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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year’s Resolutions from the State of Arizona

A new sunrise

                                      New Year’s Resolutions from the State of Arizona:

#1 Force President Obama and Attorney General Holder to come to Arizona to visit Operation Streamline…. so that we can permanently shut it down, with or without the assistance or actions of the above: End this criminalization, dehumanization and for-profit scam!

#2 Force President Obama and Attorney General Holder to come to the border itself, including both, the killing fields and the militarized border walls. He needs to witness the effect of his own policies. Bring the Walls down!

#3 Continue to build irreversible movement for the administration cease its massive deportation policies: NiUnoMas!

#4 Shutdown Migra offices and private immigration detention centers often and everywhere around the country: If the President doesn’t halt the deportations, we will!

#5 Dismantle border patrol checkpoints and end immigration enforcement inside the mainline United States. It is time to quit treating the entire nation as a border zone and it is time to halt the practice of using the migra as hunter battalions throughout the country. Our backs are not the border!

#6 End all 287 (g) agreements, SECURE Communities, and any and all other agreements between the police and the migra. Abajo con la poli-migra!

#7 Have UN/OAS examine the killing and brutalizing of migrants with impunity along the U.S/Mexico border… and file crimes against humanity for all those responsible when and where appropriate.  All life is sacred.

#8 Decriminalize immigration. Any forthcoming immigration agreement should be international in scope and should respect all human rights treaties and conventions. Ningun ser humano es illegal.

#9 Have all scholarship foundations around the country follow the lead of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which now accepts DREAM-DACA students: Exclusion is another word for Discrimination.

#10 Continue to build movement for the new Pope and the Catholic Church to revoke and renounce the Doctrine of Discovery; to cease its claim on this continent, its peoples and our souls. All this is but a prelude for not simply reparations, but the beginning of the process by which peoples everywhere are treated not simply as full human beings, but are afforded rights as full human beings: We cannot be illegal on our own continent.

#11 Get some more sleep this year and create more. We should not be spending all our time fighting and responding. Instead, we need to create the world we want to live in. Creer-Crear y Hacer

I would have made this a Christmas wish list, but I don’t believe in wishing. Instead, these are my New Year’s resolutions.


Friday, December 6, 2013

Petition Works: 37-Year Hispanic Scholarship Fund Dream Policy Overturned

Friday, 06 December 2013 11:04 By Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Truthout | Opinion 



Thanks to all who signed the petition, inspired by the DREAM 9 and Scholarship A-Z.

Petition Works: 37-Year Hispanic Scholarship Fund Dream Policy Overturned

Something remarkable happened last month during the nation's immigration debate; while the president and Congress continued their prolonged stalemate, the board of directors of the national Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) voted to reverse its 37-year-old policy of excluding DREAM students from its scholarship programs.

This reversal is actually huge news, and it is action that did not require permission from Congress or the executive branch.

The HSF is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, that, since its founding in 1975, has disbursed more than $400 million to more than 1.5 million recipients. Up to this point, not one cent has ever been granted to a DREAM student.

The reason this reversal is huge news is that DREAM students have been held hostage unnecessarily by extreme right-wing forces who believe DREAMers do not belong in college and, worse, do not belong in this country altogether. These right wingers, who are actually a minority in this country, also are seemingly unaware that many of these students were brought here as infants or small children and are thus not guilty of anything.

For rest of column: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20428-petition-works-37-year-hispanic-scholarship-fund-dream-policy-overturned

Rodriguez can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com

Friday, November 29, 2013

SYNOPSIS WITH PHOTOS OF NOV 19:

PHOTOS

Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human
All-Day Student/Community Symposium

Whatever I write here is but a glimpse of what happened on Tues Nov 19 at the “Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human” symposium at the University of Arizona. Many photographs were taken and much was videotaped… and this here too is but a brief synopsis that will give you a feel for this event, but it does not approximate conveying the historic nature of the gathering. (Videotape of much of the symposium will be released as soon as all the permissions are gathered.)

The symposium took place one month after a historic uprising in Arizona from Oct 8-14 (South Tucson, Tucson, Phoenix, Nogales and Eloy). It began with a spontaneous protest by hundreds against the cooperation between the police and the migra in South Tucson where the police (as they usually do) contacted the migra during a routine traffic stop of two people in a vehicle, driving with a faulty license plate light. A DREAMER, via different means, contacted the community. Within a half hour, hundreds of people were out on the streets, challenging both the police and migra. While two additional people were arrested and taken away and some were hurt and others were pepper sprayed, the story was not the violence, but the community’s unprecedented challenge to the poli-migra.

