a publication of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center

December 2012/January 2013 | Vol. 25 Issue 10 San Antonio, Tejas

ATTENTION VOZ READERS: If you have a correction you want to make on your mailing label please send it in to lavoz@esperanzacenter.org. If you do not wish to continue on the mailing list for whatever reason please notify us as well. La Voz is provided as a courtesy to people on the mailing list of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. The subscription rate is $35 per year. The cost of producing and mailing La Voz has substantially increased and we need your help to keep it afloat. To help, send in your subscriptions, sign up as a monthly donor, or send in a donation to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thank you. -GAR

VOZ VISION STATEMENT: La Voz de Esperanza speaks for many individual, progressive voices who are gente-based, multi-visioned and milagro-bound. We are diverse survivors of materialism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism, violence, earth-damage, speciesism and cultural and political oppression. We are recapturing the powers of alliance, activism and healthy conflict in order to achieve interdependent economic/spiritual healing and fuerza. La Voz is a resource for peace, justice, and human rights, providing a forum for criticism, information, education, humor and other creative works. La Voz provokes bold actions in response to local and global problems, with the knowledge that the many risks we take for the earth, our body, and the dignity of all people will result in profound change for the seven generations to come.

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La Voz deEsperanza

Dec 2012 / Jan 2013vol. 25 issue 10

Editor Gloria A. Ramírez

Design Monica V. Velásquez

ContributorsGilbert J. Murillo, Geraldo Pérez,

Rosemberg Balboa Pérez, Roberto Cintli Rodríguez,

Caroline Rivera, Teri Schneider

Esperanza DirectorGraciela I. Sánchez

Esperanza Staff Imelda Arismendez, Itza Carbajal, Verónica Castillo, Marisol Cortez, Jezzika Pérez, Melissa Rodriguez,

Beto Salas, Susana Segura, Monica V. Velásquez

Conjunto de Nepantleras-Esperanza Board of Directors-Brenda Davis, Araceli Herrera, Rachel Jennings, Amy Kastely,

Kamala Platt, Ana Ramírez, Gloria A. Ramírez, Rudy Rosales, Nadine Saliba, Graciela Sánchez

• We advocate for a wide variety of social, economic & environmental justice issues.• Opinions expressed in La Voz are not

necessarily those of the Esperanza Center.

La Voz de Esperanza is a publication of

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212

(on the corner of Evergreen Street)

210.228.0201 • fax 210.228.0000www.esperanzacenter.org

Inquiries/Articles can be sent to:lavoz@esperanzacenter.orgArticles due by the 8th of each month

Policy Statements

* We ask that articles be visionary, progressive, instructive & thoughtful. Submissions must be literate & critical; not sexist, racist, homophobic, violent, or oppressive & may

be edited for length. * All letters in response to Esperanza activities or articles in La Voz will be considered for publication. Letters with intent to slander individuals or groups will not be published.

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center is funded in part

by the NEA, TCA, theFund, Astraea Lesbian Fdn

for Justice, Coyote Phoenix Fund, AKR Fdn, Peggy

Meyerhoff Pearlstone Fdn, The Kerry Lobel & Marta

Drury Fund of Horizon’s Fdn, y nuestra buena gente.

T he 23rd annual Peace Market on November 23rd and 24th at the Esperanza Center was a memorable one for me. As I figured out vendor spots the Monday before Peace Market I couldn’t imagine how the mercado would turn out. I had had to wait to assign spaces indoors because

there had been an exhibit downstairs and the Azul concert on Sat-urday evening upstairs. I could not assign spaces outdoors because we wanted to open up space on San Pedro Ave. and I needed the go ahead to plot vendor spaces. By Friday, it was clear that the extension to San Pedro was not going to happen. The cost was prohibitive. We would have had to rent water barrels to close off lanes that would cost more than $1500.

By Tuesday, everything was set indoors and vendors arrived to set up. Wednesday, I figured out the outdoor vendors, but they would not set up until actual Peace Market days. I was nervous because I had too many vendors who had requested tents. But, the shifting of vendors and sites happened suddenly with one tent vendor agreeing to come indoors and another cancelling at the last minute. Finally, I was able to figure everything out.

Fairly relaxed on Friday morning, I observed as the outdoor vendors on the street, patio and with tents arrived all at once. Even though it was a bit hectic, all went well until some-one came to tell me that one of the tent vendors did not have an assigned space. I had left someone out from the tent line-up! Fortunately, there was space at the end.

Another outdoor vendor told me that she really did not like her spot on the patio, at all! She preferred being in the street. Since I had a small space left upstairs, I wondered if one of the small vendors would move indoors and let her take his spot. He did, she did and all was well. At the end of the day, staff decided to try a computerized check-out system that took time to set up. Once it got going –the check-out went quickly. All in all, this was the best Peace Market, ever, except for an accident that happened to one of the vendors that fell and got hurt. Hopefully, she is recovering well.

An amazing thing did happened on Friday, when it was so hectic, I saw the three original board members of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center here in the same time period! Judy Wade, Carol Rodríguez and Susan Guerra were all here, but they never saw each other! I told Carol that Judy was here and told Susan that Carol was here but it was so crowded that they never found each other. I had worked with each of them in the early days of Esperanza at the old space at 1305 N. Flores. I so wished they could see each other, but they did not. Another person who’s been around 25 years was Laura Codina who spent time with the international vendors translating. Thank you, Laura, as always!

Saturday, I found a bit of time to stop by Rosemberg Balboa’s tent for him to do a reading based on the Aztec calendar using my birth date. I had wanted to do a reading last year when he was in the pink room but he was always packed with people and I never got the chance. This time I got the reading as he burned copal and performed a cleansing with the vibrations from the conch he blew. Principally, my guiding symbols are calli, ollin and tochtli. These correspond to the day, month and year that I was born. Each has its characteristics that cor-respond to my personality. He sent me the details later by email. Fairly accurate, I would say. Susana tells me that the website, azteccalendar.com, gives you this information, also.

Rosemberg had previously sent me an article about the Aztec calendar in Spanish that is included in this issue of La Voz. Hopefully it will inspire you to learn more about our amaz-ing heritage and history. As the year ends, let us hope we will survive the December 21st date that is supposed to be the end of the world as we know it. Let us vow to make peace with ourselves and all those who come into our circle of being in 2013 and make this a better world. Thanks to all for all you given to us in 2012. - Gloria A. Ramírez

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My grandmothers were very traditional, relying on folk medicine to cure ills such as susto and mal ojo. My grandmoth-ers would stop my nose bleeds by holding deer antlers over a fire and making me inhale the smoke through my nostrils –which worked. Of course, I carried my Ojo De Venado everywhere we went. This kind of healing created a sense of warmth and cozi-ness that only a grandmother could provide. During times of severe illness, my family would travel to the Rio Grande Valley to see curanderos.

For half of my life, I’ve been involved in an organization called the Native American Church. Ceremonies are held all over the U.S. and Canada but are more concentrated in Mirando City, Texas at the home of Amada S. Cardenas. Many songs are sung during ceremony that tell stories of El Venadito.

