Every Vote Counts, brick by brick

When I went to vote the second day of early voting, I should have written about what happened to me then — in this very conservative town where I live in middle America — because I was furious. 


But I did not, as I had too many other things preying on my mind, and this was just another thing on the list. As I see the articles going back and forth, however, and I see the atrocities going on in the name of "voter fraud," I cannot stand it any longer. 

Do you want to vote but think you cannot because you do not have proper ID?

When you go to vote, even if you do not have two pieces of identification, or if you do not have a photo ID, it does not matter anymore, according to Texas law, which was voted on and "trumped" down in July of this year, against all Texas Republican conservative wishes and much to Trump's dismay. According to the Federal Appeal Court, Texas was in violation of the Voting Rights Act, and so, the state had to find ways to accomodate voters who could not find appropriate documents, the ones the state wanted everyone to use but were hard to acquire for certain folks.

May Day, Things Change; Things Stay the Same...

I was looking through my old May Day activities, and I came across this letter I had written to my petition followers two years ago, in 2014. Back then I had a little over 4000 signatures, yet today we have 10,141. 

Has that made any difference? Unfortunately, no. 

Indeed, what is a stark awakening — when looking at this piece from two years ago — is that conditions are eerily similar, if not worse. Though more people seem to know about our conditions, more people seem to condone them too, or look the other way. 

We must not give up. We must keep fighting, struggling to make a difference, a change for the better. 

I am a Man: Mural Design Artist Marcellous Lovelace
Based on Civil Rights movement, Sanitation Workers' Protest March, Memphis, 3/28/1968
photograph © Ana M. Fores Tamayo

Are Refugee Children Lesser than Other Children?

I have recently been posting a myriad amount of articles on the atrocities of what is going on with detention centers nationally. With the help of activists, lawyers, and too many to be named, we were able to stop the government from continuing to license Berks County Residential Center in Berks, Pennsylvania, 

Texas has decided to turn up the heat, however, to make up for this "loss." It will now allow not only these notorious for profit centers to continue, but also it will allow them to become daycare facilities as well. 

Though no one is allowed to take photographs in Dilley, ICE certainly does.
How is that playing by the rules?

Virginia Raymond, immigrant lawyer, human rights activist -- ex adjunct professor -- writes to us the next steps we can take in this battle of David against Goliath, and she shows us her own example, so that we might emulate.

I urge all of us who care about our future as a free society -- comprised of diverse human beings -- to join in her call and write to any and all who will listen. 

Ana M. Fores Tamayo, Adjunct Justice

---------------

To all of you who spoke or wrote in opposition to the Texas Department of Family & Protective (sic) Services (DFPS) proposed rule 40 TAC 748.7, which allows ICE and ICE-contract facilities to apply for licensing as "residential child care." 

Thank you. 

Happy New Year: You're DEPORTED!

I met Paul Zoltan, immigration lawyer and human being extraordinaire, when I wanted to work a little closer to home helping refugees. Although going to South Texas to help the mothers and children crossing the border is extremely rewarding — and I know it helped both refugees and Sacred Heart Respite Center, which continues to do great work — I needed a place where I could volunteer my time and services closer to home. 

© Lalo Alcaraz 2014

Paul Zoltan has mounted an incredible operation, together with Catholic Charities of Dallas. 

But as all operations go, he needs much help. 

If you are a lawyer, a writer, a translator, a teacher, a good samaritan — and you can offer your assistance — please contact me to help out at the next pro se asylum clinic in February at Catholic Charities of Dallas. We hold these immigration clinics every two months now, so we are in constant need of volunteers! 

Just in Time for MLA in Austin...

Just in time for the MLA Conference in Austin from January 7th through January 10th, I am adding these articles, trailers, and information about Ayotzinapa, cronica de un crimen de estado, so that if you happen to go to Austin for the conference, or if you live nearby, you can check out and see this impactful documentary in Spanish with English subtitles at Monkey Wrench Books on Friday, January 8th, at 7:30PM.

