Newsletter 2011-09-08 www.ComunidadCultural.com / SQRO Edicin para los usuarios de Santiago de Quertaro, Quertaro, Mxico newsletter@comunidadcultural.com DFW International Community Alliance from Dallas has mounted a Latino Cultural Events Calendar president@dfwinternational.org Multicultural Childrens Performer DARIA offers some fun musical ways to celebrate the diverse Hispanic and Latin American cultures through some fun and easy homemade musical instruments. Check them out here: http://wp.me/p1gB0a-1S or on her monthly free song page: http://www.dariamusic.com/monthly_song.php . Just sign up for Darias monthly e-newsletter for a chance to win the maracas. Friends, The following beautiful and inspiring video Valor Latino just came out from the cultural organization Los Cenzontles in San Pablo, CA. Valor Latino http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdba7x1q6QY&feature=share Sent by Gus Chavez guschavez2000@yahoo.com La Llorona, Take the time to enjoy the paintings of numerous artists with a musical background of La Llorona https://www.facebook.com/historiadereynosa Sent by Tom Saenz saenztomas@sbcglobal.net

Watched a Nopal festival in Baldwin Park, CA and more on NewsTaco.com News Taco interviews Arizona State Rep. Rubn Gallegos at the NALEO Conference recently. He spoke about his district, his personal experiences as a Latino in Arizona, and the future of politics for Latinos in that state. Arizona State Rep. Ruben Ga... http://www.youtube.com/user/newstaco/ Ana-Alicia Garza http://youtu.be/JYj8zvUA2PI

A List of the Top Latino Endearments by Sara Ines Calderon

Latinos love nicknames, especially endearing ones, but I have to admit its probably due largely in part to the fact that Spanish is a language very amenable to nicknames. At least, a little bit more than English is. If your family or childhood was anything like mine, you grew up being called all kinds of things that werent your name, principally mijo or mija, probably. But there is so much more to Spanish endearments than just mijo/a, isnt there? We thought wed come up with a short list, let us know if we missed any! Thanks to Oscar Barajas for helping with this list. 1. Gordo/a or Flaco/a. Ive certainly struggled in vain for years to explain to non-Latino, non-Spanish speakers why calling someone gordo or flaco isnt necessarily a compliment or an insult. It just depends! 2. Viejo/a. Same goes here. Calling someone old isnt necessarily either factual or insulting, but rather, just what you say! 3. Mijo/a. Everyone has been called this by parents, siblings, friends, strangers, relatives, enemies, just about anyone. 4. Mis Ojos, Mi Corazn, Mi Alma. Theres the whole body parts things going on, as in, you are an essential part of my life. 5. Cario/a. This one is kind of self-explanatory. 6. Chiquito/a. As with being old, being small is need not be a fact, but rather is just one way to endear yourself to someone you care about. 7. Azcar, Miel, Dulce. Because people love sweets, and they might even love you as much as their pan dulce. 8. Gero/a, Prieto/a, Indio/a. In my life gera has practically been my nickname, but being called gera/o is definitely a matter of context. Ive seen people ironically called one name or the other. Using these names can be a hilarious joke, a fact or just another way

to say you love someone. Weve written before about apodos, or nicknames, and how important these are to your life culturally speaking, so which endearments did we miss? http://www.newstaco.com/2011/08/09/a-list-of-the-top-latino-endearments/ Follow Sara Ins Caldern on Twitter @SaraChicaD

Dos Pocitos Is A Play About Identity, Pride And More

By Chelsea McCullough, August 31, 2011 Posted in NewsTaco, a Latino Daily, edited by Sara Ines Calderon Its 2026 in a border town in Texas called Texaco. What was once South Texas has degenerated into an ungoverned, lawless territory where the only remaining residents include drug runners, fugitives, military and a few bunkered civilians. The first act of the play Dos Pocitos presents people with a perpetual state of longing for a land and a time to which they no longer belong. One particular exchange includes a poignant piece of prose Why do you stay? Because we kind of enjoy the misery. Like getting stung by a thousand angry bees, we live for the honey. Dos Pocitos is the kind of story that sticks with you. Days after seeing the performance, the plot lines, characters and pieces of the dialogue are still at the top of my mind. Its the story of the border, of displacement, of pride and identity.

And by the way its a comedy. Playwright Raul Garza, Teatro Vivo, cast and crew come together to present Dos Pocitos at the Salvage Vanguard Theater in Austin, Texas, running August 18-September 3. Although the story and the performances take place in Texas, this is a highly relevant story that must be told, retold and remembered. Its about the unique Latino experience, the cultural shifts and the forces that create the resulting changes, both good and bad. There is a colorful cast of characters with each one reminiscent of someone you once knew. Theory and truth are revealed through humor and metaphor and a brilliant barrage of Spanglish. The constant intersection of aggression and innocence keep the dialogue fresh and light while still underpinning the most serious topics of our time. If there is one thing to take from the experience of Dos Pocitos it is this: Dont believe the story is just what you can see. There is so much more If you are in Central Texas, you need to see this performance. If you are elsewhere, contact Raul Garza to talk about how you can bring the performance to your town or support filming. Learn more at Dospocitos.com

Christopher Perez

Born in 1956, Christopher P of Science degree from the California, Irvine. He work and white print technician in California before moving on as a software design enginee photography began early in grandfather shared the nearmaking in a small makeshif garage.

Chris currently works as a software engineering manager in Portland, Oregon. He spends much of his free time expanding his knowledge and participation in the creation of photographic arts. Statement One day, about a decade ago, I was outside taking a break from work when I heard a strange whistle. A colleague nodded knowingly, smiled, and said Just wait until you see this! Up the railroad tracks not a couple hundred yards away roared a most wondrous sight. Belching, bellowing, steaming, thrumming and swaying it way north, drove SP 4449, a built in 1941 Southern Pacific streamlined steam locomotive. An artistic concept sprang instantly to mind and I knew a new photographic project was about to begin.A little research led me to a roundhouse, where three steam locomotives are worked. Everything required to keep these old beasts alive and running, is also housed there. The massive doors, the black painted metal, the dimly lit recesses, the complex surface details, the tall north facing windows, and the sheer scale of everything about the place has kept me coming back for nine years. Each time I return, I search for new ways of sharing, in image, the joy I have, that begun amongst these enormous metal dinosaurs. Over time, the original concept expanded to include other trains and railroad artifacts. Whether its the tracks just outside the roundhouse or early diesel electric locomotives resting quietly on a siding in Napa or Sonoma, California, my eye seems to be attracted to the way light moves and bounces off aging metal. Sent by Sergio Hernandez chiliverde@earthlink.net

Mexican Novelas are Fun but Reinforce Negative Stereotypes

By Wuicho Vargas

Mexico is awesome, I will never deny that fact, but one thing thats particularly Mexican to me is the fact that we like novelas. We love the awesome Mexican soap operas because they are our drug to avoid certain harsh realities they are also very entertaining. What I am really worried or against is the social class exploitation that gets portrayed on every novela. Televisa is the champion of novelas and they have somehow formulated an equation that guarantees certain success. Their novelas are always filled with passion, love, betrayal, money, rich, poor, mustaches, horses, haciendas amongst other very Mexican things. All of this sounds great because by all means every Mexican novela is a creative work therefore it should contain limit less probabilities. Here is a list of things you will find in novelas which portray class distinction at its best: 1. They will have a rich guy falling in love with the poor girl. 2. They will have a priest that is always nosing on everyones business. 3. This priest will be the link between the rich and poor. 4. The priest will have a kid, which will question the purity of the clergy, very cleverly. 5. The poor will speak very colorful and with a peculiar accent also known as chilango. 6. In novelas the people from Northern Mexico all wear a sombrero and have mustaches, people from the south of Mexico will have colorful clothes and sometimes, there has been cases, they resemble indigenous people. 7. The rich becomes poor and the poor becomes rich. 8. The poor are humble the rich are arrogant. 9. Real, authentic Mexicans will never be the heroes or protagonists. Instead they will have someone with colored eyes or even blondes. The more conventional Mexican image does not suffice in this equation: estar

chaparrito, morenito, no facial hair and brown. That only works if they are servants, ignorant, low class and without class. 10. La vecindad, or the apartment complex will be there with people celebrating every religious party and the religious side of Mexico gets exposed. Everyone in Mexico loves La Virgin de Guadalupe. There are more things that you could easily spot on every novela but since time and space are very limited I should continue with this. Novelas exploit and generalize every region of Mexico and diminish the real true Mexican image. When have you seen a morenito, and chaparrito as a protagonist? Those kinds of features are present on the majority of people in Mexico, they have a much greater tie to the roots of Mexico. Novelas do not show this. They will always portray Mexico filled with color-eyed dudes with dark hair. Even the poor guys in the novelas have these bonito features. We know this, oh yes we do. Maybe the influence of novelas has gotten so out of proportion in our Mexican culture that we have created an imaginary world filled with plastic trees. Most of the cultural growth revolves around novelas and the influence of Televisa. It is really annoying to see that the real Mexicans can only make it as servants and probably gardeners. Maybe, just maybe, Im getting too annoyed by this because I hate Televisa, television and other commercial crud that is fed to us Mexicans on a daily basis. Or just maybe, I really love Mexico and wished to see a more intelligent and informed individual who can distinguish between entertainment from plain absurd and hurtful cultural commercialization. After all of this nonsense let us hope some sense was made here. If I was morenito, chaparrito and watched novelas constantly, I would probably feel weird about my future. I would try to be some rich guys worker and hope that he has a daughter who would like me so I could fall in love with her and become rich. Also, I would get in contact with the priest who has a secret daughter from a secret passionate love with a rich girl whose love was not approved by his or her parents. Then, I would appreciate these novelas because they would have become true. Yes, I know novelas are fictional and untrue but, cmon. They are an exaggeration of our reality but these exaggerations have become astronomical in nature. Give me a real Mexican protagonist and instead of bonito covering Mexico. Let a Mexican with brown eyes and black hair be a hero for once. Help me believe that all Mexicans dont live in well-decorated apartments without having to work for a living, anything, but show me our awesome culture in a way thats just a little bit more real.

Wuicho Vargas is a writer who lives in McAllen, Texas. [Photo By dno1967b] Source NewsTaco http://www.newstaco.com/2011/09/07/mexican-novelas-arefun-but-reinforce-negative-stereotypes/

George Prez, Famous Comic Book Artist

By Efrain Nieves & Victoria Cepeda Illustrator/Penciller George Prez is one of those individuals whose name may or may not sound familiar at first but whose work has left an impregnable footprint in most of our minds. His contribution to comics and art illustration is nothing short of remarkable for a kid born in the Bronx back in 1954 to Puerto Rican parents. For those of us that have ever picked up a comic book back in the 70s, 80s and 90s have most likely come across Prezs work. From DC to Marvel comics, he has drawn and illustrated hundreds of issues. Let us name a few:
Justice League of America, (1980-82, 2006) Avengers his first prominent assignment ( 1975-80, 1998-200) Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-86) New Teen Titans (1980-85) Wonder Woman (1987-88, 2010) Superman ( 1980-83) Batman (1986) Flash (1980-81) Incredible Hulk (1992,1995) White Tiger comics first Puerto Rican superhero and Marvels first superhero of Latino descent.

Thanks to one of our favorite authors, James Hannon, for letting us know about this very talented Bronx native. We are proud of Prezs accomplishments and contributions to the world of comics. Certainly

his work has inspired many to follow in his footsteps. Palante! References:

DC Relaunch: George Prez To Write And Draw Superman http://marvel.wikia.com/George_Perez

Source: NewsTaco http://www.newstaco.com/2011/06/10/george-perezfamous-comic-book-artist/

LITERATURE
Spanish: A "Foreign" Language? by Frank Gmez Use Google Chrome for Translating Needs Go to: The Use of Subjunctive Mood in the language of Don Miguel de Cervantes (Part I)

Spanish: A "Foreign" Language?

By Frank Gmez (August 31, 2011) Guest Commentary in National Institute for Latino Policy

The respected Pew Hispanic Center in Washington recently released an exhaustive report on Hispanic media. Fine report, great data. The conclusion: "Hispanic media" are doing well - better than English language media in terms of revenues, circulation and number of media companies. However, in describing Spanish language media, the authors refer to Spanish as a "foreign" language. In sharing the report with a bilingual CubanAmerican communications professional I said I took issue with that. A series

of emails ensued, my friend challenging me at every turn. Spanish, I said, is not "foreign" because it is part of American society omnipresent, palpable, visible, felt daily in countless ways. I add here that the term "foreign language" is a vestige from decades past when anything not distinctly "American" was regarded as foreign. About 40 million people in the United States, excluding Puerto Rico, speak Spanish, making it not a "foreign" language but, yes, our "second language." Imagine! The report calls "foreign" a language used in television newscasts that beat the ratings of news broadcasts in English in several markets. My friend argued that English is the language of corporate boardrooms, courts and government. "True, but no matter," I countered. Corporations use Spanish outside the boardroom, courts provide Spanish language interpretation, and even the General Services Administration (GSA) has an office charged with the correct use of Spanish in federal agencies. In fact, I added, the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Espaola, ANLE) has an agreement with the GSAs GobiernoUSA, the Spanish language portal of the Federal Government, wherein GSA recognizes ANLE as the authority on Spanish language usage in the United States. GobiernoUSA helps federal agencies assure correct use of Spanish in their communications. Those agencies, moreover, have websites in Spanish, and most have call centers to handle inquiries from Spanish-speakers. ANLE also has a project to identify and describe what it calls "estadounidismos," or "United States-isms," terms used here that have become part of the Spanish of the United States. I highlight "of" because ANLE maintains that Spanish as spoken and written in the United States has its own norms, usage and meanings. The Royal Academy of the Spanish Language in Madrid (Real Academia de la Lengua Espaola, RAE) accepts "Chileanisms," "Mexicanisms" or "Colombianisms." So why not accept "estadounidismos (derived from estadounidense, the Spanish language term for Americans?" In 1979, I gave a speech titled "The Latinoization of the United States." I forecast that demographic, geopolitical and economic realities would make us a more Latino society. My prediction was prescient. English is a minority language in this hemisphere. Today, the Federal Government recognizes todays realities. Corporate America, steadily increasing its advertising in Spanish, also recognizes these realities.

Spanish, a foreign language? No way, Jos! The authors of the Pew report should get with the program. Spanish is undeniably the second language of the United States, around us all the time - everywhere. It permeates our society. Puh-leeze! It is not foreign at all! Frank Gmez, a retired career Foreign Service Officer, corporate executive and professor of translation, is a member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language, www.anle.us. He can be contacted at fobe14@yahoo.com. Sent by Rafael Ojeda rsnojeda@aol.com Source: Hispanic Link Weekly Link: Vol. 29 No. 16 Sept. 11, 2011

Spanish is a part of our lives as Latinos, but for many reasons, we dont all speak, read or write it very well. I would include myself in this category, but for the fact that I studied in Mexico for a school year when I was in college. Had it not been for that experience, my Spanish speaking would have been limited to present and preterite tenses, and my reading of Spanish would remain an arduous and almost painful task. Thats where Googles Internet browser, Chrome, steps in to save the day! http://www.google.com/chrome?brand=CHKZ Google Chrome can translate an entire web page for you, so that you can read in Spanish, even if you dont, well, read in Spanish. I use Google Chrome more often than not, Ive found that its faster than Firefox or Explorer, and its easier to get the translation. Source: Sara Ines Calderon http://www.newstaco.com/

BOOKS The Col. E. A. Montemayor Library

San Antonio, Texas By George Farias I had the privilege of enjoying a friendship with Ernesto over the years. I first contacted Ernesto in the 1980s through a newspaper article sent to me by a cousin. Ernesto was identified as one of four leaders in the field of Hispanic family history research. I was just getting started. During a trip to San Antonio, after dinner, I had the awesome experience of going through Ernesto and Stella's home and garage.

Every room in the house had book shelves, not surprising for a scholar and historian. . . but it was the garage that was overwhelming. From floor to ceiling, shelves filled every space. In the middle of the large garage were more shelves and tables. Filing cabinets, notebooks and drawers were filled with research. Little index cards were stored with handwritten notes. It was amazing. It is a treasure, born from the heart of a man healed by the knowledge of his ancestry. Mimi

Colonel Ernest A. Montemayor USAF-Ret. was one of the pioneers in America in Hispanic genealogical research, having engaged himself in this

specialty for over 60 years. He became interested in this field when virtually no one was aware of the history of the Hispanic pioneer families who colonized Mexico and the areas now part of the southwestern United States. Over the years Col. Montemayor has built what is perhaps the most extensive and comprehensive private library in Hispanic genealogy and history-in the United States and possibly the world- of the United States borderlands, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines. It is estimated that the collection contains over 15,000 volumes including collections of books journals, quarterlies, newsletters, compact discs, and other related materials. Col. Montemayor, in conjunction with Borderlands Book Store, Inc., a retailer specializing in these types of books for almost 20 years, estimated the value of the entire collection, including files to be at least $ 1,000,000, and because it would be virtually impossible to duplicate this library for this amount of money, as many of the books are rare and out of print. The time and effort to replace it with the cost of personnel, current purchase cost, and expenses would be prohibitive. In fact, because of the rarity of many of the books it simply could not be duplicated. A distinct advantage and intrinsic value is that the books are together in one place, here in San Antonio. Colonel Montemayor calculated that he spent at least $ 500,000 over a 60 year period in purchases, travel costs, and other expenses to build the library. He traveled extensively in Spain, Mexico and Central and South America and the U.S. borderlands where he acquired some of the rare items. In an article in Conexion Magazine, published by The San Antonio Express-News on September 15, 2005, (What's in a Name? We are), he estimated that he had over a billion items of information on Hispanic surnames. We are enclosing a listing some of the major collections and items within the library to provide an idea of its contents. The list is titled " Notable Random Selections, The Col. E.A. Montemayor Library, San Antonio, Texas."

1. Historia de Familias Cubanas, Vols. 1-9, El Conde de San Juan de Jaruco (Cuba). 2. Historia Genealogica de las Familias Mas Antiguas de Mexico, Vols. 1-3, Ricardo Ortega y Perez Gallardo ( Mexico). 3. Historia Biografica y Geografica de Mexico, Vols. 1-4, Diccionario

Porrua (Mexico). 4. Mayorazgos de la Nueva Espana, Fernandez de Recas ( Mexico). 5. Diccionario Geografico, Historico, y Biografico del Estado de Durango, Ing. Pastor Rouix (Mexico). 6. Los Vascos en America, Provincia de Jujuy, Jorge G.C Zenarrola (Argentina). 7. Archivo General de Simancas, Vols 1-XVI, Julian Diaz (Spain). 8. Catalogo de los Fondos Americanos del Archivo de Protocolos de Sevilla, Vols., 1-2, Institute Hispano-Cubano de Historia de Sevilla, (Spain and the New World). 9. El Solar Vasco-Navarro, Alberto y Arturo Garcia Carraffa, Vols. lXVI,(Basque Region-Spain). 10.Los Torres de Jaen en Mexico, Gonzalo Torres Martinez (Mexico). 11.McCullough's Geographical Dictionary, Vols. 1-4, F. Marin (U.S.). 12.El Solar Catalan, Valenciano y Balerico, Vols., 1-4 Alberto and Arturo Garcia Carraffa (Spain). 13. Hidalguia Collection from Spain,( Spain). 14. Los Fundadores de Bogota, Vols., 1-2 (Colombia). 15.PIeitos de Hidalguia, Multiple Volumes, Institute Salazar y Castro (Spain). 16.Diccionario Historico, Biografico del Peru, Vols., 1-15, Manuel de Mendiburu (Peru). 17. Diccionario Geografico, Estadistico de Historia de Espana y Sus Posesiones en Ultramar, Vols., 1-16, Pascual Madoz (Spain and the New World). 18. Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias, Vols. 1-8, Archivo General de Indias

(Spain and the new World) 19.Revista del Institute Cultural Puertorriqueno, Journal, Multiple Volumes (Puerto Rico). 20. Historia de la Noble Villa de Bilbao, T. Laurrari (Basque Region-Spain). 21. Diccionario Onomastico y Heraldico Vasco, Vols. 1-8, Jaime de Querexeta(Basque Region-Spain) 22. Documentos Ineditos Para la Historia de Colombia, Vols., 1-10, Juan Friede (Colombia).i 23. Memorias de la Academia Mexicana en la Historia, Multiple Volumes, Academia Mexicana de Genealogia ( Mexico). 24. Los Descendientes de Cristobal Colon, Obra Genealogica, Rafael Nieto y Corta Dellas(Spain and the New World) 25. Epistolario de la Nueva Espana, 1505-1818, Vols., 1-16, Francisco del Paso y Troncoso (Mexico). 26. Encyclopedia Universal llustrada-Espasa Calpe. (Spain and its Possessions). 27. Salas de los Hijosdalgo, Vols. 1-4, Alfredo Basanta de la Riva (Spain). 28. Tracing Your Philippine Ancestors, Lee W. Vance (Philippines). 29. Nobiliario de la Capitania General de Chile, Juan Luis Espejo (Chile). 30. La Condesa de Paro-Bazan y Sus Linajes, Dalmiro de la Valgoma y Diaz-Varela(Spain). 31. Nobiliario del la Antigua Veirreinato del Rio de la Plata, Vols. 1-3 Carlos Calvo (Argentina). 32.Diccionario Heraldico y Genealogico de Apellidos Espanoles y Americanos, 88 Volumes, Alberto anf Arturo Garcia Carrafa and the continuing volumes, titled Diccionario Hispanoamericano de Heraldica,

Onomastica y Genealogia by Endika, Irantzu and Garikoitz Mogobejo (Spain and the New World) 33.Los Archives Parroquiales de Sevilla, Francisco Morales Padron (Spain). 34. Archives Municipales de Sevilla, Vols. 1-2, Antonio Heredia Herrera (Spain). 35. Caballeros de la Orden de Santiago, Vols 1-4, Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent. (Spain). 36. Los Caballeros de Santiago, Vols 1-7, Don Jose Perez Balsura (Spain). 37. Catalogos de Consultas del Consejo de Aragon, Eugenic Sarrablo Aguareles (Spain). 38. Historia del Colegio Imperial de Madrid, Vols. 1-2, Jose Simon Diaz (Spain). 39. Expedientes, Orden de Carlos III, 1771-1847, Vols. 1-9, Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent (Spain). 40. Archivo General de la Nacion, Vols 1-16, Various Archives, Various Authors (Mexico). 41.Genealogia de la Inquisicion de Cordoba, Vols 1-11, Jose Antonio Marti'nez Bara( Spain). 42. Indice de los Expedientes Matrimoniales de Militares y Marinos, Vols 12, Enrique de Ocerin (Spain). 43. Ruiz Montoya en Indias 1608-1652, Vols. 1-4, Dr. don Francisco Jarque (New World). 44. Indice de Relaciones de Meritos y Servicios, Ramon Paz (Sapin and the New World) 45. Real Compania de Guardias Marinas y Colegio Naval, Vols 1-7, Dalmiro

de la Valcoma(Spain). 46. Armas y Triunfos de los Hjjos de Galicia, Vols l-2,Fr. Felipe de la Gandara (Spain). 47. La Provincia de Cuyo del Reino de Chile, Juan Luis Espejo (Chile). 48. Gufa de los Archivos de Madrid, don Francoisco Sintes y Obrador(Spain). 49. Diccionario Autobiografico de Conquistadores y Pobladores de Nueva Espana, Francisco Icaza ( New Spain-Mexico). 50. Escudos de Vizcaya, Vols 1-5, Javier de Ybarra y Berge (Basque Region-Spain). 51. Documentos Relativos a la Independencia de Norte Americana Existentes en Archivos Espanoles, Vols 1-9, Rosario Parra Cala (North America-Spain). 52. Diccionario Historico y Biografico de la Republica Argentina, Julios A. Muzzo (Argentina). 53. Nobiliario de Segovia, Vols 1-5, Jesus Larios Martin (Spain). 54. Cedulario de Canarias, Vols 1-3, Francisco Morales Padron (Canary Islands and Spain). 55.Diccionario Hist6rico-Geografico del Pais Vasco, Vols 1-3, Jose Martin de Retana (Basque Region-Spain). 56-Repetorio de Blasones de la Communidad Hispanica, Vols 1-4, Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent (Spain). 57.Nobiliario de Los Reinos y Senores de Espana, Vols 1-7, don Francisco Diferrer, (Spain). 58. Diccionario de la Historia de Espana, Vols. 1-3, German Blieberg

(Spain).

USA LATINO PATRIOTS

http://www.somosprimos.com/heritage.htm Include Soldado Olvidado in any military event, scroll down to videos. Find military records: http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/findcite.htm l Share Their Voices Medal of Honor Awarded posthumously to Corporal Roy Cisneros Sgt Juan J. Rodrguez-Chvez and Capt. Ademola D. Fabayo Receive the Navy Cross Web sites that identify and explain when these medals are awarded Search the Vietnam Wall by State

Latino soldiers Cebu, Phillipines, WW II

FIND military records: http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/findcite.html

NOTE: DEADLINE IS MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2012

Sent by Mercy Bautista Olvera

Medal of Honor Awarded posthumously for actions during the Vietnam War to Corporal Roy Cisneros
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Corporal Roy Cisneros (MCSN: 2341534), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Squad Leader with Company B, First Battalion, Third Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in the Republic of Vietnam on 11 September 1968. While conducting a reconnaissance in force, Company B came under intense small arms and automatic weapons fire from a North Vietnamese Army company occupying fortified positions on Hill 461 in Quang Tri Province. During the ensuing fire fight, Corporal Cisneros skillfully maneuvered his squad across the hazardous terrain and, directing the fire of his men with devastating accuracy, was instrumental in the destruction of three enemy bunkers. When his men were pinned down by a heavy volume of fire from a fourth emplacement, he boldly advanced and single-handedly attempted to destroy the enemy position. After firing a light antitank assault weapon into the bunker, he fearlessly hurled hand grenades at the defenders as he aggressively continued his assault. Disregarding his own safety, he commenced firing his rifle and was delivering effective fire upon the North Vietnamese emplacements, when he was mortally wounded by enemy fire. His resolute determination and intrepid fighting spirit inspired all who observed him and were instrumental in his unit accounting for 45 North Vietnamese soldiers confirmed killed. By his courage, aggressive leadership and selfless devotion to duty, Corporal Cisneros upheld the highest traditions of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. General Orders: Authority: Navy Department Board of Decorations and Medals http://militarytimes.com/citations-medalsawards/recipient.php?recipientid=4382 Sent by rvazquez@LARED-LATINA.COM Juan Marinez Rafael Ojeda

Sgt Juan J. RodrguezChvez and Capt. Ademola D. Fabayo Receive the Navy Cross
June 10: Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus presents the Navy Cross to Staff Sgt Juan J. Rodrguez-Chvez shortly after presenting the nation's second highest award for valor to Capt. Ademola D. Fabayo (left) during a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Photo Credit: Marines. Surrounded by more than 50 enemy fighters in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Juan J. Rodrguez-Chvez and Capt. Ademola D. Fabayo dodged machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades to heroically save their trapped fellow marines with little regard for their own lives. Both men were awarded the Navy Cross, the nation's second highest award for valor, during a ceremony a the National Museum of the Marine Corps on June 10 for their heroic actions on September 8, 2009. According to the Marines official website, Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8. Regional Corps Advisory Comman 3-7, and two platoons of Afghan National Security Forces were being led by then 1st Lt. Fabayo into Ganjgal Village for a pre-dawn

meeting with village elders. Rodrguez-Chvez waited nearby with part of the team's security group, ready to help his teammates if necessary. That's when all hell broke loose. Four members of the team were cut off as enemy fighters rained down on them with grenades and machine gun fire from fortified positions. With members of his team in danger Rodrguez-Chvez drove his gun truck into the kill-zone. He did this amidst heavy gun fire three times to provide cover for the withdrawal of forces and evacuate two dozen members of the Afghan National Security Forces. Soon enough, Fabayo, who had heroically been pushing forward into the kill zone on foot, met up with Rodrguez-Chvez and the both of them entered the kill-zone. Rodrguez-Chvez was at the wheel of the humvee as Fabayo manned the machine gun, together they used the vehicle to shield their teammates from enemy fire as they recovered their fallen friends. Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/community/2011/06/13/sgt-juan-j-rodriguez-chavezawarded-navy-cross/#ixzz1Y4j9yU3K http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/community/2011/06/13/sgt-juan-j-rodriguez-chavezawarded-navy-cross/#ixzz1Y4KGCJ17 Sent by Mercy Bautista-Olvera

Web sites that identify and explain when these medals are awarded and their position, and precedence to wear them. As we get ready for November 11 Veterans Days, It may be good for those that have relatives have that have been awarded these medals and for our children to recognize them when our men and women that are serving now come home Rafael Ojeda. Tacoma WA http://www.homeofheroes.com/medals/1_precedence.html http://www.homeofheroes.com/myhero/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_military http://www.enotes.com/topic/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_military

Search the Vietnam Wall by State . . . . This is really sobering. http://www.virtualwall.org/iStates.htm First click on a state. When it opens, scroll down to the city and the names will appear. Then click on their names. It should show you a picture of the person, or at least their bio and medals.

This really is an amazing web site. Someone spent a lot of time and effort to create it. I hope that everyone who receives this appreciates what those who served in Vietnam sacrificed for our country. The link below is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Vietnam war with the names, bio's and other information on our lost heroes. Those who remember that time frame, or perhaps lost friends or family can look them up on this site. Sent by Joan De Soto CasaSanMiguel@aol.com

EARLY LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS American Pioneers by Jos Antonio Lpez

American Pioneers by

On May 15, 1755, the pioneers had finally arrived at their destination. Many in the party had walked most of the approximately 50 miles from other settlements under the direction of Count Jos de Escandn, the person in command of pioneers in this part of America. Terrified by natives who watched their

Jos Antonio Lpez

every move, the settlers were relieved to end their journey. Captain Toms Snchez, one of Escandns subordinates and leader of this expedition, gave the signal. The small group made up of three different pioneer family units settled down in their new home.

Wait a minute, American pioneers, Jos de Escandn and Toms Snchez? Arent those Spanish names? Arent pioneers in the U.S. supposed to be white Anglo Saxon Protestants and Quakers from England? The answer is No. These pioneers were white Spanish Roman Catholic pioneers in New Spain. In truth, it was the descendants of these genuine pioneers who welcomed the first Anglo immigrants to their already well-established settlements as the Anglos migrated to Texas along El Camino Real beginning in the 1820s and the Southwest after 1848. Volumes have been written about the pioneers in the Thirteen Colonies that came from England. Beginning in elementary school, students in the U.S. are taught to hold pioneers in high esteem for their courage and determination to begin new lives in America. The fact is that the English pioneers were not the first to do so. Miles away to the west in New Spain America, including the U.S. Southwest, Spanish European pioneers had already established thriving communities. Sadly, the Spanish influence has been dismissed and virtually unreported in early U.S. history. For example, from their bases in Florida, Spanish explorers and missionaries were the first to explore nearly the entire East Coast. Such exploration led to the naming of a body of water in 1525 as Bahia de Santa Maria (now Chesapeake Bay) and a river as the Rio San Antonio, now called the Chesapeake River. It was the elusive Spanish Strait of Anin that the English referred to as the Northwest Passage. The Spanish were the first to contact the Algonquian tribe, so much a part of the English Colonies history. Spanish missionaries were the first to visit the Roanoke area in Virginia. The first European settlements in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Georgia were Spanish. Likewise, from their base in New Spain, in the early 1500s, Spanish explorers travelled throughout the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, and established the first European camps in present-day Washington State. By 1620, the year the Mayflower landed on the east coast, Santa Fe, New Mexico had already been established. In 1598, the First Thanksgiving Feast between Europeans and Native Americans occurred near San Elizario, Texas (then part of New Mexico). In 1564, Santa Barbara, Chihuahua was established. Monclova, Coahuila was settled in 1577. Why are these cities

in Mexico important in U.S. history? The answer is quite simple. The region was all part of New Spain (Mexico) populated by the same families. That is, the U.S. Mexico border was not the political boundary it is today. Residents throughout the vast area not only share the same bloodlines and heritage, but look identical on both sides of the now political boundary. The resultant separation of families has remained to the present day. For that very reason, the region is referred to as the Borderlands. It is that piece of evidence that perplexes and overwhelms many Anglos. They fail to understand that Spanish Mexican residents in the Southwest are not immigrants. Naturally, recent Hispanic immigrants have been organically drawn to these inviting cores of familiar Spanish Mexican culture. However, its important to note that these nuclei hubs have been there since the 1600s and 1700s. In short, the original inhabitants were already living there when the U.S. conquered over half of Mexicos sovereign territory in 1848, turning the border into a permanent Mason-Dixon Line. The truth is that western novels and especially movies have distorted and discounted the Spanish Mexican influence in U.S. history. As such, it is hard to find the role of Hispanics presented in a redeeming manner. That said, the Spanish European colonization of America may be a good start. For example, elementary school students know about John Smith, early Virginia Colonizer, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, and Peter Stuyvesant, the founder of New Amsterdam (New York). However, little is known about equal stature Spanish Mexican colonizers. One such colonizer was Don Jos de Escandn (1700-1770), a great explorer, soldier, and pioneer of the Lower Rio Grande (now South Texas). The leader of the Villas del Norte on the Lower Rio Grande earnestly deserves recognition in U.S. mainstream history books. He was a bright young military man who came to the attention of his superiors while on duty in Yucatan. He was sent to Queretaro, where he brilliantly quelled several Indian uprisings and explored the area, now Northern Mexico and South Texas. Escandns leadership showed quick results and the Crown rewarded the young administrator. He was named as the first governor of the new state of Nuevo Santander that stretched from the Rio Pnuco in Mexico to the Guadalupe River in present-day Texas. His planning skills allowed him to pacify recalcitrant natives in the area. As a permanent form of halting French incursions into Spanish territory, he established the largest and most complicated settlements up to the mid-1700s. He initially set up thirteen different communities, which grew to over 6,000 inhabitants in more than twenty towns. Most notably Laredo, Texas, founded by Don Toms

Snchez, is still a thriving Texas city. Significantly, with skills they brought from Central and Northern Mexico, Spanish Mexican pioneers first established the ranching and cowboy ways of life here and in sister Spanish communities near San Antonio and La Bahia (Goliad). Many modern-day Spanish Mexican descendants around the world trace their family roots to these early villages. Don Jos died in 1770. Like many other pre-1836 Spanish Mexican heroes, Governor Escandn is greatly under-appreciated in Texas and U.S. history. In summary, it is time to duly recognize the distinctive contributions of Spanish Mexican pioneers in U.S. history. Their absence in the telling of our nations mainstream history makes it easy to forget that in the U.S., New Spain is over twice as large as New England. Unfortunately, during the ongoing contentious debate over illegal immigration, it is easy for some to generalize and refer to all Spanish-speaking and Hispanic-looking U.S. citizens as recent immigrants. That is unfair, given their glorious Spanish Mexican ancestry. Accordingly, as we honor the traditional Mayflower pioneers during patriotic celebrations, let us not forget Americas other trailblazers the intrepid Spanish Mexicans. Long-forgotten in the development of our country, they have earned their right to be respectfully addressed with the dignified term of American Pioneers.

Spanish as a Foreign Language

by Juan Jose Pena

Estimados Colegas: There is no reason why Spanish should be called a foreign language within the United States. We must consider that the Spaniards established colonies in all of the southern part of what is now the United States all the way from Florida to California. There were land grants established in what is now the southeastern part of the United States as well as in the area oh which is now the southwestern United States.