Also, the most prominent word used in the ceremony is Ya-naguana. Yanaguana is what San Antonio was called before the Spanish arrived and settled here. Its translation means “spirit wa-ters”. The Blue Hole at Incarnate Word is the source of this water and inspiration. The Blue Hole was once a 20 ft. geyser with crys-tal clean water. This is important because Yanaguana is a reference to a specific place with great importance. But Yanaguana was not the only fountain spring of Texas. In fact, along the I-35 corridor there are three more–Comal in New Braunfels, San Marcos and Barton Springs in Austin along the Edwards Plateau. Plains Indi-ans used to follow this route on their way to Mirando City, Texas performing purification ceremonies along the way. The last stop was the Blue Hole area in San Antonio. These two geographical regions together with the geographical area in south Texas called the Peyote Gardens complement the story of the deer that guided our ancestors through the underworld, to the first sunrise told by elders. The story begins at sundown and ends at sunrise. I’ve been told for many years that the San Marcos Springs were the longest continually inhabited area in America which goes along with the story that our ancestors were born from these springs.

A few years ago I was invited to west Texas to look at the work being done on the rock art. On my first visit I was taken to the

Galloway White Shaman Preserve. The preserve was established when Mr. Gale Galloway of Pearsall (my home town) offered to purchase the land so that the rock art called the “White Shaman” could be pro-tected. The White Shaman shelter is at the confluence of the Pecos and Rio Grande Rivers. According to scientists, this painting is 4,000 years old and the story of the deer that guided the first five ancestors through the underworld to the first dawn, is what the painting is about. I was in awe with the theory being

applied which really resonated with me. I was also asked about my perception of the painting. What I noticed first, was the cur-vature of a pattern of concentric circles that looked like water, possibly even springs. After leaving the lower Pecos the thought occurred to me that the story of the deer was perhaps a story of origin –the beginnings of our South Texas peoples.

Long story short, my search has led me to understand that our great state of Texas and its geographic design, must have been the inspiration of our ancestors’ imagination. Barton Springs in Austin, San Marcos Springs, Comal Springs in New Braunfels and the Blue Hole at Incarnate Word, together match the patterns in the rock art. The White Shaman painting, itself, is simply the earliest map of Texas.

Being a geographer, an astronomer and geologist, I have con-ducted my own independent studies finding that the dawn or first sunrise described in the White Shaman painting takes place in the winter solstice. The sunlight appears on the horizon in the south-east and rises along the Texas landscape, past the four fountain springs and continues up the Edward plateau to San Angelo where it appears between Twin Buttes, straight up the middle. The deer that plays such a prominent role in the rock art creation story and

Creation StoryEver since I was little, I would ask myself, “Where do we, Chicanos, come from?” My parents would tell us that we were Mexicanos and during the 60’s and 70’s movimiento, they would emphasize the Mexicans’ return to Aztlán, the birthplace of our people. The history books in school told us that Mexicans settled in Texas and that we came from another country, Mexico. The truth is that there were thou-sands of families in Texas before the Spanish and post colonial Texans arrived. These families were Indian descendants of the rancherias that developed much of the Missions of San Antonio. My father’s father and his father are descendants of the Rancho Pérez, just south of San Antonio along the Medina River. My mother’s family comes from an old Texas settlement called Frio Town which is south of

Uvalde and north of Pearsall. To my knowledge, my grandmothers were both from Monterrey, Mexico in the state of Nuevo Leon. They came across escaping the Mexican Revolution.

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by Geraldo Pérez

Amada S. Cárdenas before her death in 2005.

cont’d on pg 11 . . .

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Vendors have told us they had some of the best sales in Peace Market history. The shoppers were very happy with the variety of international and local hand made goods offered. Many returned for a second day of shopping and comraderie. International

vendors felt very much at home and some stayed a few extra days to enjoy the San Antonio ambiente. Food and drink were plentiful thanks to the many contributions from

The 2012 Peace Market was a huge success!

Lorinda Carr enjoying time with Las Krudas from Austin

María Vasconcellos, 90, sells her paintings

John Stanford takes a spin with Natasha Baca Marisol Cortez enjoys one of the many children at Peace Market

Keta La Coqueta clowns around

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A child admires the wooden parrots from Ecuador

Laura Rios and Joaquin Abrego of Calmeca Tribe perform

Ana Ramírez and Sam Mandelbaum at the Esperanza Tiendita, still open for the holidays

Children surround Susana Segura at raffle time

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business establishments, vendors and our own buena gente. Staff worked tirelessly before, during and after Peace Market days with many folks dropping by to lend a hand. While these pages do not afford us the space to write everyone’s name down, please be assured that we, at the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, extend our deepest thanks to you all for your support of the 2012 Peace Market, Friday and Saturday, November 23rd and 24th. They were family and fun-filled, lively and loving and left everyone looking forward to next year. ¡Mil gracias!

Top: Nasrin Piri sold tasty food to

hungry shoppers

Bottom: The Vasquez family of

Oaxaca put final touches on their

Zapotec rugs

Right (from top):

Maruch Mendes Peres of Taller

Leñateros in Chiapas

Beatriz Aguilar, shows off her

Frida dresses

Marcolina Salvador Hidalgo of

Puebla from Red Binacional, a

women’s cooperative of artisans

Marisol Cortez enjoys one of the many children at Peace Market

Keta La Coqueta clowns around H. Esperanza Garza & her daughter move through the crowds Bertha Flores and Lety Sánchez share a moment together

Photos by Allison Reynolds (AR), Antonia Padilla (AP) & Esperanza Staff & Buena Gente (EBG)

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LA VOZ • Dec 2012/Jan 2013 • 5

Wednesday, 28 November

2012 00:00By Roberto

Cintli Rodriguez,

Truthout | Op-Ed

“Copyright, Truthout.org.

Reprinted with permission”

Of the top 15 most powerful nations, the United States spends more on its military than the other 14 nations combined, to the tune of $700 billion dollars in 2012,

America’s Future:

War and Peace in the 21st Century

Despite the political rhetoric, America is not defined by its division into red and blue states, but by its addiction to imperialism, exceptionalism and a military budget that positions it as The United States of War.

In the United States, Arizona has come to represent many things; a super-magnet for the ignorant, the backward and the in-sane; a home to racial supremacists and xenophobes and, most of all, a laboratory for hate legislation.

And yet its real political function nowadays is that of a convenient political distraction. Truth is, Arizona is but a mir-ror of the rest of the nation. It is what permits Americans to point the finger at this desolate state, allowing them to feel superior because it represents what America isn’t. Arizona is purportedly the past, symbolized by right wing kooks like Gov. Jan Brewer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Attorney General Tom Horne, ad nauseam.

