Buzz in Tucson Weekly

'Cause if You Read it in Print, it's Got to Be True

Just announced, Gabrielle Gifford's former intern Daniel Hernandez will be speaking at the Tucson Writes Night event where I'll have the opportunity to speak a bit about writing before celebrating the work of some young writers.

A Dangerous Example of the Bootstraps Myth

Mexican Immigrant Returns for Mayoral Race in Mexico


(photo by Janet Jarman for The New York Times)

From the New York Times:
"The candidate, Juan Navarro, is a Mexican immigrant with homes in Queens and New Jersey, and his electoral goal is an office 2,200 miles away: the mayoralty of the small city of Serdán, Mexico. Mr. Navarro, a legal resident of the United States, has made his expatriate identity a major theme in his platform, saying that his experiences as an up-by-his-bootstraps immigrant have taught him hard lessons that would make him a sensitive civic leader in Serdán, his hometown."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/nyregion/02mexican.html?nl=nyregion&emc=ura1

The Danger
I'm all for hometown boy makes good stories, but we see how success stories for people of color can become a part of the bootstraps myth when politicized. It's difficult to say whether Juan Navarro champions himself with the bootstraps myth, or whether he has been labeled by this terminology by others. However, whenever someone is isolated as an example of having pulled themselves up by his or her bootstraps, the people who have either directly or indirectly contributed to Navarro's success are dismissed. We could benefit from hearing more about his family, or perhaps about the community in which he lived while in the U.S that helped him succeed.

Los Suns

Celebrating Victories Among Losses(Getty Image)

I was pleased to read on Yahoo Sports that the Suns would be wearing their Cinco de Mayo 'Noche Latina alternates' as a show of solidarity against SB 1070. It's difficult to say whether the Suns are trying to anticipate and avoid a boycott of the team.

Today, I signed a petition to move the baseball All Star Game from Phoenix as a protest, so this could just be what is called 'getting in front' of a controversy/bad news. Either way, more visibility of this issue is what is needed to shame Arizona on a national platform into overturning SB 1070.

Conference & Marching in South Arizona

New Directions in Critical Theory

This year's conference this past weekend was amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I presented at one panel and moderated another. At the panel I moderated on the GEAR UP writing centers in local high schools, I had the pleasure of Walter Mignolo sitting in the audience as I facilitated a lively discussion.
I like this particular picture because the teachers decided that they didn't want to speak from behind the table during the round-table discussion. Although as more nerves were struck through the course of discussion, I told the panel speakers, "That's why you want the table between you and the audience." At the same time, the empty row in the front there doesn't accurately depict the audience of high school teachers, librarian, college English teachers, administrators and members from the Latino Caucus present.(Caucus members Enrique, Andy, myself, Damian with Paul Espinosa)

Other highlights and speakers from the conference included Paul Espinosa's showing of his PBS film The Border, the trailer of the Dos Vatos documentary Precious Knowledge, and keynote speaker Walter Mignolo's discussion of decoloniality.

(Caucus members Andy, Aja, myself and Enrique with Walter Mignolo)
In the future, I hope to post more on the documentary Precious Knowledge because Dos Vatos are so close to having it completed, but still need to raise funds. I will also elaborate on Mignolo's discussion as well the Saturday March in Tucson against SB1070 that I participated in.

Power Lines

Inspiration for Collaboration
Dr. Aimee Carrillo Rowe spoke at a Feminist Action Research in Rhetoric (FARR) event, hosted by Dr. Adela Licona's Bodies of Knowledge seminar, which is organized around looking at bodies as gendered and racialized social identities, as well as the examination of the historical formations of these identities. The literature creates moments of disruption that allow us to focus on dominant assumptions and who is given authority to create and hold knowledge. In Dr. Carrillo Rowe’s “Whose America”? The Politics of Rhetoric and Space in the Formation of U.S. Nationalism,” I was surprised and saddened by how fitting this piece was in the shadow of the recent immigration legislation SB1070 here in Arizona.

Carrillo Rowe criticizes the issues raised by SB 1070 and "the state’s protection of citizens and the deeply embedded racist and imperialistic assumptions that undergird U.S. citizenship.” Carrillo Rowe's scholarship with Licona reminds us though how identity shifts across geographic space, encouraging us to be productive participants in this shift. I promise to write more about Carrillo Rowe's talk from her book Power Lines: On the Subject of Feminist Alliances.

Click Here to go to the Preface

Cheech, what do we do?