We have been speaking Spanish in what is now the United States ever since the yearly 1500s with the first Spanish exp orations and colonizations. There were communities established in Florida in the 1500s and the first Spanish communities were established in New Mexico

around 1598. We have been speaking Spanish continuously and all of these regions ever since that period of time. There are many persons in Louisiana who are descendents of the Spanish colonists of what it is now Louisiana but which was then part of the large territory claimed by Spain all the way from Florida to California and which was lost to France during the war between Spain and France in which France sold the territory claimed by Spain to the United States. In the Americas we constitute over 500 million Spanish speakers which means that we are the largest language group all in the hemisphere, therefore Spanish is as much an integral language of the Americas as it is of the United States. My own Spanish ancestor in the Americas was Aparicio de la Pea who came from Cuenca Spain to Cuba and then took part in the conquest of Mexico with and Hernn Cortes. His son Juan de la Pea came to what is now the southwestern United States with the expedition of Francisco Vsquez de Coronado in 1539 and took part in the exploration of this area for several years as a cavalryman with the expedition who provided his own equipment and expenses. My ancestor Baltazar Francisco de la Pea came to New Mexico with the second troop of Spanish soldiers from from the Presidio of Zacatecas in the reconquest of New Mexico in 1693 after the Pueblo revolt of 1680. He was a soldier in the Presidio of Santa F for many years and he and his children and descendents became permanent residents of New Mexico to the present day. One of my ancestors, Juan de Dios de la Pea was the last commander of the Spanish garrison of New Mexico before Mexican independence. In effect, we did not cross the border to join the United States, the border crossed us, so Spanish is not a second language for us, it was and is our first language and has been so since before there was even a United States. Even though I was born in the United States, Spanish was my first language and English was my second language. Atentamente, Juan Jos Pea

Spanish SURNAMES

Longoria Chapa Dynasty of South Texas and Northern Mexico by Dr. Lino Garcia
Lorenzo Surez de Longoria and his uncle Pedro Surez de Longoria never imagined that their decision to leave Asturias, Spain in 1603 and head on to " La Nueva Espaa" to " hacer las Amricas" would produced so much activity and create both a cattle and land dynasty, and initiating such a fascinating history of events extending to the colonization of South Texas and Northern Mxico. These two Spaniards with possible connections to the nobility of Spain and from two villages that are still in existence, La Pontiga ( from a " Puente " =bridge near by) and Longoria ( " longo" which is Latin for " long" and " orilla" = " edge" =" long edge of a river" we get the surname of Longoria. These two villages are both huddled up in the mountains of Northern Spain where descendants of the Longoria family still exists and have existed for many centuries going back to the Middle Ages . Pedro had received the commission of " Oidor" ( Supreme Court Justice) from the King of Spain, but soon lost this appointment after a few years . They first landed in Veracruz, but soon ventured west into Monterrey. It was there that the Longoria dynasty began to entered the political scene, making contacts in high places, and joining the leading families of the Monterrey, Nuevo Len of that period. It is known that Asturias, the birth place of the first Longorias, was first inhabited by Celtic, Visigoth and Roman tribes during the Middle Ages. This explains the very fair complexion and clear blue eyes of most Longoria descendants presently living in South Texas and Northern Mxico. Lorenzo Surez de Longoria and Ana Salazar, his common law wife, soon had an off spring named Lorenzo Surez de Longoria II who married Antonia Rodrguez, great great granddaughter of Don Diego de Montemayor, the founder , along with other fifteen families, of Monterrey, Nuevo Len in 1598, thus joining , via matrimony, two of the most prominent families of Northern Mxico and South Texas. This union of Lorenzo Surez de Longoria II and Antonia Rodrguez produced various off springs, and one was Pedro Longoria Rodrguez whose wife Agustina Garca de Zaldvar was a direct descendant of Captain Vicente Zaldvar, Chief of Arms and a relative of Juan de Oate, conqueror of New Mexico in 1598. They were all prominent individuals. conquerors and colonizers of the times . It is no wonder then that down the line of history, the Longorias became involved in many adventures recorded in the history of Northern Mxico and

South Texas. The union of Pedro Longoria Rodrguez and Agustina produced a son name Captain Diego Longoria Valds de Zaldvar, who was granted the authority , along with other colonizers , to settle Cerralvo, a town in Nuevo Len, and also Camargo, a town in the state of Tamaulipas. He soon married Doa Mara Clara Chapa, great granddaughter of Juan Bautista Chapa ( Schiapapra) , a native of Albisola, Genoa, Italy. It was this same Juan Bautista Chapa who traveled with Captain Alonso de Len in his excursions throughout Texas in 1686, and who is the author, along with Alonso de Len and Fernando Snchez de Zamora , of the chronicle " Historia de Nuevo Len- Con Noticias Sobre Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Texas y Nuevo Mxico" making them one of the first Hispanics to chronicle the land and fauna of Texas, and depositing horses, cattle and goats along each puddle of water along the way. Captain Diego Longoria Valds de Zaldvar and Mara Clara Chapa's matrimony produced many off springs, and three of them became the first cattle and land barons of South Texas at the beginning of the 18th. century. They were Don Jos Matas Longoria Chapa, Don Vicente, and Don Pedro Longoria Chapa who in 1767 received " porciones " ( portions of land grants) 93, 94, and 95" from King Carlos III of Spain. These huge land grants were given to individuals who proved o be pure Spaniard, who had proven loyalty to the Spanish Crown, and who were determined to work the land and procreate loyal subjects of the King. These petitions for land grants lasted for almost seven years before a decision was made, thus we know that Captain Diego Longoria Valds de Zaldvar never lived long enough to see his three sons become Spanish Grantee families of South Texas, and comprising among the first Tejano families on Texas soil. One of his sons Don Jos Matas Longoria Chapa is considered a pioneer in cattle drives, and ranching in South Texas long before any other family established such institution on this land. It was in the year 1774 when the " 13 original families" . twelve from Camargo and one from Reynosa, among them the Longoria Chapa families, decided to venture into other areas in the region and bought over two million acres of land from the heirs of Coronel Jos de Escandn. By this action these families established 113 ranching sites in what later became Matamoros, Tamaulipas. This area in Northern Mxico with land extending into South Texas also and across from Brownsville was originally given the name of " Paraje de los Esteros Hermosos" in 1706 by Captain Juan Jos de Hinojosa due to the many " esteros" ( swamps) that were characteristic of the area. Later in 1749 Don Matas de los Santos Coy renamed it " San Juan de los Esteros Hermosos" establishing a big ranching site which he was forced to abandoned due to the huge water flowing from the Ro Bravo nearby

where it was located. The many inundations due to the proximity of the Ro Bravo did not prevent the " 13 original families " to officially establish in 1774 a congregation which they also called " San Juan de los Esteros Hermosos". The chief authority to establish this congregation of " 13 original families" was bestowed on Captain Ignacio Anastacio de Ayala who bought 10.5 ranching sites in the area. Other members of the " 13 original families" who were the founding families of present day Matamoros and parts of South Texas were: a.) Don Miguel Chapa- Rancho Chapeo. b.) Don Santiago Longoria-Rancho Longoreo. c.) Captain Jos Antonio de la Garza Falcn-Rancho Falcoeno. d.) Don Jos Antonio de la Garza-Rancho Tahuachal. e.) Don Luis Antonio Garca-Rancho del Potrero. f.) Don Ramn Longoria/Don Marcelino Longoria-Rancho Barranquillas y Capote. g.) Don Jos de Hinojosa-Rancho Palma. h.) Don Juan Sols-Rancho Soliceo. i. Don Salvador Vela-Rancho de Santo Domingo de las Animas. j. Don Juan Jos Cisneros-Rancho La Canasta. k. Don Juan N. Cisneros Villarreal-Rancho Caja Pinta. l. Don Jos Antonio Cavazos- Rancho de Santo Domingo de las Animas. As a proud descendant of the Longoria Chapa family, I still remember my visits to Rancho Longoreo, now called Ejido Longoreo, in my youth during the 1940's when my sister and I spent some quality time with our grandparents, who were related to all the families on these ranching sites. There was no limit to the extension of the land, abundantly populated with horses, cattle, and where almost everything was produced there for daily use. Brownsville native Dr. Lino Garca,Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Spanish Literature at UTPA. He can be reached at: (956) 381-3441 or at: LGarcia@UTPA.Edu Dr. Garcia is an 8th Generation Tejano. My maternal genealogy goes as follows: **Lorenzo Surez de Longoria and his uncle Alonso--came from La Pontiga and Longoria, Asturias , Lorenzo as an Oidor for the King of Spain--they both landed in Monterrey, NL in 1603. **Lorenzo II married Antonio Rodrguez, great granddaughter of Don Diego de Montemayor ( I am also a Montemayor)--he was of Jewish heritage ( Sefardita). **Along the line a great grandson of Lorenzo II and Antonio named Capt. Diego Longoria Valds de Zaldvar ( I am also a Zaldvar--related to Capt. Vicente Zaldvar, Chief of Arms for Juan de Oate, conqueror of New

Mexico in 1598--and related to him, so I am also an Oate). Capt. Diego de Longoria Valds de Zaldvar married Ma. Clara Chapa, great granddaughter of Juan Bautista Chiapapria--born in Genoa, Italy--but changed his name to Chapa upon arriving in Monterrey in 1630, and marrying Doa Beatriz Trevio-- a wealthy Regiomontana. Juan Bautista Chapa traveled via Tejas in 1689 with Capt. Alonso de Len and wrote a book, I have a copy: HISTORIA DE NUEVO LEON, CON ANOTACIONES SOBRE: TAMAULIPAS, COAHUILA Y TEJAS. Capt. Diego Longoria de Valds de Zaldvar had several children, three of whom were: Don Jos Matas Longoria Chapa, Vicente, and Pedro--who received Porciones in Texas in 1767 ( 93, 94, and 95). I am a direct descendant of Don Jos Matas Longoria Chapa, and my mother was born in Rancho Longoreo. I wrote an essay on this and was published in the Brownsvile Herald which I am attaching. Best, Lino 8th. generation Tejano - The Longoria Chapa Dynasty of South Texas and Northern Mexico.

CUENTOS
Roasting Gourmet Chilies by Ben Romero Get Your Goat or Cabrito by Viola Rodriguez Sadler The Heart Just Insists, Betita Martnez, by Tony Platt

When our children were growing up, my wife and I tried to teach them about gardening and growing our own vegetables. Living in California, we found ourselves teaching them to raise plants that thrive in the area. Our garden always included tomatoes and a few spicy peppers for making salsa.

Having been raised in New Mexico, I always longed for the flavor of large green peppers. For this reason, trips to New Mexico were always a treat. My mother knew how to make real green chile. Wanting to replicate the flavor, my wife recently did some research on New Mexico chilies and found a local grocery store in Fresno that carries fresh New Mexico Hatch chile - the best in the state. I like to refer to it as gourmet chile. She purchased a twentyfive pound case of it, and we spent an afternoon roasting and preparing it for the freezer. The experience brought back great memories. As I stoked the fire and turned the softening peppers over the smoldering coals I could hear Moms voice in my mind. Vnganse a rescoldar chile. Whenever Mom uttered those words it was enough to send my siblings and me scrambling for cover. For some reason, the idea of roasting green chilies on a barbeque pit sounded like a lot of work to a kid. That was before Mom, in her infinite wisdom, instituted a new rule: it became the privilege of the person roasting the chilies to eat the first peeled pepper, rolled up in a fresh, homemade tortilla and sprinkled with salt.

My siblings and I spent many August afternoons roasting chilies outdoors under our parents watchful eyes, while gazing at the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The accepted method was to place a large number of firm, long, green chilies in a large galvanized tub filled with water. Each chile was stabbed with a fork to allow water to seep into it so it could steam while it roasted. The fragrant smoke carried the good news of happy palates for miles. The job was completed by skillful hands, carefully peeling each pepper and placing it in a large container. Each person learned fast to respect the spiciness and avoid rubbing their eyes. While most of the peppers came from our own garden, we often purchased sacks of Chimay chile, which was considered the best in New Mexico in the 1960s. If food is served in heaven, I suspect fresh-roasted green chilies and tortillas are on the menu. In recent years, with newer generations so limited in Spanish-speaking skills, our ever-growing extended family communicates using a mixture of English and Spanish words. On one of our yearly visits to New Mexico, my grown daughter, Victoria, developed a fond appreciation for my elderly mothers cooking. Grandma, your food is so good, its

like gourmet. A que se refiere esa palabra (What does that word mean)? Que s gourmet (What is gourmet)? Mom, it means something really good. Better than bueno, I assured her. On one of the last days of our visit, I approached Mom with a suggestion, Queremos comprar un saco de chile pa rescoldar (We want to buy a sack of chile to roast). Pa que? Tengo el freezer lleno (What for? I have the freezer full of it), she replied. Disappointed, but still wanting to make fire, my wife and I told Mom not to worry about starting dinner. We wanted to have a simple barbeque and relax outdoors. The briquettes had barely turned red when it started to sprinkle in high desert fashion. Although lightning flashed in the distance and thunder roared ever closer, it was just enough to cool the air and raise the aroma of wet earth, so we stayed outdoors, enduring the weather. After several minutes of watching us through the window, Mom walked outside, clutching her walking stick, to investigate. Que estn cosiendo (What are you cooking)? she asked. Noms hot dogs (Just hot dogs), I said. Are you ready for one? She eyed the blackening franks on the grill with displeasure. Squinting her eyes and wrinkling her nose, she said, All that trouble for just a Winnie? Bah, ni que frueran gourmet (Bah, as if they were gourmet). Ben Romero, author of Chicken Beaks Book series www.benromero.com

Get Your Goat or Cabrito by Viola Rodriguez Sadler

Just out of high school I went to San Antonio to look for work. My dad had informed me that we did not have any money for me to go to college, since my sister was attending James Dougherty School of Nursing in Corpus Christi. I was a real green horn when it came to job searching in SA. The only skills I had were clerical, so I went through the newspaper

ads and went to a few places. What I should have known was what was meant by the ads that insisted "must apply in person."
I thought that if I dressed nicely, I would do OK. But I encountered the turn-down of "that position has been filled." It took only a couple of those turn downs that I learned that it was the brown color of my skin that was not wanted for the position. Though that was not the first time I had experienced discrimination, it can still really get your goat. So back home, looking through the Robstown Record, Mom read the want ads and suggested I apply for the clerical position at the Nueces County Farm Bureau. After an interview and recommendations from my high school typing and steno teachers, the position was mine. I was to get paid bi-weekly. My first paycheck for the first two weeks, minus deductions, amounted to $90! My dad did not believe in saving money, he did believe in celebrating life's achievements, however trivial. So to celebrate my first paycheck he suggested we all go to Nuevo Laredo to a much advertised restaurant El Rincn del Viejo. The featured fare was cabrito. Now that's a goat for celebration. Fast forward to Summer 1998. No, not the olympics, but a celebration of a different sort. I was being recognized by the town of Marn, Nuevo Len for my genealogical work. My mother's side of the family is a direct ancestral line to the founder of the town, Jos Martnez Flores. The town is a neat, small town, with no hotels, so we stayed in Monterrey. One of the must-do things for visitors is to dine on cabrito, namely at El Rey del Cabrito. My niece (photo) was so taken with the display of the goats that she asked if she could go to the kitchen area and have her picture taken. Now those are tasty goats. These memories came to me because the current issue of Time Magazine (August 25, 2008) has an article in their food section on goat becoming "a rising star among American meats." You can even

see a video on slaughtering, roasting goats. I still prefer the roasted cabrito. Sunday, August 17, 2008 http://memoriasymemories.blogspot.com/2008/08/get-your-goat-orcabrito.html

The Heart Just Insists:

Betita

Martnez, By Tony Platt September 2011 Photograph by Margaret Randall "There is no separating my life from history."
I'm visiting my old friend Betita Martnez a few days before her 85th birthday. I bring chocolate chip cookies, and my laptop to show her photographs of a recent trip to Europe and Morocco. Our conversation is not the grand political discourse it used to be. It's become an ode to the everyday. We've known each other for thirty-five years, from the time we worked together on a radical pamphlet about the police, through our years as comrades and writers in a Marxist organization, and during the last two decades as leftists struggling to find our way through the dystopian gloom. She's always been more optimistic than me about the future of humankind. "Hey," she responded to my political gloom in 2003, "I just finished watching a documentary about the Donner Party and, believe me, things could be worse." While most of us licked our wounds and picked up our interrupted lives, she

protested with anybody who would march in the 1990s and was never without a sheaf of leaflets in the 2000s. She'd lived, as she puts it, through five international wars, six social movements, and seven attempts to build socialism around the world. There was no stopping her now. She kept the faith, while mine wavered. "The heart just insists on it," she once explained. Betita looms large in my memory as a professional revolutionary who managed on a few hours of sleep and an occasional steak, with little time for small talk. This wasn't always the case. At one time she was on the fast track to professional success. Elizabeth Martnez grew up in the white section of Washington, D.C.'s segregated suburbs in the 1920s and 1930s. As the daughter of a darkskinned immigrant from Mexico City and a blue-eyed North American, she felt racism in the air, "but I did not have words for it then." Her father, Manuel Guillermo Martnez, who had witnessed the Mexican revolution as a young man, worked his way up from a clerk in the Mexican Embassy to professor of Spanish literature at Georgetown; and her mother, Ruth Sutherland Phillips, got a master's degree from George Washington and taught advanced high school Spanish. Soon Betita was emulating her parents' hard work ethic, joining the bridge club in high school and prepping for college and a career. She was the first Latina at Swarthmore, graduating with honors in history and literature in 1946. Here she began a lifelong friendship with fellow student (and later renowned economist) Andre Gunder Frank, a Jewish scholarship boy from Europe who, like Betita, knew what it felt like to be in exile, never feeling quite settled anywhere. After college, using her mother's vaguely British middle name, Liz Sutherland plunged into the post-war ferment of New York's cultural scene. With her contacts from Swarthmore opening doors to institutions typically closed to women and Latinos, jobs came quickly and easily: as a translator and researcher at the United Nations (1947-1953), an administrative assistant in the Photography Department at the Museum of Modern Art (1957-1958), an editor at Simon and Schuster (1958-1963), and Books and Arts Editor at The Nation (1963-1964). For some fifteen years Liz hobnobbed with cutting edge artists and literati, and married one, the writer-activist Hans Koning. She moved easily between the Lower East Side "world of Beat poets, junkie painters, and LSD experiments" - hanging out with Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Diane di Prima, and other demimonde intellectuals - and Fifth Avenue soires hosted by chic patrons. This ability to function in very different worlds would serve her well later in life when she had to fundraise for grassroots causes and

translate radical rhetoric into palatable liberalism for middle-class audiences. Among her friends were photographer Edward Steichen (her boss at MoMA) and the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. She was attracted to immigrant artists such as Robert Frank who, like Betita, recognized that you pay a hefty price for going against the grain. "They don't give you nothing for nothing," as Frank succinctly observed. "I had more wondrous and disastrous relationships than you can count," she admitted in 1998. "With poets, artists, revolutionaries, junkies, and various combinations thereof." She was a "woman in a world dominated by men," but she could more than hold her own with the big boys, whether it was the cut-throat world of publishing or reviewing French new wave and English kitchen sink movies in the la-di-da Film Quarterly. "If the film speaks its piece well, it lacks the magic of the unsaid," she wrote in 1961 about Karel Reiz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. "There is nothing here to make you shiver, no awareness of 'the million-eyed Spyder that hath no name.' The characters are all there, but they are more recognizable than illuminating." Unusually for somebody still in her 30s, she had honed literary skills as an editor, designer, and a lucid, passionate writer. Most of us hope to be good at one of these things in a lifetime. She did them all really well. In 1960, just two years into her job with a prestigious publishing firm, Simon and Schuster - and already an editor - she was assigned to work with the filmmaker Ingmar Bergman on the publication of Four Screenplays (including "Wild Strawberries" and "Seventh Seal"). She saw the landmark book "through from start to finish," she told a reporter for Saturday Review. During a visit to Sweden to meet Bergman, they had lunch together on a set. "What was it like to talk with him, what's he like, " I once asked her, wideeyed. "He said I had nice legs," she replied. The following year she was off to Cuba, meeting with writers and filmmakers creating a "cinema of revolution." That was her first turning point: "When Cuba declared itself socialist, so did I." In 1964, Liz served as go-between and editor for the black-led SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) and Simon and Schuster, resulting in an extraordinary book of photographs, The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality. It opens with three tranquil, rural images of the Deep South, followed by a carnival scene of a lynching in graphic detail. Lorraine Hansberry gets credited for the introduction, as do Danny Lyon, Roy de Carava, and others for their photographs, but Betita's name is nowhere to be seen. (She was similarly unacknowledged for her editing role in Stokely Carmichael's Black Power, another iconic publication. )

She finally gets her due years later for helping Jim Forman write one of the most significant memoirs of the civil rights movement, The Making of Black Revolutionaries. Holed up in a house in Puerto Rico, she helped him not only get his writing in shape, but also broaden his "understanding of the vast and deplorable role of the United States government in suppressing the rights of all nonwhite people." In the mid-1960s, now in the prime of her life, Liz Sutherland made the shift from publishing to joining the Movement, giving up a sure-thing life of privilege for long hours and low pay for the next forty-five years. She became director of SNCC's New York office, getting the word out and raising funds from Jewish sympathizers when she wasn't on the road in Mississippi and Alabama, or making overtures on behalf of black nationalists to the Chicano-led UFW organizing migrant workers in California. "I did not grapple with my particular identity then, with being half Mexican and half white," she recalls. "The work said who I was." And the work was grueling, especially for a single parent. Her pre-teen daughter "endured many lonely hours and TV dinners" when her mother was interviewing civil rights workers in the South. "Tessa understands about Mississippi." A few years later, three pivotal events propelled her political development in a new direction. First, SNCC had, as she put it, "an identity crisis" and decided it "should be an all-black organization." Stokely Carmichael made clear in a speech given in Berkeley in 1966 that "we cannot have white people working in the black community." No one "white-baited me to my face," says Betita recently, but to most of the SNCC staff she was "classified as white." Secondly, Elizabeth Sutherland and several other refugees from SNCC contributed to "an energized convergence of women in New York City," as one observer has noted, and were in on the ground floor of the women's liberation movement. She "looked hard" at the sexism within the movement and didn't like what she saw: images of "our women/ in postures of maternity, sadness, devotion/ tears for the lost husband or son/ our women, nothing but shadows/reflections of someone else's existence/ BASTA!" Feminist Elizabeth became a member of the New York Radical Women's collective - a group that included Joan Brown and Shulamith Firestone and contributed an article (with Carol Hanisch, instigator of the celebrated protest of the Miss America pageant in 1968) to the first issue of Notes From The First Year, a theoretical journal of radical feminism, priced fifty cents to women and one dollar to men.

The Hanisch-Sutherland essay, which follows right after Anne Koedt's "The Myth of the Vaginal Organism," is organized as a series of answers to typically asked questions about feminism. For example, don't some women "naturally want to be housewives?" To which the authors of "Women of the World Unite - We Have Nothing To Lose But Our Men!" reply: "Anyone who think she feels good as she surveys her kitchen after washing the 146,789th batch of sparkling dishes isn't being 'natural'; she's literally lost her mind." From that moment on, there was no separating the struggle against racism and sexism. "The two cannot be honestly divided," she believed. Years later, she could recall Shulie Firestone's "sad, angry eyes" when she talked about going to an orthodox Jewish school where the boys prayed, "Thank you, Lord, for not making me a woman." And Betita could also recall "with anguish and anger" the meeting of a women's group that went on with business as usual the evening of Martin Luther King's assassination. Politically she wasn't a fan of the nuclear family. "It usually turns out lonely runners in a rat-race rather than members of a human community," she observed in 1968. Yet she kept looking for a comradely mate. "It constantly amazes me that after working the kinds/ of days I work, turmoil and people, frenzy and friends, I/still have energy left over/ for 'love' of another sort." As Elizabeth Sutherland became Betita Martnez, she made sure that issues of gender were not put on the back burner. But it wasn't easy. She held off distributing for four years a statement exposing sexism and homophobia within the Chicano movement. "The super-macho," she wrote, "is haunted by the need to prove his manhood." Yet in 1970, she was willing to go public with "Colonized Women: The Chicana," her contribution to Robin Morgan's Sisterhood is Powerful, an anthology that became required reading for a generation of feminists. Today, Morgan quickly recalls Betita's "intensely feminist intelligence and commitment. Her stubborn insistence on freedom and power for all members of communities of color - including, surprise! women - got her into a lot of hot water. But that never stopped her." Thirdly, a trip to Cuba in 1967 connected her with an inspirational gathering of Latin American revolutionaries that triggered her own identity crisis: "the ground of my life was shifting, stretching." She took off for New Mexico in 1968, where she founded a Chicano movement newspaper, El Grito del Norte. When she got off the plane and "saw the silhouetted mountain range called Blood of Christ, Sangre de Christo, there was no doubt: I smelled Home." Here she organized the Chicano Communications Center. "A voice inside of me said, 'You can be Betita Martnez here. It feels like home'." Other places had attracted her, but the town of Tierra Amarilla - the site of Reies Tijerina's courthouse raid - was the one: "I know you by instinct,

town/know your ancestry of failure/your angers and hungers/and the bloody dream in your guts." It felt like home until the mid-1970s, when the collective built around El Grito del Norte foundered on betrayals and recrimination. It was a time of "loss and loneliness" that prompted Betita to leave New Mexico and join a leftist organization in San Francisco, hoping to be part of a movement that would transcend identity politics. Ten years later, after the Marxist left also imploded, she returned to grassroots work, searching for ways to bring communities of color together, speaking out fiercely against racism, sexism, and war - saying "NO to any definition of social justice that does not affirm our human oneness." While illness limited Betita's mobility when she reached her 80s, she kept on writing, as she'd done all her life. Without a university base or philanthropic support, she has accomplished what most academics never do in a lifetime: written several books that have left a deep impact on readers searching for socially relevant, well researched, and thoughtful history and commentary. Among her lasting contributions are Letters From Mississippi (1964), The Youngest Revolution: A Personal Report on Cuba (1969), 500 Years of Chicano History (1976), and 500 Years of Chicana Women's History (2008), not to mention hundreds of journalistic essays. In 2000, she received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, but not the private pension, home ownership, and other perks that typically crown an academic career. Recently, Betita began to look more deeply and honestly into the selfinflicted wounds that can't simply be blamed on the man - "the human toll of righting wrong." It troubled her in the early 1970s that "sometimes/in this here movement/you go down, down, down/dragged by the smallness of people," but she was careful not to wash the movement's dirty laundry in public. More recently, returning to her feminist roots, she feels a duty to speak out. "Would a woman be so resistant to following her partner," she chided me in 1994, when Cecilia went to Washington, D. C. to work for the Smithsonian and I stayed in Berkeley. It troubles her that for too long the Chicano movement was seen as a subsidiary of the African American movement; that women in SNCC and Chicano organizations were too often considered subordinate to "male warriors" and assigned housewifely duties; that in the name of fighting for a "humanist society," Marxist organizations could treat its cadre so brutally. She too could be imperious and viperish with comrades, a requirement of leadership in the nationalist and Marxist lefts. And while she gave all to her extended political family, Betita "deeply regrets neglecting another identity: being the mother of a young daughter who needed much more attention than she received in those years."

Now it's the mother who needs and gets much more attention from her daughter. A stroke makes it hard for Betita to see, hear, and remember yesterday's visitors, yet she insisted until recently on living by herself with her dog Honey in a small, rented apartment in San Francisco's Mission district, surrounded by books, posters, mementos, and rows of filing cabinets. "I love all dogs and some people," she says. But she's always delighted to see visitors, and disappointed when we leave. When I reached my 65th birthday and started obsessing about aging, she wasn't very sympathetic. After all, she pointed out, I had some good years ahead of me and no financial worries. As an activist who had shunned a conventional career in order "to make as much trouble as possible for the guys upstairs," she told me, getting old "just ain't that easy." In her late 60s, she was embarrassed to let people know her age, didn't want her friends to hear her asking for a senior discount at the movies. She berated herself for succumbing to the prevailing ageism and a "panicky desire for individual mortality." The dread of death, she observed in 1992, was getting to her, "growing like weeds, all the dreads that make getting older so fearsome, so bitter." A few years ago, when I called out Betita on a snide and hurtful comment she had made about me, she was upset with herself and quickly apologized. "It's not about you," she said. "This whole thing of becoming 80 years old has its creepy aspects, like thinking more about death. It is all a rather scary mystery." These last few years, our comradeship has become a deep friendship. Today, her 85th birthday approaching, the talk is about a trip Cecilia and I took recently. Her eyesight is not good, so she sits almost on top of the screen of my laptop as I scroll through hundreds of photographs that for me are already in the twilight between just now and the past. As she imagines the photos through a blur, I tell her stories to go with the images: riding a lurching camel through pillowy sand dunes in the Sahara, shopping in an outdoor market in Provence for just-picked fruits and vegetables, circling Jeff Koons' gigantic flowering puppy that sits calmly outside the Guggenheim in Bilbao, watching kids splashing through a swimming pool installation on the roof of the Hayward Gallery in London, and stumbling over memory plaques in Berlin. She happily munches on cookies, and lights up when I come to photos of our new dog. "You must bring Buster here," she says. "We must all go to Morocco to see the camels." She laughs at the absurdity and attractiveness of the possibility. She's thirsty and I look for a glass near her sink. "This one," I ask. "Yes," she

replies, "that one. It's a mere bagatelle." I do a double take and she laughs. "I haven't heard that in a long time," I say. "Me neither," says Betita. "How come I can remember that word, but can't remember the name of the person who helps me every day?" She's already forgotten about my trip to Morocco, yet she'll tell you not only the details of her affair with a Polish playwright in Warsaw in the 1950s, but also how to spell his name: Ireneusz Iredynski. We stop for a moment, pondering the marvelous trickiness of the brain. Then, just as we have done together so often, we muse about the etymology of this trifle of a word. As I search her well-used English and French dictionaries, and read out aloud all the detailed information I can find about "bagatelle," I'm reminded of the many times that we have done this together, sharing our pleasure in words and language, and for this moment all is as it was. Tony Platt, September 2011 Source: Carlos Munoz, Jr. cmjr@berkeley.edu Sent by Roberto Calderon, Ph.D. beto@unt.edu

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

Ancestral Journey: Ocean voyagers bring Polynesia to Dana Point, CA Line Art for Sale Search 1 Billion Genealogy Records Now Online at GenealogyBank.com Ancestry.com releases the 1930 Mexico National Census New FamilySearch Records, September 2011

Ancestral Journey: Oce an voyagers bring Polynesia to Dana Point, CA

By Michael Coronado and Michael Goulding Orange Country Register, August 30, 2011|
They call the Pacific their home and say the salt water flows through their veins, connecting them spiritually to the sea. On Monday, a group of Pacific Islanders sailed six Vaka Moana sea vessels into Dana Point Harbor, a stop during their journey from New Zealand to the United States. Their goal: Keep the seafaring traditions of their ancestry alive and teach others to respect and protect the ocean and marine life. "I was sailing last night when I saw them (coming in). It was awesome," Wayne Wallace, 68, of Dana Point said Tuesday. "It made me think as if I were an islander and I saw these war canoes with the sails out. It was majestic. It made me appreciate the culture." Follow the voyage at pacificvoyagers.org See more photos at ocregister.com/danapoint

Artist Christopher Perez offers: My favorite holiday Special for a mere $40. I will do a 81/2 x 11 line drawing of anything you would like. . .. ! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php ?id=1316613965 Let this year's CHRISTMAS GIFTS be MORE PERSONAL, MORE HISTORICAL. Plan for GIFTS which will become family treasures. Purchase from artists, such as Christopher, or consider family artists, or local artists. Exchange old family photos with extended members to share with your children. Prepare a notebook of photos for your children. Two years ago I decided I would go through family albums and make copies for my children and grandchildren. I made copies of a few select photos and put the photos in plastic holders for a three-hold notebooks. I prepared an index, and promised I would keep adding.

The following year, I made copies of some of my pastels, and plan to continue including copies of some of my art. Hopefully in the future, it will be a family treasure, not because of artistic skill, but rather that grandmother Mimi drew them.

This year, I plan to make copies of my maternal Chapa grandparents, aunts and uncles, so my children family will remember their Mexican heritage, and connect even better to their past.

Search 1 Billion Genealogy Records Now Online at GenealogyBank.com Naples, FL (PRWEB) Sept 17, 2011

GenealogyBank.com, the largest and fastestgrowing provider of newspapers for family history research, announced today a massive expansion of the nation's most extensive searchable collection of U.S. newspapers online. The company has added over 134 million newspaper articles this month; its newspaper collection now contains over 1 billion genealogy records encompassing the years 1690 to the present day, more than any other genealogy website online. The U.S. newspaper archives collection now offers over 5,700 newspapers from small towns and big cities in all 50 states to search for family history.

The U.S. newspaper archives collection provides fascinating insights into your ancestor's daily life. The information and images contained in the newspaper archives also reveal insightful historical and cultural trends about fashion, politics, sports, and social issues over the past 320 years of U.S. history. With the addition of the new genealogy records, family historians can more easily discover rich details that provide context for their ancestors' lives. For decades, family historians had to travel across the country to hundreds of libraries to access these newspapers - now with GenealogyBank.com they are instantly available 24/7 at the click of a mouse, says Director of Genealogy Products for NewsBank, inc., Tom Kemp. GenealogyBank provides exclusive access to more than three centuries of important genealogical information such as obituaries, marriage and birth announcements, as well as interesting and often surprising stories about our ancestors. The vast online newspaper archives collection also includes African American and Hispanic American newspapers from 1827-1999. This robust and rare content helps many more Americans discover the inspiring stories of their ancestors who paved the way for a better, more diverse America. Kemp adds, Toward our stated goal of creating the single most

comprehensive resource of newspapers for family history research, GenealogyBank will continue to digitize millions of articles each month from newspapers across the U.S. that will greatly expand and increase the depth of our collections. About GenealogyBank: GenealogyBank.com, a division of NewsBank, is one of the largest and fastest-growing searchable newspaper archives online for family history research. More than 880 million genealogy records have been added to the site since it launched five years ago, to help people discover, preserve and share their family history. The website also provides access to hard-to-find pension lists, military records, land claims, and other helpful genealogy records including free access to the Social Security Death Index. For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/9/prweb8803725.htm Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/11/09/p1923966/search1-billion-genealogy-recordsnow-online-at-genealogybank-com#ixzz1YFP5mMsT

Ancestry.com releases 1930 Mexico National Census

Ancestry.com Releases the 1930 Mexico National Census to Open Gateway for Hispanic Family History Research. The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com: Access is Free to Public for Most Comprehensive Mexican Census Published Online

PROVO, UTAH (September 16, 2011) Ancestry.com, the worlds largest online family history resource, today announced a significant addition to its growing collection of online Mexican and Hispanic historical records. With nearly 13 million records, the newly available 1930 Mexico National Census (El Quinto Censo General de Poblacin y Vivienda 1930, Mxico) is the most comprehensive historical Mexican census available online[1]. It is estimated that this census counted approximately 90 percent of the population, therefore for nearly 30 million Americans who can trace their families to Mexico, it provides a valuable gateway to begin researching Mexican family history, especially if family, vital or religious records are lost. Mexicos first formally recognized federal or national census was taken in 1895. Starting in 1900, censuses were taken every 10 years, making the 1930 Mexico Census the fifth official government census, or formally the Fifth General Census of Housing and Population. This particular census is

significant in Mexican history as federal officials sought to make it a vehicle for national unity. A successful campaign urging citizens to take part as a civic duty resulted in an extremely high participation rate - the primary reason why the 1930 Mexican Census is considered the best Mexican census conducted in the 20th century. Edward James Olmos, Academy Award nominated actor and noted philanthropist, is working with Ancestry.com to trace his familys Mexican history using information found in the 1930 Mexico National Census. Like so many Latinos, Im proud of my heritage and want to preserve that legacy for future generations, said Olmos. With resources like the 1930 Mexico National Census, families can now trace their ancestors to Mexico and gain a greater understanding of where they came from. The 1930 Mexico National Census provides a wide spectrum of details about individuals and families and can offer valuable insight into their lives. In addition to demographic data such as name, age, gender, birthplace, address and marital status, the census form also recorded nationality, religion, occupation, real estate holdings, literacy and any physical or mental defects. The millions of records in the collection reveal some interesting statistics about life in Mexico in 1930: The most common given female name was Maria and the most common given male name Juan. The three most common surnames were Hernandez, Garcia and Martinez. Nearly 18% of the population were recorded as Soltero [single], 11% were Casado por lo Civil y la Iglesia [civil and church marriage], 10% were Casado por la Iglesia [church marriage] and 8% were Union Libre [free unionliving together without marriage]. The four most populous Mexican states were Puebla, Veracruz, Jalisco and Oaxaca. Famous Mexicans found in the collection include Maria Flix (19142002), who was among the best-known Mexican actresses and Carmello Torres Fregoso (Bernardo del Carmen Fregoso Czares; 1927-2003), a renowned bullfighter who later became a successful businessman. As the United States is home to the second largest Mexican community in the world, Mexican-Americans comprise 10 percent of the total U.S. population therefore it is fitting that the worlds largest online family history resource now has an expansive collection to serve this important demographic, said Josh Hanna, Ancestry.com Executive Vice President. While the 1930 Mexico Census is the newest and largest collection of Mexican records on Ancestry.com, there are a number of other collections that may be helpful when conducting Mexican family history research,

including Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1957; Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico, Selected Parish Records, 1751-1880; and the Spanish-American Family History Guide. To start researching the 1930 Mexico Census for free, please visit www.ancestry.com/Mexico . Sent by Sara Flores sara36g64@yahoo.com and Jose M. Pena JMPENA@aol.com Ruben Salaz Marquez saljustin@msn.com and Yvonne Gonzales Duncan yvduncan@yahoo.com

New FamilySearch Records

21 September 2011

Among the 16 million records added to FamilySearch.org this week, over six million are from the United States, including new collections from California, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. Additionally, five million new Civil Registration and Catholic Church records from Mexico are now available for free viewing at FamilySearch.org. Begin searching now! Searchable records on FamilySearch.org are made possible by thousands of volunteers from around the world who transcribe (index) the information from handwritten records to make it searchable by computer. More volunteers are needed to help accelerate this important work of preserving and freely publishing important genealogical records. To learn more about the FamilySearch indexing program, visit indexing.familysearch.org. FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

ollection (selected by Mimi for your interest)

Records

Images

azil, Immigration Cards, 19001965

125,830 0 0 0 0

223,708 17,634 1,195,284 21,584 212,843

ominican Republic Civil Registration, 18012006

uador, Catholic Church Records, 15651996

ly, Catholic Church Records

ly, Civil Registration, 18061940

exico, Chiapas, Civil Registration, 18611990

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 210,524 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,104,972

1,523,742 1,176,741 3,464 700,788 2,808 1,371,091 765,138 1,428,443 0 356,671 17,600 217,181 43,766 24,113 31,670 15,219 622,984 2,990

exico, Coahuila, Civil Registration, 18611998

exico, Jalisco, Catholic Church Records, 15901995

exico, Nuevo Len, Civil Registration, 18591962

exico, Sonora, Civil Registration, 18611995

exico, Zacatecas, Civil Registration, 18602000

ru, Catholic Church Records, 16871992

ain, Municipal Records, 18371903

S. Social Security Death Index, 18752010

alifornia, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 18931953

alifornia, San Mateo County Records, 18561967

ouisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 18201945

ouisiana, Orleans Parish Second District Judicial Court Case Files, 18461880

xas, Gonzalez de la Garza Genealogy Collection

ashington State, Army National Guard Records, 18801947

nited States, National Homes For Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 18661938

nited States, War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 18121815

nited States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

DNA
Hecho: Geneticist Recruits More Latino Researchers
CIA Factbook: Less than one half percent of U.S. Americans have Native American blood? In Mexico, 90 percent carry Indian DNA. Source: 9/13/2011 email authored by Rudy Acuna, shared by Juan Marinez
Hecho: Geneticist Recruits More Latino Researchers April 26, 2011 Carlos D. Bustamante is a Stanford University geneticist, MacArthur genius and generally awesome. Originally from Venezuela, Bustamante is working to include more Latinos and African-Americans in genetic research in order to better understand how diseases affect these populations over time, especially since this field is traditionally geared towards white populations. Black Voice News reported: Work by the award-winning geneticist, who was born in Venezuela, has helped to expand testing in a global study that is known as the 1000 Genomes project and was launched in 2008 to map the genes of at least 1,000 people worldwide. An international group of scientists is taking DNA samples, analyzing them, and sharing the findings. The study started with samples taken in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the United States. But, Bustamante immediately recognized that South America was missing from the project, which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is coordinating. He successfully pressed for adding Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Barbados. Were one of the groups that have really been very passionate about studying African-American populations and studying Hispanic-Latino populations so that they get brought into the fold of medical genetics research, says Bustamante, speaking for himself and fellow researchers in his Stanford lab. For example, a review of 400 genetic studies found that 90% focused only people of European decent and Bustamentes work with the 1000 Genomes project has begun to find small variations that may lend an explanation to why some ethnic groups are more vulnerable to diabetes or cancer. In other words, his work is super duper important and hes not trying to hog all the glory, but rather, involve other people in this important work. The Miami Herald (he grew up in Miami as the oldest of four children) reports: Bustamante, 35, mines DNA sequence data in Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Native Americans to understand disease mutations and distribution. At his Stanford University lab, he also studies the domestication of dogs and rice. His work on genetic diversity spans the globe from Mississippi to Barbabos to Peru to West Africa Bustamante studies how traits are spread or lost through mutation, migration and natural selection. He is currently involved in the 1000 Genomes Project in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru and Colombia. Hes also initiated a stem-cell project. The Herald tells some cute stories about Bustamante, how when he was 9 he wanted to wear a jacket and tie and carry a briefcase to school and his sister had to

protect him from bullies. Overall, this guy sounds awesome, heres a neat video of him. Spread the word! Our weekly Bien Hecho segment, highlights the good deeds and achievements of Latinos across the U.S. If you feel that someone you know is deserving of recognition, let us know at tips@newstaco.com. Follow Sara Ins Caldern on Twitter @SaraChicaD [Photo By Stanford School of Medicine; Video By Macfound] http://www.newstaco.com/2011/04/26/bien-hecho-geneticist-recruits-more-latinoresearchers/ sara@newstaco.com

ORANGE COUNTY, CA
Oct 8: SHHAR MONTHLY MEETING Oct 1: Irvine Global Village Festival SHHAR Celebrated its 25th Anniversary Oct 7: Fund raiser for orphan children in Mexicalli Oct 8: October 8th, Tener, Florentino Zarate Free Concert Anaheim El Dia De Los Muertos Activities Nov 5th: No Cost, Family History Conference, 23 classes offered in Spanish

OCTOBER 8, 2011 Guest New Mexico resident, Ruben Salaz Marquez will present a broad overview of the history of the Southwest, based on his book: Epic of the Greater Southwest Multi-Regional Orange Family History Center 674 S. Yorba Orange, CA 92863-6471he 9:30 Early Bird Hands on computer assistance 10:00-11:30 Presentation, questions, and networking

Using photos, graphs, art, and maps Ruben will be taking a sweeping view of history in the Southwest from PreColumbian civilizations to the present. Based on a lifelong love of the southwest and history, Ruben has published many books, educational materials, children's books, short stories, novels, dramas, and essays. The Table of Contents of EPIC below:

Ruben Salaz Marquez

PART ONE PRECONTACT Chapter 1: PRE-COLUMBIAN CIVILIZATIONS PART TWO: SPANISH PERIOD Chapter 2: FIRST EUROPEANS IN THE SOUTHWEST Chapter 3: FIRST EUROPEAN COLONY and SETTLEMENTS COLONY: New Mexico, 1598 SETTLEMENTS: San Antonio, Texas, 1718 San Diego, California, 1769 Tucson, Arizona, 1776 Chapter 4: SPANISH INSTITUTIONS Missions KINO MARGIL Chapter 9; THE CIVIL WAR in the Southwest Chapter 10: INDIAN AFFAIRS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST|: Texas California Nevada Colorado Utah Oklahoma New Mexico Arizona Chapter 11: RAILROADS Chapter 12: FRONTIER LAW AND ORDER Texas California Oklahoma New Mexico

Presidio ANZA Ranching New Mexico Texas California Arizona Chapter 5: SOCIETY in the HISPANIC SOUTHWEST New Mexico Texas California Arizona Chapter 6: INDIAN AFFAIRS in the HISPANIC SOUTHWEST New Mexico Acoma War Jumano War St. Lawrence Day Massacre Reconquest of New Mexico Chapter 6 continued Notes Comanche War and Peace Cebolleta and the Navajo Frontier Texas California Arizona PART THREE: AMERICAN PERIOD Chapter 7: THE MEXICAN WAR Synopsis Chapter 8: The Mexican War in Texas New Mexico Arizona California.