But Arizona is an aberration only in a symbolic sense. Such “aberrations” permit the media overlords and their talk-ing heads to have a field day discussing our most recent elec-tions. It permits them to exuberantly dissect the exit polls, break down demographics, examine the Latino and women’s vote and the coming new majority, which includes people of color, white women and the LGBT community. It permits them to dis-cuss what this means for the future of the nation, without ever broaching the most important topic of all: war.

For many conservatives, this coming new majority - repre-sented by the browning of America - is already here and signals the end of the American Dream. For these conservatives, Presi-dent Obama and this new majority are prima facie evidence for what Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly recently proclaimed: that traditional America no longer exists.

Contrarily, for the liberal talking heads, this new majority rep-resents a more enlightened America; one that believes in human rights for all and that is more tolerant and more embracing of different peoples, cultures, languages, lifestyles and beliefs. The liberal talking heads believe in the possibility of a new America.

With the president’s re-election, it appears that the old Amer-ica is withering away while the new one is ascendant. And there is no turning back. If this were true, even at a symbolic level, this would represent great news. But this is not quite reality. Through all this discussion, nary a word has been spoken about the busi-ness of America: not democracy, not human rights, not equality, but this nation’s addiction to war.

Who can deny that for all intents and purposes, we now live in The United States of War? Translation: The USA is the imperial power of our times.

Military weaponry, in effect, is this nation’s number one do-

mestic product and its number one export. Of the top 15 most powerful nations, the United States spends more on its military than the other 14 nations combined, to the tune of $700 billion dollars in 2012, accounting for some 40 percent of the world’s military spending. Yet, beyond hardware, what it is actually ex-porting and spreading is its historic ideology: manifest destiny and today’s secular equivalents: American exceptionalism and global dominance.

The previous president put that ideology into effect with his belief that America had the inherent right to pursue unilateral per-manent worldwide war, thus blurring the lines between legal and illegal wars and also at the expense of our rights, liberties, due process and privacy.

One could divide up those who believe or oppose that ide-ology into Republican and Democratic camps, but the reality of

President Obama’s first four years in office is that party affiliation seems to be irrelevant. He has embraced that ideology perhaps even more wholeheartedly than his predecessor. Evidence of this is his expanded use of drone warfare (targeted assassinations sans trials) on a global scale.

And yet it is not simply the president. The new majority has not thus far challenged that imperial ideology. The Middle East is one example: Polls indicate that the majority of Americans continue to support Israeli occupation and aggression (under the guise of defense) against the Palestinian people. And the president’s poli-cies in Iraq and Afghanistan, with his supporters’ acquiescence, have shown little difference from those of his predecessor.

After the Cold War, the nation had a short-lived discussion regarding the peace dividend. In a similar vein, the ascendancy of this new electoral majority calls for a new discussion regard-ing not simply the future of this nation, but about its militaristic character. Absent this discussion, it will matter little how Latinos vote or who this new majority puts into office.

One can infer that this new majority doesn’t simply want that discussion; it also wants its own peace dividend, not simply at home, but abroad. Judging from right wing discontent, peace won’t be gifted to them; it will have to be fought for. Given President Obama’s past inclination to appease and accommodate the wishes of his enemies, rather than those of his liberal/progressive support-ers, he is unlikely to gift peace either. Let the fight for peace begin.

Bio: Contact Roberto “Dr. Cintli” Rodriguez at: XColumn@gmail.com or drcintli.blogspot.com | This article can be found at www.truth-out.org

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“Military weaponry, in effect, is this nation’s number one domestic product and its number one export.”

El calendario “Azteca” es en realidad Olmeca, considerada una de las pri-meras culturas (cultura madre) que habitaron mesoamèrica; desarrollado por ésta hace milenios, y de ahí paso a las diferentes regiones y pueblos del México antiguo (Mayas, Zapo-tecos, Mixtecos, To-tonacas, Náhuatl, etc.) Pero como todos los calendarios que ex-presan la rotación de la tierra alrededor del sol en base al día ter-restre, es inexacto. A través de los siglos fue modificado para hacerlo cada vez más preciso. La úl-tima corrección fue realizada en Huehuetlapallan (Xochicalco, Morelos). Fue en este lugar donde los sabios de mesoamèrica se reunieron para estar de acuerdo y todos los pueblos llevar el mismo sistema de computo matemático-astronómico y con ello se llegó a la cifra de 365.2423 días por año. Como testimonio de este hecho histórico es la estela encontrada en Xochicalco, estado de Morelos lleva la inscripción, 2 serpi-ente, año 1, atadura de año 1, y es considerada por la may-oría de los arqueólogos como una fecha que hace referencia a una corrección al calendario.

Para ellos era de suma importancia que al nacer un indi-viduo, se consultara al “Tonalpohuque”, el sacerdote encar-gado de llevar los registros de nacimientos de las personas, para conocer el destino y el carácter; así como el papel que el individuo debía desempeñar en la sociedad mesoameri-cana.

Cuando un niño nacía en la sociedad Náhuatl, los padres tenían la responsabilidad ineludible al sacerdote y sabio mexihca y, era éste quien después de consultar sus códices

y hacer sus cuentas matemáticas indicaba a los padres cual era el nombre que por

nacimiento le correspondía a la persona (lo que en la tradición

católica es el llamado santo-ral o nombre de pila; es por

eso que a los mexicanos no les fue difícil adoptar esta tradición traída por los españoles a tierras de América), además de esto conocían cual era el carácter, la personali-dad y la esencia del in-dividuo, parte medular en la vida de los pueblos

nativos de América, el conocimiento de sí mis-

mo, el autoconocimiento, conocer el camino de la vida.

Es por eso que los antiguos po-bladores de mesoamèrica lograron

alcanzar grandes conocimientos, ya que permitían el libre desarrollo de las ca-

pacidades y aptitudes de cada persona, no les im-ponían una educación, una disciplina o una profesión sino que el individuo tenía la libertad de elegir la que fuera mas apropiada a su persona; por lo tanto en la sociedad no había una sobresaturación de carreras o actividades económicas.

Así mismo la vida política, económica, social, cultural, la educación y la religión tenían sus fundamentos en un computo astronómico y matemático muy preciso, que es nuestro calendario. Desde el nacimiento hasta la muerte el azteca regía su vida en la ciencia de Quetzalcoatl, que es la ciencia de la vida; lo cual le permitió tener avances cientí-ficos y tecnológicos muy grandes en las diversas áreas del conocimiento.

El señor Francisco Javier Clavijero, en su libro de la Historia Antigua de México, nos hace referencia a esta parte, “Que cuando el niño nacía incluso a las pocas horas de este suceso, los padres so pena de ser castigados recur-

La vida de los antiguos mexicanos y en general de los pueblos pre-hispánicos giraba alrededor del calendario que le nombraron “TONALPOHUALLI” de Tonalli: día y Pohualli: contar “la cuenta

de los días”. Entre los Mayas se le conoce como “Tzolkin” “la rueda de los días” o destinos. Los historiadores hacen referencia a este sistema como calendario ritual o sagrado.