Three days later, a coalition of human rights organizations managed to shut down OPERATION STREAMLINE, an apartheid-style form of “justice” that takes place everyday in a half dozen cities along the border, including Tucson. The spectacular action included shutting down access to the federal building, along with locking down two migra buses along the freeway. 24 were arrested on this day. A few days later, a long-publicized promised shutdown of the migra in Phoenix succeeded before even the day came. After the Tucson uprising, the Phoenix migra shut itself down for 4 days, between Oct 11-14. Meanwhile, DREAMERS also forced the shutdown of the private CCA detention facility in Eloy on Oct 14, while human rights activists celebrated in front of the self-shutdown offices of Phoenix ICE.

Much more drama was played out during these and other actions (including another chasedown of the poli-migra on the freeway by human rights activists), that resulted in the Tucson City Hall Council, in effect, directing the chief of police not to have his officers engage in racial profiling or to automatically call the migra, etc. While a victory, it is not an outright ban.

This was the context of the symposium, coming on top of year-long struggles involving the anti-Ethnic Studies HB 2281 and the anti-immigrant SB 1070 legislation. These struggles have seen many people arrested (including myself).

For many reasons, the idea of the symposium was not about what it means to be Chicano/Chicano or Mexican or Raza or Indigenous, but rather, what it means to be human. Everyone gets to partake in this question…. Especially those who have been subjected to dehumanization.

The additional context here is the topic of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery. We wanted to examine when, where and who created the very concepts of who is human, vs. who is not human, who has souls and who does not, and the modern context of who is legal vs. who is not? This is a decades-long process by Indigenous rights organizations throughout the continent and at international gatherings, including at the United Nations.

While these hearings and gatherings have focused on the entire world or continent, this gathering examined how this dehumanization plays out in Arizona, especially against peoples from Mexico and Central America. In Tucson and Phoenix, these are communities who understand dehumanization and the Doctrine of Discovery on a daily level.

To begin this symposium, we had to begin it in an appropriate way. Many of us in Tucson run, and we run a lot. We don’t run for exercise, competition or for protest. We run to spiritually cleanse our communities and ourselves. So before the symposium, Calpolli Teoxicalli, several of my students (from two classes: (MAS 350) The history of Red-Brown Journalism and communications and (MAS 496) The Legacies of the Doctrine of Discovery) and other community members ran from the Calpolli to the University of Arizona. The short 3-mile run was dedicated to the same theme of symposium. Beyond its physical component, running at 6:30 in the morning signaled the importance of the symposium to our community. When we run, we express ourselves. Our bodies, our feet speak for us. It is our voice. When we run, we leave footprints, and that’s how we chose to start our long day.

Once the symposium began at the KIVA room, a ceremonia and platica were held by the Calpolli on the very meaning of What it Means to be Human.

Many of those in the audience, aside from undergraduate and graduate UA students were high school students from Tucson and Pueblo high schools, many of whom had never seen or took part in such an opening or platica. It was a great way to open up the symposium.

Then, in a most dramatic fashion, UA student Cynthia Diaz from Phoenix and her mom, Maria Rodriguez, who is currently living in Sonora, welcomed the participants via Skype. Maria was deported some three years ago, leaving Cynthia as the head of her household. Students, during and after this welcoming expressed that such an exchange helped both to concretize and humanize the topic of deportations and family separations. Many of the students in attendance are in similar situations, living with deportation hearings as part of their family reality (Incidentally, one student’s spouse was deported last month).

The morning back-to-back sessions included panels by UA-MAS 350 students on immigration/human rights and voice. While the presentations were part of research papers that students are writing, many of the presentations were personal… personal stories of challenges they face in Arizona… more importantly; most of the stories are those of resilience as many of the students live the consequences of what is often in the news. Each session had a professor respondent.

The next session included poetry on what it means to be human by students from Tucson and Pueblo High Schools – with instructors Maria Federico Brummer, Jessica Mejia and Tiffany Mendibles-Escobar.

During these sessions, we also had concurrent elementary school presentations in the Ventana Room at the UA Student Union. Facilitated by Nyona Smith, with several other students, these sessions included creative expressions on the same topic. After the high schools presented, Ochoa Elem. students joined everyone at the KIVA room where they proceeded to sing 3 songs (from memory) in Nahuatl. They did this with the drum. Many felt that this was the highlight of the symposium, if not at least the morning sessions.