Arizona Chapter 13: STATEHOOD AND AMERICANIZATION Notes Texas-1845. California-1850 Nevada-1864 Colorado-1876 Utah-1896 Oklahoma-1907 New Mexico-1912 Arizona-1912 Chapter 14: LAND TENURE Chapter 15: EDUCATION IN THE SOUTHWEST Chapter 16: A PERSONAL TOUR OF THE SOUTHWEST ANNOTATED BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY EPILOGUE TIMELINES European Exploration of the Americas Denominational Christianity Kingofthe Plains HISTORICAL ESSAYS History or Propaganda? On Texas History. On California Historiography On New Mexican Indian Affairs On the Spanish Era The Dred Scott Decision On California Indian History Morality Aside Myth 8C Media in Western History INDEX

Saturday, October 1st, 10th anniversary of Irvine Global Village Festival from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Its an all-day party, food, entertainment, and its FREE! Bill Barber Park 4 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine Behind the Irvine Civic Center on Harvard Avenue, between Alton and Barranca Sent by george.faas@cox.net

SHHAR CELEBRATED ITS 25th ANNIVERSARY The September 10th meeting of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research Celebrated was extra special, SHHAR celebrated its 25th Anniversary with music, dance, and festivities at it September. Richard and Ruth Duree, always focused on understanding the historic past, performed several dances from Early California times.

An unexpected surprise was musician, pianist, teacher, Frances Rios, who set the mood and delighted attendees as she played Early California and traditional Mexican songs and music. Frances is both a native Juaneo and a descendant of many of the earliest colonizing Spanish families. I have long admired Frances' musical talent. Twenty years ago as part of a Kinder Caminata event, Frances assisted me in presenting a puppet show at Golden West College It was then that I became aware of her special gift. From sign-in sheet: Francisco Ayala Duran Esuebio Benavides Sara Ines Calderon David Colon, Bea Armenta Dever Guy Dickson Richard Duree Ruth Duree Lupe Fisher Mary Rose Garcia Yvonne Gonzales Duncan Maria Elena Herrera Acosta Alondra Lozano Graciela Lozano Mimi Lozano Grace Angelina Navarro Jerry P. Martinez Carmen Meraz Dahlia Palacios Helen Parga Moraga Norma Peralta Rafael Pineda Laura Phillips Robert Ponce Alvaio Ortiz Crispin Rendon Daniel Reyna Frances Rios Diana Rishel Joe Roble Letty Rodella Viola Sadler Tom Saenz Angie Veyna Hope we got everyone!!

Special thank to Viola Sadler for the photos below. Apologies to those attendees whose photo is not included.

Dan Reyna, Eusebio Benavides, Dalhia Palacios, Richard Duree, Mimi Lozano, Angie Veyna, teacher at Santa Ana College. and Jerry Martinez

Alvaro Ortiz, Carmen Meraz, Tom Saenz, Crispin Rendon, Lupe Trujillo, Bea Armenta Dever, Laura Philips. Kneeling on the floor is Sara Ines Calderon, Editor of the new website, NewsTaco.com.

Living History re-enactors Guy Dickson, and dancer Ruth Duree, with Graciela Lozano and her daughter, Alondra.

Board members Leticia Rodella and Bea Armenta Dever, with dedicated researcher, Robert Ponce. Letty and Bea are both kept busy sharing their family displays at SHHAR events.

Angelina Navarro, Mary Rose Acosta Garcia, Carmen Meraz, Mimi Lozano, and Viola Rodriquez Sadler who has a great blog, click to her Cabrito story . .

Angelina Navarro with Mary Garcia, author of a book on the early Spanish/Mexican families and descendants of Logan Barrio in Santa Ana, CA.

Dahlia Guajardo-Cantu de Palacios, click to the

article about Dahlia's granddaughter, a recent graduate of Notre Dame, selected for the PLACE Academy.

Lupe Trujillo Fisher, organizer of the Westminster City-wide Dia de la Familia annual event, and Francisco Ayala Duran.

Crispin Rendon and Graciela Lozano Crispin author of a series of online publication on the families of General Teran, Nuevo Leon. Click to 9th Volume.

Mimi with Sara Ines Calderon, Editor www.NewsTaco.com

Oct 7, 2011: Fund raiser for orphan children in Mexicalli

Love To All Communities, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization is having an event Friday, October 7th at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine, Havana Casino Night. The event is to raise funds to build a new orphanage for orphaned children in Mexicalli. Currently there are 25 children living in a 2 bedroom home. Attached is our flyer and sponsorship packages. For more info. and to purchase tickets visit http://www.lovetoall.org We have received good response from the media(Reaching Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego Counties). We have a radio commercial and we are going to have an interview on TV. We also have news reporter, Julio Cesar Ortiz from Univision 34 attending. It would be a good opportunity to get your company exposer, while helping a great cause! See attached sponsorship packages for details. Best Blessings, Raul Lozano

981 N Main St, Orange CA 92867 (714)906-4082 raul@obdstudio.com http://www.obdstudio.com /

October 8th Concert Tener, Florentino Zarate You are cordially invited to attend a recital by Santa Ana High School Alumni, and Tenor, Florentino Zarate. The program will include some adored arias and songs in Italian, French, English and Spanish. Please come, and bring friends! Florentino is looking forward to sharing his beautiful voice with us, just weeks before his audition for the Metropolitan Opera. Lets cheer him on! Reception to follow the recital. Saturday, the 8th of October, 2011 at 8:00 PM Santa Ana High Schools Little Theater (Signs will be posted.) 520 W. Walnut St. Santa Ana, CA 92701

Admission is FREE. However, donations are greatly appreciated. (Checks can be written to the Santa Ana Music Booster Foundation.) Estimados colegas,
Les mando esta invitacin al concierto que tomara lugar en el auditorio de Santa Ana High School el Sbado 8 de Octubre, 2011 a las 8:00 PM. El Tenor, Florentino Zarate, es un muchacho nacido en Michoacn y criado en Santa Ana. Como se han de imaginar el a tenido que sobrepasar a muchos obstculos para seguir sus estudios como cantante de opera. Se acaba de graduar con un Masters en Msica de Long Beach State University y ahora esta buscando seguir su carrera con oportunidades tanto en Estados Unidos como en Europa y pronto tendr una audicin con la Metropolitan Opera en Nueva York. Tambin estar all esa noche, apoyando a Florentino, el Dr. Raymond Torres Santos, Dean del College of the Arts de Long Beach State University. Si buscan el nombre en del Dr. Torres Santos en Google vern que ha tenido una carrera muy distinguida, incluyendo el hacer arreglos musicales para Placido Domingo. A Florentino lo conocemos por medio de la Directora de Desarrollo de la escuela de Arte de Long Beach State, buena amiga de Olga, y unos amigos que le otorgaron una beca a para sus estudios. El concierto es gratis pero, sin compromiso, se solicitan contribuciones para ayudar a Florentino y al Coro de Santa Ana High School. A mi parecer es ms importante el apoyo con nuestra presencia que cualquier contribucin monetaria. Nos dar mucho gusto que nos acompaen esa noche para apoyar a un talento Mexicano y disfrutar de una noche de buena msica. Tambin les pido por favor le pasen esta invitacin a sus amistades y los animen a acompaarnos. Fernando y Olga Niebla Sent Yvonne Gonzales Duncan

Anaheim El Dia De Los Muertos Activities

We are also partnered with Maestro Zavala's Rhythmo, Inc., 6th Annual Anaheim Mariachi Festival for the Mariachi Festival at Pearson Park Amphitheater October 30...A day of traditional music, dance and Dia de Los Muertos Celebrations. For Anaheim El Dia De Los Muertos we will have Altar and Muertos exhibits; Workshops at the Anaheim community Center in Sept and Oct. Children's Gallery Opening on Oct. 12 in the Downtown Promenade ~ 6:30 ~8:30pm A Free / Gratis Family Fiesta and sample of the Finale Concert in the Promenade on Oct. 15th ~ 1 to 5:00pm And the Finale ..6th Annual Mariachi Festival Oct. 30 ~ 12: to 8:00pm Featuring; Mariachi El Bronx, Mariachi Youth Competition, Mariachi Anacatlan, Aztec Dancers, Folklorico Dancers, Altar Exhibits, Mexican

Food.

Thanks again, Regards, Peter 267 218 3437 peterperezq@aol.com

Nov 5th: ALL DAY FAMILY HISTORY CONFERENCE IN SANTA ANA to be PRESENTED IN SPANISH for the first time
23 CLASSES, FREE, NO COST, PUBLIC INVITED

3401 Greenville St. Santa Ana, CA 92704 www.historiafamiliarsud.org < list of classes
Registracin - 8 am Apertura - 9 am Clases - 10:10 AM - 2:30 PM Pre-registracion - se debera recibir antes del 22 de Oct. 2011 enviar a Historia Familar 1824 E. Mayfare Ave, Orange, CA 92867 Estan cordialmente invitados a nuestra primera feria en Espaol de Historia familiar, adjunto se encuentra el volante con el horario de clases. Pablo & Ligia Leos North America West Area Family History Advisers Southern California (Espaol) Chino, CA Home 909-233-4128 Mobile 909-548-1184/909-203-0233 Work 909-6271500 Fax 323-903-0305 leosfamilysearch@verizon.net

LOS ANGELES, CA

After the Gold Rush "Mexico-Tenochtitlan 'The Wall That Talks'" Asco: Elite of The Obscure, September 4 December 4, 2011

Sent by participating artist, Sergio Hernandez chiliverde@earthlink.net http://vincentpriceartmuseum.org/exhibitions/archived/year-2011/after-thegold-rush-reflections-andpostscripts-on-the-national-chicano-moratorium-of-august-29th-1970/

"Mexico-Tenochtitlan 'The Wall That Talks'"

Estimadas/os colegas, I hope that this message finds you in good health and spirits. Anthony Ortega, a muralist from the L.A. area, recently called me to see if I could help him raise funds for a mural restoration. He's working to restore "Mexico-Tenochtitlan 'The Wall That Talks'" in Highland Park. After speaking with Anthony a few times I'm wanting to help him with the restoration. Cultural icons like "Mexico-Tenochtitlan" mean so much to our community and provide our youth with a sense of cultural history and pride. They also serve to educate any and all who view them. The links below provide info and photos of the wall, which is gorgeous and definitely deserves to be well maintained. http://www.brownpride.com/murals/murals.asp?a=walltalks/index http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/15/local/me-lopez15 http://egpnews.com/?p=11564 I hope you'll join me in supporting this worthy cause. Anthony is hoping to get sponsors at $50 apiece to be able to preserve the mural. You can email him at eagle1_35@hotmail.com or call him at (909) 284-3761 for more information. If you wish to act now you can send a contribution to: Anthony Ortega c/o 2621 S. Sultana Ave. Ontario, CA 91761 Thanks for considering this request. Much respect, Jess Jess Nieto, Associate Professor School of Teacher Education San Diego State University Office: North Education 81 Office phone number: (619) 594-6125 Email address: nieto@mail.sdsu.edu

Alchemi-Que?
Forging Wholeness in Early

Please join us for a discussion with Marcos Sanchez-Tranquilino who was the driving force behind the 1990 exhibit, CARA. CARA

Chicano Art and Identity, A lecture by Marcos Sanchez-Tranquilino Sunday, October 2, 2011 starting at 1:00 pm

was organized over a period of seven years by a national advisory board of Chicano and Chicana artists, art administrators, art historians, and other Chicano and Chicana activists and scholars in collaboration with the museum staff of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Wight Art Gallery.

Marcos Sanchez-Tranquilino

Born in Mexico city, he moved with his family to California at the age of 8 where he grew up in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. He created set designs for the Nosotros Theater Organization and other equity waiver theaters in Hollywood while attending Los Angeles City College. At UCLA he earned his BA and MA in Art History specializing in Pre-Columbian art as a commitment to his Chicano community. His graduate thesis which explored preColumbian imagery and its multifaceted relationship with Chicano murals and Mexican American graffiti continues to serve as a seminal source for continued work in this area. In 1990 he along with Holly BarnetSanchez created and organized the historic exhibition, CARA; Chicano Art, Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985 that examined the relationship between the Chicano Civil rights and Art Movements at a national level for the first time. It was the first art exhibit focusing on Chicano Art that traveled nationally as well as to Spain and Mexico. He has published several articles about the Zoot Suit in Chicano society and art, as well as about the significance of murals for Chicano culture. In 2000, he received in MA in Counseling Psychology. His thesis returned to Chicano Art to explore the role of psychic individuation exemplified by the Chicano tripartite graphic design known as the Mestizo Head that deeply impacted early visual efforts by artists to exemplify Chicano selfidentity. He is currently a practicing psychotherapist in Oregon

Organized by by Harry Gamboa and Avenue 50 Studio, Inc. a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery 131 North Avenue 50 Highland Park, CA 90042 323-258-1435 http://www.avenue50studio.com Avenue 50 Studio is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; the California Community Foundation; the California Council for the Humanities; the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; and The James Irvine Foundation

Asco: Elite of The Obscure Los Angeles County Museum of Art, September 4 - December 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/arts/design/works-by-asco-at-the-losangeles-museum.html?_r=1 9 September 2011 Chicano Pioneers: A collage by Gronk from "Asco: Elite of the Obscure, a Retrospective, 1972 -- 1987" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. By Randy Kennedy Published: August 25, 2011 LATE one December night in 1972, three members of an art collective here clambered out of a battered green Volkswagen bug and spray-painted their names Herrn, Gamboa, Gronkie on a footbridge of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, appropriating the entire museum as their own work of art simply by signing it. The next morning Harry Gamboa Jr. returned with the fourth member of the group, Patssi Valdez, and immortalized the act with a glam shot of her posing in tight pants and a red top near the signatures, looking away coolly and seductively like Anna Karina in a Godard movie. The stunt by the collective known as Asco exhibited all the hallmarks of the groups outrageous style: angry, illicit, deftly and economically conceptual, and shot through with the high camp of Hollywood, whose sign they could see in the distance from the streets of East Los Angeles. The act was also pretty much noticed by no one except the four members themselves, who were always their own best audience. The paint was whitewashed before days end; the Los Angeles art world went on its way, paying little attention to a group of artists whose street performances and other unclassifiable productions were as compelling as practically anything bubbling up out of

the urban dereliction of SoHo or other parts of Los Angeles during those years. Almost four decades later, the same museum the collective defaced because its doors werent open to artists of their kind Mexican-American, working class and poor, highly irreverent and politicized is not just finally welcoming them inside but rolling out a red carpet for the occasion. Asco: Elite of the Obscure, a Retrospective, 1972-1987, the first survey of the groups work, opens Sept. 4 as one of the Los Angeles County Museums main offerings for the sprawling Pacific Standard Time event, more than 60 collaborative shows opening throughout Southern California in the late summer and fall to tell the story of postwar Los Angeles art. The Asco exhibition organized with the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Mass. has been almost a decade in the making. And its goal is nothing less than to rewrite part of that story and the broader history of urban art in the 1970s to give the collective its rightful place among the pioneers of its era. Its a show thats phenomenally overdue, said C. Ondine Chavoya, an associate professor of art at Williams College and one of the exhibitions curators. I felt it was overdue at the very moment I learned about Ascos work many years ago. And now coming as it does as part of Pacific Standard Time means that its not going to be isolated or singular. Its going to tie them in, finally, to a much larger history. The show is only one of several Pacific Standard Time shows delving into the history of Chicano art in the 1960s and 70s, whose attitude and look seeped into mainstream art in ways only now being recognized. But the story of Asco lies even deeper, one of a subculture within a subculture, a group of artists fueled not just by their marginal existence within their city and country but by their alienation from the Chicano art movement as well. The members were, as Mr. Gamboa has described it, self-imposed exiles who felt the best way to exercise artistic freedom and express solidarity with the Mexican-American cause was, paradoxically, to run screaming from most Mexican-American art at the time, or at least from its political strictures and the stereotypes imposed on it by mainstream culture. Ascos method was a kind of bombastic excess and elegant elusiveness that would have made Tristan Tzara proud, not to mention Cantinflas and Liberace. The Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight wrote that the group brought Zurich Dada of the late-1910s to 1970s Los Angeles. But it was a distinctly Chicano brand of Dada, by way of David Bowie and Frank Zappa, drag and Pachuco culture, telenovelas and oddball UHF television stations, and New Wave and silent movies.

Part of the art was just the idea that you would try to draw attention to yourself the way we did at a time when everyone around us was existing in despair, Mr. Gamboa said in a recent interview, speaking of the guerrilla escapades of the group, whose members went their separate ways in 1987 and now barely speak to one another as the spotlight has reunited them. In a 1997 interview with the Smithsonians Archives of American Art, one of the groups founders, the artist who calls himself Gronk (though at times also Groak and Grunk) described the collective as just a rumor to a lot of people for the longest time and sort of thought of as drug addicts, perverts. All kinds of names were hurled at us by other Chicano artists, he said. The collectives chosen name, Asco, set the outr tone it means disgust or nausea in Spanish and also evokes a sinister corporation or a mockery of the acronyms of the social-service organizations then proliferating in poor neighborhoods as a legacy of President Lyndon B. Johnsons Great Society. But the foursomes unpredictable street theater and prodigious imagemaking beginning in the early 70s fake publicity shots and film stills, Super-8 movies, mail-art fliers made clear that they were not simply trying to express their disgust with racism, police harassment and the Vietnam War but also using revulsion as a raw material and spreading a fair amount of it around. Their first performance, Stations of the Cross, staged during the Christmas holidays in 1972 before the group had gelled or chosen its name, involved Mr. Gamboa, Gronk and Willie Herrn, another of the groups founders, mocking both Mexican Catholic holiday traditions and the look of classic Mexican murals. The three dressed up as macabre pilgrims and unsettled shoppers along Whittier Boulevard, East Los Angeless central artery, trudging along with a huge cross made from cardboard, which they eventually dumped in front of a Marine Corps recruiting station; then they ran away. Several years before Cindy Sherman started photographing herself as the protagonist in nonexistent movies to strip-mine the mechanisms of Americas image-making, Asco began an extensive body of work called No Movies, in which the members dressed up and photographed wildly cinematic scenes one of the funniest and most memorable was called The Gores, a sort of Mansonesque horror movie inspired by pop singer Leslie Gore late at night on the Los Angeles streets. The images from these never-to-be movies were then mailed out widely like publicity materials, a project that, as the film scholar David E. James notes in the shows catalog, articulated deeply both the affection and the anger, the

desire and the hatred the collectives members had for the movies, in which people who looked like them were almost never seen. Ascos founders, now all in their late 50s, met at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, which also produced the members of the band Los Lobos and became known later for the work of the teacher Jaime Escalante, of Stand and Deliver fame. While Gronk was Ascos only gay member, an androgynous sensibility pervaded the group in its photographs, its performances and particularly its look, with lots of shaved eyebrows and Theda Bara makeup. In many of their no-budget, experimental antics, the groups chief worry was almost never the conventional one for artists Will anyone pay attention to us? but whether the attention they got would get them arrested or attacked or worse. I always felt like a bullfighter in many ways, Mr. Gamboa said in a recent interview over lunch with Mr. Herrn at the Los Angeles County Museum, only a hundred yards from the spot where they once spray-painted their names. The art was to walk away unscathed but to have touched the danger. And the danger was often very real. In one of the groups pieces, Decoy Gang War Victim, from 1974, Asco members went at night to neighborhoods marred by gang violence and created fake crime scenes, in which Gronk would play a young corpse on the pavement, surrounded by police flares. The scene would be photographed and the pictures would be sent to newspapers and television stations, as a way to sow confusion both in the news media which Asco saw as inciting and perpetuating gang violence and maybe even among the gangs themselves, to prevent more violence. The performance recalls one from 1972 by a fellow Angeleno and recent M.F.A. graduate, Chris Burden, Deadman, in which he placed himself under a tarp surrounded by flares on a busy city street, where cars swerved to avoid him. Ascos ideas sprang less from the kind of Conceptual explorations of performance and body art then pouring out of graduate art programs and more from their experience on the streets transformed by media-saturated urban savvy, what Gronk called an aesthetics of poverty. But the methods and results were often strikingly similar to those of more established artists.

What weve been up against is the idea, I think, that these are just regional artists or that they mattered only within the context of a certain time in L.A., said Rita Gonzalez, the shows curator along with Mr. Chavoya. They never achieved the market success of a lot of their peers or the esteem within academia. Part of this was by design, of course, growing out of a deep ambivalence about the establishments embrace. The groups founders have since gone on to individual careers Ms. Valdez is a painter; Mr. Gamboa teaches at the California Institute of the Arts and remains an active artist; Mr. Herrn is a painter and founder of the punk band Los Illegals; Gronk is a successful artist and stage designer, collaborating most recently with Peter Sellars. But all, to varying degrees, have sought success only on their own terms. As Mr. Gamboa once told a Smithsonian interviewer, with wonderful Seinfeldian skepticism: I look at that carrot and it looks a little spoiled to me. Im not exactly allergic to carrots, but the way its dangling it just it doesnt look right. It should be at least on a plate. Even now that the Los Angeles County Museum is delivering the carrot on what is arguably a pretty nice plate a show of photographs, films and artworks that will take up half a floor of the Broad Contemporary wing, accompanied by a hefty catalog not all are so sure theyre happy. The big surprise of the show is that were all going to be in it, too, stuffed, said Mr. Herrn, who wears a safety-pin earring and a pair of jet-black shades that never leave his face. Like many struggling young bands that basically grew up together, Asco which expanded in the 1980s to include a large number of new members and collaborators eventually imploded, the result of longstanding rivalries and grudges among its founders, which linger today. We all defied Newton, Mr. Gamboa said by way of explanation. For every action, there was a completely disproportionate reaction. But the end result was not exactly a surprise for a group that usually operated at white-hot intensity, he said, adding that he had no idea whether the retrospective would ultimately result in the recognition he and his former collaborators deserved or whether, true to Ascos nature, the collective would always be more a legend than a fact. Who knows? he said. Thats the way L.A. is, too. Its a desert with mirages. A thing happens and then, poof, its gone.

CALIFORNIA
Oct 1-2 Festival Honoring Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, San Diego, CA Oct 22, 2011 Smith Family Reunion Picnic Casa de Tableta, Portola Valley, San Mateo County Oct 28, 2011 "Family Remembrance Day" at Agua Mansa Cemetery in Colton, CA Ralph Ruiz, early California descendant NEW: Southern California History Newsletter, Vol.1, No.1 available free online Hayley Bojorquez, 9th Generation Californiana The State of California was born in Prayer and Brotherhood by Galal Kernahan

Festival Honoring Juan Rodrguez Cabrillo Oct 1-2, 2011

You are invited to participate in the opening festivities, the Commemorative Ceremony and Wreath Laying honoring Juan

Rodrguez Cabrillo at the building site of the San Salvador at Spanish Landing Park, on North Harbor Drive, Saturday, Oct 1st, 4:00 pm. Keynote will be delivered by Ambassador Enrique Ruiz Molero, Cnsul General de Espaa en Los Angeles. Queridos amigos: Como en aos anteriores se celebrar el Festival de Cabrillo en honor del explorador Juan Rodrguez Cabrillo que estando al servicio de Espaa descubri la costa oeste de Estados Unidos cincuenta aos despus de que Cristbal Coln descubriese Amrica. La Casa de Espaa en San Diego tambin llamada House of Spain lleva participando en este Festival por muchos aos y es por eso por lo que ruego a todos los espaoles residentes en esta zona asistan a este festival. Como vern en el programa nuestro Cnsul General de Espaa en Los Angeles, Embajador Enrique Ruiz Molero, su esposa e hijos vendrn a participar del festival. Un cordial saludo, M ngeles Information, contact San Diego's Honorary Cousul of Spain, M ngeles O'Donnell Olson, conhon.espana.sd@gmail.com

SMITH FAMILY REUNIO N PICNIC

Saturday, October 22, 2011 Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside, CA Descendants of Thomas Hugh Smith and James Wilcox Smith will gather in Lakesides Lindo Lake Park on Saturday, October 22, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for an informationgathering picnic. Origins of the Smiths in Baja and Alta California: Many present-day San Diegans can trace their roots to the Smith brothers from New

The stories of the migration of Los Smith have been the subject of several books and films, including Last of the Californios by local author Harry Crosby; Familia and The Trail North by Dr. Roberto R. Alvarez, Jr. (a Smith); and The Lemon Grove Incident by Paul Espinosa. In addition to their own food and drink, attendees are encouraged to bring old photos, family charts, and any other Smith Family information that they are willing to share. Contacts: Lois Farnsworth at 619-3034374 or farnsworthlo1@hotmail.com Dorothy Cota, marryjanne619@yahoo.com; or Carole Galvez Salazar, 619-957-5926 chula.mcs@live.com

Twins Juliana Smith Belarde & Magdalena Smith Espinosa (b. 1862 in Monterey CA), residents of Colton, CA; with cousin Esquipula Smith of Lakeside, CA (b. ca 1863 in Comondu, Baja California). Photo taken in Colton CA.

A Meet Your Smith Cousin gathering held in July 2011, at the home of Carole Salazar in La Mesa, CA. L-R: Richard Meza, Sr.; Gilbert Lopez Martinez, Carole Salazar, Lois Farnsworth Rattray, Dorothy Cota, Gay Rosamond Martinez.

California Historical Landmarks in San Mateo County California Landmark 825 Casa de Tableta 3915 Alpine Road at Arastradero Road Portola Valley Casa de Tableta This structure, built by Felix Buelna in the 1850s, served as a gambling retreat and meeting place for Mexican-Californios. It was strategically located on the earliest trail used both by rancheros and American settlers crossing the peninsula to the coast. Acquired by an American in 1868, it has continued to serve under various names as a roadhouse and saloon. Registered Landmark No. 825

Dear Folks, Here is something to be proud of--did you know?!!: The Buelna Family are primos of our Tapia and Briones families, to name a few. Cousin Irvin Chambers (Buelna, Sepulveda) alerted me to the fact that his ancestor, Felix Buelna, originally owned the Alpine Inn (known then by a different name), and the land grant there in Portola Valley. The plaque No. 825 is still there. The Alpine Inn is known by several names, including "Rosati's". The burger and beer restaurant was at one time a gambling house. This famous restaurant is and was a popular hangout for Stanford University students, as well as many of my former co-workers and their customers from Lockheed Martin in nearby Sunnyvale. My grandchildren often stop by Rosati's for lunch. Warm regards, prima Lorri Lorri Frain lorrilocks@gmail.com

"Family Remembrance Day" at Agua Mansa Cemetery in Colton, CA October 28, 2011 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Please plan to attend and bring your family!

Reserve Oct. 28 now and participate in our Family Remembrance Day at Agua Mansa Cemetery in Colton from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. This wonderful historic site is a part of our county museum system. The first burial in the cemetery that we are aware of took place in 1852, and the last in 1963. The cemetery represents a connection between the rich history of South Colton and California, and our lives today, under the commonality of remembrance. Come and join us as we look back at the history of the Agua Mansans, people who traveled on what is now called the Old Spanish Trail from Abiquiu, New Mexico to Colton in the 1840s, and subsequent families that called Colton home, and now are buried at the site. No matter your tradition of remembrance, join us to honor those who have gone before, and learn more about their lives. We will have a special dedication during the event for a new sculpture at the site, honoring Lorenzo Trujillo.

Lorenzo Trujillo was one of the original settlers of the community of La Placita, located along with the community of Agua Mansa on the banks of the Santa Ana River. The sculpture by artist Simi Dabah is a gift from the artist and descendants of Lorenzo Trujillo to the cemetery. We will also celebrate the arrival of a new interpretive sign outdoors, at the site. This sign was made possible through a generous donation from a friend of the museum, and supporter of the cemetery, Richard Whitaker. The new sign will not only offer information about the cemetery, but will feature historic photographs. It will be mounted so that visitors to the site, whether it be open or closed, can take away new insights.
Michele Nielsen, Curator of History/Archives San Bernardino County Museum 2024 Orange Tree Lane Redlands, CA 92374 U. S. A. 909.307.2669 x 240 Visit our website at: www.sbcountymuseum.org

As Always, Lenny Trujillo lennytrujillo51@aol.com

Ralph Ruiz, early California descendant, father of Lorri Ruiz Frain was buried at Fort Rosecrans, Point Loma. Her daughter, Magdaline, and grandson, Ben, surprised Lorri by visiting the grave site and taking the photos.

Southern California History Newsletter

William S. Dean, a direct descendant of several of California's founding families, has begun publishing the Southern California History Newsletter. The newsletter is a free monthly online devoted to little known and "forgotten" stories, updates on historicallyrelated events, interviews, and articles. There will be a special emphasis on the contributions and heritage of California's early Spanish, Mexican, Native American, and other immigrants to the Golden State. Here is a sample article from the first issue:

Tomas Avila Sanchez

Californias Confederate Sheriff: Tomas Avila Sanchez

As we commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, its time, too, to take a look at Californias little-known stories of that turbulent time. Many people, for example, dont realize that it was Californias gold which strongly helped finance the war. Long after the strike of 49, millions of dollars worth of gold was shipped back east to pay for soldiers, ammunition, and supplies, as well as paying for the government to continue running. Even less known is the fact that southern California actually fielded a

Confederate militia known as The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles which had among its officers, the county sheriff! As the only Free State militia unit that "went Confederate," their story is as unique as anything in American history. On March 7, 1861 over a month before the first shots were fired upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina Los Angeles county judge William Dryden officially recorded the muster of The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles. Among the names on the roster are included several of my Hispanic ancestral cousins Abilas and Ruiz, among others as well as newly-elected 2nd Lieutenant and then current county sheriff Tomas Avila Sanchez. Sanchez had already served as a lancer among the Californios fighting in the Mexican-American War and three consecutive terms on the county Board of Supervisors. Now, he had become a Confederate officer. As sheriff, Sanchez helped supply the Mounted Rifles with arms and munitions, including a small cannon which had been designated for another pro-Union militia unit. Under close surveillance by Federal troops in Los Angeles, Sanchez did not leave either the state nor his office while the rest of the Mounted Rifles made their way to Texas, escorting by the way Albert Sydney Johnson who would later be made the second-highest ranking general in the Confederate Army by his friend, President Jefferson Davis. A voyage made possible by Californias Hispanic Confederate sheriff Tomas Avila Sanchez." The first issue of the Southern California History Newsletter is available through ISSUU online here: http://issuu.com/califwilliam/docs/schnewsletter-v1-e1

HAYLEY BOJORQUEZ 9th Generation Californiana

HAYLEY BOJORQUEZ 9th Generation Californiana Joins the elite class of 2011 PLACE Graduates Mimi, A little information on my granddaughter Hayley Dawn Bojorquez, she is from Moorpark, Ca. She attended Saint Mary's College at Notre Dame, Indiana. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with a Minor in English as a New Language Cum Laude on 5/21/11. I am so proud of my granddaughter Hayley Bojorquez, I just had to share. She was one of 28 students from the United States that was accepted into the Place Corps program at Loyola University where she will earn her masters degree. I just attended a mass where the young men and women were recognized and commended. I was so impressed and overwhelmed with the presentation and the University, I had to share. The PLACE Corps is Loyola Marymount Universitys nationally recognized Catholic teacher service corps. Built upon the three pillars of Professional Development, Community, and Spirituality, PLACE Corps members earn a debt-free masters degree and credential while serving as full-time teachers in underresourced Catholic schools of the Los Angeles

PLACE Corps Vision Statement You are a member of the PLACE Corps, part of a unique fellowship that performs an invaluable service for the Catholic community of Los Angeles. As a member of the PLACE Corps family, your character, gifts, and commitment add strength to the program's three pillars, and richness to the PLACE Corps tradition. All of those before you and those who follow, make up an unbroken chain of devotion and compassion that should make you proud to be a PLACEr. As a member of the PLACE Corps, you are a role model to many, and in a special sense, a public figure. Your commitment to the PLACE Corps does entitle you to a special privileges; rather, it obligates you to be an example for your students, faculty, and community, and to give of yourself without want of reward. As a PLACEr, you are constantly under observation as a representative of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the PLACE Corps, and Loyola Marymount University; live your life with kindness and prudence so as to bring honor and respect to you service and your profession. Not only do PLACErs teach the Gospel values in their classrooms, but are expected to live according to those values in all aspects of their personal, spiritual, and professional lives. Service as a member of the PLACE Corps can be whatever you make it. It often takes time to understand and become adapted to the challenging experiences one encounters as a teacher and as a model of faith. Accepting these challenges requires you to work with an unwavering commitment to your vocation, often making sacrifices with family and friends. It is this commitment, however that makes the PLACE Corps such a unique blessing to our schools and to each other, a dedicated group of men and women in service for others who have taken on the mission "to teach as Jesus did."

Betty L. DeLong PLACE Corps Coordinator Loyola Marymount University One LMU Drive, #2423 Los Angeles, CA 90045 Office: 310-338-3774 Fax: 310-338-5262 bdelong@lmu.edu http://www.lmu.edu/education/PLACE member of the University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE) http://www.lmu.edu/education/PLACE

Hayley Dawn Bojorquez and her mother Donna Palacios Bojorquez

Hayley, second row from the top, on the left, in white.

Hayley began her journey into the world of Catholic education at the age of seventeen when she decided to attend Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. She studied elementary Education with a focus in English as New Language. During the course of four years at Saint Mary's she worked in various classrooms in the South Bend School District,. She student-taught in a fourth grade classroom of twenty English Language learners and soon discovered her love for the upper elementary grades. It was at Saint Mary's that she came to define her faith and discover her vocation for teaching. She has had many opportunities to guide others along their spiritual journeys, including sponsoring a close fried as a catechumen. throughout her college career, Hayley also

remained dedicated to her position on the varsity Softball team, acting as the solo senior captain and leading the team to many victories. Hayley is eager to return to the Los Angeles area and join the St. Athanasius family. She hope to bring optimism to her students and share her passion for learning.
Hayley with her nephew Christian Tomas Mitchell.

Historical data about Hayley's 6th Great Grandfather, Ramn Bojrques

Research and some notes gathered by Hayley's Grandmother, Dahlia Guajardo-Cantu de Palacios, tracing Hayley's family pedigree to among the first colonizing California families. SOURCE; PER GRANDPA GIL (CARLOS GILBERTO) BOJORQUEZ'S ARCHIVES (Hayley's Great Grandfather) A VERY OLD PIECE OF PAPER THAT READS FROM THE DIARY OF THE PRIEST WHO CAME WITH CAPTAIN DE ANZA YEAR 1775. Ramn Bojrques was a soldier that came with the de Anza party and founding families of San Jos, California. He died in 1822 at over 90 years of age and is buried in the floor of the Mission San Jos. One of his daughters married Ygnacio Higuera at Mission San Xavier del Bac, Arizona

Josef Ramon Bojorquez Compact Disc #131 Pin #4134366 Pedigree <pedigree_ Birth: 1732 Sinaloa, Sinaloa, Mexico Burial: 8 May 1822 Mission San Jose, San Jose Cal. Spouse: Maria Francisco Romero Disc #131 Pin #4134367 Marriage: 1752 Sinaloa, Sinaloa, Mexico Notes and Sources Alvin S. ANDERSON 2494 E 4340 South Holladay Utah 84124

Source: Carlos Gilberto Bojorquez "Grandpa Gil"-Family Member-now deceased. Many documents in my possesion on the Bojorquez Family, left by Grandpa Gil upon his death to my son in law Gregg Bojorquez. Dahlia Guajardo-Cantu de Palacios 1/31/2007 III. SAR SEEKS DESCENDANTS OF SPANISH SOLDIERS OR SAILORS WHO SERVED IN CALIFORNIA DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR Spain declared war on England 21 June 1779 and continued operations against England until peace was declared 3 Sep 1783. King Carlos III urged his soldiers and sailors to attack the English wherever they were found. During this period, his officers reinforced the California settlements of New Spain and established the new pueblo of Los Angeles, the new presidio of Santa Barbara, and the new mission at San Buenaventura. They sent two armed frigates to counter Captain Cook, said to be off the northern shores of Alta California. They took steps to prevent the capture of horse herds and livestock by English landing forces. They gave individually to the fund to defray expenses of the war. They did without supplies for two years so the Port of Manila could be supported. The 500 plus soldiers and sailors who served in these frontier settlements and waters were specifically focused on warding off the English claims and advances. The National Society, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), considers these Spanish soldiers and sailors as allies whose descendants can join the SAR just as descendants of Spanish soldiers on the Southern coast or descendants of other soldiers in the former English colonies on the East Coast. Any descendant from a Spanish soldier or sailor who served in CA during the critical period of 1779-1783 is invited to join. (Actually, because of communications time lag, soldiers in CA did not know they were at war with England until 1780, and they did not know the war was over until 1784. By September, 1779, they had rumors of impending War with England, and began to take precautions.) Of the 500 plus soldiers and sailors in California in service during the four year period, wives and/or children of over 220

have been identified. By intermarriage, these families include most of the 3000 Spanish/Mexican people in CA in 1822 when Mexico declared Independence from Spain. The 220 plus families are listed below with asterisks (*) by those who have been entered into the Personal Ancestry Files of the LDS Church: Francisco Acebedo; Jose Antonio Quiterio Aceves; Jose Maria Aguila y Frages; Jose Maximo *Alanis y Casillas; Artemio Alegre; Justo Roberto Altamirano; Tiburcio de los Reyes Altamirano; Francisco Xavier *Alvarado; Asencio Alvarez; Jose Joaquin Alvarez; Juan *Alvarez; Luis Joaquin Alvarez de Acevedo; Pedro Alvarez; Juan Francisco Alviso; Felipe Sebastian *Alvitre; Pedro Antonio *Amador; Josef del Carmen Arana; Jose Gabriel de Arce; Manuel Ramirez Arellano; Joseph Dario Arguello; Jose Joaquin Armenta; Juan Antonio Amesquita; Domingo de Montegudo Aruz; Josef Manuel de Atuna; Jose Calixto *Ayala; Francisco Xavier *Beltran; Josef Dioniosio Bernal; Juan Francisco *Bernal; Nicholas Antonio *Berreyesa; Josef Ramon *Bojorquez; Pedro Antonio Bojorquez; Manuel *Boronda; Jose Marcelino Bravo; Marcus Jose *Briones; Ignacio Vicente *Briones; Josef Antonio *Buelna; Jose Ramon Buelna; Manuel *Buitron; Jose Manuel *Bustamente; San Francisco Geneology 1790 California Census Ramon Bojorquez retired soldier, mestizo, from Villa Sinaloa, 58, wife Francisca Romero, mestiza, (from Villa Sinaloa) 52, one child; (Margarita) 8, (grandchild) Refer to William Marvin Mason's book for more information on the caste system.