Y LA FILOSOFIA DE LOS PUEBLOS PREHISPÁNICOSEL CALENDARIO AZTECA

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rían al oráculo, para conocer la ventura o desventura de esta persona y cual era su destino que estaba escrito en los libros sagrados llamados “Amoxtlis” que hoy cono-cemos como códices”.

Uno de los libros que estos sacerdotes consultaban es el “Tonalamatl” de Tonalli: día y Amatl: papel o li-bro, “el papel o libro de los días o destinos”, algunos investigadores le llaman calendario ritual o sagrado, ya que para los Mayas y Aztecas estos libros constituían una verdadera sabiduría que servía de guía a los seres humanos de estos pueblos. En Náhuatl también se les conocen con el nombre de AMOXTLIS (libros sagra-dos) en otras palabras una Biblia Mexicana. Y es este TONALAMATL, uno de los pocos libros que sobrevivió a la furia y a la barbarie de los ignorantes españoles que en su afán de encontrar oro y riquezas quemaron miles y miles de estos libros, destruyeron bibliotecas enteras, querían acabar con nuestra cultura; afortunadamente se ha podido conservar un ejemplar que actualmente se en-cuentra en una de las bibliotecas de la ciudad de Paris, en Francia.

Algunos historiadores y antropólogos oficiales han querido degradar al “Tonalpohualli” diciendo que es un calendario adivinatorio; nuestro calendario que es el más exacto que ha existido hasta nuestros días y hasta el momento no ha existido pueblo o nación que lo su-pere; es un sistema de conocimientos matemáticos y astronómicos que ordenados de manera tal “casi per-fecto”, nos permite conocer el universo, el tiempo, la vida, el cosmos, a los animales, a las plantas y todos los ciclos que se suceden en la tierra. Los Mayas llegaron a calcular que la tierra en su ciclo sinódico, lo que tarda en dar la vuelta alrededor del sol, tiene un error de 2 segundos cada 10 mil años, otros dicen que este error es de 12 segundos cada 25 840 años.

El calendario actual que se le conoce con el nombre de Gregoriano, en honor o nombre del Papa Gregorio XIII, antes calendario Juliano en honor a Julio Cesar emperador Romano; sufrió una reforma o modificación en 1582 al cual se le tuvieron que quitar 10 días para ajustarlo y así coincidir el calendario astronómico con el calendario civil.

El Tonalpohualli esta sustentado en el periodo de gestación del ser humano, que en condiciones normales el feto tarda 260 días en el vientre de su madre. Desde el momento de la fecundación hasta el momento del nacimiento del individuo hace el recorrido total del Tonalpohualli. Es por ello que al nacer el niño tiene características muy bien definidas que lo diferencian de las demás personas, tiene un cúmulo de caracterís-ticas psicológicas y físicas, un carácter, una personali-dad, una esencia, un potencial humano, capacidades y también deficiencias que lo hacen ser único. Así mismo sabían cual era la vocación de cada persona y a cual de las escuelas tenían que asistir si al Telpochcalli “escuela de jóvenes”, el Calmecac “hilera de casas”, escuela de enseñanza superior, al Cihuacalli “escuela para mu-

jeres”, o Cuicacalli “escuela del canto y la poesía.La historia oficial nos dice que en el México anti-

guo existían dos calendarios, una civil y otro religioso o rituálico, nada mas falso que eso. Los mexicanos, tanto Mayas como los pueblos de origen Náhuatl conocieron un solo calendario que tiene como base el Tonalpohual-li, con el cual se pueden realizar diferentes cómputos matemáticos y astronómicos y tener un conocimiento exacto de las cosas y de los diferentes ciclos que la natu-raleza, como la energía se va manifestando en la vida y en el planeta en sus diferentes formas.

Los diferentes cálculos matemáticos que desarrollaron los aztecas son: el ciclo de la luna que consta de 13 periodos de 28 días cada uno en un año, el ciclo de Venus de 584 días, el ciclo de la tierra que es de 365.25 y se le conoce como el Xihuitl que es el año solar, la cuenta de los señores o regentes de la no-che que es de 360 días, así como los ciclos de Júpiter, de Marte, etc.

Cabe hacer algunas precisiones a cerca del Calendario Azteca, los antropólogos dicen que el calendario se repite después de 52 años, esto es una verdad a medias; ya que en la cuenta de los días el Calendario Mexicano que también se le puede llamar Calen-dario Mesoamericano, se repite o vuelve a su punto de partida hasta después de 1040 años, esto es pasados 20 fuegos nuevos, es decir 20 periodos de 52 años cada uno (Un fuego nuevo por cada uno de los veinte días del calendario). En cada periodo de 52 años que es un siglo mexicano hay una diferencia de 13 días; entonces tenemos que después de 20 fuegos nuevos se completa un Tonalpohualli de 260 días. ¡Realmente sorprendente todo lo tenían perfectamente calculado y estructurado en base al desarrollo cotidiano de sus actividades!

En lo que se refiere a la cuenta de los años llamada “Xiuhpohualli” que consta de 4 periodos de 13 años cada uno, ésta si se repite cada 52 años; a este periodo de 52 años se le denomina siglo mexicano; al termino de este se lleva a cabo la celebración del ritual del fuego nuevo (renovación tanto material como espiritual). A dos periodos de 52 años cada uno 104 años en total se le llama HUEHUETILIZTLI (una vejez). Aquí hacemos

Así mismo la vida política, económica,

social, cultural, la educación y

la religión tenían sus fundamentos en un computo astronómico y

matemático muy preciso, que es

nuestro calendario.

1 - Cipactli

2 - Ehecatl

3 - Calli

4 - Cuetzpallin

5 - Coatl

6 - Miquiztli

7 - Mazatl

8 - Tochtli

9 - Atl

10 - Itzcuintli

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notar que la cuenta de los días y la cuenta de los años son independientes, corren por su cuenta.

El Tonalpohualli se compone de 20 glifos que corre-sponde a los días, comenzando por: Cipactli (cocodrilo), Ehecatl (viento), Calli (casa), Cuetzpallin ( lagartija), Coatl (serpiente), Miquiztli (muerte), Mazatl (venado), Tochtli (conejo), Atl (agua), Itzcuintli (perro), Ozomaht-li (momo), Malinalli (hierba), Acatl (Carrizo), Océlotl (jaguar), Cuauhtli (águila), Cozcacuauhtli (águila de col-

lar o zopilote rey), Ollin (movimiento), Técpatl (ped-ernal), Quiáhuitl (lluvia) y Xóchitl (flor); a estos