Steven Martin, director, of the UA-Native American Student Affairs office welcomed and introduced the noon keynote speaker, Chief Jake Edwards of the Onondaga Nation. The chief’s platica was regarding the wampum belts – a place that stores some 1,000 years of history. Wampum belts are akin to the Quipu and the Nepohuatzinzin – or even the ancient pre-Colombian codices. They are books in different forms. The presentation was so powerful, suffice to say he has granted us permission to post his words (will be posted shortly). Something special happened during his presentation. He went more than twice than his allotted time, and yet, not one complaint and everyone wanted to hear more. But as he said, just telling the story on one of the belts takes more than a week. Incredibly, the very tight schedule was not thrown off… even while others were added to the plenary presentations.

Human rights activist, Dulce Juarez, who works with the ACLU on immigration related issues – and a former DREAMER herself – made the most poignant observation: to understand what it means to be human, we must first be aware of the dehumanization that our communities live.

Dr. Vivian Lopez – followed Juarez’s presentation on the topic of the Spirit of Being. This powerful presentation included the idea that a person’s spirit includes all those around us (and not just human beings), and thus, when a person’s spirit is damaged, it damages all those around that person’s spirit (A student, Crystal Echerivel, actually expounded on the very topic in a most concise manner in one of the morning sessions). What it means to be human, within that context, rehumanization, in effect, is a process that involves healing that spirit of being, the healing of communities – as opposed to simply individuals.

Following Dr. Lopez’s presentation, Tupak Enrique Acosta and Evie Aguirre of Tonatierra in Phoenix delivered words regarding the issue of Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery. While both had been in South America right before the symposium, they connected the topic of their platica, with the theme of the symposium. Many people in Arizona, and the nation for that matter, have followed the work of Tonatierra in the realm of Indigenous Rights – while including Chicanos/Chicanas in these discussions for several decades. No justice here on their words as we hope we are given permission to post their platicas. Minimally, it should be recognized that because of Tonatierra, the topic of dismantling the doctrine of discovery, has become not simply the inspiration for UN presentations and international conferences, but so too this symposium.

While initially the maestros from UA’s SEED or SEMILLAS program were scheduled to present concurrently, they instead were brought into the plenary sessions where they shared with all the participants their beautiful knowledge from Indigenous pueblos, primarily from Southern Mexico. Maestros from Semillas for the past several years have been instrumental in bringing direct knowledge from Mexico and Central America to Arizona students, while learning about Arizona’s reality (Many run with us).

Prior to the afternoon student sessions, UNIDOS co-founder Denise Rebeil spoke of UNIDOS’s current work (their organizing manual). UNIDOS is the student group that staged a dramatic takeover on April 26, 2011 of the TUSD school board room when they chained themselves to the board members’ chairs. It was through their organizing efforts, along with a legal challenge, that the community constantly challenged the constitutionality of HB 2281, both at the local and state levels.

The afternoon MAS 496 student presentations focused on Identity and Human Rights. Concurrently, students from Grijalva, Hughes and McCorkle elementary schools also presented on the topic of what it means to be human via art, music and other creative expressions.

"Tlakatl: What it means to be human - Painting by Tanya Alvarez

During the afternoon sessions, El Coraje, a student newspaper (the original was from the 1960s-1970s), created by MAS 350 students, was presented to participants.

Evening keynote presentations were combined with a community forum. Presentations included the voices of some of the most powerful Tucson human rights activists -- Raul Al-qaraz, Corazon de Tucson, UA Grad Student, Devora Gonzalez and Isabel Garcia, Derechos Humanos. Moderated by Mari Galup, these presentations were all-Tucson – embodied by those that were central in the Oct 8-14 uprisings.

The evening program, which included the keynotes, facilitated by UA-MEChA co-chairs Diana Diaz and Vic Junior, was very powerful. Joined by a speaker from Scholarships-AZ, the forum included a Q and A on where we go from here (There definitely will be a follow-up next year).

Before the closing session, Teatro (4 skits) by MAS 496 students was presented precisely on the topic of What it means to be human and the doctrine of discovery. Truly, one would have thought they were a pre-existing teatro as they both grasped the topics, but presented them dramatically before the audience. One skit was regarding Operation Streamline while another was regarding light-skin preference in the Americas.

Spoken Word on the topic of what it means to be human was delivered by Spoken Future. The last presentation was actually a collective poem by all those in the audience on What it means to be human.

Video and photos of the symposium will be posted shortly. And definitely, this will become an annual event, which will include curriculum on said topic. BTW... copies of El Coraje are available...