California Spanish Genealogy by sfgenealogy.com THE CENSUS OF 1790 CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Missions, Monterey, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara According to the compilers (William Marvin Mason, et. al.), this data was taken from the "Revillagigedo Census of 1793," and that the data was originally collected in 1790. The information in the brackets [] has been added by them from church records. Also, the meaning of the caste terms (espaol, espaola, india, indio, mestiza, mestizo, mulata, mulato) varied from one year to the next and may not be an accurate description; please refer to Mason's book for a full discussion regarding caste terms. The information in the braces {} have been added from Mutnick, Northrop, and Temple's Mission Abstracts. Birthdates have been added for some of the younger children to assist in determining the timeframe of the date of the census for the respective areas.

Pedro Bojrquez, cowboy, espaol, from Villa Sinaloa, 36; wife Angela Trejo, espaola, [from Horcasitas, Sonora] 43; three children: [Hermenegildo Ignacio] 12; [Bartolom Francisco] 10; Juan Jos] 6. SOURCE; PER GRANDPA GIL (CARLOS GILBERTO) BOJORQUEZ'S ARCHIVES A LISTING Of MARRIAGES, BAPTISMS AND BURIALS OBTAINED FROM THE RECORDS AT MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA PAGE 3 REGISTER OF DEATHS MISSION DOLORES 12/21/1776 TO 11/28/1809 # 3 BURIAL NANCY HENSHALL IS HIS GREAT-GREAT-GREATGRANDDAUGHTER, PER THESE RECORDS

22003 <ID=22003> Bojorquez Pedro Antonio M Coyote Marido de Francisca Lara; Fundador de San Francisco Source: On Line National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Mission 2000 Data Base Event ID: 8001 Book: Mocorito Page Number: NN Event: Marriage Event Date: 04/03/1775 Event Place: Mocorito Notes: Pedro Antonio de Bojorquez y Francisca Lara, coyotes. No se velaron porque se fueron a Monterey. En el Pueblo de Mocorito en tres das del mes de abril de mil setecientos setenta y cinco habiendo precedido las diligencias matrimoniales licencia del cura de Sinaloa, por ser el despachado de aquellas jurisdictions las tres canonicas amonestaciones casamientos en la doctrina cristiana y confesion sacramental como propio paroco, cas in facie eclesia (y no se vel porque estn cerradas las velaciones) a Pedro Antonio Bojorquez originario de Sinaloa, expuesto en la casa de Juan Vojorquez y de Ana de Ochoa, vecinos de aquellas jurisdicciones, con Francisca de Lara, coyota originaria de esta jurisdiccin, hija legtima de Bautista de Lara y de Francisca Nues, Vecinos de esta jurisdiccin. Sirvieron padrinos Isidro Gutirrez y Marcelena Lara: y testigos Gernacio, fiscal, y Salvador, sacristan, y porque conste lo firmo. Pedro Antonio de Bojorquez and Francisca Lara, coyotes. They were not veiled because they left for Monterey. In the village of Mocorito on the 3rd day of the month of April of 1775, the publishing of the marriage documents having been accomplished because the priest of Sinaloa gave license for the three canonical banns to be dispatched from that jurisdiction for a wedding, in conformance with Christian doctrine, and a sacramental confession, to take place as though in his own jurisdiction, I married in church ceremony (but I did not veil them because the veilings are closed) Pedro Antonio Bojorquez originally of Sinaloa, an orphan left at the house of Juan Vojorquez and Ana de Ochoa, residents of that jurisdiction, and Francisca de Lara, a coyote, originally from

this jurisdiction, legitimate daughter of Bautista de Lara and Francisca Nues, residents of this jurisdiction. Serving as godparents were Isidro Gutirrez and Marcelena Lara: and witnesses, Gernacio, the fiscal, and Salvador, the sacristan, in certification of which I sign. Source: Carlos Gilberto Bojorquez "Grandpa Gil"-Family Member-now deceased. Many documents in my possesion on the Bojorquez Family, left by Grandpa Gil upon his death to my son in law Gregg Bojorquez. Dahlia Guajardo-Cantu de Palacios 1/31/2007

The State of California was born in Prayer and Brotherhood by Galal Kernahan
Californians went to polling places, approved their Original State Constitution 12,872 to 811 and elected a Governor, Lt. Governor and Legislators on a rainy day 162 years ago. Delineation of 27 counties to provide local government was a first order of business when their Legislature met.. For the last dozen years, the Society of Hispanic Heritage and Ancestral Research (SHHAR), LOS AMIGOS OF ORANGE COUNTY and others have been seeking to further public awareness of the November 13, 1849, electoral Birthday of the State of California. There has been no fundraising associated with these celebratory efforts. Events were organized at the University of California, Irvine, California State University, Fullerton, and the Orange County Heritage Museum in Santa Ana. All involved gave of themselves. There is neither room here nor time enough to mention all local, state and national officeholders or all institutions, friends and neighbors who provided encouragement to each other in making these efforts. Because November 13, 2011, falls on a Sunday, it is appropriate to call attention to the roles prayer and brotherhood played in the establishment of the State of California. When congregations and individuals today pray that leaders in society and government recieve encouragement and guidance to make wise and just decisions, they are doing exactly what was done when California's Original 1849 Constitution was being composed. Each session of the Monterey Colton Hall Convention was opened with prayer. Two Chaplains took turns in offering prayers. Father Ignacio

Ramirez de Arrellano, 1849-1853 Padre at the Mission San Carlos in Carmel and the Rev. Samuel H. Willey (1821-1914), a Congregational clergymen who came to California in 1849. How did that work out? Very graciously. Bayard Taylor, author of EL DORADO, ADVENTURES IN THE PATH OF EMPIRE, reported what he witnessed on a visit to the Catholic Church in Monterey after the Constitutional Convention concluded (here found on Page 143 of a Heyday Books 2000 reprint): The church music was furnished by a diminuitive organ. . .Padre Ramirez preached a very excellent sermon, recommending his Catholic flock to follow the example of the Protestants, who, he said, were more truly pious than they and did much more for the welfar of their church." The Spanish-speaking Chaplain passed away some years later, but his younger brother in Convention chaplaincy Samuel Willey lived out the 19th Century and 14 years of the 20th. He headed the College of California, a forerunner of the University of California. His THIRTY YEARS IN CALIFORNIA published in 1879 provides much early California religious history. Evoking imagery of a comfluence of cultures, California Department of Education Consultant Edwin Klotz introduced the 1964 orthographic republication of English and Spanish 1849 texts of California's Original Constitution. (Many California libraries still hold reference copies.) He asserts that. . .in the annals of history, few assemblies of men have convened who were as varied in background as the 48 delegates to the Convention in Monterey in 1849. Ony 15 of the 48 participants had lived in California more than three years. As they described themselves upon finishing their work: "Although born in different climes, coming from different states, imbued with local feelings and educated with predilections for peculiar institutions, laws and customs, the delegates assembled in the Convention as Californians and carried on their deliberations in a spirit of amity, compromise and mutual concession to the public weal." The native Californians were a decided minority. And yet how that minority managed to influence the course of events!. . .William Hartnell, the English merchant who arrived in Monterey in 1822. who had married a de la Guerra daughter (by whom he had 18 living children) and who had become thoroughly hispanicised, was elected official translator.for the Convention. All resolutions and articles were translated by Hartnell before being voted on. . .Section 21, Article XI, of the Constitution decreed that all future laws be translated and recorded in Spanish and the First Legislature created the position of State Translator.

This is how Californians TOGETHER created their State. California was admitted as the 31st of the States in the American Union on September 9, 1850. It began with prayerful lessons in brotherhood. In the same spirit, it continues to build itself. . .now enriched by many cultures, faiths and traditions. Galal Kernahan, 619-C Avenida Sevilla, Laguna Woods, CA 92637 (949) 581-3625 SO WHEN IS CALIFORNIAS STATE BIRTHDAY? On Sunday, November 13, 2011, the State of California will be 162 years old. The delegates to Californias Constitutional Convention were diverse. In fact, all debate, discussion and decision-making was done in two official languages. English and Spanish. Protestant and Catholic chaplains alternated in offering session-opening prayers. And though there was plenty to argue about (even how far in which directions Californias boundaries should go), they managed to get along. In the end, all chipped in for 31 cannon shots as well as refreshment and musicians. They partied all night . . .then saddled up to ride home. When the cannon was first fired, good folks in Monterey were jarred from bed and nesting shorebirds exploded into the night sky. Everyone had to put up with 31 BOOMS because they signified the State of California would be Number 31 when Congress got round to admitting it to the Union. (Which it did ten months later.) The Monterey party-goers were pretty confident that night. For all their differences, they had survived almost two months of argument and debate. There was surely euphoria at their combined accomplishment. . .but no one could be certain Californians would buy what they put together. Unless and until that happened, there would be no State of California in spite of all they had done to create one. It took a month to get ballots and copies of their work product out to polling places. From San Diego to Sacramento and beyond, November 13th was wet and dreary. But the Californians, who got to the polls, ratified the proposed Constitution by a 12-to-1 ratio. They elected the State of Californias first Governor, Lt. Governor and Legislators, too. Because our State Birthday falls on a Sunday this year, churches and places of of worship will be calling attention to the prayers and remarkable spirit of brotherhood that brought the Original 1849 California State Constitution to life.

IS THERE A SPECIAL REASON OUR STATE BIRTHDAY SHOULD INTEREST SOME OF TODAY'S CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS? Chances are they may be related to our States 48 forefathers. Most delegates were newcomers to California. (See listing below.) Many lawyers from back East were only weeks or months off a boat before being elected. Thirty-two-year-old New York Lawyer Winfield S. Sherwood had been here for four months before being elected a delegate from Sacramento. Other delegates like fifty-three-year-old Los Angeles farmer Jose Antonio Carrillo had lived in California all his life. Among delegates born abroad were forty-seven-year-old J. A. Sutter (Switzerland), thirty-oneyear-old Pedro Sensavaine (France), thirty-eight-year-old Hugo Reid (Scotland), twenty-nine-year-old W. E. Shannon (Ireland) and forty-oneyear-old Miguel de Pedroena (Spain). Named official translator W. E. P. Hartrnell (England) was 27 years in California by then and married to a Santa Barbara de la Guerra wife who bore him twenty sons and five daughters. Galal Kernahan, 619-C Avenida Sevilla, Laguna Woods, CA 92637 (949) 581-3625 Galal@comline.com

ELOW IS A LIST OF THE 48 SIGNERS OF THE CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION, NOVEMBER 13, 1849. You, your family, friends, or some of your neighbors may be descended from one or more of them. They came not just from California but from all over the then United States. . .and several foreign countries. Spanish surnames high-lighted. Joseph Aram Ch. T. Botts Elam Brown Jose Anto. Carrillo J. M. Covarrubias P. de la Guerra W. M. Gwin H.W. Halleck Julian Hanks L.W. Hastings Francis J. Lippitt M.M. McCarver John McDougal B. F. R. Semple W. E. Shannon Winfield R. Sherwood Jacob R.

E. O. Crosby Lewis Dent Kimball H. Dimmick Manl. Dominguez A. J. Ellis Stephen C. Foster Edw. Gilbert

Henry Hill Joseph Hobson J. McH. Hollingsworth J.D. Hoppe J. M. Jones Thomas O. Larkin Benj. S. Lippincott

Moore Myron Norton Pacificus Ord Miguel de Pedroena Antonio M. Pico Rodman M. Price Hugo Reid Jancinto Rodrigues Pedro Sansevaine

Snyder Abel Stearns W. M. Steuart J. A. Sutter Henry A. Tefft M. G. Vallejo Thos. L. Vermeule J. P. Walker O. M. Wosencraft

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

Oct 19-22: 26th Annual National Association of Hispanic Publications Convention/Conference New Original Real Life Series "BorderTown: Laredo Arizona: No Rooster in the Desert by Kara Hartzler Jurez muralist Mago Gndara seeks her 'revenge' in new show The Catarino Garza War by Norman Rozeff Mexican Americans and the 16th of September by Felipe Ortego y Gasca The Dawes Act of 1887, Court of Private Land Claims Act of 1891

26th Annual National Association of Hispanic Publications Convention and Business Conference at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada October 19-22, Las Vegas, Nevada

Publishers will travel from across the country and Mexico to participate in cutting-edge workshops and lectures for industry leaders and newcomers, touching on best practices, advertising, sales, news and social media for an ever-strengthening Hispanic audience.

While traditional media outlets are experiencing audience declines, Hispanic publications are bucking the trend and delivering an audience of young, educated and loyal readers. Hispanic purchasing power now exceeds $850 billion dollars, and the Hispanic population according to recent Census data now numbers over 50 million which includes Puerto Rico. The National Hispanic Press Foundation will once again host a one-day Student Voices in Media Day - a journalism/publishing boot-camp for area university and high school students in conjunction with the NAHP convention. For more information, including the convention agenda, registration fees, sponsorship opportunities and exhibitor information, visit: http://www.nahp.org/ . The 26th Annual NAHP Convention and Business Expo is enerously sponsored by Microsoft, AT&T, Chevrolet, MillerCoors, and AARP among others. United/Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of the 2011 NAHP Convention and Business Expo. Sent by Kirk Whisler kirk@whisler.com

A&E PREMIERES New Original Real Life Series Ten-Episode Series Documents Small Team Of Local Police As They Protect The U.S. Border From Threat Of Mexican Drug

"BorderTown: Laredo

Cartels Premieres Thursday, October 13 AT 10PM ET/PT

NEW YORK, NY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011 Laredo, Texas is under siege. The small city on the U.S.-Mexico border is overrun by the sophisticated and large-scale trafficking operations of Mexican drug cartels. Given unprecedented access, A&E documents a unique, dedicated team of local cops, members of the Laredo Texas Police Department Narcotics Unit, who are waging a daily battle to protect the U.S. in Bordertown: Laredo. The ten episode half-hour series premieres with back-to-back episodes Thursday, October 13 at 10 and 10:30 PM ET/PT on A&E. The largest inland port on the U.S.-Mexico border, Laredo is the premiere gateway used by Mexican drug cartels to transport illegal narcotics into the U.S. and export billions of dollars in cash to Mexico. Bordertown: Laredo gives viewers exclusive access to the explosive drama, violence and conflict that unfold daily along the U.S.-Mexico border through the unique perspective of five Mexican-American cops determined to take back their community. In each half-hour episode, viewers ride along with the Laredo Police Department's Narcotics Unit as they work with confidential informants, carry out undercover missions, and execute raids in order to seize shipments of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and crystal meth before they can be distributed to cities and towns across America. Outnumbered and outgunned, they are a small agency fighting a big war. In season one, the unit seized nearly two tons of illegal narcotics, with a street value of more than 12 million dollars. Bordertown: Laredo is produced by Al Roker Entertainment, Inc. in association with CRM Entertainment, Inc. for A&E. Al Roker and C. Russell Muth serve as executive producers. About A&E Network A&E is Real Life. Drama. Now reaching 100 million homes, A&E is television that you cant turn away from, where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high-quality entertainment ranging from the networks original scripted series, including The Glades and Breakout Kings, to signature nonfiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning Intervention, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Hoarders, Billy the Exterminator and Storage Wars, and the most successful justice shows on cable, including The First 48.

Sent by Jose M. Pena JMPENA@aol.com

A New Play Commissioned by Borderland Theater

Arizona: No Rooster the the Desert A play based on fieldwork by Anna Ochoa OLeary Directed by Barclay Goldsmith Winner of the Edgerton Foundation American New Play Award and the NEA Access to Excellence! Rolling World Premiere sponsored by National New Play Network: Mexico City, Tucson and Chicago

By Kara Hartzler

October 20-23, 2011 Zuzis Theatre 738 North 5th Ave

In this riveting playbased on actual interviews by Anna Ochoa OLearyUofA Mexican American Studies Dept., four women trek the desert towards the American dream. On their way they push the limits of their physical and emotional endurance, and they establish profound yet fragile connections with each other through the magical storytelling of the youngest of them, an indigenous woman from Chiapas.
RESERVATIONS: (520) 882-7406 or http://www.borderlandstheater.org/ Borderlands Theater, 40 W. Broadway Sponsors:National Endowment for the Arts Arizona Commission for the Arts Tucson Pima Arts Council/Kresge Art in Tucson Edgerton Foundation for New Plays National New Play Network *NNPN Rolling World Premiere University of Arizona College of Humanities University of Arizona Binational Migration Institute

Featuring Annabelle Nunez, Anel Scmidt, Eva Tessler and Veronica del Cerro Sent by Roberto Calderon beta@unt.edu

From 'art queen' to exile:

Jurez muralist Mago Gndara seeks her 'revenge' in new show

by Ramn Rentera El Paso TimesPosted: 08/21/2011 http://www.elpasotimes.com/living/ci_18724347

Margarita "Mago" Gndara fled Jurez with all the art pieces she could jam into a small trailer. "They threatened to kill me," she said. The well-known border muralist is still defiant, still outspoken. Her knees are too weak to climb scaffolds anymore, but the roaring laughter of a woman determined to reinvent herself still reverberates through her El Paso studio. At 82, Gndara refused to be a victim, refused to stick around when a sicario, a hired gunman, showed up six months ago and told her neighbors in Colonia Libertad that she would be killed if she did not pay her quota, or extortion money. "I got angry and left, simply did not go back. I'd be a perfect candidate to be sequestered," she said. "I survived. I'm making a new life here -- easier." As part of what she calls her "revenge," Gndara has been working on a series of paintings called "Immigrant Pilgrims" for a coming exhibition in the Union Gallery at the University of Texas at El Paso. She also plans to show some sculptures. "This is what I did to survive my emotions and to begin life all over," she said. Gndara found inspiration for some of the artwork in the Native Americans who sell art in the Santa Fe plaza. "I don't want my immigrant peregrinas ugly or miserable or being strangled or being killed. I want them noble and beautiful," Gndara said. "It's my revenge, my way of getting back. I say they are the rich ones, not the people who have money and use it as power."

The El Paso native had lived almost 40 years in what she calls a jacalito, an art compound nicknamed "Qui" at the base of the West Jurez mountains. She left behind massive outdoor murals at her home studio, including an unfinished mural called "Bendito Seas." "I was the art queen. The governor (of Chihuahua) even gave me a silver medal," Gndara said. "Now I feel like an orphan. Since I left, my university friends, my architect friends hardly talk to me. I don't know why. Maybe because they're sad. Maybe because they're worn out with this." "This" is the relentless orgy of Mexican drug cartel and organized crime violence that has killed more than 8,500 Jurez residents since 2008. Gndara is among the exodus of thousands of people who have left Jurez to seek safety in El Paso and elsewhere in the United States. Now, Gndara dreams of persuading universities on both sides of the border to work together to convert her art space in Jurez into a school for teaching student muralists. If a new soccer stadium is built in Jurez, she hopes she is selected to design and direct a big mural for that public space. "I feel nostalgia, but I'm never going back to live there," Gndara said. "Those murals were wearing me out. I'm not young anymore." She still thinks of the man who sold gorditas in a tiendita in the colonia. The sicarios shot and killed him because he did not give them enough money. "Que triste," Gndara said. "How can any government put up with that?" While Gndara may feel isolated, somewhat abandoned by Mexicans who once adored her and claimed her as their own, she has been described as a significant border artist. In a 2000 book, "Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: Women in American History" (Rowan and Littlefield), author Kristie Lindenmayer described Gndara as "one of the region's cultural treasures." "She belongs to a select group of individuals who are truly border artists ... persons who live and produce art in both the United States and Mexico and who have learned to live, negotiate and navigate the 'borderisms' on a daily basis," Lindenmayer wrote. "Mago Gndara's art reflects the essence of the U.S.Mexico border region." The author suggests Gndara's art has been mostly overlooked in established art circles in the United States, primarily because much of her art, such as public art murals, remains in the communities where it was created. Miguel Jurez selected Gndara and some of her work for "Colors on Desert Walls," a book that includes sketches and photographs of some of El Paso's most prominent murals. "Mago is one of this region's most important artists whose work embodies the border landscape," Jurez said recently. "She combines materials that most of us take for granted but in her hands become art." Gndara earned a reputation on the border for producing fantastic murals, using fragments of brightly colored glass, tile and other materials. She regards "La Nia Csmica" (1993) on an exterior wall at El Paso's Douglass Elementary School as one of her best works. Like her murals, Gndara has tolerated and adapted to the harsh Southwestern desert. "I'm obviously American but I am also Mexicana, whether I like it or not," she said. "I love Mexican cultura. It's very human."

Born in El Paso to Mexican immigrant parents, Gndara loves negotiating the border culture and creating art that reflects her dual existence in the United States and Mexico. I'm not the greatest artist in the world. I don't give a damn about that," she said. "I belong to the artists since the beginning of time. What do I care if I'm the best or the worst? Here I am, still creating. Me encanta." Gndara is old school, the type of artist who writes and sketches constantly in journals, the type of artist who is always studying the mountains, the desert and people who inhabit her neighborhood, older women and their umbrellas, women and babies, and sexy young chicks walking their dogs. Except for snippets of her work that her children have posted on YouTube, you will not find Gndara on Internet social networks such as Twitter or Facebook. She still writes letters the old-fashioned way, by hand. "I like being alone almost to an insane degree," Gndara said. To say Gndara is unconventional is an understatement. She once said she broke away from her marriage after 25 years and five children because she needed to focus more on her art. "We don't do it on purpose, but artists are meant to upset the status quo," Gndara said. "I've certainly done that." She harshly criticizes city leaders who she says neglected and dishonored "Seor Sol," a mural she erected at what is now the abandoned solar energy demonstration building near Bowie High School. Gndara suggests that El Paso is embracing a new immigrant way of life as Mexicans continue to settle here. "This is Jurez now, the new Jurez," she said. "Because we are hospitable and kind and generous as Americans, we are creating a new world here, a new economy." Gndara, a self-described optimist, is not convinced yet that the violence that drove her away from Jurez will ease soon. "If the United Nations, the United States and Mexico wanted, they could stop it. But it's too profitable, a money-making scheme," she said. "That's what bothers me." So Mago Gndara, the outspoken muralist and border artist in self-imposed exile, sits in her studio and ponders dreams and possibilities in her new life, a life physically detached but not totally disconnected from her beloved Mexico. "I'm not done," she said. "I'm more creative here. Now, I can invent more things." Ramn Rentera may be reached at rrenteria@elpasotimes.com; 546-6146. Make plans What: Exhibition of works by Mago Gndara. When: Oct. 13-Nov. 18. Where: Union Gallery, second floor of the UTEP Union, East Wing, on the UTEP campus. Appearances: A reception will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at the gallery; Gndara is also scheduled to speak from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Andesite Room of the UTEP Union. Information:"747-5711, 747-5481, utep.edu/events.

The Catarino Garza War

The reason that this history didn't glean the attention that it deserved is that the nation's attention was primarily focused on the tragic Wounded Knee Massacre at the end of 1890. Since the mid-1700s when the written history of the Rio Grande Valley began, that history is filled with warfare and gunplay. This account offers no exception. It deals with a largely ignored action and period of the Valley's event-filled history. Even Mary Margaret McAllen Amberson in her very comprehensive book "I Would Rather Sleep in Texas" fails to note the unusual events of the Garza War. Its history has largely been recorded by those in power at the time, so it now has to be examined with greater scrutiny and revised.

Catarino was one of the first to use print media to defend the interests of Mexicans in Texas.
by Norman Rozeff, September 2011

Catarino Erasmo Garza Rodriguez was born near Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on November 24, 1859, to J. Encarnacin and Mara de Jess Rodrguez de la Garza. For the period and prevailing circumstance we can consider him well-educated. He was schooled at Gualahuises, Nuevo Len, and San Juan College, Matamoros. Garza moved to Brownsville in 1877 to work as a clerk for Bloomberg and Raphael's Casa de Comercio. This firm for decades was the leading wholesale and retail merchandiser in Brownsville and also had an outlet in Matamoros. Catarino's brother Caledonia had preceded him to Brownsville and over time created a thriving grocer business and became engrossed in Democratic Party politics. Once in the United States, Catarino was obviously ambitious and moved from job to job in Brownsville, Laredo, and San Antonio. In about 1880 Garza married Caroline Conner (Connor?) She was the niece of Joseph "Pepe" Webb, longtime Cameron County Clerk and Blue Club leader, who would from 1888-1891 serve as Brownsville City Marshal. The Garzas soon had two daughters. They would divorce in 1889. Garza seemed also to possess a wanderlust over the nine-year period that he came to the U.S. He visited Mexico City and in 1882 was employed by the Singer Sewing Machine Company as a traveling agent and lived in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Len. In the year 1885 he was living in St. Louis, no less. There he was appointed Mexican consul, a post he held for a short time. In St. Louis he worked on

La Revista Mexicana and served as delegate to the National Convention of Wool Industries in 1886. It is surprisingly that the number of Hispanics in the area would warrant a Spanish-language publication. Prejudices and bigotry were already present in this middle America city, for here he was angered by an Anglo lawyer who said that One white life is worth 10 Mexicans. Nevertheless Garza was widely exposed to American freedoms and enterprise, and these may have planted the seed for his discontent with the increasingly dictatorial regime of Porfirio Diaz in Mexico. Elliot Young, in his book "Catarino Garza's Revolution on the Texas-Mexico Border," writes: "Over the next 30 years after Diaz took office in 1867, he ruled Mexico as president or as the power behind the presidential seat. It was after the generally recognized fraudulent re-elections of Diaz that Garza started calling for revolution against the Diaz regime. However, while in the United States, he also witnessed racism against Mexican-Americans and condemned racist Anglo Texans and Mexican police alike." He was the target of two assassination plots because of his articles on El Libre Pensador against Coahuila Gov. Garza Galan. He antagonized all sides by criticizing everyone, wrote Young. For his part, Garza wrote that Diaz and his collaborators are not the country, nor the laws, nor the people; but are truly only servants. In 1877, Garza said that when Mexico came under Diaz it was: The moment when the sun disappeared and oppression reigned. He also said in his autobiography La Logica de los Hechos: Mi pluma no sabe pintar, pero si reproducir, fotografiar y estampar verdades (My pen does not know how to paint, but knows how to reproduce, photograph, and imprint truths). Also in 1877, he served 31 days in Maverick County Jail on a charge of libel. That year, he was in Corpus Christi to found the club, Politico Mutualista, and newspaper El Comercio Mexicano." With his keen intellect and flair for oratory Garza was a natural to become a leader. Early on he sought to promote issues of social justice. "He promoted sociedades mutualistas and helped found them [two] in Brownsville [Hidalgo and Juarez], Laredo, and Corpus Christi in 1880, 1884, and 1888, respectively." It was however through print media that he found his strongest voice. Len A. Obregn and Garza founded El Bien Pblico in Brownsville in 1877 (another source says 1879). On June 20, 1886, Garza published the first issue of El Comercio Mexicano in Eagle Pass. In its timeline the Eagle Pass Library states: 1886 Catarino Garza started his inflammatory Spanish language publication at Eagle Pass El Comercio Mexicano and used it to attack the person and policies of Coahuila Governor Jesus Maria Garza Galan. It was the first rumbling of revolution on the border against the

Mexican Government. The following year he and Gabriel Botello published El Libre Pensador to also publicize abuses by the Mexican government under President Porfirio Daz and Coahuila governor Jos Mara Garza Galn. Gilbert Culbertson tells us "Mexican authorities threatened his Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras readers and encouraged them not to buy or read El Libre Pensador. Because of its contents, the newspaper and Garza's equipment were confiscated; Garza was prosecuted for criminal libel and jailed for thirty-one days s [in the Maverick County jail]. He was afraid of extradition, so he moved after December 19, 1887, to Corpus Christi, whence Botello had fled and where they resumed publishing El Comercio Mexicano in March 1888." This publication became very influential among Valley Texans of Mexican heritage. However, Garza's cross-border activism was creating for him as many enemies as he was making friends of the Mexican-American Valleyites, whom he sought to defend. He would soon be propelled into the forefront of border politics. It began in 1888 with the killing of Abraham Resendes (Recendez) at Rio Grande City. There, inspector of customs, and former Texas Ranger, Victor Sebree and A. Dillard, a deputy United States marshal were involved. When the trial venue was moved from Starr County to Duval County, the Mexican-American population of Rio Grande City became "overly restive" and even more so when the two were acquitted. The subsequent transpiring history by Alicia A. Garza published as the Rio Grande City Riot of 1888 in "The Handbook of Texas Online" is that in May of that year "Abraham Recndez, a Mexican-American resident of Rio Grande City had been arrested for robbery by Starr county sheriff W. W. Sheley and after the arrest was killed by Victor Sebree, United States Inspector of Customs and Sheley's companion, while allegedly attempting to escape. The incident led to public anger, particularly against Sheley, who previously had been implicated in the lynching of several Mexicans. Agustin and Silverio de la Pea organized a faction to oppose Sheley and used the murders to argue that he was a racist. They employed journalist Catarino Erasmo Garza, a Mexican who was in Corpus Christi agitating for opposition against Porfirio Daz, to mount an editorial campaign against their political opponents. In editorials that appeared in El Comercio Mexicano, Garza charged that Sebree had assassinated an unnamed Mexican prisoner. Garza then moved to Rio Grande City and encountered Sebree during the September 1888 election, at which time Sebree shot and injured him. Garza sympathizers threatened to lynch Sebree and pursued him when he fled for refuge to Fort Ringgold. The post commander there ordered the 200-man mob to disperse, which they did. News stories, however, leaked that anarchy had broken out in the city and that armed men roamed the streets ready to cause havoc. News of the riot reached as far as Great Falls, Montana, where

the Tribune headlined "Rumors of War" between white and Mexican citizens in Rio Grande City. The governor's office received a deluge of telegrams reporting on the bloody war being fought on the border and testifying that white lives were endangered. The secretary of state requested aid from the troops at Fort Ringgold, and the United States government ordered part of the Third Cavalry to reinforce them. Gen. David S. Stanley notified the governor that as commander of United States troops in Texas he was responsible for protecting lives and property at the scene and requested that the entire Texas Ranger force be sent to Rio Grande City. The governor wired the sheriffs of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Zapata counties to proceed to the city. He also ordered the San Antonio Rifles, the Belknap Rifles, and the Houston Light Guards to be ready to march on a moment's notice. The Bexar county sheriff joined the sheriffs of Hidalgo, Cameron, and Zapata counties, and eventually they had 250 men under their command ready to move into Starr County. The riot soon dissipated, threatened by the reinforced troops. Sebree remained in the position of United States inspector of customs." Garza, in fact, had been arrested by Texas Ranger captain John R. Hughes, charged with libel for criticizing former Texas Ranger Victor Sebree for killing Abraham Resndez, and taken to Rio Grande City. Garza, had indeed, "penned scathing articles denouncing the defendants, the Duval County jury, and "Anglo" justice." Lt. W.H. Chatfield in his 1893 publication "The Twin Cities of the BorderBrownsville, Texas & Matamoros, Mexico-- and the Country of the Lower Rio Grande" relates a little about the confrontation of Garza and Sebree. Chatfield's account is not sympathetic to Garza as Chatfield was trying to downplay negative border incidents in order to raise money for his giant irrigation project. To quote"he [Garza] came in contact with two of the parties of the parties whom he had attacked in the columns of his paperMessrs. Sebree and Norris; the former was a United States marshal at the time, and had been repeatedly been warned that Garza would shot him on sight; so upon seeing Garza come towards him on Laredo street, he was prepared for an attack. Sebree was alone at the time, while Garza had one of his followers with him; the battle opened on both sides simultaneously, the odds being two to one, but Sebree stood off both men slightly wounding Garza. [Garza's companion, a man named Lopez, was also wounded.] The affair caused the wildest excitement, the Mexican population arming themselves, and for several hours the town was given over to mob rule. Sebree and Norris were threatened with vengeance dire, and were fired upon while proceeding to Fort Ringgold, in a carriage [another account has Sebree mounting a horse and fleeing to the fort] to lay their case before the commanding officer, Colonel Clendennin (sic). The mob pressed at their heels and demanded the refugees, but this was refused, peremptorily and prompt dispositions were made to oppose force with force. Indictments were issued against a number of rioters and the cases are still pending in the District Court at Brownsville, although Mr. Sebree has repeatedly requested

quashals in all of them." The riot made state and national news. The New York Times of September 25, 1888 ran three back-to-back stories datelined Rio Grande City, San Antonio, and Brownsville. The first one was headlined MEXICANS VERY AGGRESSIVE RIO GRANDE CITY ASKING FOR TROOPS TO PROTECT IT The accompanying story read: Catrino (sic) Garza, who was shot Friday last at this place by Victor Sebree, is still living and has a chance of recovering, as the surgeon at Fort Ringgold says the ball struck no vital part. Sebree, who was pursued and shot at by the Mexican friends of Garza, reached Fort Ringgold in safety and surrendered himself to the commanding officer, Col. Clendenning (sic). He will be kept in military custody until the Sheriff of this county feels that he can protect him. The Mexicans made a demand on the military for Sebree, but Col. Clendenning refused to deliver him up, and notified them that any attempt to take him by force would draw the fire of the Gatling guns and of the entire command on them. The soldiers of the garrison were each served with 100 rounds of ball cartridges and slept on their arms Saturday night. In order to prevent the ordering of more Rangers and any communications between Fort Ringgold and the department headquarters, the Mexicans tore down the telegraph wires between this place and Fort Ringgold. Wiser counsel in connection with the possible recovery of Garza, has had the effect of restoring order." A second article put the number of rioters at 200. As serious as the incident was, media publicity blew it all out of proportion to its significance. As a result law enforcement personnel soon inundated the town. Hughes in his own book, Captain John R. Hughes Lone Star Ranger, writes that on 9/26/88 Lt.-Col. David R. Clendenin sent a dispatch which calmed the nerves of the new governor, Lawrence Sullivan Ross. It read "I have protected Sebree and others from the mob. No property has been destroyed or depredation committed in Rio Grande City. Affairs are not so bad as represented. If any real danger had existed I would have used the troops to prevent bloodshed. Poses from adjoining counties arrived last night and today. All quiet.". Hughes goes on to relate: "On September 29 Sheriff Brito and his posse left Rio Grande City for Brownsville to deliver Sebree there for safety. Garza continued to improve. It was, in the opinion of his doctors, "his critical day", but if he should die then it was expected that the riots would resume. Garza did not die and things remained peaceful. During the next few weeks Rangers investigated the "shooting scrape which had caused such trouble" and arrested two dozen men on charges of conspiracy to murder and for assault to murder. They appeared in court and were released on bail in amounts of $500 to $5,000 to appear before the next term of district court. Again this was the combined efforts of companies D and F together. In this matter no individual Ranger's name appeared, merely that

men from both companies made the arrest." While recuperating, Garza commenced writing an autobiography focusing primarily on the last twelve years of his life. Titled La Logica de los Hechos (or the Logic of Acts) it was acclaimed positively in South Texas and stamped him as an intellectual. More than that, it helped to portray the difficult situations that the Mexican faced in Texas. He was, therefore, one of the first to use print media to defend the interests of Mexicans in Texas. Garza's life and endeavors had been suspect from 1886 when rumors began to that he was recruiting a revolutionary army to act against Mexico. The Mexican consul at Brownsville, Manuel Trevino, quietly approached James Wells, the political boss of South Texas, to probe the possibilities of bringing charges against Garza associates that were purported to be violating the Neutrality Act. Wells concluded that although Garza was a critic of the establishment, he had no military following and gave no intention of plotting a revolution. When the rumors resurfaced in 1888, Wells traced them to a Republican opponent, R. B. Creager of Brownsville, who hoped to use the Starr County turmoil to elect Republican sheriff candidate, Don Lino Hinojosa, over Democrat W.W. Sheley. After his divorce from Caroline, Garza moved to Palito Blanco, Texas. Here he met, fell in love with, and married Concepcion Gonzales, a daughter of the highly-regarded rancher, Don Alejandro Gonzales. Catarino and Concepcion would later have a daughter. Upon settling in at the rancho Garza began publishing El Libre Pensador (The Free Thinker), along with El Baluarte (The Bulwark). In these publications he increased his criticism of President Diaz. He condemned him for "abandoning his pledge not to seek re-election, for establishing a military dictatorship, and for abolishing freedom of the press, liberty of speech, and the right of amparo (sequestration)." Even more pointedly he charged "that Mexican elections had become a farce and that Diaz was the tool of the church party, the old Centralists, and the Imperialists." In 1890 Garza would hit closer to home by joining with General D. Ignacio Martinez, who was editor of the Laredo newspaper El Mundo, in attacking, in a war of invectives, the governor of Tamaulipas, General Bernardo Reyes. The two overstepped the bounds when they promoted a revolution to be led by Francisco Ruiz Sandoval. Subsequently Martinez was assassinated on February 3, 1891. When, in a biography titled El Burro del Oro (The Golden Ass), Garza satirized Reyes, the general endeavored to bring libel charges against him. Garza, fearing for his life, then hid out in the brush country. Non-violent confrontations by Garza were not affecting changes in Mexico. He would turn to physical action. He reputedly began to organize a force to

invade Mexico. On September 15, 1891, he led a group of twenty-six armed men across the Rio Grande at Mier, Tamaulipas, and proclaimed the "Plan Revolucionario." The revolutionaries returned to Texas after nine days and a brief engagement with Mexican forces. Over the following months, the Garcistas made at least two more incursions into Mexico. According to Garza's own records, by the end of 1891 his army had 63 commanders, 186 officers, and 1,043 soldiers. There is no way to verify actual numbers and speculation was rife. As an example: The Brenham Weekly Banner reported on September 24, 1891: "A special from Rio Grande City says Garza and nearly 200 revolutionists were seen Sunday night sixty miles south of Carmargo, pressing for the Rio Grande river and pursued by Mexican troops." There were repercussions, so negative, that they may have brought more followers of Garza into the fold. In short, the Mexican government moved soldiers under the command of General Lorenzo Garcia into the border area. Under orders from the general, dissent was brutally suppressed. A special agent of the United States treasury was said to have reported "no less than eighty people shot because of suspected pro-Garza sympathies." This transpired before the end of November 1891. With Texas Rangers having been withdrawn to confront Knights of Labor activity, the U.S. Army had to be used to breach the gap in law enforcement. By December 1891 United States Army troops had been sent to patrol the border to supplement the available troops from Forts Brown, Ringgold, and McIntosh (in Laredo). In search of neutrality violations they accomplished little. The army generally was ineffective as it didn't have the mobility and horsemanship of Garzas mounted revolutionaries. They did learn that "on September 15, approximately 60 men had crossed the Rio Grande, engaged Mexican troops in battle, and afterwards, had disappeared into southwest Texas." One short skirmish occurred, at Retamal Springs. On December 22, a detachment under Captain John Gregory Bourke of the Third Cavalry met a party of armed men. After a short skirmish in which one soldier was killed, the band fled into the brush country. The Handbook of Texas Online tells us a little about Bourke. It relates " Bourke was a well-known Indian fighter, writer, crusader for Indian rights, and anthropologist before he reported to Fort Ringgold, Rio Grande City, Texas, in 1891. He had already fought Indians in the Southwest and on the Great Plains and had served on the staff of Gen. George Crook from 1871 until 1886." Joseph C. Porter then perhaps exaggerates Bourke's effectiveness here when he states " Bourke's two-year tour of duty along the lower Rio Grande established his significance in Texas history. He became pivotal in the suppression of Catarino Garza's effort

against the government of Porfirio Daz in Mexico. The Mexican government demanded that the United States act because Garza had based his force in Texas. In turn, the federal government instructed the state of Texas, federal marshals, and the United States Army to stop the Garzistas. Initially Bourke noted that many South TexansMexican Americans and Anglosopenly supported Garza and that Fort McIntosh in Laredo and Fort Ringgold together mustered only two troops of cavalry and two companies of infantry with which to patrol an area of 500 square miles. Nonetheless, Bourke followed orders, and his raids on ranches suspected of harboring Garzistas earned him the undying enmity of many South Texans." One other Army soldier deserves note here. It is Allen Walker , who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic action in the Valley. His story is " Allen Walker was born in Patriot, Indiana, on January 19, 1866, the son of William and Eveline Walker. He enlisted in the army at Indianapolis in 1884 and served in the Nineteenth United States Infantry Regiment in South Texas. He was discharged at San Antonio in 1889 and promptly reenlisted in Company C, Third United States Cavalry. In December 1891 he was involved in a series of skirmishes during the Garza War in southwest Texas. On December 30 he was acting alone as a courier from Fort Langhorne when he saw three armed Mexicans ahead of him. After they refused to stop, he fired, killing one of their horses. The riders escaped, but left behind papers including a proclamation inciting revolution. Capt. John Gregory Bourke stated, "This man exhibited so much courage, efficiency, coolness, and selfreliance while away from his command that I feel constrained to recommend he be awarded the Medal of Honor." Walker married Alvina Fuentes at Fort Ringgold; she died in 1898. Walker was later commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Philippine Scouts during the Philippine Insurrection and was awarded the Silver Star. He was promoted to captain in the scouts on August 14, 1908. He retired from the military soon after the scouts were disbanded in 1911, and resided in Laredo. Walker became a deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Texas in 1914 and went on to serve as marshal for the same district. Allen Walker was married to Enriqueta Pea in 1926; they had seven children. He died at Brooke Army Hospital on September 10, 1953. He is buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Laredo. Garcistas soon left the area as newly appointed special rangers proved effective and potential recruits opted for neutrality. In 1892 Garza reportedly learned that he was wanted by the special rangers and fled Texas. Garza's departure did not immediately stop the rebellion that had enlisted " a broad cross-border alliance of ranchers, merchants, peasants, and disgruntled military men." By 1892 they may have deteriorated into a "bandit horde" and soldiers of fortune. James Wells worked diligently to influence his ranchero friends to remain

neutral in the matter. Wells didn't have much faith in the Army's ability to cope with the guerrillas in brush country. " He contemptuously charges that the soldiers frequently passed along senderos (trails) within "arms length" of their quarry without knowing they were there." Working with Governor Hogg, the two initiated a secret Ranger task force that one by one tracked down and killed or harried the offenders out of Texas. As an example of its effectiveness, on December10, 1892 an armed body of riders crossed into Mexico at San Ygnacio, fifty-three miles below Laredo. They surprised a Mexican army encampment and killed two officers and four enlisted men. While some blamed Garza, the Mexican government fingered bandits Mangas de Agua and Francisco "El Tuerto" [one-eyed] Benevides as the culprits. They were arrested in Texas and subsequently depredations sharply diminished. Eventually after two years of sporadic fighting, the combined efforts of the U.S. and Mexican armies, Texas Rangers, and local police finally succeeded in crushing the rebellion. Years later, among Well's papers was found a "hit" list of thirty names, Catarino Garza among them. All had been eventually arrested or killed, except Garza. The true story of Garza's last years is shaky. One historian writes: "After leaving the state in 1892, Garza traveled to various places, including Nassau, Jamaica, and possibly Cuba and Florida. By March 28, 1893, he moved to Matina, near Limn, Costa Rica, and a San Jos press published his pamphlet indicting the Daz regime, La Era de Tuxtepec en Mxico o Sea Rusia en Amrica. Garza participated in a revolutionary uprising in Colombia. Official sources report that he was killed in storming the jail at Bocas del Toro, Colombia (now in Panama), on March 8, 1895." Catarino Garza was obviously a man before his time. It would take 30 more years before Mexico became a true republic following the revolution of 1910-1920. He was an idealist who disclaimed any enmity towards the United States or its troops. Joe Robert Bauch notes that the Catarino Garza or Tin Horn War "left no deep scars and, consequently, was soon forgotten, its details hidden in misleading and hearsay newspaper accounts, self-serving military reports, generally inaccurate recollections, and a few grossly erroneous histories." This explains why Garza's efforts are unfortunately not well known, even today. The legacy that he initiated was to speak up for Tejanos being oppressed in South Texas and Mexicans in Mexico. That took courage and entailed personal risk. It took decades before others, such as Jose T. Canales, would follow in Garza's footsteps.