20 signos se les agregan 13 números y se con-jugan entre si para formar 20 grupos de 13

días cada uno, llamadas “trecenas”El año solar es la base del cal-

endario civil mediante el cual los mexihcas determinaban la pro-

fusión de ceremonias y rituales asociados a los ciclos agríco-

las. El Xihuitl (xihuitl: lit-eralmente se traduce como planta o hierba en referen-cia a su ciclo vital), el año azteca que se compone de 365.25 días y que esta dividido en 18 grupos de 20 días cada uno, llama-dos “veintenas”, al cual al termino de éstas se agregan 5 días llamados Nemontemis y ¼ de día mas que corresponden a 6 horas. Por tal motivo la celebración del año

nuevo no se realizaba en la misma fecha ni en la misma

hora.Las veintenas del calen-

dario son las siguientes: Atlaca-hualo “lo que nos ha dejado el

agua”, Tlacaxipehualiztli “el des-ollaminto de hombres” significa el

cambio que se da en las personas y en la naturaleza “la primavera”, Tozoztontli

“la pequeña vigilia”, Ueitozoztontli “la vigil-ia grande”, Toxcatl “la fiesta de Tezcatlipoca, Et-

zalcualiztli “cuando se come etzalli, granos de elotes tiernos”, Tecuelhuitontli “la pequeña celebración de los señores, Ueitecuilhuitl “la fiesta grande de los señores”, Tlaxochimaco “cuando se ofrendan flores”, Xocotlhuet-zi “cuando caen los frutos”, Ochpaniztli “el barrer de los caminos”, Teotleco “cuando se juntan los generadores de la vida”, Tepeilhuitl “la fiesta de los cerros”, Quecholli “aves de brillante plumaje, los flamencos”, Panquetzaliz-tli “el levantamiento de los estandartes o banderas”, Ate-moztli “el descenso de las aguas, Tititl “cuando todo se encoge”, Izcalli “renovación, resurgimiento, reflexión”,

Nemontemi “lo vivido” periodo de 5 días que sirve para reflexionar y hacer los preparativos para la celebración del año nuevo.

El Xiuhpohualli o la cuenta de años se conforman con 4 glifos. De los 20 signos que corresponden a los días se extraen 4 para formar los años y estos son: Acatl (caña), Técpatl (pedernal), Calli (casa) y Tochtli (conejo) y a éstos también se les asigna 13 números para formar 4 grupos de 13 años llamados “Tlalpilli”, algo así como “hijos de la tierra”, que conforman el siglo mexicano de 52 años al cabo del cual se realizaba la celebración de la ceremonia del fuego nuevo. La celebración de el año nuevo se realiza de esta forma: años Acatl a las 6 de la mañana, cuando el sol sale por el oriente, años Tecpatl a las 12 del día, cuando el sol esta en lo mas alto del cielo, años Calli a las 6 de la tarde, cuando el sol se esta ocultando por el poniente y, años Tochtli a las 12 de la noche, cuando el sol esta por debajo de la tierra.

Cabe mencionar que una de las pocas diferencias que se han encontrado entre el calendario Maya y el calen-dario Azteca es que, los Náhuatl inician su año nuevo el 26 de febrero, que es una fecha cercana al equinoccio de primavera y los Mayas inician su año nuevo el 16 de julio, cuando ya ha pasado el solsticio de verano.

En 1582 el Papa Gregorio XIII promulgo el nuevo calendario que regiría a Occidente, llamado Gregoriano por ser él su promotor. Ordeno hacer una reforma para compensar las desviaciones del calendario Juliano y hac-er coincidir el año civil con el año trópico. La tarea re-cayó en una comisión que dirigida por Cristóbal Clavio que basándose en los cálculos de Luigi Lilio (el autén-tico artífice de la reforma), presentó el nuevo calendario al Papa. Los cálculos supusieron un día medio de 24 horas y un año medio de 365 días, 5 horas, 49 minutos y 20 segundos (26 segundos más que el año real). Para ello se alternarían años de 365 días, años de 366 días.El calendario Gregoriano, el que actualmente usamos tiene algunos defectos, los principales de ellos son la difer-ente duración de los meses. Otro defecto, aunque menor, es que las semanas no corresponden con los meses, y para el calendario eclesiástico la variabilidad del día de Pascua. Tiene una duración con el año real de 25.96 se-gundos o 26 segundos redondeándolo, por lo que desde 1582 se han acumulado 2 horas 12 minutos y 12 segun-dos de retraso, y en el 4909 sumará un día entero. De esto se desprende que este calendario tiene un error de 1 día en 3327 años. Los Mayas y otros pueblos de meso-amèrica unos mil años antes de Cristo ya habían llegado a la conclusión de que la tierra tiene una variación en su ciclo de traslación de 2 segundos cada 10 mil años.u

Bio: Rosemberg Balboa Pérez nacio en el Estado de Chiapas en 1973. Desde muy pequeño le intereso la historia y las leyendas de las tradiciones mexicanas. Realizo estudios de Filosofia Nahuatl, Psicología Prehispanica, y Matematica Maya, en el Instituto de Antropologia Gnóstica (C.E.G). Se dedica a la Lectura e Interpretacion del Calendario Azteca y Maya, asi como a difundir esta sabiduria a través de platicas, conferencias y exposiciones culturales.

Así mismo la vida política, económica,

social, cultural, la educación y

la religión tenían sus fundamentos en un computo astronómico y

matemático muy preciso, que es

nuestro calendario.

2 - Ehecatl

11 - Ozomatli

12 - Malinalli

13 - Acatl

14 - Ocelotl

15 - Cuauhtli

16 - Cozcacuauhtli

17 - Ollin

18 - Tecpatl

19 - Quiahuitl

20 - Xochitl

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In ancient Mexican times, life revolved around a calen-dar named “TONALPOHUALLI”. The Mayans referred to the calendar as “Tzolkin”–”the wheel of the days” or des-tiny. Historians refer to this system as a ritualistic calendar or sacred calendar.

The Aztec calendar is in reality Olmeca who are con-sidered to be the first civilization that inhabited Mesoamer-ica and who continued to develop the calendar for mille-niums until it was passed into different regions of ancient Mexico (Mayas, Zapotecas, Mixtecos, Totonacas, Nahuatl, etc.). Through the cen-turies modifications have been made to help make the calendar be more precise. The last modification was done in Hue-huetlapallan (Xochicalco, Morelos). It was during this time the Mesoamerican wise men came together to agree on the same mathematical-astronomical sys-temic calculations that all people would follow. As a result the number 365.2423 was agreed on as the total number of days per year which is recorded in a site in Xochi-calco.

To the people of this era it was paramount that when a child was born, the “Tonalpohuque” or town priest in charge of registering births, be consulted to help predict the child’s destiny and character according to the calendar. This would determine the role the child would play in Mesoamerican Society.

When a child was born into the Nahuatl community, par-ents bore the responsibility of seeking out the town priest to help figure out the codes and mathematical calculations that determined the child’s name. Besides determining the given name other vital information was also discovered and discussed including the child’s personality, overall indi-vidual essence, self-awareness, and his or her path through life. Life in politics, economics, society, culture, education, and religion also had their own fundamental astronomical/ mathematical precise computations, that were found in this calendar.