For more info: XColumn@gmail.com

Roberto Rodriguez PhD
Dr Cintli
http://drcintli.blogspot.com/ 









































Oct 8-11 Tucson Community uprising videos

Just learned that you can access these videos even if you are not on facebook... Many of you receiving this have already seen them, but if you want to share them, feel free:  They are also at: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

Shutdown of Operation Streamline Oct 11
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151637544230706&l=5294587605160829072

Oct 11 Operation Streamline - Not a one ounce of afraid
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151637582395706&l=4104919298450160412

Outside Curtroom
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/yourphotos?partnerid=gplp0&pid=5948925742310336770&oid=105573900372663712057

Op Streamline Shutdown - Lupe Casillas Speaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upyBCtS_o90

Oct 8 Tear gassing of Tucson community
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151633898560706&l=6844274522269550305

Oct 8 Community Uprising Tucson
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151633812755706&l=2802142124200809991

More videos to be shared shortly.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013


DREAM SCHOLARSHIPS THROUGH HSF; IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

November 26, 2013

Board of Directors pass policy to include DACA students as eligible for General Scholarship

Los Angeles, CA- The Hispanic Scholarship Fund announced today that effective immediately, students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status are eligible to apply for an HSF General Scholarship at www.HSF.net. The application deadline is December 15th, 2013.

According to a memorandum prepared by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that a DACA recipient – as is the case for any other deferred action grantee – is “authorized by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be present in the United States, and is therefore considered by DHS to be lawfully present during the period deferred action is in effect.”

According to USCIS, the purpose of DACA is to allow youth to come out of the shadows, to alleviate them of the fear of deportation, and to allow them to become open contributors to America’s workforce, military, and educational system. It is a national imperative to provide access to higher education for Hispanic students who will comprise 30% of the work force by 2050.

“HSF is committed to ensuring that all qualified and deserving Hispanic scholarship applicants receive the support they need to complete a college education”, said Fidel Vargas, President & CEO, Hispanic Scholarship Fund.  “By expanding our eligibility criteria to include DACA students, we are broadening the pool of talented students that HSF can support through college who will then go on to contribute to the economic vitality of our great nation.”

According to HSF, these students will not only be eligible to apply for scholarships but will also have the opportunity to participate in HSF’s mentoring and career services programs if they are awarded a scholarship.

The organization reports that last year it received over 85,000 applications. About 25,000 of these students were qualified to receive scholarships, but there was only sufficient funding to award 5,100. That translates to a $50 million gap that HSF is striving to fill through the donations of both individuals and its corporate partners.  HSF recently launched an online individual donor campaign, Donate 833, that encourages individuals `to give as little at $8.33 per month to help fund qualified, deserving college students.

- See more at: http://hsf.net/en/media/press/hispanic-scholarship-fund-makes-paying-for-college-possible-for-daca-students#sthash.L4k1O41v.dpufhttp://hsf.net/en/media/press/

Monday, November 25, 2013

DREAM SCHOLARSHIPS MAJOR REVERSAL: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?



When the national Hispanic Scholarship Fund announces is decision to reverse its policy regarding DREAM students, that will have been half the battle in the realm of scholarship eligibility. For 37 years, DREAM students were not eligible to apply or receive HSF scholarships. During that time HSF has disbursed more than $400 million in scholarships to 1.5 million students.

When the decision is announced, DREAM-DACA (Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals) students will become eligible for the HSF scholarships for this funding cycle. The HSF is the largest scholarship fund, foundation or organization in the nation that targets Latinos/Latinas. While many of us anxiously await to see the guidelines, we can assume that the change applies to students from all 50 states.

Because HSF is a private or non-profit (non-governmental) organization, it could have made this decision long ago, even without the new category of DACA students. Despite this, the HSF should be applauded for changing its policy. What should also be noted is that there are many other scholarships that have had the same exclusionary policy in effect for years. It is now time to change that policy for all the other private or non-profit national scholarships. There are no legal barriers.

It is also now time to change scholarship eligibility policies at the state and local levels (in all 50 states). Administrators should do this on their own, but if necessary statewide scholarship organizations must be petitioned. Perhaps it will be necessary to petition scholarships for each university also. For example, at the University of Arizona, there is also a private Hispanic Scholarship Fund that delivers more than $1 million per year to students. It also has the same policy, a policy that needs to change.

Because these are not governmental national or state policies, these policies cannot change by one stroke of a pen. No doubt, students in every state and every city will need to engage their own local scholarships. One simple way may be to wait for that HSF policy to be made public, and then for it to be taken to each other scholarship foundation across the country.It should have a snowball effect. It is highly likely that the scholarship foundations will willingly change. If not, then we will have new battles on our hands.

There may be an explanation that HSF gives as to why they changed their policy this year. But many of us know that a change.org petition with 1,111 signatures was submitted to them about two months ago (several hundred other signatures were subsequently turned in) and now we have that policy reversal. If that's what it takes, perhaps more petitions have to be drawn up. But each community will no doubt take whatever course is appropriate, which in some cases, may entail taking on public or statewide scholarship policies in the courtroom.