MEXICAN AMERICANS AND THE 16TH OF

SEPTEMBER
First version published in The Alpine Avalanche, September 16th, 1993.

By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca

Scholar in Residence, Western New Mexico University; formerly Professor of English/Bilingual Education and Lead Writer/Director of the Title III ($1.7 m) HSI Program, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas

In Mexico, the 16

of September is like the 4th of July in the United States Mexican Independence Dayimportant for Mexicans and, by extension, for Mexican Americans. On this day in 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo, a parish priest in Guanajuato, Mexico, called for Mexican independence from Spanish rule which had lain like a yoke on Mexico for almost 300 years. Since the Spanish conquest of 1521, resentment against the Spanish presence had seethed just below the public surface. And like the embattled farmers at Concord Bridge, by 1810 Mexicans had reached a point beyond which they could no longer endure the inflictions of Spanish authority. They saw as the only course of action a break with the Spanish crown, much the way British colonists in America in 1776 saw as their only recourse a break with the English crown. Thirtysix years later Mexicans declared their independence from Spain. And like the American colonists, that independence cost them dearly. But they won. Why do Mexican Americans celebrate Mexican Independence Day with such joie? Perhaps with no more joie than, say, Irish Americans celebrate Irish Independence Day or Franco Americans celebrate Bastille Day. While commemoration of the 16th of September may be, in part, an ethno-patriotic event, it is principally a commemoration of the human spirit pursuing liberty and freedom. How wonderful to have two days that celebrate that spiritthe 4th of July and the 16th of September. But there are other days too that celebrate that spirit, for other people also have their ethno-patriotic days that commemorate the spirit of liberty and freedom.

th

Liberty and freedom are powerful human aspirations as we have seen--by recent
historical eventsdissolution of the Soviet empire, in particular. Thats why the 16th of September is an important day for Mexican Americans. Not only is it part of their patrimonytheir ancestrybut it speaks to them as Americans of the United States about liberty and freedomfor which many have died, winning more medalsof-honor than any other American ethnic group. Still, theres a particular aspect of Mexican Independence Day other independence day celebrations dont have. In the Southwest of the United States, Mexican Americans are geographically situated in locations that were once Mexico

[Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, parts of Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma], and where Mexico has continued its cultural and human presence diasporicallyat first wrenched (some say dismembered) from the mother country and then drawn by forces that have impelled human migration since antiquity. In particular, we see that the American border states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California) and Mexico share not only border but history. For the U.S. Mexico border has been and continues to be porous. Indeed, for much of that history, the border has been little more than an irregular line on a map. One editorial writer put it this way: When all is said and done the Rio Grande . . . was never much of an impediment to the pollination of [trade] and culture [Austin American Statesman, 9-16-94]. Mexico and the American border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California share economic and historical destinies, both with the North American Free Trade Agreement and the presence of Mexicos children who in not too many years, according to Steven Murdoch, the Texas demographer, will be a majority population in the not too distant future. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by the year 2040 one in three Americans will be Hispanic, most of them Mexican Americans. And by the year 2095, half of the American population will be Hispanicagain, most of them Mexican Americans.

I remember 16

of September celebrations of my youth, as I remember 4th of July festivities of that time so long ago. On the 4th of July we had hotdogs, rootbeer, and patriotic music in the parks. On the 16th of September we had tamales, churros, and champurrada (hot chocolate). My father would not work on those holidays. He made it a point to commemorate the 16th of September and the 4th of July. He taught us to respect the spirit of independence of both the United States and Mexico. One our heritage; the other our home.
Copyright 1993-2011 by the author. All rights reserved.

th

THE DAWES ACT OF 1887, COURT OF PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS ACT OF 1891 AND GAO'S, GUADALUPE HIDALGO REPORT OF 2004 ARE MIRROR IMAGES OF THE GOVERNMENT'S NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD INDIAN, SPANISH AND MEXICAN TREATY AND PROPERTY RIGHT'S DURING THE LATE 1800S AND EARLY 1900S by Mike Scarborough
"I recommend the attached document by Attorney Mike Scarborough for critical information about the effects of U.S. land rights legislation and a positive prospectus for future action. . . . Armando Rendon

INTRODUCTION The following testimony is written in support of my request that the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities of the American bar Association explore various ways to approach the necessity of undoing grave injustices perpetrated upon the Indian, Spanish and Mexican people and the unlawful taking of vast portions of their reservations and land grants during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The information provided in support of this request represents the comparative history of the groups addressed and invites serious research not only into the issues presented, but in seeking remedies to heal the open sores of a century of intentional governmental maltreatment. THE HISTORY It is not enough that historians research and document the maltreatment of individual protected groups. They must also draw comparisons of the maltreatment of different protected groups within the same time period if we are to fully comprehend the consequence of such treatment. It is the purpose of this paper to draw a comparison of not only the difference in the treatment of the general population compared to the Native American; or the difference in the treatment of the general population compared to the treatment of the Spanish, Mexican and Pueblo Indian land grantees in the Southwest in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuriesbut to also draw a comparison of the difference in treatment of these protected groups compared with each other. In other words, in order to arrive at an accurate historical understanding of the prevalent adverse treatment, it is essential that we draw comparisons between the manner in which each of these groups were being treated during the same period of time. While researching the disregard congress had for Native American, Spanish and Mexican citizens property rights between 1887 and 1907, two facts became clear, Congress had no moral compassand the executive and judicial branches were in lock-step with Congress. The first act we need to address is the 1887 Dawes Act, the title of which began quite innocuously. It simply stated that the law was being enacted to: ... Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the

Various Reservations, and to Extend the Protection of the Laws of the United States and the Territories Over the Indians, and for Other Purposes. 1 It wasn't unreasonable to conclude from the first line that the purpose of the act was to allot land to Indians in severalty. After considering why Congress chose to use the term "over the Indians" rather than "to the Indians," the words "and for other purposes" jumped off the page as they well should have. The term "for other purposes," offers no hint of what Congress was planning to accomplish. All that was clear was that its use was the forewarning of an ominous result. The true intent of the act did not surface until Section Five where it became clear that Congress was establishing a process to grant the president the power to remove lands from reservations which had been created for the use of the Indians by "treaty stipulation, by virtue of an act of Congress, or by executive order." Regardless of whether the lands were agricultural, had been sold with or without irrigation, or had been released to the United States by an Indian tribe, it was the intent of Congress that the land removed from the reservations should be: ... [To be] held by the United States for the sole purpose of securing homes to actual settler ... disposed of by the United States to actual and bona fide settlers only... The Dawes Act made it clear that it was the intention of Congress to abrogate the governments treaty responsibilities to the tribesto remove as much land as possible from the reservations. Several additional references to the Dawes Act bear mention that they can be compared to the terms of the Court of Private Land Claims Act. Among the other problems created by Congress was its intention to distribute reservation land in a manner that was in conflict with the laws regarding descent and distribution which were in affect at the time. The method Congress chose to distribute the land to the Indians in severalty was to allot it as follows: To each head of a family, one-quarter of a section; [160 acres]. To each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; [80 acres]. To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a

section; [80 acres]. To each other single person under eighteen years now living, or who may be born prior to the date of the order of the President directing an allotment of the lands embraced in any reservation, one sixteenth of a section: [40 acres]. Even though the planned distribution was contrary in a number of respects to the laws of descent and distribution of the various states and territories, the act further stated that: Provided, That the law of descent and distribution in force in the State or Territory where such lands are situate shall apply thereto after patents therefor have been executed and delivered.... By drafting the act and allotting the land as it did, Congress was denying married women a share of their land. Of course, had married women been allowed their rightful share of the land the result would have had the effect of reducing the amount of land the government was attempting to take from the reservations and given to the "actual and bona fide setters." Another anomaly in the language was that once the Indians had received their allotments, Congress required that: issue]. Sec. 5. ... upon the approval of the allotments provided for in this act by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue therefor in the name of the allottees ... and declare that the United States ... will hold the land thus allotted, for a period of twenty-five years, in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such allotment shall have been made ...: Provided, that the President of the United States may in any case in his discretion extend the period. Yet, in the case of the actual and bona fide settlers, the holding period was different: ... after the expiration of five years occupancy thereof as a homestead; [patents could To establish further evidence of how hypocritical the Dawes Act was, we need only to quote from a sentence from Section 6: ... [N]o Territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. The Dawes Act establishes that Congress was perfectly comfortable enacting legislation which not only abrogated the governments treat responsibility ...comfortable in ignoring the Indians rights to equal protection of the law. Just five years after the passage of the Dawes Act it became

abundantly clear from a passage in Harrison's 1892 Farewell address just how effective the Dawes Act had been in separating the Indians from their land. He stated: [T]he enormous cessions of Indian lands which have been opened to settlement, aggregating during this Administration [from 1889 through 1892] nearly 26,000,000 acres, and the agreements renegotiated and now pending in Congress for ratification by which about 10,000,000 additional acres will be opened to settlement, it will be seen how much has been accomplished. In the five years between passage of the Dawes Act and Harrison's reelection loss, 36 million acres of Indian lands, created for their use, had been taken from them by the artifice of transferring their common lands to them individually. In 1891 Congress expanded its focus and struck again by designing and passing a law to take land which had belonged for decades to grantees and heirs of Spanish and Mexican land grants which were supposed to have been protected by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Congress would use its Court of Private Land Claims and Forest Reserve Acts to relieve the Spanish and Mexican settlers of millions of acres over the next fourteen years. One of Harrison's appointed justices, Wilbur F. Stone even went so far as to state in the closing paragraph of an article he had written and which was presented to the 1904 annual meeting of the New Mexico Territorial Bar Association, that: ... [T]he reversion to the public domain of the general government of more than 30,000,000 acres of [Spanish and Mexican grant] land comes the [sic]like new cession of country to the United Statesa region illimitable in the undeveloped wealth of its coal, metals, agriculture and healthgiving climate. To further aggravate the discriminatory turmoil caused by the Dawes, Court of Private Land Claims and Forest Reserve Acts, the General Accounting Office (GAO) upon the request of Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, began an investigation in 2000 of the "fairness" of the resolution of the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty protected land grant claims. After a four year inquiry the GAO's conclusion was that: Not withstanding the compliance of the two New Mexico confirmation procedures ... the processes were inefficient and created hardships for the grantees.

The GAO forewarned of its conclusion when, early in its report, it stated that whether racial prejudice had contributed to shortcomings in the land grant adjudication process would not be addressed as it was collateral to and beyond the scope of its report. As if that were not enough of an insult to the land grant community, it stated (and restated on three additional occasions) that: ... [A]s agreed, GAO does not express an opinion on whether the United States fulfilled its obligations under the Treaty as a matter of international law. The GAO, having made it clear that it was not going to investigate whether racial prejudice existed in the adjudication process or whether the United States had fulfilled its obligations under the treaty was left with nothing better to do other than possibly sending a gopher to the local Home Depot to purchase a gallon or two of whitewash. Having touched upon Congress' use of its limitless powers to ignore equal protection of the law, and it's circumvention of treaty stipulations, we need next to direct our attention to direct evidence existing at the time of the government's negative attitude toward the Spanish and Mexican land grants and their grantees. In the interest of reaching an accurate conclusion about what the politicians were thinking at the time, we need to listen to what they were actually saying at the time. The State of the Union addresses made at the time provide an excellent clue into the thinking in Washington at the time. Addresses made before 1912 were of particularly importance as they were submitted in writing and left virtually no room for speculation. Harrison's 1891 address contained a statement regarding the passage of the Court of Private Land Claims Act and the appointment of the justices to the court: The judges of the Court of Private Land Claims, provided for by the Act of March 3, 1891, have been appointed and the court organized. It is now possible to give early relief to communities long repressed in their development by unsettled land titles and to establish the possession and right of settlers whose lands have been rendered valueless by adverse and unfounded claims ... He dared to say to the world, (Spain and Mexico included) that with the organization of the court and his appointment of the justices

complete, it was finally going to be possibly to grant relief to those settlers who had been repressed in the development of their communities by the unfounded claims and unsettled titles of the Spanish and Mexican land grants. Harrison's statement above was not just an isolated comment as he mentioned land grants in several other state of the union addresses as well: In an address prior to the passage of the acts, he had said: ...[T]he subject of the unadjusted Spanish and Mexican land grants and the urgent necessity for providing some commission or tribunal for the trial of questions of title growing out of them were twice brought by me to the attention of Congress at the last session. Bills have been reported from the proper committees in both houses upon the subject, and I very earnestly hope that this Congress will put an end to the delay which has attended the settlement of the disputes as to the title between the settlers and the claimants under the grants. These disputes retard the prosperity and disturb the peace of large and important communities. Subsequently, he also stated: Your attention is called to the difficulty presented by the Secretary of the Interior as to the administration of the law of March 3, 1891, establishing a Court of Private Land Claims. The small holdings intended to be protected by the law are estimated to be more than 15,000 in number. The claimants are a most deserving class and their titles are supported by the strongest equities. The difficulty grows out of the fact that the lands have largely been surveyed according to our methods...while the holdings, many of which have been in the same family for generations, are laid out in narrow strips a few rods wide upon a stream and running back to the hills for pasturage and timber.... Once again Harrison was choosing to draw a distinction between the grantees of the land grants on the one hand, "whose lands are laid out in narrow strips a few rods wide", and the claimants, "who are a most deserving class" ... [and whose] "titles are supported by the strongest equities." Interestingly, the Court of Private Land Claims Act was devoid of any language that even suggested that the act had been enacted to resolve claims of claimants who were a most deserving class and whose titles were supported by the strongest equities.

As if mention of Harrison's lack of concern for the grantees of the land grants and his concern for the settlers in the Southwest in his state of the union addresses was not enough, he also addressed the subject in a communication directed specifically to members of Congress. The entire community where these large claims exist, and indeed all of our people, are interested in an early and final settlement of them. No greater incubus can rest upon the energies of a people in the development of a new country than that resulting from unsettled land titles. While Harrison was making these comments, his Secretary of Interior, John Noble, was not silent on the subject. On April 26, 1891 he was quoted in the New York Times as having said: The last Congress passed several measures which will affect the work of the Interior Department considerably. The land laws were very materially altered. The act which creates the court to settle Mexican land claims will take a great burden off the Interior Department, which has done whatever has been done in the way of adjusting these claims. The act, or something like it has long been needed, and the work of settling these cases, which involve millions of acres may now be said to be fairly begun. On the occasion of being asked who should replace him as Secretary of Interior once Harrison had lost his bid for reelection, Noble was quoted as having said: Someone should be appointed who has no connection whatever with land grants in the West, unless the Administration wants to see this department of the Government attacked very bitterly on all sides.... Moving on to President Theodore Roosevelt's administration, we find that his attitude toward the Spanish and Mexican land grants and the grantees and their heirs was no different than the attitude during Harrison's administration. Evidence shows that Roosevelt continued Harrison's scheme of removing as much land as possible from the Spanish and Mexican grants. Congress did not stop fold its tent with the establishment the Court of Private Land Claims as it also enacted on the same day with an omnibus bill which included a section that became known as the Forest Reserve Act. The significance of Section 24 is that it was used by Roosevelt and

Gifford Pinchot, his national forest supervisor, to proclaim over 145 million acres of land as forest reserves. Unfortunately, a large portion of the land had previously belonged within Indian reservations and the Spanish and Mexican land grants in the Southwest. It read as follows: Sec. 24.That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall, by public proclamation, declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. Roosevelt and Pinchot were prolific in their establishment of forest reserves until they were caught red handed attempting to establish a reserve in Washington State. In that instance they found themselves in serious trouble with the local people who realized that thousands of acres of their state had been proclaimed a forest reserve. The following is an explanation of what occurred once Roosevelt's proclamation was discovered. It is from an article titled: The Forest Service: Fighting for Public Lands, (Understanding our Government), authored by Gerald W. Williams. It addresses the quandary in which Roosevelt and Pinchot found themselves: In January1907, there was considerable opposition to a Presidential proclamation that reserved thousands of acres of prime Douglas-fir timberlands in northern Washington State. The local press, chambers of commerce, and the Washington State congressional delegation protested that the reserve would cause undue hardship on residents by taking away homestead and "prime" agricultural lands (the land, in fact, was not agricultural, abut[sic] heavily forested) as well as impeding the future development of the State. The article goes on to describe Roosevelt and Pinchot's manner of attempting to resolve the matter : After considerable pressure, Roosevelt and Pinchot relented by, by[sic] saying that the reserve had been a "clerical" error. Soon thereafter, Senator Charles W. Fulton of Oregon, who had been implicated in the land frauds in that State, introduced an amendment to the annual agricultural appropriations bill.

This amendment, the Fulton Amendment prohibited the President from creating any additional forest reserves in the six Western States of Washington Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado; took away his power to proclaim reserves, established under the Forest Reserve (Creative) Act of 1891; and gave Congress alone the authority to establish reserves. However, before this bill was signed into law on March 4, 1907, Gifford Pinchot and the President came up with a plan. On the eve of the bill's signing, Chief Forester Pinchot and his assistant Arthur C. Ringland used a heavy blue pencil to draw many new forest reserves on maps. As soon as a map was finished and a proclamation written, the President signed the paper to establish another forest reserve. On March 1st and 2nd, Roosevelt established 17 new or combined forest reserves containing over 16 million acres in these six Western States....These have since been referred to as the "Midnight Reserves." Counting additional reserves that Roosevelt and Pinchot proclaimed in territories outside the six states, it is believed that they had actually converted more than 30 million acres to forest reserves in the two days the bill lay on Roosevelt's desk awaiting his signature. There could be no better support for the information provided in the article just quoted than Roosevelt's own words from his 1913 autobiography as subsequently compiled and edited in 2005 from research done by the National Geographic Society and Theodore Roosevelt Association staff: While the Agricultural Appropriation Bill was passing through the Senate, in 1907, Senator Fulton, of Oregon, secured an amendment providing that the President could not set aside any additional National Forests in the six Northwestern States. This meant retaining some sixteen million of acres to be exploited by land grabbers and by the representatives of the great special interests, at the expense of the public interest. But for four years the Forest Service had been gathering field notes as to what forests ought to be set aside in these States, and so was prepared to act. It was equally undesirable to veto the whole agricultural bill, and to sign it with this amendment effective. Accordingly, a plan to create the necessary National Forest in these States before the Agricultural Bill could be passed and signed was laid before me by Mr. Pinchot. I approved it. The necessary papers were immediately prepared. I signed the last proclamation a couple of days before by my signature, the bill became law; and when the

friends of the special interests in the Senate got their amendment through and woke up, they discovered that sixteen million acres of timberland had been saved for the people by putting them in the National Forests before the land grabbers could get at them. The opponents of the Forest Service turned handsprings in their wrath; and dire were their threats against the Executive; but the threats could not be carried out, and were really only a tribute to the efficiency of our action. According to a 2001 article by Dennis Cowals, entitled: Theodore Roosevelt and the Siuslaw National Forest: The forest reserves of the United States quadrupled to about 194,000,000 acres ... [and was equal in area to] all the states on the Atlantic coast from Maine to Virginia and the states of Vermont, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. [Greater in] area than France, Belgium, and The Netherlands combined. Furthermore: Over Roosevelt's articulate objections, "An Act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eight," H.R. 24815, Public Act No. 242, U.S. Congress. 59th. 2nd Session was passed on Feb. 25, 1907. Unwilling to pocket-veto the entire appropriations act, Roosevelt permitted Gifford Pinchot and his staff to identify some 16,000,000 acres of forest in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Wyoming which the President then designated as new national forest lands by executive order, between Congress's passage of the bill and its signing on Marth [sic] 4th by the reluctant President, who was now forbidden to create or enlarge the newly designated National Forests. It is important at this juncture to draw a comparison of two land grants in Northern New Mexicoto compare Harrison's 1892 Proclamation setting aside the Pecos River Forest Reserve with Roosevelt's 1905 Proclamation establishing the Jmez Forest Reserve. One significant difference was that Harrison's proclamation had been described by township and range while Roosevelt's, Jemez Forest Reserve Proclamation had no description at allsimply a grid map. Additionally, Harrison's proclamation had an important paragraph which was missing from Roosevelt's. It read:

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all land which may have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any valid Spanish or Mexican grant or in any legal entry or covered by any lawful filing duly made in the proper United States land office Roosevelt's proclamation for the Jmez Forest Reserve totally ignored the importance of protecting the interests of "all land[s] which may have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any valid Spanish or Mexican grants." He obviously did not wish to be bothered by the fact that he was absconding with 800,000 acres of grant land thus leaving the San Joaqun del Ro de Chama, Juan Bautista Valdez and La Petaca grants with less than 5,000 total combined acres. On the other hand there was a striking similarity in both proclamations. Both mentioned an identical reason for being established. Harrison's proclamation for the Pecos River Forest Reserve read: And whereas the public lands in the Territory of New Mexico within the limits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reserving said lands as a public reservation. While Roosevelt's Jmez Proclamation stated: And whereas, the public lands, in the Territory of New Mexico, which are hereinafter indicated, are in part covered with timber, and it appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart said lands as a public reservation;... Unfortunately, the negative political climate against the Spanish and Mexican land grantees and their heirs was not limited to presidents and secretaries of the Department of Interior. Senator Albert J. Beveridge, chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories and a close friend and confidant of President Roosevelt, was extremely outspoken when describing the Spanish and Mexican settlers in New Mexico and Arizona whose families had refused to leave after the U.S./Mexican War. His statements on the floor of the Senate and elsewhere were highly inappropriate, and included his apparent belief that the Spanish and Mexican citizen residents of New Mexico and Arizona: ... [W]eren't equal in intellect, resources, or population to the other states in the Union. Nor, said he, were they sufficiently American in

their habits and customs. A trip Beveridge took to the southwest was described by Howard Roberts Lamar in his 2000 book: The Far Southwest, 1846-1912: a territorial history, as follows: When in the early fall of 1902, his [Senator Beverage's] committee took up the question of admission, he and a subcommittee made a whirlwind tour of the three Western territories. From the questions he asked it was clear that he liked "American" Oklahoma, but that he was acutely hostile to the idea of statehood for "frontier" Arizona and "Mexican" New Mexico. [I]t appears that Beveridge's real reasons were not economic or reformist but cultural. He returned to Washington believing that the Spanish-speaking residents of the Southwest were at best secondclass citizens, passive, pliant, and uneducated. Beveridge and his supporters were to argue for the next eight years that the SpanishAmericans were not at home with United States law, its court and school systems, or even with the English language. In an article in the New York Times of December 6, 1902, it was stated that: WASHINGTON, Dec. 5. Senator Beveridge is preparing an exhaustive report on the Statehood bill to present to the Senate before next Wednesday, when it will be taken up as unfinished business and considered until voted on unless Senator Quay is sidetracked by Senator Hale and the other parliamentarians of the Senate who are opposed to admitting the three Territories of New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma. As to Arizona and New Mexico, it will be urged by the committee who visited the Territories that in parts of both the native American citizen sometimes feels that he is in a foreign country. Spanish is spoken and in some places public business is conducted in Spanish. The sub-committee that went out there recently found Justices of the Peace that tried cases in court in Spanish and spoke no English. Senator Beveridge's dislike for the Spanish and Mexican settlers was so pronounced that he succeeded in convincing Roosevelt to hold back New Mexico and Arizona's statehood for nearly ten years. Likewise, the use of the term "native American" as used above, is quite telling. The land grant settlers and their heirs had been United States citizens since 1849for over fifty years by the time the settlers arriving from the east were being referred to by Beveridge and his cohorts as "native" Americans. One wonders how many generations

an ethnic group of citizens would have had to live in the United States before Senator Beveridge and his colleagues in the Senate would have been willing to recognize them as "native" Americans. To show how close New Mexico and Arizona became to being granted statehood and the extreme to which Senator Beveridge was willing to go to deny them statehood once he realized that there was enough support in his committee to send the bill to the full senate; and realized further that there was a sufficient number of votes in the full senate to grant them statehood, we need return to Lamar's, The Far Southwest: [Senator] Beveridge was not to be defeated. After mobilizing many other senators and using filibustering techniques, he resorted to an unexpected device. For reasons of courtesy no vote could take place without his presence as chairman of the Territorial Committee. At the crucial moment he hid on the third floor of Gifford Pinchot's home for a week and the time passed when a territorial bill could be considered in 1903. Having discussed the 1887 Dawes Act and the 1891 Court of Private Land Claims and Forest Reserve Acts, it is time to turn our attention to the GAO's 2004 Report (GAO-04-59) which was titled: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Findings and Possible Options Regarding Longstanding Community Land Grant Claims in New Mexico in order to draw a comparison of the government's treatment of the Indians and their reservations vis--vis the land grant settlers who had been living on their land for generations. In doing so, I am in no way suggesting that either group received preferential treatment over the otheronly raising the issue to show that in each case Congress was intentionally discriminating against the group being addressed. In the case of the Court of Private Land Claims Act, the settlers were not allotted land their ancestors had settled upon decades earlier. In fact, before Roosevelt proclaimed the Jmez Forest Reserve, the government had physically removed all evidence of the existence of the San Joaqun del Ro de Chama, Juan Bautista and La Petaca grants from a number of its official maps. One of the more interesting, yet alarming facts about the GAO Report was the extent to which the GAO was willing to go to conceal Congress' specific demand that the Court of Private Land Claims protect the property rights of three specific groups of individuals. Section 12 of the GAO's Appendix VII, which was titled: Excerpts from the 1891 Act Establishing the Court of Private Land Claims, and

which appears at page 186 of its report, read as follows: Sec. 12. That all claims mentioned in section six of this act which are by the provisions of this act authorized to be prosecuted shall, at the end of two years from the taking effect of this act, if no petition in respect to the same shall have then been filed as herein before provided, be deemed and taken, in all courts and elsewhere, to be abandoned and shall be forever barred.... Section 12 of the original act did not end with the words "and shall be forever barred," as implied by the GAO's use of a four dot ellipse. The paragraph, as enacted, continued as follows: ... and shall be forever barred: Provided, That in any case where it shall come to the knowledge of the court that minors, married women, or persons non compos mentis are interested in any land claim or matter brought before the court it shall be its duty to appoint a guardian ad litem for such persons under disability and require a petition to be filed in their behalf, as in other cases, and if necessary to appoint counsel for the protection of their rights.... The remainder of the sentence, which the GAO had very conveniently left out, turned out to be one of the most important, most significant, provisions of the law as it clearly directed the Court, at least so far as children, married women and persons non compos mentis were concerned, to protect their property rights, even to the extent of directing the appointment of guardians for them. A question that begs consideration is: why wouldwhy did, the GAO ignore the demand of the statute that the property interests of minor children, married women and persons non compos mentis should be protected? Unfortunately, Sec. 12 was not the only section of the act that the GAO "overlooked." Here is another example of the court having failed to address the statutory language: Section 8....It shall be lawful for and the duty of the head of the Department of Justice, whenever in his opinion the public interest or the rights of any claimant shall require it, to cause the attorney of the United States in said court to file in said court a petition against the holder or possessor of any claim or land in any of the States or Territories mentioned in this act who shall not have voluntarily come in under the provisions of this act, stating in substance that the title of such holder or possessor is open to question, or stating in substance that the boundaries of any such land, the claimant or possessor to or

of which has not brought the matter into court, are open to question, and praying that the title to any such land, or the boundaries thereof, if the title be admitted be settled and adjudicated; and thereupon the court shall, on such notice to such claimant or possessor as it shall deem reasonable, proceed to hear, try, and determine the questions stated in such petition or arising in the matter, and determine the matter according to law, justice, and the provisions of this act, but subject to all lawful rights adverse to such claimant or possessor, as between such claimant and possessor and any other claimant or possessor, and subject in this respect to all the provisions of this section applicable thereto. Congress was demanding that the United States Department of Justice, the United States Attorney and the justices of the Court of Private Land Claims protect the rights of those Spanish, Mexican and Pueblo Indian grantees and heirs who had failed to claim their interest under the provisions of the act. Congress, in the language of the Dawes Act, had addressed the property interests of Indians who had failed to come forward with their claims at the time the government was providing land to individual allotments, differently. Section 1 of the Dawes Act had stated: That if any one entitled to an allotment shall fail to make a selection within four years after the President shall direct that allotments may be made on a particular reservation, the Secretary of the Interior may direct the agent of such tribe or band, if such there be, and if there be no agent, then a special agent appointed for that purpose, to make a selection for such Indian, which selection shall be allotted as in cases where selections are made by the Indians ... A comparison of these two sections clearly establishes that Congress, in dealing with the Indians on their reservations and the Spanish and Mexican Grantees and their heirs on their land grants, had intentionally treated them unequallynot to mention that both groups were being treated different than the "native" Americans arriving from the east. The information provided here is but an embryonic snapshot of our government's maltreatment of its Indian, Spanish and Mexican citizens property rights over the past thirteen decades. Since the passage of the Dawes, Court of Private Land Claims and Forest Reserve Acts, other than the establishment of an Indian Claims Commission to allow Indian Tribes to file claims against the United States, not a whimper has been heard from the government regarding the continuing adverse effects of the

maltreatment discussed above. In considering whether it is to early or to late to attempt to correct this century of maltreatment and disregard for a significant portion of our population Congress can no longer afford to ignore recent census data. Man's inhumanity to man will not survive as the order of the day in the future. CONCLUSION Once further research on the issues raised here is complete, a course of action to correct the discriminatory history set out herein must be determined. My extensive research had led me to the conclusion that there are really only two viable courses of action which offer any hope for an ultimate resolution. The first is to use a mechanism from the pastto initially seek presidential executive order reservations and land grants to begin a process of returning at lease a portion of the land taken as a show of good faith. These reservations and grants would require congressional approval and could be subject to attack by a subsequent president. For that reason it seems provident that patents issue immediately after congressional approval of the reservations and grants. What better time to approach Congress with a request to approve presidential executive order reservations and land grants than now fifteen months before a presidential election and a year after a national census that indicates, if this is not resolved nowit will come to pass, whether the present political stalemate can find a way to work together or not. The other, more expensive, more time consuming process would be to request Congress extend the life of the Indian Claims Commission. However, this should not even be considered unless Congress would be it willing to expand the jurisdiction of the Commission to allow the heirs of the Spanish and Mexican land grants access to the procedure so that they might finally be able to challenge the government's taking of millions of acres of their Treaty protected land a century ago. In 1886, the year before the Dawes Act became law, Leo Tolstoy published a short story which has often been mentioned as possibly the best short story ever written. The title of that story was, How Much Land Does a Man Need? If you have never read the story, or if it has been some time since you read it, consider reading it again.

While reading it give thought to Manifest Destiny, to the Dawes, Court of Private Land Claims and Forest Reserve Acts; to Presidents Harrison and Roosevelt; take a few minutes to think about the Indians and the Spanish and Mexican grantees and their heirs, all of whom lost millions of acres ; think about the U.S./Mexican war and all the treaties that were broken when the government was taking the land. Mike Scarborough
328 Staab Street Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 (505) 992-2901 justice1O1@aol.com

Sent by Dorinda Moreno fuerzamundial@gmail.com Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu and Armando Rendon
mailto:armandorendon@sbcglobal.net

MIDDLE AMERICA

Save Our Cemeteries and the Archdiocese of New Orleans

Save Our Cemeteries and the Archdiocese of New Orleans will now be providing security every Sunday from 8:00am - 1:00pm for interested historians, genealogists, cemetery buffs and family members to visit St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, bounded by Claiborne, Robertson, St. Louis and Iberville Streets. St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 contains one of the finest collections of antebellum mortuary art in the South and is the final resting place for significant jazz musicians, local war heroes, and even a notorious pirate. There is so much to see. We encourage everyone to come out on a Sunday to visit one of the most historically and architecturally rich treasures in the city.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 was established in 1823 and is located in the Faubourg Treme neighborhood, three blocks behind St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. It is the largest early Creole cemetery in New Orleans, covering three city blocks. The cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places and was listed on the 2010 World Monument Funds "Watch List" of most endangered cultural sites because the site is threatened by neglect, vandalism, theft and natural disaster. Save Our Cemeteries is in the process of restoring ironwork on abandoned tombs in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. and is planning a special tour of the cemetery on All Saints Day, Tuesday, November 1, 2011. For more information, visit http://www.saveourcemeteries.org/ or contact (504) 525 - 3377.

TEXAS
First Capital of Texas was in Louisiana by Eddie U. Garcia Celebrate Tejano Heritage Month 2011 Student Awards Contest Inventory of the Mercurio Martinez Papers Nov. 5: The Filming of the Tejano Battle of Medina What the Tejano Monument Means to Me by Jos Antonio Lpez Honoring the Alamo's Latino defenders by Ricardo Gndara Tejano broadcast, Daryl Quintanilla

The First Capital of Texas was in Louisiana Submitted by Eddie U. Garcia eddie_u_garcia@yahoo.com The first capital of Texas was in Louisiana. In 1729 the Viceroy of New Spain that resided in Mexico City designated Los Adaes as the capital for Texas and that city remained the capital for almost a half a century. The article that Helen Wallace located, "Shrine Gave Name to the Texas Capital", provides us with the opportunity to learn about the existence of Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adaes Presidio (Fort Our Lady of Pillar of the Adaes) and the importance of Los Adaes to the Spanish Empire. The name of the fort honors a Shrine in Spain. Antonio Gil Y'Barbo was born at Los Adaes in 1729 and was allowed to return to East Texas in 1774, but not to the settlement of his birth. Y'Barbo started another settlement on the Trinity River that failed, but was successful in founding Nacogdoches. The article, "Antonio Gil Y'Barbo Remembered", was published in the September 2011 Somos Primos issue. I regret misspelling the name of Pam Fanelli, a descendant of Y'Barbo, that appeared in Somos Primos. The subject matter about the "Father of Nacogdoches" and some of his descendants resulted in numerous emails and 2 of them mentioned genealogical and ancestral organizations in Louisiana: 1. Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society has a new website: http://louisianagenealogy.org/default.aspx. The old website is no longer being updated. 2. Canary Islander Heritage Society of Louisiana was established in 1996. The websites provided were http.//www.canaryislanders.org and info@canaryislander.org

Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adaes Presidio is gone and Los Adaes became a ghost town. The State of Louisiana purchased the land in 1931 where the mission and the fort were built and made it a State Park. There is a renewed interest in Los Adaes and other old communities and historical sites in Louisiana. That state and different organzations are making an effort to preserve their history and learn new facts about early inhabitants. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/adaes/images/f-presidio.html Eddie U Garcia eddie_u_garcia@yahoo.com (760) 252-3588

Celebrate Tejano Heritage Month 2011 Student Awards Contest

San Antonio (September 1, 2011) In honor of the annual Tejano Heritage Month festivities, Texas Tejano.com is once again sponsoring its Student Awards Contest, open to all grade school students in the great state of Texas. Running from Sept. 1-Oct. 31, 2011, the contest was created to reach out to the young students in Texas and help in reinforcing their education on Tejano and Texas history. All kindergarten through fifth grade public, private, parochial and homeschooled children are eligible to participate in the contest. From the beginning, one of our goals in organizing the activities for Tejano Heritage Month was to create events tailored to engage and educate children,? says Rudi Rodriguez, the President and Founder of Texas Tejano.com, organizers of Tejano Heritage Month. ?We wanted to create something that would get the students to think and hopefully learn about the Tejanos and who they were. That is why we created this contest. It was and is incredibly important for the next generation to know what came before.? This year, Texas Tejano.com has partnered with State Farm Insurance to support and sponsor the contest and its prizes. Official rules and entry forms can be downloaded at www.TexasTejano.com. First, second and third place prizes in each age group (K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade and 4th-5th grade) will be awarded at a special ceremony later in the year. ?This is one of the more important undertakings that we do each year,? Rodriguez explains. ?Education has always been the cornerstone of our company?s mission. Combining that with our efforts for Tejano Heritage Month and in reaching the school children of Texas, it is why we do what we do.? For more information and a complete calendar of Tejano Heritage Month events and activities, visit Texas Tejano.com online at http://www.texastejano.com/ or contact them at (210) 673-3584, Rudi R. Rodriguez.