In his book, “La Historia Antigua de Mexico (The Sto-ry of Ancient Mexico)”, author Francisco Javier Clavijero writes that when a child was born, just a few hours after birth, the parents would go looking for the town oracle for fear of being punished if they didn’t seek him out. They wanted to know their child’s fortune or misfortune and their destiny as written in the sacred books called “Amox-tlis” which we now know as “codices” –considered to be a

Mexican bible. Another book the clergy would follow was known as, “Tonalamatl de Tonalli”, one of the few books that survived the desecration of the Spanish conquest. It is now housed in a library in Paris, France. To the Mayas and Aztecs these books held truths that helped guide the com-munities in local towns.

History tells us that in ancient Mexico there were two calendars that existed, a civil one and a religious or ritualis-

tic one. Most Mexicans used the common Tonal-pohualli calendar as the basis for varied math-

ematical and astronomical computations. The sun is the basis of the calendar.

The Aztec calendar is known to have 365.25 days. It’s divided into 18 groups of 20 days.Tonalpohualli is com-prised of 20 elements corresponding to the days that include symbols for crocodile (Cipactli), wind (Ehecatl), home (Calli), lizard (Cuetzpallin),

serpent (Coatl), death (Miquiztli), deer (Mazatl), rabbit (Tochtli), water (Atl),

the dog (Itzcuintli), monkey (Ozomahtli), weed, (Malinalli), reeds (Carrizo), the jaguar

(Océlotl), the eagle (Cuauhtili), the king vulture (Cozcacuauhtli), movement (Ollin), flint knife (Teec-

patl), rain (Quiáhuitl), and flower ((Xóchitl). Each of those groups is known as a score and each element characterized a component of life. The Aztecs are also credited for different mathematical calculations like the lunar cycle, the Venus cycle, and cycles to the planets, Jupiter and Mars. One of the key differences between the Mayan and Aztec calendars is when the new year is celebrated. The Aztecs celebrated on the 26th of February. The Mayans begin their new year on the 16th of July.

Some historians and anthropologist have argued against the “Tonalpohualli” because they feel it is just a calendar based on “guessing.” However, it is one of the most precise and accurate that has ever existed with a margin of error of 2 seconds every 10,000 years or as others believe an error of 12 seconds every 25,840 years.

Still, there has never been any other calendar created by town or nation that has come close to this one. It is a math-ematical and astronomical system that is almost perfect in composition. Through the use of this calendar we have been able to know the universe, time, life, the cosmos, animals, plants and the cycles that occur on Earth. Note: This summary by Carolina Rivera is based on the article in Spanish by Rosemberg Balboa Pérez in this issue of La Voz.

The Aztec Calendar and the Philosophy of Prehispanic People

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ceremony, exists in a cave called Longhorn Cavern. This figure is known by most people as The Queen’s Shepherd. You can see the deer tail in the figure carved out of granite that scientists consider a natural formation created millions of years ago. It was carved out of the river that created the cave. The story of the deer, the deer songs in our ceremonies and the power of its healing properties are not part of a romantic tale. It is what it is-the Creation Story of Central and South Texas.

As the ending of this world comes (according to the Maya) and the new world begins, a great sense of hope fills me. Our story provides us and my children with a new perspective for the future. No longer will my family need to depend on Texas history, written by the others, to know the story of South Texas Native peoples and how we came to be –what natural order exists within South Texas, and what is likely going to happen to us when we die. F

Bio: Gary Perez- born in San Antonio, adopted from St. PJ’s Orphanage and raised in Pearsall, Tx is Custodian of the Native American Church National Trust in Mirando City, Tx. and Sacred Sites Director for the Indigenous Cultures Institute in San Marcos.

Ofrenda de Paz by Mercedes Quevedo

Lost

i did not intend to

try your patience,

nor test your love,

nor hurt your heart,

nor make you worry,

nor ruin your day.

i was only

lost…lost…lost

in a place strange

to my senses…

a land filled

with incoherent signs and

overwhelming circumstances.

My sense of direction

failed me

just when i needed it most…

left became right…

lost in unfamiliar territory …

seeing no way to reach you.

Forgive me

for being out of touch,

and know that

i may get lost, again, tomorrow.

Just know I have not

forgotten YOU.

I’m merely searching

for the way

to get back to you.

Thank you if you worried, prayed,

phoned, drove, said nice things

or uttered angry words.

Thanks for attempting to find me,

when I could not find myself.

Just know that,

next time, no matter what,

i, just like E.T.,will find a way

to phone home.

LOVE, PEACE, & THANKS to all

- Teri Schneider

Creation Story, cont’d from pg 3

Photo: Debbie perez

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Sister Martha Ann Kirk’s travel journal is about people who are planting seeds of peace and justice by developing

the power of the mind. In these times of “educational reform” her findings help sharpen our own issues about how and what it takes to achieve the best education for our youth. The travel journal is based on her exploratory 2007 and 2008 summer trips to Turkey and dwells on the Kurdish southeastern part, its most impoverished region. For those familiar with Dr. Kirk’s past contributions, the journal is a popular description of her activities in building bountiful cross-cultural relations. (See the journal’s last section: “About the Author”)

The people doing these good works, she writes, are in-spired by the Islamic teachings of a former Muslim Imam, Felthullah M. Gülen, who is internationally acclaimed for his contributions to interfaith and intercultural dialogue that have inspired local projects most often educational ones. In Tur-key, this summer, I spot-checked similar institutions and sim-ilar people listed in the journal and found that I was already a “true believer” of the Gülen system as it is the core of pro-gressive education and pursues the quest for biblical justice. The Gülen or Hizmet (Service) movement promotes democ-racy, human rights, and spirituality while opposing violence and turning religion into a political ideology. Gülen-inspired Turkish schools integrate the country’s advances in democracy and modernity with science, technology, and the Islamic practic-es of giving and serving. The movement addresses the excesses of globalization and modernity by providing general as well as specialized learning, integrating the students’ learning across disciplines and applying civics and democratic activism to com-plex problems and new settings. More simply, Gülen-inspired schools “integrate(s) the youth with the past while preparing them intelligently for the future.”

Serving the UnderservedThere are close parallels between the social conditions of

the underemployed/working class gente of San Antonio-South Texas and the Kurds, the dominate population of southeastern Turkey. As former semi-feudal agricultural workers, the Kurds have a long history of poverty and its traits: large families, low-paid manual workers, crowded and inadequate housing, frequent health problems, limited education, etc. Yet, the Kurd’s historical and geographical dilemmas put them in a far worse risk situation than our pasianos (see Appendix 1, etc.). Thousands in northern Iraq were gassed and massacred by Saddam Hassan’s forces dur-

ing the 1970’s and 1980’s. Over the last 15 years or so the Kurds fled from and dodged the cross-fires of the Turkish army and the revolutionary Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Presently, the Syrian civil war causes a further heightening of the Kurds’ prob-lems in the southeastern region.