Because the deadline for HSF scholarships is December 15, the announcement should be made this week.

On behalf of those that signed that petition, I don't think there's any doubt that it was the DREAM movement itself that created this change. Gracias.


Sincerely


Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
University of Arizona
2013 Baker-Clarke Human Rights Award recipient (AERA)
XColumn@gmail.com

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human: A brief Synopsis



Opening

Ochoa Elem. students
Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human
All-Day Student/Community Symposium

A brief Synopsis

Nov 19, 2013

Whatever I write here is but a glimpse of what happened on Tues Nov 19 at the “Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human” symposium at the University of Arizona. Many photographs were taken and much was videotaped… and this here too is but a brief synopsis that will give you a feel for this event, but it does not approximate conveying the historic nature of the gathering. (Videotape of much of the symposium will be released as soon as all the permissions are gathered.)

The symposium took place one month after a historic uprising in Arizona from Oct 8-14 (South Tucson, Tucson, Phoenix, Nogales and Eloy). It began with a spontaneous protest by hundreds against the cooperation between the police and the migra in South Tucson where the police (as they usually do) contacted the migra during a routine traffic stop of two people in a vehicle, driving with a faulty license plate light. A DREAMER, via different means, contacted the community. Within a half hour, hundreds of people were out on the streets, challenging both the police and migra. While two additional people were arrested and taken away and some were hurt and others were pepper sprayed, the story was not the violence, but the community’s unprecedented challenge to the poli-migra.

Three days later, a coalition of human rights organizations managed to shut down OPERATION STREAMLINE, an apartheid-style form of “justice” that takes place everyday in a half dozen cities along the border, including Tucson. The spectacular action included shutting down access to the federal building, along with locking down two migra buses along the freeway. 24 were arrested on this day. A few days later, a long-publicized promised shutdown of the migra in Phoenix succeeded before even the day came. After the Tucson uprising, the Phoenix migra shut itself down for 4 days, between Oct 11-14. Meanwhile, DREAMERS also forced the shutdown of the private CCA detention facility in Eloy on Oct 14, while human rights activists celebrated in front of the self-shutdown offices of Phoenix ICE.

Much more drama was played out during these and other actions (including another chasedown of the poli-migra on the freeway by human rights activists), that resulted in the Tucson City Hall Council, in effect, directing the chief of police not to have his officers engage in racial profiling or to automatically call the migra, etc.  While a victory, it is not an outright ban.

This was the context of the symposium, coming on top of year-long struggles involving the anti-Ethnic Studies HB 2281 and the anti-immigrant SB 1070 legislation. These struggles have seen many people arrested (including myself).

For many reasons, the idea of the symposium was not about what it means to be Chicano/Chicano or Mexican or Raza or Indigenous, but rather, what it means to be human. Everyone gets to partake in this question…. Especially those who have been subjected to dehumanization.

The additional context here is the topic of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery. We wanted to examine when, where and who created the very concepts of who is human, vs. who is not human, who has souls and who does not, and the modern context of who is legal vs. who is not? This is a decades-long process by Indigenous rights organizations throughout the continent and at international gatherings, including at the United Nations.

While these hearings and gatherings have focused on the entire world or continent, this gathering examined how this dehumanization plays out in Arizona, especially against peoples from Mexico and Central America. In Tucson and Phoenix, these are communities who understand dehumanization and the Doctrine of Discovery on a daily level.

To begin this symposium, we had to begin it in an appropriate way. Many of us in Tucson run, and we run a lot. We don’t run for exercise, competition or for protest. We run to spiritually cleanse our communities and ourselves. So before the symposium, Calpolli Teoxicalli, several of my students  (from two classes: (MAS 350) The history of Red-Brown Journalism and communications and (MAS 496) The Legacies of the Doctrine of Discovery) and other community members ran from the Calpolli to the University of Arizona. The short 3-mile run was dedicated to the same theme of symposium. Beyond its physical component, running at 6:30 in the morning signaled the importance of the symposium to our community. When we run, we express ourselves. Our bodies, our feet speak for us. It is our voice. When we run, we leave footprints, and that’s how we chose to start our long day.

Once the symposium began at the KIVA room, a ceremonia and platica were held by the Calpolli on the very meaning of What it Means to be Human.

Many of those in the audience, aside from undergraduate and graduate UA students were high school students from Tucson and Pueblo high schools, many of whom had never seen or took part in such an opening or platica. It was a great way to open up the symposium.