Descriptive Summary and Abstract

Inventory of the Mercurio Martinez Papers: 1767-1963 (bulk: 1910-1963)

Abstract: Mercurio Martinez, school teacher, rancher, legal researcher, public spirited citizen, and authority on the history and genealogy of Zapata County, Tex., was born in San Ygnacio, Zapata County, Tex. on October 27, 1876, and died in 1965. Descended from Spanish-Mexican pioneers who had settled on the banks of the Rio Grande River in the mid-eighteenth century, Martinez was one of six children born to Don Proceso Martinez and Maria de Jesus Martinez. As a child, Martinez studied guitar and violin. Music remained an avocation throughout his long life, and he wrote numerous "corridos" or ballads which were based on historically significant events in the Zapata County area. In 1898 Martinez graduated from St. Edwards College in Austin, Tex., with a degree of Master of Accounts which is equivalent to a B. S. degree in Business Administration. Between 1898 and 1907, Martinez taught school in the Dolores settlement of Zapata County, Tex. where many of his paternal kinsmen lived. Upon moving to the town of Zapata in 1908, Martinez was appointed principal of the local schools, serving as principal and teacher from 1908 until 1911, when he resigned to become Zapata County treasurer and the administrator of the County School Depository. Martinez held this position through 1916. In 1917, Martinez was appointed Sanitary Inspector of Zapata County by the State Health Department. During his two-year term, he actively attempted to ameliorate conditions which led to the spread of contagious diseases. From 1919 until 1921, he devoted his time to farming and ranching. Although he continued to supervise his lands and rental properties throughout his life, Martinez accepted a position with the Laredo law firm of Hicks, Hicks, Dickson and Bobbitt in 1921, and moved to Laredo. Martinez's duties included work as bookkeeper, cashier, auditor, translator, interpreter, abstracter, and investigator. His knowledge of kinship networks and histories of land ownership in Zapata County was an especially valuable asset to the firm. Mercurio Martinez retired from the Laredo, Tex. law firm in 1942, but continued to work with local lawyers on occasional cases having to do with land ownership. Interests in the history of the region his forebearers had pioneered led him to cooperate with Virgil Lott of Roma, Texas, in writing a county history, The Kingdom of Zapata, which was published in 1953. One of the great achievements of Martinez's long and vigorous life was his role in the salvation of the community of historic San Ygnacio, Tex., which was condemned as a result of flooding caused in the area by the construction of the Falcon Dam in 1949. The flooding marked the doom of many ancient towns along the river south of Laredo. Martinez worked as a key agent of the International Boundary & Water Commission in contacting the many

citizens of Zapata County who were resettled on higher ground. The Mercurio Martinez Papers (1797-1963 (bulk: 1910-1963)) include correspondence, copies of legal documents such as wills, deeds, affidavits and courtroom briefs, maps, a few photographs, field notes for land surveys, genealogical charts, accounts of family and regional history by Mercurio Martinez and historical accounts from other sources, principally newspapers. There are also financial records of various kinds including tax records, bills and receipts, books of check stubs, and account sheets. The vast majority of the papers relate to families, places and events in Zapata County, Tex. Webb County, Tex. is also well represented, as is the region surrounding the town of Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, located on the south bank of the Rio Grande River opposite Zapata County, Tex. Accounts of family and local history written by Martinez in the 1950's and early 1960's deal with events dating back to the Spanish settlements along the lower Rio Grande in the 1750's. Genealogies are generally traced back to the first colonists to arrive in the region. There are more files from the 1950's than any other single decade. Approximately one-quarter of the papers are written in Spanish, and many of the Spanish documents are accompanied with English translations. Among the most important files in the collection are those on the relocation of the town of Zapata due to the construction of Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande River in the early 1950's, the salvation of the community of San Ygnacio from destruction during this period, the accounts of family history and genealogy from Zapata County, and the papers related to division of lands between descendants of original holders of Spanish grants and sales of family lands. Also of interest are the Corridos, or ballads, composed by Mercurio Martinez and dealing with dramatic events in Zapata County history. Identification Texas MSS 00083 Extent 28.5 linear feet. Language English. Repository Cushing Memorial Library College Station, TX 77843-5000 Considerable information: Biographical Note Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

The Tejano Battle of Medina The Tejano Thermopylae of Texas A call for Volunteer Actors and Reenactors
November 5th, 2011
On November 5th, 2011 on the school grounds of the South Side Independent School District 1460 Martinez-Losoya Road in Losoya Texas Dr Juan Jasso, Superintendent of Schools and the Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin invite you to attend this free event. Battle of Medina Film Productions will be filming the reenactment of the Battle of Medina and is seeking volunteers for the reenactment of the biggest and bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil. Recently the State Board of Education approved the addition of the Battle of Medina to the curriculum to be taught in Texas schools and since this school sits on the possible battle site it is appropriate that it be filmed where it occurred ; 23 Years before the Alamo our Tejano ancestors stood and fought to the last man at the Battle of Medina. Actors and re-enactors should wear appropriate attire. Tejanos to wear 1800 Tejano attire, not Texan. Anglo volunteers to wear colonial period attire or frontier dress eg buckskin: Native Americans to wear buckskin or appropriate Native American attire. Spanish and Mexican soldiers are also needed in 1800 military attire with muskets if possible. There will be cannons, muskets, swords and all kinds of early military hardware. This event will be professionally filmed, edited and produced by San Antonios TV personality Maclovio Perez and directed and produced by Author and Historian Dan Arellano. Southside High School is located 20 miles south of San Antonio on Hi 281 South and Martinez-Losoya Road. Please go to my Facebook page for examples of appropriate attire. For More Information Contact: Dan Arellano, President Tejano Genealogy Society 512-826-7569 mailto:512-826-7569darellano@austin.rr.com

What the Tejano Monument Means to Me By Jos Antonio Lopez jlopez8182@satx.rr.com

The seeds of the Tejano Monument in Austin will soon grow to fruition. What seemed an impossible dream is now a reality. With a little patience, a big heart, and a great amount of resolve, the Tejano Monument, Inc. Committee has delivered on its promise. The State of Texas, whose foundation is unmistakable Tejano, will honor its Spanish Mexican past. The Tejano Monuments construction is timely. We live at a time when the legitimacy of the Spanish Mexican pedigree of Texas and the Southwest is being attacked. Ironically, while Hispanic numbers are growing, several Southwest states including Texas have approved oppressive laws that threaten the very liberties that our country established throughout the world as the freedom standard. Among other actions, they assault bi-lingual education and ethnic studies in the bi-cultural Southwest. Everyday life has become more difficult for working class citizens who look Spanish Mexican and Native American. They are considered of being in the country illegally. As such, the monument couldnt have come at a better moment. Once the tourists and the bus loads of school children begin to arrive, the Tejano Monument will be the object of different interpretations. Every visitor will have her or his own perspective. The beauty is that each viewpoint will be correct, similar to studying a prized work of art in a museum. As for me, the Monument is many things. First, it symbolizes the visible tree trunk of the Tejano root system stemming from deep in the heart of Texas. It is a key that opens a special portal (gate) allowing us to peek at life in early Tejas. I find myself cheering as a pioneer accepts a porcin and watch as the ceremonial dust flies off to the four winds. I hear the sound of church bells calling parishioners to mass. Im a guest at a wedding, a quinceaera, and a baptism. I shout approval as children break a piata in the patio. I can smell the bouquet of the herb garden cilantro, oregano, romero, and yerba buena. I smell the inviting aromas of meal preparations. I see children playing and learning at home. I listen intently during afternoon tertulias. I view the corral where vaqueros are taming horses. There are family rodeos and preparations for the next roundup of Texas longhorns. I marvel at the genius of the first Compaa Volante. I witness the first shouts of Texas

liberty and the first shots of Texas independence. The Tejano Monument is the telling of a secret that was 170 years in the making. Its the first giant step to rediscover the early history of Texas. It is a strong visual expression of our Tejano ancestors keeping their memory alive. Its a set of biographies in bronze that will serve as an inspiration to children of all ages and backgrounds for many years to come. Most of all, visitors to Austin will now know the reason why so many patriotic citizens in the Southwest speak Spanish as their language of choice. Please consider making yourself a part of the Tejano Monument. Visit www.Tejanos.com and make a donation.

Honoring the Alamo's Latino defenders By Ricardo Gndara American-Statesman Staff, April 10, 2004 This Austinite is proud that ancestor who fought alongside Travis and Bowie is finding his way into history "The Alamo" opens with the smoky aftermath of the final assault. March 6, 1836. Bodies strewn in the compound. A young Mexican soldado holds an enemy Tejano in his arms. "Gregorio, Gregorio," he weeps. It is his brother, Gregorio Esparza, a cannoneer, who fell protecting the legendary garrison.

George Benavides' home is decorated with art marking the battle his ancestor fought for Texas.
Photo: Ralph Barrera

Esparza's fame has never approached that of the holy trinity of Texas history: Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Travis. They were Anglos whose heroism was told and retold in Anglo accounts. But the list of defenders whose names are etched on monuments and put into movies has grown in recent decades with the inclusion of Hispanics who joined the fight for an independent Texas. Disney's much-awaited film of the epic battle, shot mostly near Dripping Springs and Bastrop, opened nationwide on Friday. When George Benavides of Austin watched the movie Friday afternoon, he was anxious to see how his great-great-great-great grandfather Gregorio Esparza was portrayed however briefly. Benavides is a member of the Alamo Defenders' Descendants Association. Members must prove

they descended from someone who fought in the battle, a lineage Benavides wasn't certain he could trace until the 1980s. Esparza and seven other Tejanos the name given Hispanic settlers of the Mexican state that included Tejas now receive the credit and recognition given the other 180 or so defenders. That has come about because of historians and people such as Benavides who have documented the roles of these Tejanos. Although Esparza's character plays a minor role in the new, $95 million version of "The Alamo," his death on screen further confirms a public recognition of the Tejano contingent, an acknowledgment that didn't emerge until the late 1960s. Why did it take so long? "Texas history was taught largely in terms of myth in the early 20th century," said James Crisp, a Texas historian and professor at North Carolina State University. "Now it's harder to sustain the myth that Anglos were the only fighters for Texas freedom when you have a large and vocal Tejano community in Texas in the late 20th century. Tejano scholars like Andres Tijerina have made a difference." (Tijerina is a professor of history at Austin Community College and author of "Tejanos in Texas Under the Mexican Flag.") Film historian Frank Thompson, a consultant for "The Alamo" and author of a new book "The Alamo: The Illustrated History of the Epic Film," agrees the changes were overdue. "And it was always difficult to get the idea across that it was nothing more than a small band of white people surrounded by a large band of brown people," Thompson said. "We now have a balance, though, and no one thinks of it in those ethnic terms anymore," he said. Besides Esparza, the other Tejanos who fought and died at the Alamo were Juan Abamillo, Juan Badillo, Antonio Fuentes, Toribio Losoya, Damacio Jimenez, Andres Nava and Carlos Espalier. It is believed that Espalier and Charles Despallier, of French descent, may be the same person, but it is generally accepted he was one of the Tejanos. There also were at least two families inside the Alamo during the siege. Among the lives spared were those of Gregorio Esparza's wife, Ana Salazar Esparza; three sons, Enrique, then 8, Francisco, then 6, and Manuel, then 4; and a baby daughter, Maria de Jesus. Read more click here: http://www.austin360.com/movies/content/movies/reviews/a/alamo_tejanos.html Sent by Jose M. Pena

Daryl (DQ) Quintanilla tejanofmstaff@hotmail.com Tune in to my broadcast at http://tejano.fm/ contact

call 512.584.5228

MEXICO
Don Porfirio Diaz, Heroico Patriota Militar por Ricardo Ral Palmern Cordero. Families of General Teran, Nuevo Leon, Mexico Volume Nine The Confederate of the Sierra Madre La Casa de Rayas Music from the Mexican Revolution Personajes en la Historia de Mexico por Jose Leon Robles de la Torre Francisco Lagos Chzaro Adolfo de la Huerta Publicaciones Genealogicas

EL HEROICO PATRIOTA MILITAR MEXICANO GENERAL DE DIVISIN DON PORFIRIO DAZ.

Estando prximo el 181 aniversario del nacimiento del Sr. General de Divisin Don Porfirio Daz Mori, investigu y encontr su registro de bautismo.

REGISTRO DE SU BAUTISMO. Mrgen izquierdo. Jos de la

Cruz Porfirio.

En la Capital de Oajaca, quince de Septiembre de mil ochocientos treinta, yo el Teniente bautis solemnemente Jos de la Cruz Porfirio hijo legitimo de Jos de la Cruz Diaz y Petrona Mori, abuelos paternos Manuel Jos Diaz y Mara Catarina Orozco, maternos Mariano Mori y Tecla Cortes, fue padrino el Sor. Cura de Nochixtlan Licdo. Dn. Jos Agustn Dominguez, quien record su obligacin y lo firm en el S.E.S.- Firman Luis Castellanos y Jos Mara Romero.

El ao de 1912 encontrndose exiliado en Francia, El Sr. General Daz, recibi la notificacin de su retiro del Ejrcito, cuyo documento dice lo siguiente. Parte superior ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS, nuestro magnfico Escudo Nacional con el guila de frente y a un lado la fotografa del Seor General Daz.

FRANCISCO I. MADERO. Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. De conformidad con lo establecido en el artculo---------------------------- y Decreto 30 de 30 de Mayo anterior concede Retiro al General de Divisin Porfirio Diaz, por ms de 40 aos de servicios, con la pensin anual de siete mil ochocientos ochenta y cuatro pesos, que percibir desde el da 1o de Enero del presente ao fecha en que obtiene retiro. El Comandante Militar de Mxico pondr el cmplase que previene la Ordenanza General del Ejrcito y se tomar razn de esta Patente en la Tesorera de la Federacin y dems oficinas segn lo dispuesto por las leyes relativas vigentes. Dado en el Palacio del Poder Ejecutivo Federal en Mxico veintids de Junio de mil novecientos doce, nonagsimo segundo de la Independencia y nonagsimo primero de su Libertad. Firman Fco. Y. Madero y el Secretario de Guerra y Marina Angel Garca Pea. Parte inferior .Patente de retiro que se concede al General de Divisin Porfirio Daz por ms de 40 aos de Servicios.

El documento siguiente se refiere a la donacin que hace el Sr. General Daz de su pensin, dice as. Mrgen izquierdo. sellos oficiales. Se recibi en esta Secretara la atenta carta de Usted, fechada en La Farble Francia el 31 de Enero ltimo en la que se sirve manifestar sus deseos de que la pensin de $ 6,570.00 que la ley le concede se aplique por mitad al Colegio Militar y a la Escuela de Aspirantes, con instrucciones para que cada uno de esos establecimientos dividan la suma que les corresponde en tantas fracciones como primeros y segundos premios obtengan los alumnos al finalizar el ao escolar. En respuesta , me es altamente honrroso manifestar a Usted por acuerdo del Sr. Presidente de la Repblica, que de conformidad con sus altruistas deseos ya se dan las rdenes necesarias fin de que la pensin que tiene Usted sealada se aplique como primeros y segundos premios a los alumnos del Colegio Militar y de la Escuela Militar de Aspirantes.

Es muy satisfactorio para este gobierno dar Usted las gracias por la sesin que bondadosamente ha hecho de su pensin para recompensar las aptitudes de los futuros defensores de la Patria. Al manifestar Usted lo anterior me es grato ofrecer a Usted las seguridades de mi distinguida consideracin. Mxico 19 de Abril de 1912. Firma. Evaristo Madero. Al C. General de Divisin Dn. Porfirio Daz. Al/o de la Legacin de Mxico. Pars.- Francia.-

HONOR A QUIEN HONOR MERECE. SEOR GENERAL DE DIVISIN DON PORFIRIO DIAZ, DEFENSOR DE LA PATRIA. San Luis Potos, S.L.P. a 7 de Septiembre de 2011. Investig y paleografi el Presidente de la Sociedad de Genealoga de Nuevo Len. Teniente Coronel Intendente Ret. Ricardo Ral Palmern Cordero. duardos43@hotmail.com

Families of General Teran, Nuevo Leon, Mexico Volume Nine (18511854)http://home.earthlink.net/~crisrendon/genteranmarriagesvol9.pdf This book has marriage and family information on the 261 marriage records found for Nuestra Senora de la Soledad parish church in Valle de la Mota for the years of 1851-1854. The focus in this ninth volume is on the descendants of the grooms. Besides presenting any descendants found for the marriages that occurred during this period and in General Teran (current name for Valle de la Mota), any descendants found from previous or subsequent marriages in whatever town are also presented. The church records used as a primary source for this book are available as digital images to view, print or download for free at http://www.familysearch.org/ in the Mexican Church Records browse image collection for General Teran. The marriages for this volume are found on images 213-291 in the 1840-1854 film collection. The marriages are arranged in the same order as they appear in the original records. Details to help locate a marriage record are given as image number followed by a sequence number. The index is found on page 173. Best Regard, Crispin Rendon crispin.rendon@gmail.com

The Confederate of the Jos Quinteros reputation was soaring upon Sierra Madre his return to Richmond in mid-August 1861.
By WILLIAM MOSS WILSON September 1, 2011, The New York Times, Opinionator He had travelled the width of the Confederacy to deliver the rarest of gifts for the Southern capital: much better than a fine box of cigars, the Cuban-born Southern special agent brought good news from Mexico.

Despite a frenzy of activity, Confederate diplomacy was not bearing its anticipated fruits in the nations first summer. King Cotton had failed to induce recognition from Britain or France, and Richmond had heard nothing from Mexico City, where ambassador John Picketts boorish antics and intercepted dispatches, laden with contempt and condescension for his hosts, confirmed the Juarez governments worst suspicions of the Southern cause namely, that it had less interest in diplomacy, per se, than it did in southward expansion. Yet 600 miles to the north of the Mexican capital, Quintero achieved one of the Confederacys most stunning diplomatic successes. In his negotiations with Santiago Vidaurri, governor of the Mexican border states of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, the southern agent discovered a capable ally who offered more than his great friendship: Vidaurri promised border security, the supply of vital war material and an outlet for Southern cotton; most astonishingly, he proposed the outright annexation of his territories. Adhering to the instructions from Richmond, Quintero had arrived in Vidaurris capital, Monterrey, with modest aims. He explained to Vidaurri during their meeting on June 23 that his chief concern was simply to establish cordial relations with Nuevo Leon and open discussions about security along the frontier.
Photo: The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, the University of TexasJos Quintero, ca. 1880

Vidaurri made it clear he did not have the authority to conduct foreign diplomacy and then, in the same breath, offered to negotiate on behalf of his national government. Vidaurri stressed that border security was a high priority of his own, as he was actively in pursuit of Juan Cortina, the marauder who had sacked the border town of Brownsville, Tex., in 1859 and who was rumored to be gathering a force for additional raids across the Rio Grande. Furthermore, Vidaurri assured Quintero he would not allow Union troop movements through his territory and would do everything in his power to gather similar assurances from his fellow border-state governors The trading houses of Monterrey, Vidaurri told his guest, could provide the South with essential war supplies not only lead, powder, saltpeter, copper and bronze, but also flour, cloth and shoes. Everything could be had in exchange for cash or cotton, and Vidaurri vowed to exercise his moral influence in Tamaulipas, the state bordering Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, to keep its port of Bagdad open to the Confederacy.

Vidaurri then divulged his greatest ambition to Quintero, something his enemies and allies alike had long suspected: that the governor was anxious to establish the Republic of the Sierra Madre. With the coming of the Civil War, Vidaurri suggested the time was ripe for his region to break with the central government in Mexico City and join the nascent Confederacy. Vidaurri stressed the similarities between his region and the Southern states: Mexicos northern frontier was more geographically and commercially aligned with Texas than distant Mexico City, and annexation would further the process of Americanization that was already in progress. Vidaurris states rights philosophy was well-suited for the Confederacy. The caudillo in Mexico City had ruled Nuevo Leon and Coahuila since 1855 under the Plan of Monterrey, a constitution that asserted state sovereignty and maintained a militia independent from federal control. Vidaurri exercised this autonomy, time and again putting his regional interests before the concerns of national politics; on several occasions he withdrew his troops from the liberal forces in the War of the Reform in order to consolidate his position in the north. But there were also difficult incongruities between Vidaurris states and the Confederacy: Nuevo Leons constitution explicitly outlawed slavery, and the region had a proud history as a haven for runaway slaves, who with a year of gainful employment could even earn the right the vote. The backbone of his state revenues, moreover, depended on the customs receipts he would stand to lose once incorporated into the Confederate nation. Library of Congress Gov. Santiago Vidaurri So why was Vidaurri so eager to align with the nascent Confederacy? Political survival. He had lost his best general and military strategist, Juan Zuazua, to assassination that winter. With the end of the Reform wars, President Benito Juarez was consolidating federal control and was sure to challenge Vidaurris virtual independence along the northern frontier. And if Juarez did not unseat the northern caudillo, a European power might France and others were already making noise about invading Mexico over its debts. Though highly impressed with Quinteros mission, Jefferson Davis wisely refused Vidaurris offer of annexation. Southern Democrats, including Davis, had been advocates of expansion into Mexico throughout the 1850s, but a primary motive for acquisition, maintaining the balance of power in

Congress between slave states and free soil, no longer existed. Moreover, for an independent South, Manifest Destiny came with serious drawbacks. A formal union with Vidaurris realm would put northern Mexicos ports within jurisdiction of the Union blockade, chocking a vital outlet for Southern exports. Gov. Santiago Vidurri Additionally, annexation would draw the rest of Mexico into war against the South. Library of Congress Potentially even more damaging, such a union would likely scuttle one of the Confederacys best hopes for European recognition. Davis believed Napoleon IIIs anticipated intervention into Mexico would spark a war between the Union and France, opening the possibility of a FrancoConfederate alliance. Southern annexation might dampen this potential conflict, while surely antagonizing a potential ally. Daviss rejection of Vidaurris offer didnt mean the end for Quintero, though. In reward for his efforts, he was assigned to a permanent post in Monterrey. But there his diplomatic reputation was immediately put to the test. On his way back to Nuevo Leon, he learned that Jose-Maria Carvajal, a Virginia-educated filibuster, was organizing a force outside Brownsville to invade northern Mexico. Quintero, worried about the implications for crossborder diplomatic relations, alerted the local commander, John Ford, and Texas Governor Francis Lubbock. But to his dismay, neither acted; Ford was an old compatriot of Carvajals, while Lubbock had other concerns at hand. In March 1862 Carvajal attacked Matamoros, just across the border. Vidaurri was outraged, and told Quintero as much. Quintero immediately offered his resignation in a blistering report to Richmond: The General Government of Mexico as you are well aware sympathizes with the Black Republicans. We have, however, succeeded in securing the friendship of the Governors of the frontier states and are now on the eve of incurring the their enmity, on account of the band of robbers who are permitted to abuse the Hospitality of Texas I earnestly request the Department to appoint a person to succeed me who may have more influence with the military at Brownsville. In response to the raid, Vidaurri closed border and later added a 2 cent per pound levy on all cotton that crossed the Rio Grande. Quintero, who rescinded his resignation, soon managed to negotiate a reduction in the tariff, and his appeal to Richmond eventually led to Carvajals arrest. Tempers subsided; though similar border incursions would threaten commerce for the duration of the war, both sides had too much to gain for commerce not to

continue. Related Disunion Highlights Explore multimedia from the series and navigate through past posts, as well as photos and articles from the Times archive.

See the Highlights

Indeed, Quintero proved an integral tie between the two countries, and Vidaurri remained a staunch ally of the South. The governor refused a June 1862 request by the United States consul, C. B. H. Blood, for an official letter respecting Union commercial goods in his state. Later that same month, when President Juarez ordered the governor to cease all intercourse with the Confederate States, under whatever circumstances, Vidaurri refused, saying that he could not risk crippling the commerce in his region. The alliance proved vital to the South: northern Mexico became a major outlet for its cotton, accounting for approximately 20 percent of wartime exports. Though the long wagon hauls through the rugged south Texas corridor ate up much of the value of the crop, the route proved competitive with the dangers of blockade running, as testified by the 125 ships at a time anchored off the coast near Matamoros. But all good things come to an end. By 1864, the French invasion had pushed the Juarez government into northern Mexico, and Vidaurri was forced to choose between the central government and a foreign power. The master of self-preservation sought the winning side and chose to back the French. When the French fell to Porfirio Daz in 1867, he was arrested and executed. Follow Disunion at twitter.com/NYTcivilwar or join us on Facebook. Sources: Ronnie Tyler, Santiago Vidaurri and the Southern Confederacy; Frank Owsley, King Cotton Diplomacy; Thomas Schoonover, Dollars Over Dominion; David George Surdam, Northern Naval Superiority and the Economics of the American Civil War. William Moss Wilson is a writer based in Santiago, Chile.

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La Casa de Rayas

Espadaa Press is soliciting a new, exclusive sponsor for this web site. For a modest $300.00 per year we will display your logo and brief message with a link on our home page. ESPADANA PRESS Exploring Colonial Mexico http://www.colonial -mexico.com We post new pages every other month which we publicize to our proprietary list of 4000 interested readers. Please send inquiries to us at rperry@west.net

In 1776 Don Vicente Manuel de Sardaneta y Legasp, an aristocratic hacendado, sole owner of the famous Mineral de Rayas silver mine, and one of the richest men in

Mexico, added the finishing touches to his colonial mansion in the burgeoning city center of Guanajuato, This venerable townhouse, known as La Casa de Rayas in recognition of his new title El Marqus de Rayas, bestowed on Don Vicente by the king of Spain, now houses the city museum: El Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato. The family chapel, located on the upper level of the house, boasts an elegant baroque portal designed by architect/designer Felipe de Urea. Its magnificent altarpiece, also designed by Urea, now adorns the St Francis wedding chapel in the Mission Inn, Riverside, California. http://www.colonial-mexico.com/

Music from the Mexican Revolution

Posted Cultura Mexicana This is marvelous site. My husband came by as I was exploring the site . . and said "Hey, you are having too much fun." Do go and check it out. There are 175 videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrIvSl19Rv0&feature=related Sent by Jose M. Pena JMPENA@aol.com

PERSONAJES EN LA HISTORIA DE MXICO

Por: JOS LEN ROBLES DE LA TORRE
AO DEL BICENTENARIO DE LA INDEPENDENCIA DE MXICO, 18102010, Y CENTENARIO DE LA REVOLUCIN MEXICANA, 1910-2010 Datos tomados del Tomo VIII, de XIII, Libro No. 52 de mi obra

Francisco Lagos Chzaro

indita: "La Independencia y los Presidentes relacionados de con el Mxico", Lic. don

Francisco Lagos

Gernimo

de

Jess de

Chzaro,

Presidente

Mxico No. 46, del diez de junio al 1o. de diciembre de 1915. Total cinco meses 16 das.

Naci el nueve de octubre de 1878 en el pueblo de Tlacotalpan, Ver., siendo hijo legtimo de don Francisco R. Lagos y de su esposa doa Francisca Chzaro Malpica, segn aparece en la copia certificada de su acta de nacimiento que me fue enviada en 1958 y que obra en el libro citado al principio de este artculo. Sus estudios primarios y secundarios los hizo en su tierra natal y los profesionales hasta obtener su ttulo de Licenciado en Derecho,

probablemente los realiz en la Universidad de Veracruz. En 1909, se adhiri al movimiento revolucionario que iniciaba don Francisco Ignacio Madero Gonzlez al publicar su libro La Sucesin Presidencial que buscaba quitar de la silla presidencial a don Porfirio Daz Mori. En 1911, fue electo sndico en el Ayuntamiento de Orizaba, Ver. El 15 de febrero de 1912, tom posesin como Gobernador Interino de Veracruz, y dur en el cargo hasta el 30 de noviembre de ese mismo ao. En 1913, despus del asesinato de Madero, se uni a las fuerzas constitucionalistas que encabezaba don Venustiano Carranza Garza, quien lo nombr Presidente del Supremo Tribunal de Justicia del Estado de Coahuila. El diez de junio de 1915, la Suprema Convencin de Aguascalientes ya

establecida en Mxico, D. F., lo nombr Presidente Interino de la Repblica, en sustitucin del General Roque Gonzlez Garza, durando en el cargo hasta el 1o. de diciembre de ese mismo ao de 1915. Total cinco meses y 16 das. Al dejar la Presidencia, traa como jefe de su escolta al general Benjamn Argumedo y al ser aprehendido ste el 19 de enero de 1916, el licenciado Lagos Chzaro escap rumbo a las costas para embarcarse al destierro, rumbo a Europa. A mediados de 1920, el licenciado Lagos Chzaro regres a la patria y se dedic al ejercicio de su profesin de abogado, retirado de la poltica. Su muerte: el licenciado Francisco Gernimo de Jess Lagos Chzaro, falleci en la Ciudad de Mxico, D. F., el da 13 de noviembre de 1932 y sus restos fueron llevados al Panten Francs de la Capital de la Repblica. Yo hice un viaje especial a la Ciudad de Mxico y visit el Panten Francs en busca de la tumba del licenciado Lagos Chzaro y la encontr en la avenida 11, fosa 196 de dicho panten. Tom la fotografa que obra en el libro ya citado.

PERSONAJES EN LA HISTORIA DE MXICO

Por: JOS LEN ROBLES DE LA TORRE
AO DEL BICENTENARIO DE LA INDEPENDENCIA DE MXICO, 1810-2010, Y DEL CENTENARIO DE LA REVOLUCIN, 19102010 Datos del Tomo VIII, de XIII, de mi obra indita: "La Independencia y los

Presidentes de Mxico". Libro No. 53, relacionado con el seor don Felipe Adolfo de la Huerta Marcor, Presidente de Mxico No. 47, del 24 de mayo al 30 de noviembre de 1920, fecha en que entreg Obregn. el poder al General lvaro

Adolfo de la Huerta
Naci don Felipe Adolfo el 26 de mayo de 1881 en la ciudad de Guaymas, Son., siendo hijo legtimo de don Torcuato de la Huerta y de su esposa doa Carmen Marcor, segn datos que aparecen en su acta de nacimiento certificada que me fue enviada por el prroco de la parroquia de San Fernando de Guaymas, con fecha 29 de octubre de 1958. Realiz sus estudios primarios en su tierra natal y luego pas a estudiar a Hermosillo, Son., por los aos de 1893 1894. Despus sus padres lo enviaron a la Ciudad de Mxico para estudiar la preparatoria hasta el ao de 1900 en que regres a su tierra porque su padre haba fallecido. Escribi parte de su biografa que qued en poder del Lic. Roberto Guzmn Esparza. Ya en el terruo se dedic a los negocios comerciales con bastante xito. Se afili a los partidarios de Maytorena que jugaba por la gubernatura de Sonora. Luego fue electo diputado y por esas fechas contrajo matrimonio con la seorita Clarita Oriol, procreando a sus hijos Adolfo y Arturo... En 1916, fue gobernador interino de Sonora, por primera vez, expidi el decreto No. 71 en favor de la clase obrera con fecha 16 de octubre de 1917, protegiendo el salario de las clases ms necesitadas.

Asisti a las juntas de Sonora donde los generales acordaron la formacin del Ejrcito Constitucionalista, que encabez como primer jefe don Venustiano Carranza Garza. Carranza nombr a don Adolfo de la Huerta como su representante ante Washington, para resolver algunas pendientes entre los dos pases, Estados Unidos y Mxico. En 1919 fue electo Gobernador Constitucional de Sonora, por segunda vez, y atentaron contra su vida en dos ocasiones, siendo el sicario un tal Kibby. Particip en el Plan de Agua Prieta, que finalmente lo llev a la Presidencia de la Repblica, tomando posesin, interinamente, el 24 de mayo al 30 de noviembre de 1920, fecha en que entreg el poder al General lvaro Obregn, quien al tomar posesin, nombr a don Adolfo de la Huerta como Ministro de Hacienda el 1o. de diciembre de 1920 y permaneci en el cargo hasta septiembre de 1923 en que renunci con objeto de lanzar su candidatura a la Presidencia de la Repblica, contra el candidato de don Venustiano Carranza, lo que origin un gran revuelo entre los polticos y militares, desatndose la Revolucin "De la Huertista", que oblig a don Adolfo a partir para Veracruz y embarcarse para los Estados Unidos, primero a Nueva York y luego se estableci en Los ngeles, Calif., donde para poder subsistir daba clases de canto, pues se encontraba pobre, hasta que regres al pas en 1935. El 9 de julio de 1955 falleci en su casa de la Ciudad de Mxico, teniendo unos funerales muy concurridos, que encabezaba el Presidente de la Repblica don Adolfo Ruiz Cortnes, pues era muy estimado y entre ex presidentes, polticos y pueblo, asistieron ms de cinco mil personas hasta despedirlo en el Panten Francs de la Ciudad de Mxico. En 1956 yo fui a la Ciudad de Mxico y me traslad al Panten Francs donde localic su tumba en la avenida 6 No. 28 y tom las fotografas

que obran en mi libro citado al principio.

Source: El Siglo de Torreon: http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/ Sent by Mercy Bautista-Olvera

Publicaciones Genealogicas
Genealoga de Mxico tiene el gusto de anunciar a la comunidad genealgica y de historiadores sus mas recientes publicaciones electrnicas: Los Zambrano de Mxico Los Zambrano de Nuevo Len Los Ramirez de Jalisco Haga un viaje virtual en mas de 300 notarias parroquiales de Mxico y obtenga cientos de datos fidedignos. En un formato inovador que te permite analizar lineas genealogicas y migraciones. Cada libro electrnico (PDF) consta de 5 indices que son una poderosa herramienta para el anlisis genealgico: Indice Cronolgico Bautismal Indice Alfabetico Bautismal Indice Cronolgico Matrimonial Indice Alfabetico Matrimonial Indice Geogrfico Los Indices Cronologicos y Alfabeticos te permiten ir siguiendo desde el primer registro parroquial verificado hasta el mas reciente (cortando en 1880 aprox.) en cuyo caso de parte ya sea por el registro mas antiguo (cronologico) o por orden alfabetico partiendo desde los que inician con letra a, b, c, etc. Los Indices Geogrficos te permiten introducirte a cientos de Notarias Parroquiales en donde podrs saber que bautismos y matrimonios se efectuaron. Compras en http://GenTienda.Genealogia.org.mx/ECom Mayores informes: Tienda@Genealogia.org.mx Email: samuelsanchez@genealogia.org.mx

Website: http://www.Genealogia.org.mx Office (81) 89393 0011

INDIGENOUS
Native American Indian Day Proclamation - September 30, 2011 "Cherokees to restore slaves' descendants benefits"

Native American Indian Day Proclamation - September 30, 2011

A federal order for one of the nation's largest American Indian tribes to restore voting rights and benefits to about 2,800 descendants of members' former slaves threw plans for a special election for a new chief into turmoil Tuesday. The federal government sent the sternly-worded letter to the Cherokee Nation after it sent letters last week kicking the descendants out of the tribe and stripping them of benefits including medical care, food stipends and assistance for low-income homeowners.... The election has drawn national interest because while the tribe is based in Tahlequah, many of its 300,000 members live outside Oklahoma. The freedmen have asked a federal judge to restore their voting rights before the special election, and a hearing is planned next week in federal court in Washington. The tribe never owned black slaves, but some individual members did. They were freed after the Civil War, in which the tribe allied with the Confederacy. An 1866 treaty between the tribe and the federal government gave the freedmen and their descendants "all the rights of native Cherokees." [end excerpt] http://www.thegrio.com/news/cherokees-to-restore-slavesdescendants-benefits.php agraham9@cox.net

SEPHARDIC

Irena Sendler Europe, Globalization, and the Coming Universal Caliphate Happy Rosh Hashanah wishes form American Sephardi Federation

Irena Sendler
There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive'. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

REMEMBER THIS LADY!!!

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.

In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. I hope you'll consider doing the same.. It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This information is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated by Hitler and his Nazi machine! Now, more than ever, with Iran , and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'. It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again. Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.. It will only take you a minute to pass this along... Let us never forget! The world hasn't just become wicked...it' s always been wicked. The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving. Sent by Anne Mocniak

Bat Ye'or's new book, "Europe, Globalization, and the Coming Universal Caliphate" International jihad is against the Bible and those who regard it as sacred
By Diana West http://www.jewishworldreview.com/ In a first-chapter primer on the relationship between the European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, much of which revolves around mutual animus toward Israel, Ye'or revisits the hateful perversion that passes for political normal: the relentless mission of the Islamic world, with EU encouragement, "to appropriate a tiny piece of land" -- Israel -- as a political and religious cause despite the fact, as she reminds us, no town, village or hamlet of Israel is mentioned in the Koran or early biographies of Muhammad. Why Israel? Ye'or asks. "Given the immense territories conquered and Islamized over thirteen centuries of expansion and war," she writes, "why would Muslim countries keep plotting to destroy Israel?" And further: "Why does the immense oil wealth of Muslim nations nourish a flood of hatred that poisons the heart of humanity against such a small nation? Why is Israel considered so alarming?" The well-read global citizen might regurgitate something about land, modern Zionism and the post-1948 "plight of the Palestinians," but these are stock narratives overwriting the age-old reason. "What Israel possesses," Ye'or explains, "is the Bible." To appreciate the depth and breadth of this perhaps obvious but seldom pondered explanation, it's essential to realize that Jewish and Christian Bible characters, from Abraham to Moses to Jesus, pop up in the Koran as Muslim prophets who actually preach Islam, not Judaism or Christianity. This is the time-wrinkling, religion-morphing way in which Islam repudiates what it regards as falsifications in both the first (Jewish) and second (Christian) testaments. Given that the Jewish and Christian religious books long predate the Islamic religious book, it's not surprising that in their Koranic guises the biblical characters "wander," as Bat Ye'or writes, "in uncertain space with no geographical or temporal references." Still, Muslims claim that these same "Muslim" characters lived in "Palestine," Bat Ye'or writes, on the basis of the "Jewish and Christian scriptures that they reject." It follows from this highly unstable construct that Islam sees the biblical past as Islamic history "usurped" by Jews and Christians. Thus, "the land in which it took place -- though ... never mentioned in the Koran -- is

(considered) a Muslim land, and Jewish and Christian holy sites are all (considered) Muslim," writes Ye'or, the pre-eminent modern historian of "dhimmitude," the diminished condition of non-Muslims under Islamic law (Shariah). The land of Israel itself -- whose "every region, town and village is mentioned in the Bible with historical and chronological precision" -- is thus "sacrilegious" to Muslims, she explains. "They observe with destructive rage this unfolding return of history that they claim as their own. ... Any confirmation of the veracity of the Bible is seen as an attack on the Islamic authenticity of the Koranic figures taken from the Bible." So much for those slivers of real estate as being the driver of war on Israel. It is, in fact, a jihad, a religious war against Judaism and the land of the Bible, root of Christianity. As Ye'or puts it, "Israel, in the land of its history, towns and villages, resuscitates the Bible, the book the Koran must supplant." This back-to-basics interpretation allows us to see through the masks and deceptions to a war on Israel that is also a jihad against Christianity. Remember that the Koranic Jesus, Isa, has Muslim, not Jewish roots. As Ye'or writes, Muslims see Christians as having gone astray by "placing themselves in the lineage of the Hebrew Bible, because their real origin is Islam." The Islamic answer is to return Christianity to its supposedly Koranic origins. And then? Bat Ye'or believes "the destruction of Christianity's sustaining Jewish roots (would) facilitate its Islamization." And the world's.