Chapter 2 is a case study of how these fierce social conditions undermine the youth’s chances for education. A Gülen follower explains: “people know that if the youth do not get an education

they may become terrorists.” It is common knowledge that many are also lured into lives of crime and violence by drug-dealing Mafiosos. The chapter includes incidents of flagrant wife-abuse and family break-ups. Many Kurds become homeless with the frequent flooding along the banks and plains of the major ancient rivers –one of few sites the poor are able to afford. Then there are the not uncommon earthquakes. Dr. Kirk’s stories, illustrated by pictorial images and told with passionate persuasion, flash the message: poverty and victimization among the Kurds are legion and often intractable.

Bringing the families along a healing and adaptive path re-quires labor-intensive efforts. Like peeling layers from an on-ion, Gülen-inspired groups and volunteers work through scores of difficulties before youth and families are able to put their shoulders to the task of education. Gülen-inspired stewards rise to these challenges by providing immediate resources and then conduct sorbets or small weekly meetings with communi-ty people’s hearings of their needs and visions. In time similar “platicitas” – a series of meetings are held with business and professional leaders who are known to apply key beliefs of the Qur’an: i.e.: “righteous … who believe in Allah” [and] gives wealth, for love of Him …”. Specific requests are for personal

book

revi

ew

A Travel Journal by Martha Ann Kirk with Historical and Geographical Context by Dogan Koc

Book Review by Gilbert J. Murillo

Growing Seeds of Peace: Stories and Images of Service of the Gülen Movement in Southeastern Turkey

Sr. Martha Ann Kirk (in back) with students in Mardin the southeast corner of Turkey near Syria and Iraq.

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planning time and money for social services, building schools, dormitories, and tutoring centers. Partnerships are discussed and bonded, and, suddenly, new buildings begin to go up. Reading between the journal’s lines, one senses new surges of communal hope and growth, much like many energizing passages from the New Testament’s “Acts of the Apostles”. And with good reasons: Allah’s Will is manifested as the Kurdish folk provide their chil-dren with personal tools for a better life. A good life is advanced by contracting and using local service firms, engineers, suppliers and as many local educators, office workers, etc., as possible, promoting community economic development and ultimately ad-dressing the region’s poverty.

Typically, the Turkish educational policies mesh with the community’s because national funding cannot keep up with the region’s demand for new schools but are available to administer, maintain, and staff them. This public-private partnership is fur-

ther solidified by Gülen-inspired teachers and the more literate community folk serv-

ing as volunteer-staff at the cost- free new dormitories (which resolves

financial problems, transporta-tion, etc., especially for the

rural students) and tutoring centers. Along with the work of parents helping elementary school chil-dren with the basics, these well-equipped centers are primarily used by the volunteers for qualifying the stu-dents for the competitive

high school and higher education slots.

Post-script: Back in Texas

The journal provides appendices and a bibliography covering the macro

context of Turkey as a moderate, democratic Is-lamic state and its emerging positive role in the Middle East, and other important subjects. Such a background is important to un-derstanding the limitations of applying the what, why, and how of Gulem system to Texas. For example, in Texas, we are on the defensive, fighting cutbacks, and trying to catch up; in Turkey education is about maintaining and growing as an individual, a nation, and world community.

With that in mind, Martha Ann Kirk’s identifies for us: 1) why and what is good education as she describes the Gülen system, and 2) sharply identifies its holistic approach for enlisting and retaining students until graduation preparing them for college or voc/tech careers. In truth, her findings are one and the same with that of a widely-accepted holistic strategy shared by many educa-tional leaders similar to an article that appeared in the June 2012 issue of La Voz de Esperaza, written by IDRA’s Laura Posner. She uses the “best practices” literature to support the assertion that it is the intervention of choice for efficiency in education. The strategy’s components are 1) Community Capacity Building, 2) Coalition Building, and 3) School Capacity Building. Clearly,

the journal as indicated above, demonstrated how Gülen-Hizmet followers have developed and integrated each of the components into a fine art (cf., copies of Growing Seeds of Peace, Gülen Press, 2012 are available at the Esperanza Library.)

Nationally, locally, the tri-strategy is also the model choice and is being fine-tuned by United Way in their DOE-funded, five years Eastside Promise Project. They are doing educational catch-up in San Antonio District 2’s Wheatley Heights neighbor-hood weighed down with 40% poverty, high school drop-outs, teen-age pregnancy, high drug/crime rates, etc. Even as the proj-ect’s data-driven positive results are beginning to mount, the ad-ditional resources needed to apply this “best practices” strategy in scores of other needed areas are all but dried up because of the State’s record-setting $5.4 billion educational cut-backs last year. Ironically, we know where we want to go in education. The po-litical-economic-ideological issues re: equity, property tax, “ad-equacy” and “efficiency” have long been debated in the Federal and Texas State courts (is it really over 40 years ago when Wil-lie Velasquez and Arnold Flores passionately explained the dire Edgewood ISD situation followed by the a march to the District Office where students presented their demands?). As a result of these wasted years our communities, especially the property-tax poor ones, are littered with human tragedy, i.e., drop-outs, few academic skills, etc. The body count will be higher and deeper given a recent report which finds that by 2018, 56% of the jobs in Texas will require a college education while 60% of our pre-college school population is lower income-youth with special learning problems.

The Courts or Revolution At one point Demetrio Rodriguez, lead plaintiff in the 1973

Edgewood law suit, said: “They are not going to address the issue unless they are forced to, unless they are pressured. We could do it with armed revolution. But instead we’re doing it through the courts system.”

Demetrio Rodriguez was calling for structural change in the Texas education system. Sister Kirk reminds us that spiritual love is the basis for building a principled progressive education coalition for transforming education institutions in challenging southeastern Turkey. In Texas many are organizing for the dance in Austin that many of us first experienced in the fight for the farm-worker’s minimum hourly law in the late 60’s. Austin has never been the same. San Antonio’s Pre-K backing and victory is a great example of the 2013-2014 education coalition-in-the-making.

The vision of that late pilgrim of the future, Tielhard de Char-din, invites us to the glorious lucha awaiting us in Austin: The day will come when our children are truly first, as demonstrated by our love and caring. The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness the energy of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire. v

The Gülen or Hizmet (Service) movement promotes democracy, human rights, and spirituality while opposing violence and turning religion into a political ideology.

Growing Seeds of Peace: Stories and Images of Service of the Gülen Movement in Southeastern Turkey

Bio: Gil Murillo, Ph.D., is a long-time Eastside community activist in San Antonio and a retired Texas State and Palo Alto College faculty member. He and his wife Jo Ann, RN, were in Turkey this summer as guests of the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue.

Amnesty International #127 meets at various sites during the year. Contact Arthur Dawes at 210- 213-5919 for details.

Anti-War Peace Vigil every Thurs-day (since 9/11/2001) from 4-5pm @ Flores & Commerce Contact Tim Duda at 210.822.4525 or timdu-da@aol.com

Bexar Co. Green Party info@bex-argreens.org or call 210.471.1791.