Then, in a most dramatic fashion, UA student Cynthia Diaz from Phoenix & her mom, Maria Rodriguez, who is currently living in Sonora, welcomed the participants via Skype. Maria was deported some three years ago, leaving Cynthia as the head of her household. Students, during and after this welcoming expressed that such an exchange helped both to concretize and humanize the topic of deportations and family separations. Many of the students in attendance are in similar situations, living with deportation hearings as part of their family reality (Incidentally, one student’s spouse was deported last month).

The morning back-to-back sessions included panels by UA-MAS 350 students on immigration/human rights and voice. While the presentations were part of research papers that students are writing, many of the presentations were personal… personal stories of challenges they face in Arizona… more importantly; most of the stories are those of resilience as many of the students live the consequences of what is often in the news. Each session had a professor respondent.

The next session included poetry on what it means to be human by students from Tucson and Pueblo High Schools – with instructors Maria Federico Brummer, Jessica Mejia and Tiffany Mendibles-Escobar.

During these sessions, we also had concurrent elementary school presentations in the Ventana Room at the UA Student Union. Facilitated by Nyona Smith, with several other students, these sessions included creative expressions on the same topic. After the high schools presented, Ochoa Elem. students joined everyone at the KIVA room where they proceeded to sing 3 songs (from memory) in Nahuatl. They did this with the drum. Many felt that this was the highlight of the symposium, if not at least the morning sessions.

Steven Martin, director, of the UA-Native American Student Affairs office welcomed and introduced the noon keynote speaker, Chief Jake Edwards of the Onondaga Nation. The chief’s platica was regarding the wampum belts – a place that stores some 1,000 years of history. Wampum belts are akin to the Quipu and the Nepohuatzinzin – or even the ancient pre-Colombian codices. They are books in different forms. The presentation was so powerful, suffice to say he has granted us permission to post his words (will be posted shortly). Something special happened during his presentation. He went more than twice than his allotted time, and yet, not one complaint and everyone wanted to hear more. But as he said, just telling the story on one of the belts takes more than a week. Incredibly, the very tight schedule was not thrown off… even while others were added to the plenary presentations.

Human rights activist, Dulce Juarez, who works with the ACLU on immigration related issues – and a former DREAMER herself – made the most poignant observation: to understand what it means to be human, we must first be aware of the dehumanization that our communities live.

Dr. Vivian Lopez – followed Juarez’s presentation on the topic of the Spirit of Being. This powerful presentation included the idea that a person’s spirit includes all those around us (and not just human beings), and thus, when a person’s spirit is damaged, it damages all those around that person’s spirit (A student, Crystal Echerivel, actually expounded on the very topic in a most concise manner in one of the morning sessions). What it means to be human, within that context, rehumanization, in effect, is a process that involves healing that spirit of being, the healing of communities – as opposed to simply individuals.

Following Dr. Lopez’s presentation, Tupak Enrique Acosta and Evie Aguirre of Tonatierra in Phoenix delivered words regarding the issue of Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery. While both had been in South America right before the symposium, they connected the topic of their platica, with the theme of the symposium. Many people in Arizona, and the nation for that matter, have followed the work of Tonatierra in the realm of Indigenous Rights – while including Chicanos/Chicanas in these discussions for several decades. No justice here on their words as we hope we are given permission to post their platicas. Minimally, it should be recognized that because of Tonatierra, the topic of dismantling the doctrine of discovery, has become not simply the inspiration for UN presentations and international conferences, but so too this symposium.

While initially the maestros from UA’s SEED or SEMILLAS program were scheduled to present concurrently, they instead were brought into the plenary sessions where they shared with all the participants their beautiful knowledge from Indigenous pueblos, primarily from Southern Mexico. Maestros from Semillas for the past several years have been instrumental in bringing direct knowledge from Mexico and Central America to Arizona students, while learning about Arizona’s reality (Many run with us).

Prior to the afternoon student sessions, UNIDOS co-founder Denise Rebeil spoke of UNIDOS’s current work (their organizing manual). UNIDOS is the student group that staged a dramatic takeover on April 26, 2011 of the TUSD school board room when they chained themselves to the board members’ chairs. It was through their organizing efforts, along with a legal challenge, that the community constantly challenged the constitutionality of HB 2281, both at the local and state levels.

The afternoon MAS 496 student presentations focused on Identity and Human Rights. Concurrently, students from Grijalva, Hughes and McCorkle elementary schools also presented on the topic of what it means to be human via art, music and other creative expressions.


"Tlakatl: What it means to be human - Painting by Tanya Alvarez

During the afternoon sessions, El Coraje, a student newspaper (the original was from the 1960s-1970s), created by MAS 350 students, was presented to participants.