NOTE: The picture above reads . . "Portuguese synagogue of Amsterdam blowing the shofar on the New Year" 1723. Amsterdam is present day New York City.

AFRICANAMERICAN

November 35, 2011: AfroLatinos Now! Strategies for Visibility and Action Record-High 86% Approve of Black-White Marriages

Afro-Latinos Now!
Strategies for Visibility and Action November 35, 2011 New York City

Join educators, community activists, cultural workers and policy advocates for three days of learning, dialogue, and planning. The Afro-Latino Forum is pleased to host AfroLatinus Now! Strategies for Visibility and Action, a three-day international conference that will gather scholars, community leaders and artists to advance a dialogue on issues of importance to Black Latinos in the United States as well as foster positive relations between Latinos, African Americans and other peoples of color. Among our institutional partners in this endeavor are the Schomburg Center for Research inBlack Culture, The Center for the Humanities of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, El Museo del Barrio, and the W.E.B.Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

In keeping with the UN resolution (A/RES/64/169) declaring 2011 as the International Year of People of African Descent, this conference will be held on November 3-5, 2011 in New York City. Participants will lead panels and workshops addressing a range of issues such as representation, media, youth, education and the performing arts to promote awareness and social engagement across Afro-Latino communities in the United States and throughout the Americas. The goal of the conference will be to promote dialogue and mutual understanding amongst and between Afro-Latin@s, the broader Latin@ and African American populations, and the general public including other peoples of color. We aim to expand and solidify the widening network of educators and activists working on related themes, and to begin defining the key educational and policy issues that bear on the recognition and empowerment of this largely overlooked and underserved population.

Register at http://www.afrolatinoforum.org/conference-registration.html *Speakers include: Stephanie Alvarez, University of Texas-Pan American Manuela Arciniegas, The Legacy Circle Berta Arzu, Enlace de Mujeres Negras Hondureas Liliana Angulo, visual artist Firelei Baz, visual artist Rev. Luis Barrios, John Jay Community College Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke University Michael Paul Britto, visual artist Mirtha Coln, Casa Yurumein/Hondurans Against AIDS James Counts Early, Smithsonian Institution Angelo Falcn, Latino Policy Institute Carlos Flores, Afro-Latin@ Institute of Chicago Tanya K. Hernndez, Fordham University School of Law Marco Polo Hernandez-Cuevas, North Carolina Central University Evelyne Laurent-Perrault, New York University/ENCUENTRO Maria Rosario Jackson, The Policy Institute Joseph Jordan, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Yvonne Latty, New York University Khary Lazarre-White, Brotherhood and SisterSol Roberto Marquez, Mount Holyoke College Michelle Materre, Creatively Speaking Ricardo Millett Claudia Mosquera Rosero-Labb, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Willie Perdomo Sofia Quintero/Black Artemis Charles Rice-Gonzalez, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD) Lori Robinson, BLAC Detroit Magazine Ivan Romn, National Association of Hispanic Journalists Silvio Torres-Saillant, Syracuse University

Sent by Alva Moore Stevenson astevens@library.ucla.edu

Record-High 86% Approve of BlackWhite Marriages

Gallup September 12, 2011 Record-High 86% Approve of Black-White Marriages Ninety-six percent of blacks, 84% of whites approve by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are approaching unanimity in their views of marriages between blacks and whites, with 86% now approving of such unions. Americans' views on interracial marriage have undergone a major transformation in the past five decades. When Gallup first asked about blackwhite marriages in 1958, 4% approved. More Americans disapproved than approved until 1983, and approval did not exceed the majority level until 1997. For the complete study, please go to: http://www.gallup.com/poll/149390/Record-High-Approve-Black-WhiteMarriages.aspx?version=print

EAST COAST

Family charged in $40 million psychic scam Poets Converge on South Bronx Urban Farm

Family charged in $40 million psychic scam

OC Register 9/2/11 Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Rose Marks and her family of fortune tellers offered hope, but prosecutors said it came with a steep price. The Florida family claimed to confer with gods, spirits and even Michael the Archangel to cure diseases and break curses, making for an accepting jewelry, gold coins and luxury cars in return. The family amassed a a $40 million fortune from a psychic scam dating back 20 years, authorities said. They used "magicians tricks to frighten victims, who lived as far away as Denmark and Japan, to give them the money,

prosecutors said. The victims included a best selling author who gave $20 million. Marks, 60, and eight family members pleaded not guilty last week. They lawyers said they believe their Gypsy religion gave them the ability to heal and that the business was legitimate.

Poets Converge on South Bronx Urban Farm By Bobby Gonzalez Chris Brandt, one of the founders of Against the Tide: Poets for Peace, stepped up to the microphone and read the poem "Outside the Blue Nile" by Yusef Komunyakaa. This was but one of the magical moments that occurred during the Open Mic series Farm Fresh which took place at La Finca Del Sur/South Bronx Farmers, an urban farmer

cooperative led by Latina and Black women and their allies. Poets & Writers cosponsored the five literary events that helped create a new community of grassroots spoken word artists. The months of July and August, 2011 were seasonably hot. However, as the crowds gathered under a mulberry tree, they listened to their neighbors lyrical compositions and forgot the city heat. Among the participants were versifiers from Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and North Carolina. Before one session, the audience was regaled by the guitars and songs of Lonnie Harrington, a Seminole Native American tunesmith, and Ruben Gonzalez a South American musician. The three acres of La Finca are wedged between an inter-state railroad and a constantly congested automobile highway. Still, urban farmers such as Nancy Surun-Ortiz are able to grow tomatoes, eggplant, habanero peppers and basil. School groups and local residents have an opportunity to come here and grow their own fruits and vegetables. Now, they are also able to listen to and share their own home-grown poetry.

At the final Open Mic, the heavens opened up and a skin-drenching rainstorm fell. Most of the folks rushed into the farms 8 by 10 greenhouse. At least twenty of us were crammed in that small space, reading and reciting poetry and eating sandwiches. I have read at and MCd many Open Mics, but Farm Fresh has been the most enjoyable and rewarding. It was an honor to listen to poetry by the people and for the people who are standing on good old fashioned dirt and surrounded by natures bounty in a South Bronx green space. Thank you, Poets & Writers.

Bobby Gonzalez is a poet, storyteller and motivational speaker based in the Bronx, New York. He is the author of The Last Puerto Rican Indian: A Collection of Dangerous Poetry. Visit his website at http://www.bobbygonzalez.com/

CARIBBEAN/CUBA
Papeles de Cuba Archival Calendar at the University of Florida Mariana Bracetti, herona puertorriquea, casada con un venezolano por Eumenes Fuguet Borregales

Papeles de Cuba Archival Calendar

at the University of Florida

Papeles de Cuba Holdings Select a legajo group below for a list of titles: The Papeles Procedentes de Cuba (761 microfilm reels) is a section of the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla holding records

1-99 300399 600999

of the Spanish colonies throughout the Caribbean and on the North American continent. They contain documentation from 400- 500the mid-seventeenth century well into the 499 599 nineteenth century and are particularly rich 1000- 1300- for the period from circa 1760 to 1821. 1299 1399 100199 200299

1400- 170020001699 1999

These documents complement the Stetson and East Florida collections as they contain the records of the Spanish posts on the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico. The Reales Cajas legajos of both East and West Florida found in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba contain the most complete New World treasury records in existence. The calendar of the P.K. Yonge Library's holdings of the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba incorporates about 60,000 catalog cards. The collection is organized by legajo number and then by date within each legajo. Individual reference entries generally represent documents, but may represent various document details, depending on what the legajo contains (letters, court cases, etc). Reference Materials: F016 H647d, Descriptive Catalogue of the Documents Relating to the History of the United States in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba deposited in the Archivo General de Indias at Seville by Roscoe R. Hill F016 G216c, Catalogo Parcial de los Fondos de la Seccion XI (Cuba) del Archivo General de Indias by Cesar Garcia del Pino and Alicia Melis Capa F016 S735, Spanish Florida Borderlands Finding Guide/ Calendar to the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Seccion XI, Archivo General de Indias F016 C669, The Hispanic World 1492-1898: A Guide to Photoreproduced manuscripts from Spain in the collections of the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico by Guadalupe Jimnez Codinach

Return to P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History Return to Special Collections Return to George A. Smathers Libraries Main Page Return to University of Florida Main Page

Historia y Tradicin Diario El Carabobeo 14-IX-2021

Mariana Bracetti, herona puertorriquea, casada con un venezolano por Eumenes Fuguet Borregales (*)

Conocida como Brazo de Oro, bord la Bandera de Lares, primera ensea del movimiento emancipador de Puerto Rico, iniciado con el famoso Grito de Lares, y el alzamiento realizado la noche del 23 de septiembre de 1868, accin inspirada y organizada por el doctor en medicina Emeterio Ramn Betances (1827-1896), denominado el Padre de la patria puertorriquea, desterrado en Santo Domingo, ocupado afanosamente en obtener armas y pertrechos para el movimiento, comandado por el venezolano Manuel Rojas Luzardo al frente de ochocientos campesinos, armados con machetes salidos de su hacienda El triunfo. Mariana Bracetti naci en Aasco en 1825; casada en segundas nupcias con Miguel Rojas Luzardo, hermano de Manuel. Los hermanos Rojas nacidos en la poblacin de Obispos-Barinas, procedan de Valencia, exiliados de Venezuela, debido a las guerras acontecidas durante el siglo XIX. Ambos se establecieron en Puerto Rico, donde Manuel recin casado con la joven espaola Obdulia de los Ros, desarroll con xitos un cafetal a corta distancia del pueblo de Lares, en la regin montaosa al oeste central de la isla, cerca de Arecibo. Miguel vivi primero en Aasco, donde contrajo nupcias con Mariana Bracetti, trasladndose a Lares con su familia. Los hermanos Rojas, admiradores de Betances, se involucraron de lleno en el movimiento libertador conocido como Comit revolucionario de Puerto Rico. La hacienda El Triunfo, se convierte en el principal ncleo clandestino conocido como Centro Bravo Nro. 2, fragua de la revolucin; all se present y aprob la bandera diseada por Betances. Las mujeres de la regin participaron activamente en el movimiento; es Mariana quin confecciona la bandera, la primera de Puerto Rico Libre, colocada en el altar mayor de la Iglesia Parroquial de Lares durante el solemne Tedeum, con el que el Gobierno provisional Republicano celebr el triunfo inicial de la revolucin, al izar la bandera

redentora, se grit la consigna de: viva Puerto Rico Libre y libertad o muerte. El 24 de septiembre de 1868 en la poblacin de Lares se proclam la Repblica de Puerto Rico estableciendo un gobierno provisional presidido por el Dr. Francisco Ramrez Medina; Manuel Rojas fue designado Jefe del ejrcito Libertador de Puerto Rico. Con su pequeo ejrcito integrado por voluntarios sali de nuevo en campaa hacia las poblaciones de San Sebastin y Pepino. A causa de una delacin, fue emboscado por los realistas, teniendo que retirarse a las montaas hasta el 5 de octubre, al ser capturado y condenado a muerte junto a seis compaeros de lucha. La patriota Mariana Bracetti tambin sufri prisin en Arecibo. Ochenta rebeldes murieron de vmito negro en los calabozos. Mariana sobrevivi y recuper su libertad al igual que Manuel y sus acompaantes, gracias al Decreto General de Amnista emitido por el nuevo gobierno republicano espaol el 20 de enero de 1869. Ella se retir a Aasco donde muere en 1903, en la mayor pobreza y olvido. La bandera por ella diligentemente bordada enhebrando los hilos de la libertad, tuvo vigencia hasta 1892. El movimiento fracas por la falta de logstica para el sostenimiento de las operaciones militares, ya que un barco con armas procedente de Santo Domingo coordinado por Betances, fue capturado en Saint Thomas por el gobierno dominicano a peticin de las autoridades espaolas. Un caso similar a Mariana, tuvimos en Venezuela con Doa Josefa Joaquina Snchez, esposa de Jos Mara Espaa, quien bord la bandera del movimiento conocido como de Gual y Espaa, debelado en julio de 1797, es la actual bandera dl estado Vargas. El 23 de septiembre se conmemora en la isla de Puerto Rico EL GRITO DE LARES, primer movimiento independentista, Da de la Proclamacin de la Primera Repblica, inspirado en el Grito de Dolores realizado en Guanajuato - Mxico por el sacerdote Miguel Hidalgo el 15 de septiembre de 1810, al grito de Viva Mxico, Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe. Lares conocida como La Ciudad del grito, inspir a los cubanos realizar el 10 de octubre de 1868 su famoso Grito de Yara. La gloriosa bandera de Mariana ser encuentra en el museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. En Lares se encuentra una Plaza, donde una placa conmemorativa recuerda la importante actividad emancipadora, dirigida por Manuel Rojas Luzardo, quien vivi exiliado cinco aos en Nueva York. Regres a Venezuela en 1898 y muri en Bocon, el 14 de octubre de 1903. Gral. eumenes7@gmail.com de Bgda.

Sent by Roberto Guadarrama Perez perezfru@movistar.net.ve

CENTRAL AND SOUTH

AMERICA
Argentina, El Archivo Grfico y Museo Histrico de San Francisco y la Regin. World's Oldest Person Found Thriving in the Amazon Salvadoran Roots by Jaime Cader Rigoberta Mench, Guatemalan activist seek her countrys presidency Alonso de Ojeda en Ciudad Ojeda por Eumenes Fuguet Borregales Bernardo O'Higgins, Libertador de Chile por Eumenes Fuguet Borregales Jos Palacios, "el fiel mayordomo del Libertador Eumenes Fuguet Borregales

El 9 de septiembre San Francisco celebrar los 125 aos de su fundacin. El Archivo Grfico y Museo Histrico de San Francisco y la Regin. Argentina

World's Oldest Person Found Thriving in the

Amazon
While the Amazon rainforest is certainly known to be teeming with life, it turns out that the people who live there are too. Maria Lucimar Pereira, an indigenous Amazonian belonging to the Kaxinaw tribe of western Brazil, will soon be celebrating her birthday -- her 121st birthday, to be exact. The truth behind Pereira's remarkable longevity was recently discovered by the Brazilian government while performing a routine review of birth records -which, in her case, date back to 1890 -- making her the world's oldest living person. And the best part of all? Pereira credits her long-life to an all-natural diet derived wholly from the Amazon. According to Survival International, an indigenous rights group working in the Amazon, the government officials have confirmed the validity of Pereira's birth certificate, indicating that the Brazilian native is not only the world's oldest living person, but is also 6 years older than the previous title-holder. Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

Felicidades Jaime!! Congratulations!! http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000175740/SalvadoranRoots.aspx Salvadoran Roots - Jaime Cader jmcader@yahoo.com

Rigoberta Mench, Guatemalan activist seek her countrys presidency Nobel Peace Prize winner and longtime Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Mench has announced that she plans to seek her countrys presidency this month. This would be the second time she seeks this office. She founded an indigenous political coalition, Winaq, earlier this month thats aligned with a leftist coalition in order to seek

the office. Mench would be Guatemalas first indigenous and first female president. Mench is part of Guatemalas indigenous Quiche community and became active in politics when she was a teenager. As that countrys politics became increasingly violent, both she and her family faced violent opposition to their efforts. Eventually Menchs father, mother and brother were tortured and killed by the Guatemalan Army; she responded by learning other indigenous languages and Spanish and continued organizing, until eventually she was forced to flee to Mexico. Nobelprize.org, which awarded Mench the prestigious Peace Prize in 1992 writes of her life: In 1982, she took part in the founding of the joint opposition body, The United Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition (RUOG). In 1983, she told her life story to Elisabeth Burgos Debray. The resulting book, called in English, I, Rigoberta Mench, is a gripping human document which attracted considerable international attention. In 1986, Rigoberta Mench became a member of the National Coordinating Committee of the CUC, and the following year she performed as the narrator in a powerful film called When the Mountains Tremble, about the struggles and sufferings of the Maya people. On at least three occasions, Rigoberta Mench has returned to Guatemala to plead the cause of the Indian peasants, but death threats have forced her to return

into exile. Over the years, Rigoberta Mench has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several international awards. In our weekly segment, Bien Hecho, we note the good deeds and achievements of Latinos across the U.S. and Latin America. If you feel that someone you know is deserving of recognition, let us know, Sara Ines Calderon at tips@newstaco.com.

Historia y Tradicin: ALONSO DE OJEDA EN CIUDAD OJEDA

24 de agosto de 1499 descubrimiento del lago de Maracaibo por Alonso de Ojeda Eumenes Fuguet Borregales (*) Navegante espaol, considerado el ms importante despus de Coln, nacido en la provincia de Burgos el ao 1472; descubridor de Curazao, golfo de Venezuela y del lago de Maracaibo. Primer Gobernador del Nuevo Mundo nombrado por los reyes catlicos con extensin desde el Mar Caribe hasta lo ms extremo del Sur del continente sin limitacin geogrfica alguna, dio el primer uso industrial del petrleo al calafatear sus naves con betmen tal como lo realizaban los indios; realiz el primer mestizaje en el continente al casarse con Guaricha,una nativa de Coquivacoa a quien bautiz Isabel en honor a la reina espaola; construye en la Guajira el primer barco en Amrica; considerado el primer conquistador del continente; es el primer navegante en recorrer por primera vez la costa venezolana. Gracias a las influencias de Juan Rodrguez Fonseca, acompaa en 1493 a Coln en su segundo viaje, llegando a la isla La Espaola, hoy Santo Domingo. Al regresar a Espaa consigue el patrocinio a travs de Capitulaciones con los reyes, para realizar su primera expedicin que sali el 18 de mayo de 1499 desde el puerto de Santa Mara en Cdiz, siguiendo la ruta del tercer viaje de Coln, acompaado del navegante italiano Amrico Vespucio y Juan de la Cosa, cartgrafo quien realiz el primer mapa del nuevo continente y de Venezuela; la flota lleg a Trinidad, las bocas del Esequibo y del Orinoco, Isla de Margarita y Cuman; en sus toques costaneros para aprovisionarse de agua y frutos, tuvo quecombatir contra los aborgenes ubicados en Puerto

Cabello y Tucacas. Siguieron a Curazao denominndola Isla de Los Gigantes por la altura de sus aborgenes. Pas por Aruba y Bonaire. El 9 de agosto de 1499, da de San Romn llega a la pennsula de Paraguan, en el punto ms septentrional de Venezuela, cabo de San Romn. El 24 de agosto llegan a la entrada del lago de Maracaibo bautizndolo San Bartolom, da de ese santo, al adentrarse al golfo observaron los palafitos que le record a Juan de la Cosa a Venecia; contina hacia el Cabo de la Vela- hoy Guajira y Santa Marta, regresa a Santo Domingo para abastecerse y seguir a Cdiz adonde llega en junio de 1500 con perlas, oro, esmeraldas y algunos aborgenes esclavos, entre ellos su esposa con quien procre tres hijos, ella le serva de interprete durante su estada en las poblaciones indgenas, e inclusive le salv la vida en varias ocasiones. Con el nombramiento de gobernador de Coquivacoa sali en su segunda expedicin hacia el Nuevo Mundo en 1502, donde recorri el golfo de Paria y Margarita; regresa a Santo Domingo, all es encarcelado durante dos aos por las denuncias de sus acompaantes. De esa isla caribea organiza en 1508 una tercera expedicin, la cual fracasa por la falta de abastecimientos, por los ataques de los indgenas de la Guajira con flechas envenenadas y por la codicia de sus compaeros de viaje. Sin dinero y desmoralizado se aloja en el Monasterio de San Francisco en Santo Domingo, donde muere en 1515; antes de morir, pidi ser enterrado en las puertas del templo, de manera que los fieles al entrar y salir lo pisaran en penitencia por los pecados cometidos durante su vida, especialmente por el asesinato de los indgenas. Isabel, de noche lloraba frente a la tumba y realizaba sus oraciones guajiras, muere a los quince das, siendo enterrada al lado de su esposo por los sacerdotes franciscanos. Al profundizar la investigacin, notamos, que sus restos no se encuentran en el Monasterio de San Francisco en Santo Domingo, cuya construccin data de 1505, actualmente est en ruinas. En 1965 con motivo de una insurreccin, las tumbas fueron profanadas. Venezuela en tres ocasiones (1889,1942 y 1949), solicit traer las cenizas, pero el gobierno dominicano neg la solicitud. El Presidente Eleazar Lpez Contreras, debido a los incendios petroleros que afectaban a Lagunillas, funda el 13 de diciembre de 1939, da de Santa Luca a Ciudad Ojeda. El distinguido sacerdote agustino, historiador, acucioso investigador, educador, escritor de fina pluma y abogado Fernando Campo del Pozo, actualmente en Zaragoza; como prroco de Ciudad Ojeda, desde 1964, se preocup por recuperar las cenizas, a tal fin habl con su Eminencia el Cardenal Quintero y ste a su vez con las autoridades dominicanas, recibiendo respuesta negativa. El padre Campo viaja a Santo Domingo en diciembre de 1981 para realizar las diligencias ante la Academia Nacional de Historia e instituciones oficiales y eclesisticas, pudiendo recoger, registrar y traer a Ciudad Ojeda las cenizas, las cuales en acto pblico, se colocaron en un cofre de vidrio, bendecidas con agua del lago y cubierta con la Bandera Nacional por Monseor Ramrez Roa, Obispo de Cabimas.

Sent by Roberto Guadarrama Perez perezfru@movistar.net.ve

Historia y Tradicin El Carabobeo 17-VII-2011

Bernardo O'Higgins, Libertador de Chile por Eumenes Fuguet Borregales (*)

El 20 de agosto de 1778, ve la luz primera en la poblacin de Chilln, Bernardo OHiggins, mximo Hroe de la independencia de Chile, hijo del Ambrosio O Higgins, irlands al servicio real espaol, y Doa Isabel Riqueline de origen vasco: Su existencia cual balanza de la justicia, estar signada por la desgracia y por la gloria. Culminados sus estudios elementales en el pueblo natal, fue enviado a Lima al colegio Prncipe, exclusivo pata hijos de la nobleza. Estar en Cdiz y Londres continuando los estudios e idiomas; conoce en sta ltima ciudad a Francisco libertad Miranda, con quien entabla una sincera y leal amistad; Miranda sera su profesor y mentor. La luz de Miranda lo convertira en un benemrito soldado de la emancipacin chilena. El ms Universal de los venezolanos, le dijo profticamente: S, hijo mo, la providencia divina querr que se cumplan vuestros votos para la libertad de nuestra patria comn, as est decretado en el libro de los destinos; Bernardo exterioriza estas palabras: Cuando o a Miranda exponerme sus brillantes ideas, baado en lgrimas lo abrac y bes sus manos. En Europa sufri penurias econmicas, por cuanto Don Ambrosio, designado virrey del Per, al tener conocimiento de las actividades conspirativas del joven Bernardo, le suspende el envo de dinero, quien llega a Cdiz en 1784 llevando informaciones secretas a grupos de jvenes seguidores de las ideas mirandinas. Regresa a Chile en 1802, su padre fallecido en 1801 le haba dejado una importante herencia la cual le corresponde administrar. Al estallar el 18 de septiembre de 1810 el movimiento emancipador, OHiggins se incorpora de lleno en beneficio de la ansiada libertad. A finales de ese ao es nombrado teniente coronel, segundo jefe del Regimiento Nro. 2 de Milicias; elegido diputado al Primer Congreso de Chile en enero de 1811, exteriorizando sus ideas emancipadoras. Iniciada la ofensiva realista en 1813, el 17 de octubre, en el valle de El Roble, O'Higgins y sus hombres fueron atacados por los realistas en mayor cantidad de hombres y armamentos. En el fragor de la batalla lanza su famosa frase: "A m Muchachos! Vivir con honor o morir con gloria! El que sea

valiente que me siga! .Tras ser herido, continu luchando hasta que la situacin lo obliga movilizarse hacia Argentina. A las rdenes del prcer Jos de San Martn triunfan en Chacabuco el 12 de febrero de 1817. OHiggins proclama el 2 de febrero de 1818 la independencia de Chile. De su relacin amorosa con la dama criolla Rosario Puga tuvo en 1817 un hijo natural llamado Demetrio. Ha sido uno de los dos personajes de la historia de Chile que ha tenido las Cinco estrellas (General de la armada y Presidente). Fue el primer jefe de Estado de la Repblica de Chile bajo el ttulo de Director Supremo entre el 16 de febrero de 1817 hasta el 28 de enero de 1823, al renunciar voluntariamente al cargo. Fue capitn general del Ejrcito de Chile, brigadier de las Provincias Unidas del Ro de la Plata, en ste cargo impuls a la enseanza y a la creacin de instituciones fundamentales para la nueva nacin. La batalla de Maip, dirigida por San Martn el 5 de abril de 1818 decidi la independencia de Chile. OHiggins fue designado Comandante en jefe del Ejrcito chileno el 27 de abril de 1819; le correspondi organizar la Primera Escuadra Nacional, para asegurar la soberana de Chile y del resto de Amrica, proclam las Constituciones de 1818 y de 1823; fund la Escuela Militar y la Escuela Naval, inici la capilla de Nuestra Seora del Carmen en Maip en agradecimiento por el triunfo. Ante el descontento hacia su gobierno y para evitar una guerra civil, prefiri renunciar el 28 de enero de 1823. Antes de salir desterrado a Lima exclam: Tomad de m la venganza que queris, que yo no os opondr resistencia. Aqu est mi pecho!". El 6 de octubre de 1842, el Congreso Nacional de Chile le reconoce el derecho de goce de sus sueldos, permitindole el regreso. OHiggins, proscrito y mrtir, en vspera de retornar, falleci a causa de un infarto en Lima el 24 de octubre de 1842 a la edad de 64 aos; sus restos fueron repatriados en 1869. Gral. eumenes7@gmail.com de Bgda.

Sent by Roberto Guadarrama Perez perezfru@movistar.net.ve

Historia y Tradicin

Jos Palacios, "el fiel mayordomo del Libertador

Eumenes Fuguet Borregales eumenes7@gmail.com

Jos Palacios, esclavo libre, manumiso, negro barloventeo, cuyo apellido lo recibi de la familia Palacios y Blanco, formaba parte de a servidumbre en la Casa Natal de Bolvar, cuando Doa Mara de la Concepcin, madre de nuestro futuro Libertador le pedira antes de morir, en promesa, cuidara hasta el final de su vida, al recin nacido Simn Jos Antonio. La noble dama fallecera vctima de tuberculosis el 6 de julio de 1792, contando apenas 33 aos de edad, mientras, su hijo Simn alcanzaba los nueve. Desde entonces, el negro Jos Palacios comienza acumplir su promesa, siempre de forma activa, leal y sacrificada, para atender al nio, al joven, al adulto y al Libertador Simn Bolvar, hasta su muerte prematura el 17 de diciembre de 1830. Jos Palacios, seis aos mayor que Simn, era analfabeta, pero de memoria prodigiosa; le acompaara durante largos 38 aos como leal confidente, en buenos o malos momentos, y tambin, en las desgracias. Juntos viajaron a Europa en 1803, continente de luces donde conocen ciudades, incluida Roma, la clsica e histrica urbe donde Bolvar lanz a los cuatro vientos su inmortal Juramento en el Monte Sacro, el 15 de agosto de 1805. En 1807, visitan Estados Unidos de Norteamrica. Durante la Misin Diplomtica encomendada a Bolvar por la Junta Suprema Conservadora de los Derechos de Fernando VII, nacida tras los sucesos del 19 de abril de 1810, le acompa a Londres, junto a Andrs Bello y Luis Lpez Mndez. El fiel mayordomo, de invalorable ayuda espiritual, acompa al Hroe en momentos de fatalidad y de grandeza, por ello, estar en los destierros en Jamaica y Hait, as como tambin en las campaas emancipadoras en Venezuela, valindole alcanzar la jerarqua de sargento primero, en 1820. Jos acompa al Campen de la Libertad en la decisiva Campaa de Carabobo y al Sur del continente hacia Bogot, Lima, Quito y La Paz. Su afn por atender diligentemente a Bolvar se manifestaba por la pulcritud de su vestuario, correcta alimentacin, vinos adecuados, perfumes y la seguridad ante todo, como mayordomo de plena confianza. En 1825, en Lima, administr la partida asignada por el gobierno peruano al Libertador. El 25 de septiembre de 1828, la noche del atentado contra Bolvar en el Palacio San Carlos de Bogot, los quebrantos de salud que sufra Palacios, le obligaron a alojarse en una instalacin cercana, situacin que le permiti mejor suerte que a los edecanes asesinados la infausta noche. El 27 de abril de 1830, Bolvar decide renunciar a toda aspiracin de mando; el 8 de mayo, al partir hacia Cartagena de Indias con pocas pertenencias y 17.000 pesos, intentara fallidamente seguir la ruta Curazao-Jamaica-Londres, para atender su fatigada salud.

De Cartagena se traslada junto a Palacios hasta Barranquilla, regin costea donde llegaba el 8 de noviembre. El poco dinero que utilizara para su partida, Bolvar lo donaba a gente humilde durante la travesa. el Ms Grande Hombre de Amrica, no pudo emprender su viaje a Europa; a instancias del general Mariano Montilla debi ser atendido urgentemente a partir del 1ro de diciembre por el eminente farmaceuta francs Alejandro Prspero Reverend, debiendo ser trasladado a la hacienda San Pedro Alejandrino, propiedad del espaol Joaqun de Mier y Bentez. El 10 de diciembre en horas de la noche, en momentos de lucidez, Bolvar emita su ltima Proclama y dictaba su Testamento, en cuyo punto octavo, dejaba a Palacios ocho mil pesos como "remuneracin a sus constantes servicios"; los albaceas le entregaron en recompensa algunos utensilios de plata. El 16 de diciembre, ya en sus delirios febriles, la ltima persona a quien se dirigi Bolvar fue al fiel mayordomo: "Vmonos, vmonos, esta gente no nos quiere en esta tierra... lleven mi equipaje a bordo de la fragata", al referirse a una nave puesta a la orden para llevarlo a Las Antillas. El 17 de diciembre de 1830, siendo la 1:07 de la tarde, al exhalar su ltimo aliento y convertirse en el caballero andante inmortal de la historia, en el reducido grupo que acompaaba al Padre de la Patria en sus ltimos momentos, se encontraba el fiel mayordomo, sollozando en una esquina de la habitacin; los asistentes le oyeron decir: "...se me muri el viejo...". El negro Jos, entreg el 22 de diciembre al albacea para su distribucin: cuatro viejos bales, medallas de oro y plata, algunas armas, condecoraciones, documentos, manteles, partes de una gran vajilla y algunas onzas de oro. Pasado el velatorio y entierro en la Catedral de Santa Marta, Palacios se dirigi a Cartagena donde al gastar el dinero recibido, debi vivir en la indigencia. En diciembre de 1842, cuando llegaban a Caracas los restos del Libertador, el noble Palacios estuvo en la ceremonia junto a la negra Matea. As, cumpla a cabalidad, con nobleza, lealtad y sacrificio la promesa que, arrodillado hiciera, a Doa Mara de la Concepcin Palacios. (*) Gral. de Bgda.

Sent by Roberto Guadarrama Perez perezfru@movistar.net.ve

THE PHILIPPINES

The Cadiz Constitution of 1812 and the Galleon Trade by: Quennie Ann J. Palafox The Use of Subjunctive Mood in the language of Don Miguel de Cervantes (Primera Parte) by Eddie AAA Caldern, Ph.D

The Cadiz Constitution of 1812 and the Galleon Trade

by: Quennie Ann J. Palafox
By far, the foremost economic activity which the Philippines was engaged in for more than 200 years before its abolition in 1813, was the galleon trade. The country as a colony was administered through Mexico as Manila served as transshipment port for the exchange of products between China and Mexico. Economically speaking, our country did not prosper or even benefited from this galleon trade since it was only a trade between China and Mexico as the galleon did not carry with it Philippine products for export. The galleon trade had appalling effects on the conditions of the country especially for the natives. It gave rise to grave abuses, which led to a number of uprisings such as Agustin Sumuroys revolt in Palapag, Samar in 1649, as the demand for woodcutters, shipbuilders and crewmen rose sharply giving rise to grave abuses. The spirit of the French Revolution had crossed the French border, sweeping Europe including Spain as Spanish nationalists began to be inspired by the libertarian ideals of the revolution that led to the downfall of the French monarchy. Spain was then experiencing political turmoil and Carlos IV abdicating the throne in favor of his son exacerbated domestic problems in the country. Napoleon Bonaparte, a leading political figure in France, crossed the French border and proclaimed his brother Joseph Bonaparte, king of Spain. The Filipinos at this time were therefore subject to a nation that in turn was subject to another. Although Spain was in the grip of French colonial power, a provisional government was put up in King Ferdinand VIIs behalf, being referred to as the central governing assembly (Junta central), with headquarters in the south. Significant reforms were implemented by this Junta necessary for the reorganization of the government and paramount among these was the calling of a Cortes on June 25, 1809 to rehabilitate the

old Consejo de Espaa, and on January 29, 1810, to constitute the supreme Consejo de Regencia. The Spanish government came up with a decree granting all its colonies representation as provinces in the Spanish Cortes through deputies chosen by the various capital cities. In view of this, Governor General Manuel Gonzales Aguilar called for an election of Manila officials which resulted in the selection of Don Ventura de los Reyes, a wealthy merchant and member of the Royal Corps of Artillery of Manila, as the deputy. The Vigan-born Don Ventura de los Reyes was a son of poor Ilocano parents. He took part in the Ilocos revolt led by Diego Silang in 1762, but later on engaged in the vegetable and indigo business. The sessions of this Cortes began on September 24, 1810, and the Philippines in the absence of delos Reyes was represented therein by acting deputies: Pedro Perez de Tagle and Dr. Jose Manuel Couto. Ventura who was 70 years of age, left the country with enthusiasm, aware of the prestige accumulated from the new position and arrived in Spain on December 6, 1811. Inspired by the libertarian elements of the French Revolution, the Cadiz Constitution was proclaimed on March 19, 1812 at Cadiz. Don Ventura de los Reyes was one of the delegates who signed the Constitution of 1812 a day before its promulgation. A year passed before the Constitution was made known to the public in Manila on April 18, 1813. One of the more important creeds embodied in this constitution was the exemption of the natives from paying tributes and rendering public services based on its equality clause. The natives conviction that they should exercise their rights as established by the Cadiz Constitution, created a problem which compelled the governor of the islands to issue an edict on February 8, 1814, explaining the extent of the benefits bestowed by the Constitution and the indispensability of paying contributions for the operation of the government. However, he failed to convince the natives, resulting in the outbreak of uprisings in various places, principally in Ilocos Norte where the people violently protested against the implementation of polo and petitioned to be relieved from it. The most important issue resolved by the Cadiz Constitution of 1812 involving the Philippines was the termination of the Acapulco galleon to which many of the delegates, those who favored a liberal policy for the Philippines, agreed. The edict abolishing the galleon was proclaimed on September 14, 1813. The proposal suppressing the galleon trade was submitted on February 11, 1813. For, far from the realizing its purpose of improving the lives of the masses of Acapulco and Manila, the Galleon Trade had brought them miseries. The matter was debated in the presence of the secretaries of the Peninsula and the Ultramar. After a full discussion, the measure was finally passed on September 14, 1813.

The restoration to the throne of Fernando VII led to the ending of the Cadiz Constition on May 4, 1814. In May, 1821, the Constitution of 1812 was again proclaimed in the Philippines, only to be abrogated again in 1824, as a result of Fernando VIIs triumph over the Liberal party in Spain. The Philippines was represented in the Spanish National Cortes thrice: 1810-1813, 1820-23, and 1833-37. In a nutshell, the most important legacy of the Cadiz Constitution to the Philippines was the termination of the oppressive galleon trade. It put an end to the sufferings of the natives - the harmful effect of the trade. In 1815 the last galleon- the Magallanes- left Acapulco, Mexico to return to Manila. http://www.nhi.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=470&Itemid=1 Maria Embry maria.embry@sbcglobal.net

The Use of Subjunctive Mood in the language of Don Miguel de Cervantes (Primera Parte) by Eddie AAA Caldern, Ph.D
mailto:eddieaaa@hotmail.com

Pictures above, Dr. Caldern, in Colombia and in Uruguay in the late Summer of 1970. "I was on my way back to Minnesota after 5 months of an unforgettable world tour." This is my second article for Somos Primos and before I start, I would like to inform those who may not have a thorough knowledge of the Philippines that it was a Spanish colony from the time Ferdinand Magellan set foot in this country in 1521 until June 12, 1898 when it declared itself independent after a successful revolution. The independence, however, was short lived after the FilipinoAmerican war that ensued was brought to its demise. On July 4, 1946, the US then returned our independence after 48 years of colonial rule. Our prominent citizens who went to Spanish schools continued to speak the language of Don Miguel de Cervantes when they became members of the legislature during the American regime.This then explains why despite the American institution of English as the official language of the Philippines, the

establishment of a State University and colleges, and providing scholarship to many Filipinos to study in the Philippines and in the USA, Spanish was still widely used in government. The use of the Spanish language continued until 1946 when the majority of our recently elected legislators became the products of American education. The 1920's and the 1930's showed the remarkable literary works of many Filipinos in Spanish despite the presence of English as the official language of the Philippines. Starting in the late 50's, the learning of Spanish for four years was required by law in colleges and universities all over the Philippines for those taking Liberal Arts, Education, Law, and Business Administration. The requirement involved completing 24 credit courses. -----------------------------------The use of subjunctive mood in Spanish and even in any language I am conversant with has always been a fascinating topic to me. The subjunctive mood in English is nearly non-existent except for the few phrases such as "If I were you; I wish she were there with me"; and where the word "were" is substituted for the word "was" or the "there you be" expression, once a common usage in the USA, has given way to "there you are". And even with the correct statement such as "I wish it were you", many Americans including many writers would rather say I wish it was you. In fact the English grammar does not formally mention and conjugate the subjunctive mood like that of its European counterparts. The English speakers are no longer in the habit of using the subjunctive mood except for the few phrases I mentioned above, and the few faithful followers seem to be a fading breed. This is because most English speakers do not think" subjunctively" or they are no longer pre-occupied or would not like to see themselves being pre-occupied primarily with the uncertainty of events, and neither would they want to make excessive wishes or make conjectures in life. And if they do, they have not shown or transcribed them in unique phrases as done in other foreign languages I just mentioned. It should be noted that in old English, the English of Beowulf and Alfred the Great, which was Germanic, and Chaucer, which was mixed with French, the use of the subjunctive mood was common place. In the Tagalog language of the Philippines, subjunctive mood is expressed also but the words do not change like that of its Spanish and European counterparts. Many would read the subjunctive expressions of the Filipinos as not subjunctive in expressions at all. But when the Philippine Constitution was framed in English in the 30's our legislators were conscious of using the subjunctive mood. In fact one of the provisions in our constitution pertaining to the qualification of a candidate seeking the office of the president of our country has this paraphrased statement: No one can be a president unless he be a natural born Filipino citizen.