Thank you once again to my intrepid colleague Vanessa Vaile for putting this list of articles together. And if you are a filmmaker, do not overlook the STUFF Film Festival links: Robert & Mariella Perez will be reviewing new films now for their next festival Mundo de Sueños in September and then the 2016 STUFF film festival a few months after that! 

 Trailer Ayotzinapa Cronica de un Crimen de Estado en EU - YouTube

 "Ayotzinapa: crónica de un crimen de Estado", en A Contracorriente. Rompeviento TV 28/5/15 - YouTube

 AyotzinapaLaPelícula (@AyotzinapaDocu) | Twitter

 Cine Ayotzinapa - YouTube

 filmfestival

 Mundo De Sueños Film Festival - FilmFreeway

 STUFF 2015 Film Festival by South Texas Underground Film Festival

Why is ABC Hiding from the Public the US Dirty Laundry on the Treatment of Refugee Families?

When Pope Francis touches US soil, he will begin a whirlwind tour through the northeast corner of our vast country. As such, he decided to hold a virtual audience with several parts of the country he would not be able to visit during his brief sojourn here. Via satellite then, he spoke with students at the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago’s inner city; the homeless in Los Angeles and those dedicated people who work with them; and finally, parishioners from Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas, many of whom have led the country in efforts to show that the refugee crisis in the United States is a humanitarian crisis, not a political tool to be volleyed back and forth. 

By far, mothers and children are the usual type of refugees we encounter at the border in Texas
Photo Credit, LA Times

The one-hour special aired on ABC News 20/20 on Friday, September 4th, at 9 pm CST. Moreover, it has been posted in its entirety in both English and Spanish on ABCNews.com. 

Ayotzinapa: Chronicle of a State Crime/ Ayotzinapa: Crónica de un crimen de Estado

September 26 — the one-year anniversary of the Ayotzinapa students' forced disappearance from Iguala, Mexico — is coming up. Yet the impunity of taking student teachers en masse laughs at the face of any democracy, and we should all cry out.

As the new semester begins, please share with everyone this film with English subtitles — Ayotzinapa, Chronicle of a State Crime— including your classes if you are teaching at the university level, especially. This film is essential to courses where social justice themes play a vital part, as these 43 student teachers are still nowhere to be found. Thus, you can discuss the wherewithal of government corruption and the narco-state. 

What happens if...

Keith Hoeller Gives Tribute to David Heller, Adjunct Philosopher who Meets Death Too Soon

David Heller, an adjunct philosophy instructor for years, just died at the age of 61 from complications from an untreated thyroid condition. Longtime adjunct activist Keith Hoeller wrote a few words about him — and with his permission — I wanted to share his words with you here, so that all could see and thus also share. 

Make sure you also read about our colleague in the linked article, because we are all in this together... 

Rest in peace, David Heller.  

David Heller stands in front of the bookstore where he worked
Photo Credit by Charles Fischer

Joe Berry's COCAL Update included several stories about Washington state. I wanted to highlight one of them that deals with the death of an adjunct at 61: 

"Adjuncts Struggle to Balance Dreams of Teaching with Low Wages" http://www.seattlemag.com/article/adjuncts-struggle-balance-dreams-teaching-low-wages

It is about the death of David Heller, who taught philosophy as an adjunct at Seattle University. My colleague Jack Longmate is quoted in the article. 

Chaos in a Fragmented World: Understanding it?

The more we try to shape our social justice, the more we see that there is no shape to it at all, that it encompasses everything, from inequality to advocacy. 

Mural in the streets of Memphis, Tennessee
© Ana M. Fores Tamayo

Vanessa Vaile from Precarious Faculty and I were discussing this the other day, and she sent me a list of all possible intersections. It is amazing -- when we think about this -- how all topics tie in together:

poverty, public education, workplace, immigration, refugees, globalization, austerity, discrimination, race, gender, religion, neo-colonialism, neo-liberal economics, consumption and consumerism ~ even sustainability and environmental issues because those too are driven by economic inequality and consumption.

So I am sharing with you here — as Vanessa shared with me — two lists of articles on social justice, poverty, and basic income.