Evening keynote presentations were combined with a community forum. Presentations included the voices of some of the most powerful Tucson human rights activists  -- Raul Al-qaraz, Corazon de Tucson, UA Grad Student, Devora Gonzalez and Isabel Garcia, Derechos Humanos. Moderated by Mari Galup, these presentations were all-Tucson – embodied by those that were central in the Oct 8-14 uprisings.

The evening program, which included the keynotes, facilitated by UA-MEChA co-chairs Diana Diaz and Vic Junior, was very powerful. Joined by a speaker from Scholarships-AZ, the forum included a Q and A on where we go from here (There definitely will be a follow-up next year).

Before the closing session, Teatro (4 skits) by MAS 496 students was presented precisely on the topic of What it means to be human and the doctrine of discovery. Truly, one would have thought they were a pre-existing teatro as they both grasped the topics, but presented them dramatically before the audience. One skit was regarding Operation Streamline while another was regarding light-skin preference in the Americas.

Spoken Word on the topic of what it means to be human was delivered by Spoken Future. The last presentation was actually a collective poem by all those in the audience on What it means to be human.

Video and photos of the symposium will be posted shortly. And definitely, this will become an annual event, which will include curriculum on said topic. BTW... copies of El Coraje are available...

For more info: XColumn@gmail.com

Roberto Rodriguez PhD
Dr Cintli
http://drcintli.blogspot.com/


 
"Tlakatl: What it means to be human - Painting by Tanya Alvarez

Monday, November 18, 2013


Attend and Support the Nov 19, 2013 Tlakatl: What it means to be human Symposium:
I was informed that the link did not work for someone. I tried it and it works and is active. We definitely need a little help. Anyone who can, please do so. Very greatly appreciated. It is directed at: The R. Rodriguez events (That's how it is designated).: https://www.uafoundation.org/netcommunity/sslpage.aspx?pid=493&fid=Ar8Qg1Ky8nk%3D&fdesc=5tGaT3D3zD630judWyFfjNu0TvtKikii



FINAL SCHEDULE FOR NOV 19, 2013 SYMPOSIUM

UA Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human
All-Day Student/Community Symposium

6:30-7:30 Am “Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human” Run -- 23rd/8th cross streets: Calpolli Teoxicalli to UA - KIVA Student Union

KIVA Student Union
8-8:45 Ceremony/Platica: What it Means to be Human
Calpolli Teoxicalli

KIVA Student Union
8:45 am-9:15 Welcome/Intro By Cynthia Diaz & her mom, Maria Rodriguez, via Skype

9:15am-10:50 KIVA Student Union
Immigration/Human Rights Panel

Lemus, Anakaren
Sofia Nuno
Cymthia Diaz
Crystal Echerivel
Daniel Lavi
Respondent: Jesus Jaime Diaz

MAS 350 Presentations Voice & Immigration/Human Rights

Voice and Identity
Kim Dominguez
Xitlaly Reyes
Kamron Karnes
Alec Daniel
Daniel Lavi
Respondent Julio Camarota

(Concurrent)
9am-noon - Elem School Presentations
Ventana Room UA Student Union

Moderator: NYONA SMITH

KIVA Student Union
11am-noon
Tucson/Pueblo High School Presentations/Poetry
Respondent/Moderator/facilitator: MEChA Diana Diaz
Maria Federico Tucson High (students)
Jessica Mejia – Pueblo (students)
Tiffany Mendibles Pueblo (students)

Noon-12:30 lunch (need a ticket)
Inside and Outside KIVA

12:15
KIVA Student Union
MC CYNTHIA DIAZ
12:20-12:30 Steven Martin, director, NASA
12:35-1:05 - Keynote Chief Jake Edwards, Onondaga Nation
1:10-1:30 Dulce Juarez
1:35-1:55 Vivian Lopez – Spirit of Being

2pm KIVA Student Union
Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery
Tonatierra-Alianza Indigena: Tupak Enrique Acosta, Evie Aguirre & Jose Matus

(Concurrent)
2pm-2:50 Ventana Room UA Student Union
SEED Program Presentations
Respondent/Moderator: RICHARD RUIZ

KIVA ROOM
3:00-3:15 UNIDOS Denise Denise Rebeil
3:15-4:55 MAS 496 Presentations

Identity Panel
Olivia Otero
Arianna Luna
Respondent: Alisha Vasquez

Human Rights Panel
Caleb Anderson
Kenny Johnson
Ana Urena
Connie Yelitza Lira-Saavedra
Respondent: Sofia Ramos