But whether our people are still conscious of using the subjunctive mood in English other than the ones I mentioned above is another matter. Since this matter is a vanishing usage, then it will follow that our countrymates who communicate English will be swayed to join the tide of change. The subjunctive mood, however, is widely used in other languages cited hereinafter, and their employment determines the ability of an individual to have a good and proper command of the language. In particular the Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and the Russian languages, to cite a few, emphasize the employment of subjunctive mood from the time the children start to become literate. I remember my French professor at the UP who was a nun from Marseilles, France telling us that educating the young ones in the subjunctive mood was very much emphasized in her country. There are three tenses for the subjunctive mood in Spanish as in other languages. They are present, past, and future. Let us cite a common verb in Spanish and conjugate it on all the tenses. The word here is SER or to be in all subjunctive forms:

Subjuntivo Presente or Presente Subjuntivo: (Please be informed that LatinAmerican Spanish speakers do not use the word vosotros.) YO SEA, TU SEAS, EL/ELLA/USTED SEA NOSOTROS SEAMOS, VOSOTROS SEAIS, ELLOS/ELLAS/USTEDES SEAN (From here on, I will not repeat any longer the pronouns yo, tu, el/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros. and ellos/ellas/ustedes.)

Subjuntivo Pasado or Pasado Subjuntivo. The conjugation takes two forms.

1. FUERA, FUERAS, FUERA, FUERAMOS, FUERAIS, FUERAN

2. FUESE, FUESES, FUESE, FUESEMOS, FUESEIS, FUESEN (The second form is not as popular as the first one.) Subjuntivo Futuro or Futuro Subjuntivo: FUERE, FUERES, FUERE, FUEREMOS, FUEREIS, FUEREN (Please note that only the Spaniards employ the future subjunctive tense. My Hispanic friends were surprised when they heard me talk and write in Spanish employing the future subjunctive mood as it was called forth. They told me that it was not in their Spanish expression and usage. But they agreed with me after I thoroughly explained the rules of grammar to them that using it was appropriate. Whether they would use it or not is another matter.

However, the feelings of the Hispanic people to these days are not a far gone conclusion. A Spanish e-mail friend from Badajoz, Spain told me that the future subjunctive was no longer getting popular in his country even though he agreed with me that Don Miguel de Cervantes used the subjunctive mood very often in his novel, Don Quijote de la Mancha as did other Spanish writers of the not so distant past. It may be that the Spaniards now-a-days may now be experiencing the same sentiments as their Latin American counterparts.) There are also perfect tenses (tiempo compuesto) in the subjunctive mood and they are present, past, and future.. For the present perfect we have the word HABER plus the past participle. Hence we say: HAYA, HAYAS, HAYA, HAYAMOS, HAYAIS, HAYAN SIDO (Have/has been). SIDO is the past participle of the verb ser (to be). For the past perfect tense in subjunctive, they are: HUBIERA/HUBIESE, HUBIERAS/HUBIESES, HUBIERA/HUBIESE, HUBIERAMOS/HUBIESEMOS, HUBIERAIS/HUBIESEIS, HUBIERAN/HUBIESEN (Had been). For future perfect tense in subjunctive, they are: HUBIERE, HUBIERES, HUBIERE, HUBIEREMOS, HUBIEREIS, HUBIEREN SIDO (will have been). The subjunctive mood is used when: (1) There is an expression of both despair and well-being. Here are examples: Ay que buena suerte TENGA yo! or Oh! How fortunate am I. Ay de mi! que mala suerte TENGA la vida mia! Or how unlucky am I. The word TENGA is in the subjunctive form, third person singular of the verb TENER (to have). No me siento feliz or se me entristece que te HAYAS olvidado de mi. (the latter is in the subjunctive form of tiempo compuesto in present tense. The corresponding translations for these two sentences are: I am not happy or I am saddened that you have forgotten me. See above for the meaning of the word HAYAS. Olvidado is the past participle of the verb olvidar (to forget). (2) A wish, a desire, etc. Que te VAYA bien! or May good fortune bode well for you. Quiero que te vayas con ella or I want you to go with her. The word

VAYAS is the present subjunctive in the second person singular of the verb ir (to go). Ojala! que ANOCHEZCA mas tarde! I wish that the evening comes later. ANOCHEZCA is the present subjunctive from the verb ANOCHECER (to darken or become dark), which is an impersonal verb used only in the third person singular. QUISIERA que SUPIERA mucho a mis quehaceres. This is a double employment of the subjunctive mood in the past tense. It means I wish that you (the Spanish formal you, in the third person singular) knew of what I've been through. The word QUISIERA is from the verb QUERER (to like). SUPIERA is from the verb SABER (to know). To add to this, I also want to point out here that the use of subjunctive mood varies also from state to state in Latin America. In Chile, the Chileans will phrase this statement in the past subjunctive mood: Como te lo dijera? ( from the verb decir) or how would I tell it to you? But in Peru, the Peruvians will just say it simply in the present subjunctive form as: Como te lo digo? or How do I tell it to you? I have lived and visited Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and other South American countries in 1968 and 1970. (3) A conjecture. Let me cite here a passage from Jose Rizal's poem, EL ULTIMO ADIOS. Dr. Rizal had employed lots of subjunctive mood in this poem. Y FUERA mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida, Tambin por ti la DIERA, la DIERA por tu bien. (For those who do not know Dr. Jose P. Rizal, he was the national hero of the Philippines who was condemned to die and then executed by the Spanish government in 1896 because of his patriotism and nationalism.) My English translation is: if my life was more brilliant, exciting, etc, I would also give it to you, beloved Philippines. The verbs here in the past subjunctive are SER (FUERA) and DAR (DIERA) . For the future subjunctive mood, Rizal did employ it in his Ultimo Adios: Si sobre mi sepulcro, VIERES brotar un dia. (My free translation) If one day you witness something growing over my grave. The word VIERES is the future subjunctive in second person singular of the verb VER (to see). Again the future subjunctive is not used in Latin American Spanish usage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------For want of space I am writing the second part of this article in the next issue of Somos Primos.

SPAIN and PORTUGAL

Fiesta de las flores de papel en Portugal Lo sabremos algn da ? por ngel Custodio Rebollo Hijos ilustres por ngel Custodio Rebollo

Fiesta de las flores de papel en Portu gal

The "Festas do Povo" consists in decorating the streets with paper flowers. En un pequeo pueblo de Portugal llamado Campo Maior, muy cerca de Badajoz en Extremadura se celebra una fiesta muy bonita. Se trata de la Fiesta de las Flores. Las calles se visten de papel de colores y hace que todo parezca mgico, como si todo hubiera salido de dentro de un cuento de hadas. Son ms de 100 calles las que se engalanan con papeles

de colores, de tal manera que no se ve el sol. Se usan ms de 20 toneladas de papel. Las flores las guardan en absoluto secreto y solo se sabe como son el da de ponerlas. Hacen muchas ms de las necesarias y pas que un ao llovi y al da siguiente estaba nuevamente todo lleno de flores de papel. La fiesta en honor a San Juan Bautista se celebra a principios de septiembre y data de 1893 Jose G. Pantoja jospant@sbcglobal.net

Lo sabremos algn da ?
Casi desde mi poca de colegial, todo lo relacionado con Cristbal Colon me ha entusiasmado y especialmente el conocer donde fue su verdadero lugar de nacimiento, por ello, cuando hace unos das cay en mis manos un video dedicado a este tema, me apresur a aislarme en lo posible, para conocer los detalles sin ninguna interrupcin, y esto fue lo que percib: En primer lugar, el reportaje deca que el Almirante haba nacido en la Republica Marinera de Gnova, que la formaban la propia Gnova, la pennsula de Crimea, la isla de Crcega y parte de la de Cerdea. A Don Cristbal, le haba tocado nacer en la isla de Cerdea, en una parte de ella, que perteneca a la familia Sena Picolomini, en el ao 1436 y no en 1451, como reconocen muchos historiadores. Sus padres eran Salvador Sena Picolomini e Isabela Alagn de Arbore y el lugar de nacimiento haba sido el Castillo de San Luigi, propiedad de su familia paterna. Su padre formaba parte del linaje de los Marqueses de Terra Rossa y entre los familiares estaban los Papas Po II y Po III, que murieron en circunstancias misteriosas. Hasta ahora todo iba bien, pero aparecieron algunos datos que no

me ofrecan mucha credibilidad, como que Colon se avergonzaba de su apellido Picolomini y suprimi la p y la i del principio y la i, n y la i del final y se haba quedado en Colom. El querer ocultar su apellido original, dice el documental que era porque un antepasado haba cometido felona y en el escudo familiar uno de sus cuartos tena cinco anclas de plata, y las anclas estaban al revs por castigo real. El autor, no sabe que las armas herldicas no prueban felona alguna. Total, que averiguo que la autora de estas teoras se llama Marisa Azuara y es autora de un libro titulado Christval Coln, mas grande que la leyenda y que tambin escribe textos de ciencia ficcin. Ya haba ledo mucho sobre Coln mallorqun, gallego, alsaciano, portugus, y de otros muchos lugares, porque todos evitaban decir que era genovs, pero lamentablemente, cuando la informacin tiene fallos garrafales, se crea una importante falta de credibilidad y todo se derrumba. Estoy esperando que alguien diga que Colon naci en Huelva, para gritar, apaga y vmonos ngel Custodio Rebollo acustodiorebollo@gmail.com

Hijos ilustres

por ngel Custodio Rebollo

La influencia de la televisin hace que conozcamos mejor la biografa de los personajes televisivos, que la de hijos ilustres de nuestra provincia. Hoy quiero ocuparme un poco de la vida de Diego Jos Navarro y Garca de Valladares, que naci en Higuera

de la Sierra , (actualmente en la provincia de Huelva, aunque en aquella poca perteneca al Arzobispado de Sevilla) el 14 de Febrero de 1708. Algunas biografas sitan su nacimiento en Corteconcepcin, lugar cercano al primero. Al morir su madre pocos das despus de su nacimiento y teniendo su padre que incorporarse a su puesto como teniente en el Condado de Niebla, pide a su to Juan Garca Valladares que cuide de la tutela del nio y fue su to quien le ense las primeras letras Haba ingresado en el Regimiento de Guardias Espaoles siguiendo la tradicin familiar de pertenecer a la milicia. Su carrera militar fue muy brillante, se distingui en la conquista de Orn, y en la de Npoles, por lo que consigui el ascenso a capitn. Posteriormente en la cruzada de Italia fue hecho prisionero. Terminada la campaa, efectuado el canje, volvi a Madrid al mando del Regimiento de Guardias, ascendido a coronel. En esa poca ingres como Caballero de la Orden de Santiago, tambin siguiendo la tradicin familiar Tras la invasin de Portugal, asciende a brigadier y es nombrado gobernador de Matar y de Tarragona. El 2 de Agosto de 1776 fue escogido por el rey Carlos III, como Gobernador de la Isla de Cuba y la Luisiana , donde contribuy muy eficazmente al fortalecimiento de las relaciones con los Estados Unidos de Amrica, colaborando en estrecho contacto con George Washington durante la Guerra de la Secesin. En esta labor recibi mucha ayuda de su amigo Juan de Miralles Traylln, que en 1777 parti de La Habana en la goleta Nuestra Seora del Carmen con rumbo a Charlestn y Filadelfia, donde hizo amistad con el general y primer presidente norteamericano. Durante los cinco aos de su gobierno en Cuba emprendi diversas campaas para adoctrinar a la poblacin. Hemos ledo una proclama de 4 de mayo de 1779, prohibiendo a los esclavos el uso de capas negras ni armas en las noches veraniegas. Fue ascendido a teniente general, pero cuando regres a Espaa, lo hizo tan pobre, ya que haba gastado todos sus ingresos en

socorrer a los nativos y se vi obligado a solicitar a la Administracin que le costease el viaje, porque l no poda pagarlo. Fue nombrado capitn general de Extremadura, y ms tarde form parte del Consejo Supremo de Guerra de Espaa. Falleci el 8 de Marzo de 1784, y enterrado en Madrid, en el lugar que hoy ocupa la plaza de Tirso de Molina. ngel Custodio Rebollo

INTERNATIONAL
Orange Festivals around the world Sadly, this is Islam in a Nutshell by What is the Status of the Muslim Presence in the United States? Spanish Town is Becoming "New Mecca of the Most Radical Islamism" Greece to Build First Official MegaMosque in Athens The European Caliphate: A refugee from the Muslim world sees it taking shape Media Prepare Russian Treaty Trap for the U.S. Morocco Blocking Integration of Muslim Immigrants in Spain

Orange Festivals around the world I was sent some photos about an Orange Festival. Some how got both the sender and the location of the festival mixed up. I thought it was in Spain, and thought it easy to follow through on the lead. What I found were

annual Orange festivals held in Spain, Italy, Amsterdam, and our own state of Florida. The festivities include both parades and some wild horseplay. There were many unusual joyful festivals, http://blog.hotelclub.com/worlds-top-10-wackiest-festivals/ . It reminded me of the few years that I lived in Manteca and participated in several years of the Tomato throwing festival. Cars, houses, people were all targets. We benefited by a marvelous season of fresh tomatoes with the seeds that we washed off the walls into the fertile soil beneath. Fun memories.

Sadly, this is Islam in a Nutshell

adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book:

Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components. Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges. When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well.

Here's how it works: Step One: As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in: United States -- Muslim 0.6% Australia -- Muslim 1.5% Canada -- Muslim 1.9% China -- Muslim 1.8% Italy -- Muslim 1.5% Norway -- Muslim 1.8%

Step Two: At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in: Denmark -- Muslim 2% Germany -- Muslim 3.7% United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7% Spain -- Muslim 4%

Thailand -- Muslim 4.6% Step Three: From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in: France -- Muslim 8% Philippines -- 5% Sweden -- Muslim 5% Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3% The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5% Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world. Step Four: When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris, we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections in: Guyana -- Muslim 10% India -- Muslim 13.4% Israel -- Muslim 16% Kenya -- Muslim 10% Russia -- Muslim 15%

Step Five: After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in: Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8% Step Six: At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in: Bosnia -- Muslim 40% Chad -- Muslim 53.1% Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%

Step Seven: From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of nonbelievers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in: Albania -- Muslim 70% Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4% Qatar -- Muslim 77.5% Sudan -- Muslim 70%

Step Eight: After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in: Bangladesh -- Muslim 83% Egypt -- Muslim 90% Gaza -- Muslim 98.7% Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1% Iran -- Muslim 98% Iraq -- Muslim 97% Jordan -- Muslim 92% Morocco -- Muslim 98.7% Pakistan -- Muslim 97% Palestine -- M uslim 99% Syria -- Muslim 90% Tajikistan -- Muslim 90% Turkey -- Muslim 99.8% United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%

Step Nine: 100% will usher in the pea ce of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in: Afghanistan -- Muslim 100% Saudi Arabia - - Muslim 100% Somalia -- Muslim 100% Yemen -- Muslim 100%

Anjem Choudary, a Sharia court judge based in London. Choudary, who was the leader of a group called Islam4UK before it was banned by British antiterrorism authorities, believes in the primacy of Islam over all other faiths and has long campaigned for Islamic law to be implemented in all of Britain. Choudary is also a leader of the British Islamic Emirates Project, a campaign to turn twelve British cities including what he calls "Londonistan" into independent Islamic states. The so-called Islamic Emirates would function as autonomous enclaves ruled by Islamic Sharia law and operate entirely outside British jurisprudence. For example, at least 85 Islamic Sharia courts are now operating in Britain, almost 20 times as many as previously believed, according to a study by Civitas, a London-based think tank. The report shows that scores of unofficial tribunals and councils regularly apply Islamic law to resolve domestic, marital and business disputes, and that many Sharia courts are operating in mosques. It warns of a "creeping" acceptance of Sharia principles in British law. In an interview with the Belgian newspaper De Standaard (English translation here), Choudary said he would help launch Sharia4Belgium to prevent Muslim immigrants from integrating into Belgian society. "Belgium has an extensive Muslim population, especially in the cities. I therefore plan to come to Belgium myself in the coming weeks, or send a delegation to establish a branch of the organization," he said. When asked if he wanted to convince Belgians to convert to Islam and to implement Sharia law, Choudary replied: "The implementation of Sharia will happen in one of the following four ways: either the majority of the population converts to Islam; or a foreign Islamic power conquers the country; or there will be a rebellion against the oppression of the Muslim people; or the Muslims will overthrow the ruling regime. Society will be united by Islam." Islamic Sharia Law Court Opens in Belgium by Soeren Kern September 15, 2011 http://www.hudson-ny.org/2425/belgium-islamicsharia-law-court

A June 2011 study, conducted by the Center for Security Policy found 27 cases where Sharia law was applied in the United States

even when Islamic law starkly contradicted the US Constitution and state policies.

What is the Status of the Muslim Presence in the United States?

Editor: In view of these two recent studies about the global Muslim presence identified in a summary of research by Dr. Peter Hammond, these current facts seem contradictory: (1) Pew study on the religions of adults by state found a very small presence of Muslims in the United States. In 32 US states, the Muslim presence was identified as only 05%. In 7 US states, the Muslim presence was identified as only 1%. In only one state did the percentage even reached 2%. http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/pew-religion-08/flash.htm (2) June 2011 study, conducted by the Center for Security Policy found 27 cases where Sharia law was applied even when Islamic law starkly contradicted the US Constitution and state policies. Since about 75% of the US states have a Muslim presence of only .05%, the US should be at Step One, and should not be having any difficulties with the Muslim presence. However, by the fact that Sharia Law superceding the U.S constitution, and many other incidents, such as free speech being abused by Muslim students on campuses, issues about work dress codes, factory adjusting for Muslim holidays and prayer time, and many other demands by Muslims to which communities have acquiesced, it appears that in spite of the small number, we are already at Step Three and in some areas Step Four. Based on his summary of Dr. Peter Hammond's study, I have to conclude that either the Muslim presence in the US is much, much bigger than the Pew study reported, with possible illegal Muslims at 4 times the numbers identified, or the Muslim influence is extremely effective in their efforts for global domination. The question is why? Why is the separation of Church and State not being applied in these cases in the United States?

Spanish Town Becoming "New Mecca of the Most Radical Islamism"

by Soeren Kern September 1, 2011 http://www.hudson-ny.org/2394/salt-spain-radical-islamism The municipality of Salt, a town near Barcelona where Muslim immigrants now make up 40% of the population, has approved a one-year ban on the construction of new mosques. It is the first ban of its kind in Spain. The moratorium follows public outrage over plans to build a massive Salafi mosque that is being financed by Saudi Arabia. Salafism is a branch of revivalist Islam that calls for restoring past Muslim glory by forcibly reestablishing an Islamic empire (Caliphate) across the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe such as Spain, which Salafists view as a Muslim state that must be reconquered for Islam. Much of Spain was ruled by Muslim conquerors from 711 and 1492; Salafists believe that the territories the Muslims lost during the Spanish Reconquista still belong to them, and that they have a right to return and establish their rule there a belief based on the Islamic precept that territories once occupied by Muslims must forever remain under Muslim domination. Sacrificing common sense on the altar of multiculturalism, the previous Socialist government in Salt secretly gave permission to the Salafi Muslims to build the mega-mosque, which, with four stories comprising 1,000 square meters (11,000 square feet) accompanied by towering minarets, would be the largest Salafi mosque in Europe. The secret deal was only discovered after the Socialists were ejected from power in May 2011. Angry natives began pressuring the new town council now ruled by the center-right Convergncia i Uni (CiU) party to prevent the mosque from being built. On August 24, the council approved the oneyear ban on the building of new mosques in order to provide "some time for reflection." The Salafi mega-mosque may still be built, however, because the construction permit was issued before the non-retroactive moratorium took effect. The building permit, which is valid for a period of six months, expires at the end of September 2011.

Muslim radicals associated with two Spain-based Salafi groups, Al Hilal Islamic Cultural Association and Magrebins per la Pau Association, are now asking groups in Saudi Arabia to advance the funds needed to begin construction of the mosque within the next few weeks, before the building permit expires. The Catalan nationalist party Plataforma per Catalunya (PxC) which opposes not only the mosques but also Muslim immigration attempted to hold an anti-mosque protest in Salt on August 27. PxC spokeswoman Mara Osuna said the party, which has some 70,000 active members, did not want Salt to become "the new Mecca of the most radical Islamism." But provincial law enforcement authorities banned the PxC demonstration after learning that Muslims from across Spain were organizing a counterdemonstration in the town on the same day. Fearing the risk of violence, the provincial interior ministry issued a statement saying that the anti-mosque demonstration would be banned because it could "hurt the religious feelings of the majority of Muslims in Salt." Around 12,000 of Salt's 30,000 inhabitants are Muslim immigrants. Salt and other towns in the north-eastern region of Catalonia have become ground zero for Salafi Islam in Spain. The movement is based in the Catalonian city of Tarragona, but Salafi Islam also has a major presence in the municipalities of Badalona, Calafell, Cunit, El Vendrel, Lleida, Matar, Reus, Roda de Bara, Rub, Salt, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Boi, Torredembarra, Valls, and Vilanova, not to mention Barcelona, which hosts five Salafi mosques. Salafi preachers in Catalonia teach that Islamic Sharia law is above Spanish civil law. They also promote the establishment of a parallel Muslim society in Spain. Salafi imams have set up Sharia tribunals to judge the conduct of both practicing and non-practicing Muslims in Spain and to punish those who fail to comply. The leaders of Salafi Islam in Salt are the "Caliph" Mohammed Attaouil and his right hand man, the cleric Rachid Menda. They are two of the most effective anti-Western propagandists in Spain, and have been able to create a Salafi stronghold in Catalonia by employing the twin strategies of spreading fear and proselytizing. In December 2009, for example, nine Salafists kidnapped a woman, tried her for adultery based on Sharia law, and condemned her to death. The woman just barely escaped execution by fleeing to a local police station.

In January 2010, a Salafi imam in Tarragona was arrested for forcing a 31year-old Moroccan woman to wear a hijab head covering. The imam had threatened to burn down the woman's house for being and "infidel" because she works outside of the home, drives an automobile and has non-Muslim friends. Bowing to political pressure to prevent "a social conflict," a court in Tarragona on August 2 absolved the imam of all wrongdoing. Much of the Salafi proselytizing occurs by means of conferences which are attended by thousands of followers, many of whom also provide the movement with an important source of financial support. Speakers at the conferences often include Salafi luminaries from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. As many of the latter have European passports, they do not require visas to enter Spain and are free to move about the country as they please. Salafi conferences in Spain are almost always scheduled during Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter with the objective of directly challenging the majority culture. Conference attendees are warned that Muslims should not integrate into the "corrupt" Western society. The Madrid-based ABC newspaper estimates that there are more than 100 Salafi mosques in Spain where radical imams preach to the faithful each Friday. The newspaper says some imams have established religious police that harass and attack those who do not comply with Islamic law. ABC also reports that during 2010, more than 10 Salafi conferences were held in Spain, compared to only one in 2008. From Catalonia, Salafists are planting roots in other parts of Spain, including the Basque Country, Madrid, and Valladolid as well as all along the Mediterranean coast. In Guadalajara in central Spain, hooded Salafists have assaulted at least six native Spaniards with rocks since July. Local citizens' groups are protesting the opening of a Salafi mosque in the city. The mayor of Salt, Jaume Torramad, says Muslim immigrants in his town have become noticeably more radicalized in recent years. In an interview with RAC1 radio, Torramad told listeners: "A few years ago, the Maghreb women were more westernized, but nowadays one sees much less of that. The large numbers of Muslim immigrants in Salt have attracted imams who are enforcing conduct and dress codes. Muslim women used to wear blue jeans, but now they cover their hair. These imams are not promoting coexistence."

Greece to Build First Official Mega-Mosque in

Athens
by Soeren Kern September 12, 2011 http://www.hudson-ny.org/2413/greece-mosque-athens The Greek Parliament has approved a controversial plan to build a taxpayerfunded mega-mosque in Athens. The move comes amid thinly veiled threats of violence by thousands of Muslim residents of the city who have been pressuring the government to meet their demands for a mosque or face an uprising. The September 7 vote to speed up construction of the first official mosque in Athens - the only capital in the European Union without a state-funded mosque - was supported by 198 out of 300 deputies from the left, right and center. The mosque plan was included in an environment ministry bill regulating illegal construction. The plan calls for renovating an existing state building - on a disused navy base- in the industrial district of Votanikos near the center of Athens. The plan commits the Greek government (by way of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs) to pay for the construction of a temporary mosque which will be built within the next six months. A larger 1,000 square meter (3,300 square feet) mosque with enough space for 500 worshippers at a time will be built in the same area by the end of 2012, at an estimated cost of around 16 million ($21 million). The announcement comes as massively indebted Greece battles a growing recession that has left nearly one million Greeks out of work. Greece recently needed a 110 billion ($146 billion) three-year bail-out package to rescue the embattled economy from bankruptcy. Officially, Greece has a Muslim population of around 500,000, mostly of Turkish origin. But in recent years, tens of thousands of Muslims have migrated to Greece from Africa, the Maghreb [North Africa], the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia. Many of the estimated 200,000 Muslims living in Athens are illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan. It is now estimated that Greece - which is the number one gateway for illegal immigration to Europe - has an illegal immigrant population of around 2 million; this in a country where the total population is only 11 million.

Muslims in Greece pray in makeshift mosques in basement apartments, coffee shops, garages and old warehouses. In Athens alone, there are more than 100 unlicensed Muslim prayer sites in locations scattered across the city. The Greek parliament's decision to approve the mosque is the latest chapter in a long-running story that dates back to the 1930s and centers over the question of whether Greece - which is predominantly (97%) Christian Orthodox - should officially cater to followers of Islam. Athens has not had an official mosque since 1833, when the Ottomans evacuated the city after nearly 400 years of Turkish rule. Today the Turkishdominated Muslim enclave of Thrace in north-eastern Greece is the only place where the Greek government officially supports Islamic sites and shrines. In the run-up to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia offered to finance a mega-mosque in Paiania, a suburb about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of downtown Athens, near the international airport. But that plan was abandoned in the face of opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church. In 2006, the government promised to spend 15 million ($20 million) for an Athens mosque by 2009. But that plan was also abandoned. In 2007, Muslims took matters into their own hands. Using a donation of 2.5 million ($3.4 million) from a Saudi businessman, a small non-profit organization called the Greek-Arab Educational and Cultural Center transformed an old textile factory in Moschato, a southern suburb of Athens, into a 6,000 square meter (19,500 square foot) prayer site that can accommodate more than 2,000 worshippers at a time. Nevertheless, plans for building a large state-sponsored mosque have been stalled as a result of bureaucratic wrangling as well as opposition from local politicians, especially those belonging to the center-right opposition party New Democracy and the populist LAOS (Popular Orthodox Rally). In recent months, however, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and his allies in parliament decided to push ahead with the mosque project after the Muslim Union of Greece - a group that claims to represent all Muslims in Greece (and is also linked to the Muslim Brotherhood) - staged a series of provocative mass public prayer sessions across Athens aimed to pressure the government into building a mosque. In November 2010, for example, Muslims held open-air prayers in 15

locations across Athens. In one instance, over 1,000 Muslims took over the square in front of the main building of the University of Athens and held public prayers inside the portico on the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. More than 7,000 police officers were needed to keep the peace. In August 2011, the Greek government gave Muslims permission to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan at the Olympic Stadium of Athens. The initiative was aimed at averting the chances of large crowds of Muslims gathering in downtown city squares. In September 2011, however, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, by holding open-air prayers in public squares near the city center. The Muslims were harassed by local residents who threw eggs and yogurt at them. Members of Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) a far-right nationalist group also threatened to physically remove the Muslims from the square; they were held back by riot police. Analysts say the Papandreou government is pushing the mosque project out of fear that the Muslim rallies will become violent sooner rather than later. Like many other European cities, Athens has experienced Muslim-related violence in recent years. In May 2009, for example, more than 1,000 Muslims clashed with police in downtown Athens after Muslims accused a police officer stepping on a Koran at a coffee shop during a police check. Nearly 50 protesters were arrested during the uprising, while seven Muslim immigrants and seven policemen were hospitalized. More than 70 cars were torched and around a dozen businesses were destroyed in the clashes. A day earlier, an even larger crowd of around 1,500 Muslim immigrants rallied before the march degenerated into violence. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. Since then, at least 15 makeshift mosques have been attacked by unknown arsonists. At one event, at least three people in Athens were hospitalized after arsonists set fire to a coffee shop used as a Muslim prayer center for immigrants. In May 2011, arsonists set fire to a makeshift mosque in the Kallithea district of Athens causing damage but no injuries. Muslims say the violence proves they need an official mosque. But recent polls show that more than half of Greeks are opposed to the mosque plan and say their government should not be financing religious institutions.

The European Caliphate: A refugee from the Muslim world sees it taking shape
By Clifford D. May, Sept. 15, 2011 http://www.jewishworldreview.com/

For more than 30 years, Bat Ye'or, a refugee from Egypt, has been writing about dhimmis Christians and Jews living under oppression in Muslim lands. Now, she has a new book, "Europe, Globalization and the Coming Universal Caliphate," that looks at Muslims living in lands that once were Christian but today call themselves multicultural. (Buy it at a 20% discount by clicking here. Or here for the Kindle edition ) She predicts Europe will not remain multicultural for long. She is convinced that Europe, sooner rather than later, will be dominated by Islamic extremists and transformed into "Eurabia" a term first used in the mid-1970s by a French publication pressing for common European-Arab policies.

Immigrants can enrich a nation. But there is a difference between immigrants and colonists. The former are eager to learn the ways of their adopted home, to integrate and perhaps assimilate which does not require relinquishing their heritage or forgetting their roots. Colonists, by contrast, bring their culture with them and live under their own laws. Their loyalties lie elsewhere. Ye'or contends that a concerted effort is being made not only to ensure that Muslim immigrants in Europe remain squarely in the second category but also that they become the means to transform Europe politically, culturally and religiously. Leading this effort is the Organization of the Islamic Conference, established in 1969 and which, a few months ago, no doubt upon the advice of a highly compensated public relations professional, renamed itself the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The OIC represents 56 countries plus the Palestinian Authority. It claims also to represent Muslim immigrants the "Diaspora" in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. It is pan-Islamic: It seeks to unify and lead the world's 1.3 billion Muslims. In a manual first published in 2001, "Strategy of Islamic Cultural Action in the West," the IOC asserts that "Muslim immigrant communities in Europe are part of the Islamic nation." It goes on to recommend, Ye'or notes, "a series of steps to prevent the integration and assimilation of Muslims into European culture."

The IOC, she argues, is nothing less than a "would-be, universal caliphate." It might look different from the caliphates of the Ottomans, Fatamids and Abbasids. It might resemble, instead, a thoroughly modern trans-national bureaucracy. But, already, the OIC exercises significant power through the United Nations, and through the European Union which has been eager to accommodate the OIC while simultaneously endowing the U.N. with increasing authority for global governance. Among the other organizations that Ye'or says are doing the OIC's bidding are the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and the European Parliamentary Association for Euro-Arab Cooperation (PAEAC). In the eyes of OIC officials, no problem in the contemporary world is more urgent than "Islamophobia" which it calls "a crime against humanity" that the U.N. and the E.U. must officially outlaw. Even discussing why so much terrorism is carried out in the name of Islam is to be forbidden. The OIC insists, too, that international bodies ban "defamation of religion" by which it means criticism of anything Islamic. Defamation of Judaism, Christianity, Bahai, Hinduism and even heterodox Muslim sects such as the Ahmadiyya is common within the borders of many OIC countries, a fact the OIC refuses to acknowledge. Instead, the OIC has specifically "warned" the E.U. and the "international community" of the "dangers posed by the influence of Zionism, NeoConservatism, aggressive Christian evangelicalism, Jewish extremism, Hindu extremism and secular extremism in international affairs and the 'War on Terrorism.'" Though funding for terrorist groups flows generously from individuals in oilrich OIC countries, the organization itself is not a supporter of terrorism. Neither, however, is it an opponent. Violence directed against those it views as enemies of Islam is defined as "resistance" -- even when civilians, including women and children, are the intended victims. While the OIC expresses concern for the rights of Muslim immigrants in the West, the egregious mistreatment of foreign workers in the Gulf countries (and other Muslim countries as well) is not something OIC officials deign to discuss. Nor has the OIC ever condemned the genocide of the black Muslims of Darfur or the genocidal intentions toward Israelis openly expressed by Hamas, Hezbollah and the rulers of Iran. European diplomats might at least insist that the OIC accept the principle of reciprocity. If there is to be a "dialogue of civilizations" shouldn't both sides get to air grievances? Shouldn't Europeans work to end the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities in OIC countries and to grant foreign workers

in Muslim countries basic rights and a path to citizenship? If the Saudis want to fund and control tens of thousands of mosques around the world, is it too much to ask that they permit people of other faiths to at least worship on their soil? Evidently it is and Ye'or offers this explanation: Committed to a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lateral ideology that rejects patriotism and even national identity and cultural pride, afflicted by guilt over their imperial and colonial past and ignorant about more than a thousand years of Islamic imperialism and colonialism -- Europeans have become dhimmis in their own lands: inferiors who accept their status and submit. The OIC, by contrast, rejects multi-culturalism, openly professing the superiority of the Islamic faith, civilization and laws. "The caliphate," Bat Ye'or concludes, is "alive and growing within Europe?.It has advanced through the denial of dangers and the obfuscating of history. It has moved forward on gilded carpets in the corridors of dialogue, the network of the Alliances and partnerships, in the corruption of its leaders, intellectuals and NGOs, particularly at the United Nations." If you think that's alarmist, if you think the OIC sincerely seeks cooperation with the West or that Europeans know where lines must be drawn and have the courage to draw them, read her book. Or just wait a few years.

Morocco Blocking Integration of Muslim Immigrants in Spain

by Soeren Kern August 25, 2011 http://www.hudson-ny.org/2380/morocco-muslim-immigrants-spain The Moroccan government is aggressively implementing "a strategy of great magnitude" to exert control over the religious and cultural beliefs and practices of the nearly one million Moroccan immigrants who reside in Spain. The strategy involves establishing a parallel Muslim society in Spain by discouraging Moroccans from integrating into their host country, and by encouraging them instead to live an Islamic lifestyle isolated from Spanish society. Rabat is also financing the construction of hundreds of mosques in Spain whose imams are directly appointed by the Moroccan government. Moreover, the North African country is attempting to impose Muslim religious instruction in Spanish public schools, and is pressuring Moroccan families to remove their children from those schools that fail to comply. The observations are included in a newly leaked secret report prepared by Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI), excerpts of which have been published by the Madrid-based El Pas newspaper. The CNI document says: "Designed and developed by the [Moroccan] regime, the objective is to extend its influence and augment its control over the Moroccan colonies [in Spain] by means of religion."

The CNI document continues: Rabat "has as its main objective the control over its colony [of the one million Moroccan immigrants in Spain] to detect opposition movements to the regime and to prevent the emergence of Islamic currents that depart from the dominant one" in Morocco, which practices the Maliki school of Islam. Rabat's "principal tool of control" is the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities [FEERI], whose president, Mohamed Hamed Ali, is a resident of the city of Ceuta [a Spanish enclave in northern Africa] and who proposes 'devolving' the city to Morocco," according to the CNI. FEERI distributes its funds "not only among its members, but also among those associations who are prepared to follow instructions from Rabat." In the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia, where some 235,000 Moroccan immigrants have settled, the main recipient of Moroccan subsidies is the Consell Islmic Cultural de Catalunya. "The funds provided by Morocco to the Muslim communities in Spain are reaching considerably important quantities," according to the CNI. In addition to FEERI, Rabat also supervises the religious beliefs of Moroccan immigrants "through its embassy and consulates, related personnel, and the Hassan II Foundation," which is presided by Princess Lalla Meryem, sister of King Mohamed VI. The Hassan II Foundation, whose budget is not subject to oversight by the Moroccan parliament, funds Arabic language and Islamic culture classes at more than 100 public schools across Spain where the majority of students are Moroccan immigrants. The CNI says the classes discourage the integration of Muslim youth into Spanish society. "It [the classes] is a tool to teach the children of Moroccan immigrants how to be Moroccan" and not Spanish citizens, according to the CNI. The "classes are taught exclusively by Moroccan teachers using teaching materials common in Morocco, but very different from those used in Spain, factors which result in that Moroccan youth profoundly internalize the differences" between themselves and their Spanish hosts. Ultimately, the Moroccan state is thereby able to maintain control over its citizens abroad. With respect to the children, the control is exercised through learning the language and the official state culture." These classes also carry with them "Muslim religious instruction which is difficult to accept from the point of view of the configuration of teaching religion in our educational system," according to the CNI report. A separate CNI report about financing Jihad in Spain provides other examples of how the Moroccan government is using Islam for political ends. For example, in November 2008, "the Moroccan Minister of Islamic Affairs organized and paid for a meeting in Marrakesh which was attended by a considerable number of imams and leaders of the Islamic communities in Spain," according to the CNI. At that meeting, the Moroccan government promised "financing for all religious associations and mosques that are prepared to submit to the control of the [Moroccan] regime and to adhere to its instructions." The keynote speaker at the meeting was Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, head of the Moroccan Secret Service (DGED). The CNI report also states: "The financing is having negative consequences for [multicultural] coexistence in Spain, such as the emergence of parallel societies and ghettos, Islamic courts and police that operate outside of Spanish jurisprudence, removing girls from schools, forced marriages, etc." It continues: "There is insufficient control of financial flows involving grants and aid from other countries that are being funnelled to the Islamic community in Spain. For the most part donors are using alternative channels to ensure that their donations escape the control of the regular Spanish financial system. Donors should be made fully aware of the risks associated with such financing."

Morocco recently co-sponsored a weeklong seminar in Barcelona titled "Muslims and European Values" during which it was proposed that the construction of big mosques would be "a useful formula" to fight Islamic fundamentalism in Spain. According to Noureddine Ziani, a Barcelona-based Moroccan imam: "It is easier to disseminate fundamentalist ideas in small mosques set up in garages where only the members of the congregation attend, than in large mosques that are open to everyone, with prayer rooms, cafes and meeting areas." Ziani said it is absolutely necessary to accept Islamic values as European values and that from now on, Europeans should replace the term "Judeo-Christian" with term "Islamo-Christian" when describing Western Civilization.

http://www.israpundit.com/archives/39157 Imam Rauf makes the claim that sharia law is 90% compatible with American constitutional law, even though they can kill for lack of adhere to their religion, and can keep slaves.