Reality Mirroring Art
With the passing of SB1070, I genuinely hope that this politicized issue is only that: a political ploy to get McCain and Brewer reelected by the conservative majority. Immigration is a much more complex issue that requires reform beyond turning Arizona into a police state. I am glad to see Obama has criticized the immigration bill that will potentially ruin many lives for political gain of few.
Which leads me to film Born in East L.A., in which Cheech Marin plays a Mexican American wrongfully deported to Mexico because he is unable to provide a green card during an INS raid. In this scene, we see that SB 1070's provision to provide documentation hasn't previously proven to have a track record as a panacea for immigration reform.




Undocumented laborers, like everyone following the flow of capital, will respond with innovations to work the system in much the same way that global companies pursue higher profit margins by switching to countries with cheaper labor forces, with no regard for human rights violations. Arizona's economy is in the tank and the conservatives in power know that if they support any anti-immigration issue, they'll get the votes they need. It's the unfortunate reality of politics and power using fear to motivate the majority without concern for what happens to communities.

Electro Movimiento

On-line Coalitions
No, I don't mean the Calle 13 song when I say "Electro Movimiento." I wanted to compliment all of the on-line movements against SB1070, including those on Facebook like
1 MILLION Strong AGAINST the Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 and The People Against SB 1070 Also, organizations like ¡Alto Arizona! have had an on-line presence, which has helped to spread awareness, and hopefully address the bill as a step backwards in Civil Rights

As with any discussion of race, many non-minority or racially marked persons have difficulty speaking about this bill because their standpoints do not allow them to live the experience of a racially marked person. For this reason, there is a lot of discussion of legal rhetoric in order for supporters of SB1070 to play the rhetorical shell-game of, 'we're not talking about race, we're talking about a legal issue.' It would be helpful for people who do not see it as a racial profiling issue to acknowledge that this is not something they have experienced in their realities, and might therefore respect the opinions of those who have, and fear for its institutionalization within the spirit of this law, if not in the letter.

A conversation that needs to be discussed is the One Cent tax to try and save Arizona schools from having to proceed with massive layoffs.
For more information on Prop 100

Update: Video of an anti-SB1070 Rally in Tucson

My Literacy is Cultural

My Digital Literacy Narrative

So I've been checking back on the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives, and I found that mine has been posted. It's like 14 mins long--didn't realize I did so much talking--but watching it, I remember why I posted on this earlier. The DALN project at Ohio State is an interesting project for all of the different ways that it can provide examples for Literacy Narratives in digital form; although, as someone who's participated and contributed to the archive, I really feel like it was just an amazing opportunity to speak about literacy in an intimate way--yes, technology and new media can allow for intimate, mediated experiences that might not have been possible if it were not for the presence and potential permanence that new media objects offer.

If you're interested in seeing me rattle on for 14 mins about the impact of culture on my literacy, click on the link, and then click on the view/open link of the page.
http://daln.osu.edu/handle/2374.DALN/1381

Speak Against Draconian Rights Violations

From yahoo:

"Arizona Illegal-Immigrant Law Draws Strong Opposition

The toughest anti-illegal-immigrant measure in a generation passed the Arizona legislature this week. If signed, as expected, by Republican governor Jan Brewer, the law will give local police sweeping new powers in regard to undocumented workers. Currently, immigration offenses are violations of federal, not state, law, and local police officers only can inquire about a person's immigration status if that person is suspected of another crime. Under SB1070, however, Arizona police will have the right to stop anyone on "reasonable suspicion" that they may be an illegal immigrant and can arrest them if they are not carrying a valid driver's license or identity papers." (source Yahoo News)

Write Gov. Jan Brewer and Tell Her What You Think about this Terrible Use of Tax Money

Jan Brewer's contact information (photos from Jan Brewer's Photo Gallery)
The full mailing address is:
The Honorable Jan Brewer
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

Telephone (602) 542-4331
Toll Free 1-(800) 253-0883
Fax (602) 542-1381

Or click on the link to fill out a form e-mail (what I did)

Brewer is responding to the conservative scare-tactics that try to make the people of Arizona worry about hard-working undocumented laborers; instead, the people of Arizona should be worrying about the massive school district layoffs.

If you're not sure how to voice your outrage, feel free to mention some of these points:

• Arizona's budget crisis has state resources stretched thin, making the stress on state law enforcement even greater
  

• Many undocumented people work for substandard living, providing services to many small and larger local businesses in Arizona, contributing to Social Security funds that they will never cash in on, and paying retail taxes for all of their purchases in this country.
  
• this law is a misappropriation of state funds that will only serve to weaken an already stressed economy.

• Instead of putting this money into harassing hard-working people in our country, this money would be put to better use, reinvesting into the educational system of our state that has been hit with many school district firings.
  
• With an emphasis on education in our state, we might better strengthen our state infrastructure, making it a more attractive option for businesses to bring revenue and job-creating industry.
  
• Border patrol fulfill a certain need, one of which being the enforcement of illegal drug smuggling

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