Concurrent
3:15- 4:30 PM VENTANA ROOM
Nyona Smith & Kevan Kiser Chuc
Grijalva, Hughes and McCorkle elementary school students

4:45: Presentation of El Coraje

5pm-6pm Keynote What it means to be human: in Tucson
5-5:15 Raul Al-qaraz, Corazon de Tucson
5:15-5:22 UA Grad Student, Devora Gonzalez
5:22-5:27 Leilani Clark
5:30-5:45 Isabel Garcia, Derechos Humanos
Moderator Mari Galup

* * * * *

6:6:30
Dinner (need ticket for dinner)
OUTSIDE ILC

Evening Program Facilitated by:
UA-MEChA Diana Diaz and Vic Junior

6:30-7:30 Community Forum Integrated Learning Center #130

TUCSON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY IN UPRISING:
WHERE DOES COMMUNITY GO FROM HERE?

Corazon de Tucson

Las Promotoras (Derechos Humanos)

Tierra Y Libertad

Southside Workers

Scholarship A-Z Rep

Open up for Community input

7:30-8pm Teatro Nicole Henderson & MAS 496 and 350 students

8-9pm Spoken Word - by Spoken Futures

For more info: XColumn@gmail.com (Text only 520) 271-6796

Roberto Rodriguez PhD
Dr Cintli

Friday, November 8, 2013

Santa Cecilia: Patron Saint of Arizona


In Arizona, all the battles come together... they war against our mind (HB 2281), body (SB 1070) and spirit (16th century mindset here)... but it's like the quote from La Otra Conquista: "They came for our Souls, but they did not know where to look." That's why these mensos will never win against us (we have already won). Next week, the battles will once again come together when as a community we will take on the state's anti-dreamer policies, particularly in regards to Horne's attempt to boot out dreamers from the state's community college system... that's why we once again invoke la Santa Cecilia... listos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNJviuYUEQ

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Nov 19 Tlakatl: What it means to be human symposium

 
Due to overwhelming response, looks like we will have a full house for our Nov 19 Tlakatl: What it means to be human symposium Most of the costs have been met, but there are a lot of additional costs involved. The event will include presentations from K-12 students who we are busing to the event. So we need a little bit more, particularly to cover costs for additional speakers. If you can donate, please do so. Donation will go to the University of Arizona Foundation and it is tax-deductible. For those that can, thanks in advance. (This link should take you to a site (UA Foundation) that indicates it is for SBS Mexican American Studies - Rodriguez events). If not, please write back : https://www.uafoundation.org/netcommunity/sslpage.aspx?pid=977&fid=Ar8Qg1Ky8nk%3D&fdesc=5tGaT3D3zD630judWyFfjNu0TvtKikii

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human Symposium Nov 19, 2013


PRESS RELEASE                                                                             Nov 5, 2013

Tlakatl: What it Means to be Human Symposium
Nov 19, 2013
9am-6pm
All day-student/community symposium
University of Arizona Student Union, KIVA ROOM & VENTANA ROOM

An all-day student/community symposium will examine what it means to be human, particularly as it pertains to living in Arizona in 2013. Students will examine the history of de-humanization on this continent, including present-day dehumanizing laws.

Students/community will also examine how society and governments determine who is human and who is not, who is legal and who is not. Presenters will include K-12 students, UA and Pima CC students, maestros from the UA-SEED/SEMILLAS program, including several keynotes and presentations from; Chief Jake Edwards of the Onandaga Nation, Steven Martin (UA-NASA), Dulce Juarez (ACLU), Tupak Enrique Acosta and Evie Aguirre (Tonatierra), Jose Matus (Alianza Indigena), Isabel Garcia (Derechos Humanos)  Raul Al-Qaraz (Corazon de Tucson), UA graduate students, Devora Gonzalez and Mari Galup.

Prior to the symposium, students/community will run from 23rd/8th in South Tucson to the KIVA room at the student union where there will be an opening ceremony. The run is being undertaken in light of the recent events in Arizona in which a number of students and community were arrested for speaking out against what they believe to be inhumane police-immigration policies that continue to separate families.

6pm-9pm Evening program
Integrated Learning Center # 130
Community Forum, Teatro and spoken word by Spoken Futures


SPONSORED BY: UA-Mexican American Studies, UA American Indian Studies, UA-Native American Student Affairs. UA-Chicano Hispano Student Affairs, UA-MECHA, Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, Calpolli Teoxicalli, Tonatierra, Corazon de Tucson – Derechos Humanos, Las Promotoras-Derechos Humanos, Calpolli Teoxicalli
For Info:
Contact Professor Roberto Rodriguez
rodrigu7@email.arizona.edu 520-626-0824 –