Celebration Circle meets Sundays, 11am @ JumpStart at Blue Star Arts Complex. Meditation, Weds @ 7:30 pm @ Quaker Meeting House, 7052 Vandiver. 210.533-6767

DIGNITY S.A. mass at 5:30 pm, Sun. @ Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church, 1101 W. Woodlawn. Call 210.735.7191.

Energia Mia meets every 3rd Sun-day, 4 - 5:30pm @ Oblate School of Theology, 285 Oblate Dr. Call 210.849.8121

Fuerza Unida, 710 New Laredo, Hwy. 210.927.2297, www.lafuer-zaunida.org

Habitat for Humanity meets 1st Tues. for volunteer orientation, 6pm, HFHSA Office @ 311 Probandt.

S.A. International Woman’s Day March & Rally planning meetings are underway! Check www.sawom-enwillmarch.org or 210.533.2729

LGBT Youth Group meets at MCC Church, 611 E. Myrtle on Sundays at 10:30am. 210.472.3597

Metropolitan Community Church in San Antonio (MCCSA) 611 East Myrtle, has services & Sunday school @ 10:30am. Call 210.599.9289.

PFLAG, meets 1st Thurs @ 7pm, 1st Unitarian Universalist Church, Gill Rd/Beryl Dr. Call 210.655.2383.

PFLAG Español meets 1st Tues-days @ 2802 W. Salinas, 7pm. Call 210.849.6315

Proyecto Hospitalidad Liturgy each Thursday at 7 pm at 325 Courtland. Call 210.736.3579.

The Rape Crisis Center, 7500 US Hwy 90 W. Hotline @ 210.349-7273. 210.521.7273 or email Dro-minishi@rapecrisis.com

The Religious Society of Friends meets Sundays @ 10 am @ The Friends Meeting House, 7052 N. Vandiver. 210.945.8456.

San Antonio’s Communist Party USA holds open meetings 3-5 pm 2nd Sundays at Bazan Public Library Meeting Room, 2200 W. Com-merce. Contact: juanchostanford@yahoo.com

S.A. Gender Association meets 1st & 3rd Thursdays, 6-9pm @ 611 E. Myrtle, Metropolitan Community Church, downstairs. www.sagender.org

Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Center classes are on Tuesdays at 7pm, & Sun. at 11:30 am. at 1114 So. St. Mary’s. Call 210.222.9303.

The Society of Latino and His-panic Writers SA meets 2nd Mon-days, 7 pm @ Barnes & Noble, San Pedro Crossing.

S.N.A.P. (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Con-tact Barbara at 210.725.8329.

Voice for Animals Contact 210.737.3138 or www.voiceforani-mals.org for meeting times

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Make a tax-deductible donation.

for more info call 210.228.0201

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¡Todos Somos Esperanza!Start your 2013

monthly donations now!Esperanza works to bring awareness and action on issues relevant to our communities. With our vision for social, environmental, economic and gender justice, Esperanza centers the voices and

experiences of the poor & working class, women, queer people and people of color. We hold pláticas and workshops; organize political actions; present

exhibits and performances and document and preserve our cultural histories. We consistently

challenge City Council and the corporate powers of the city on issues of development, low-wage jobs,

gentrification, clean energy and more.

It takes all of us to keep the Esperanza going. When you contribute monthly to the Esperanza you are

making a long-term commitment to the movement for progressive change in San Antonio, allowing Esperanza to sustain and expand our programs.

Monthly donors can give as little as $5 and as much as $500 a month or more.

What would it take for YOU to become a monthly donor? Call or come by the Esperanza to learn how.

¡Esperanza vive! ¡La lucha sigue!

Call 210.228.0201 or email esperanza@esperanzacenter.org for more info

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Notas Y Más Brief news items on upcoming community events. Send info for Notas y Más to: lavoz@esperanzacenter.org

or mail to: 922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212. The deadline is the 8th of each month.December 2012 / January 2013

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San Antonio’s Communist Party USA will hold an open meeting Sunday, Janu-ary 13, 3-5 pm at the Bazan Public Library meeting room, 2200 W. Commerce. Aus-tin’s Alicia Torres of “La Aguila Dorada” video fame will speak.

The deadline for applications to the PhD program in Feminist Studies in the De-partment of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle is on December 15th. Contact Michelle: mhabellp@u.washington.edu. Funding is available.

Submissions for El Mundo Zurdo 3, The International Conference on the Life and Work of Gloria Anzaldúa are due on De-cember 20, 2012. Submit papers to Sonia Saldívar-Hull sonia.saldivarhull@utsa.eduLarissa Mercado-López larissa.mercado@utsa.edu and Antonia Castañeda acastane-da@stmarytx.edu no later than midnight.

The bilingual Women Who Rock Digital Oral History Archive Project, in partner-ship with the University of Washington Libraries Digital Initiatives Program supports Chicana feminist scholarship. To watch a mini-doc about Chicana graduate

students go to http://vimeo.com/24484214. WWR has conducted interviews with a range of artists/organizers from Alice Bag, to Girl in a Coma, Martha González of Quetzal and mujeres in the son jarocho Fandango Sin Fronteras movement. *For a preview of interviews, go to http://vimeo.com/38791040. The archives will become available for the public on March 10, 2013. See: womenwhorockcommunity.org.

The American Grants and Loans Catalog is NOW available.The new and revised2013 edition contains more than 2800 fi-nancial programs, subsidies, scholarships,grants and loans offered by the US federal government. Programs in the Catalog pro-vide a wide range of benefits and servicesfor multiple categories. The CD version is $69.95 and the printed version is $149.95. Call 1.800.610.4543 to order.

2 0 1 3 The 2013 Lozano Long Conference, Re-fashioning Blackness: Contesting Racism in the Afro-Americas on Feb. 20-22, 2013 will be held at UT–Austin. Contact refash-ioningblackness@gmail.com.

The Texas Foco of NACCS is proud to announce a Call for Nominations for the Premio Estrella de Aztlán, to honor indi-viduals who have contributed their life’s work towards the betterment of Chicanas/os in Tejas. Deadline for submitting let-ters of nomination is December 31, 2012. Awardees must be present to receive the Premio Estrella de Aztlán at the NACCS Tejas Foco Regional Conference, “Chi-can@ Studies Ahora!: Commnity-Based Pedagogies, Scholarship, and Activism,” at the University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, February 21-23, 2013. E-mail nomination letters to Antonia Castañeda at acastaneda@stmarytx.edu

The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice will sponsor the Immigration Symposium on Friday, April 5th, 2013 at the San Antonio Plaza Club in the Frost Bank Tower in San Antonio. Articles for the conference are being so-licited. Contact Claudia at claudiavballi@yahoo.com or Francisca at lawscholar@stmarytx.edu.

CantoMundo for Latina/o poets convenes June 27-30, 2013 at UT–Austin with Valerie Martinez and Willie Perdomo as faculty. Ap-ply: cantomundo.org/guidelinesapplication

La Muñequita, a clay figure, walked away from her post as guardian of the family altar as Veronica Castillo’s exhibit of new ceramic works, Renacimiento desde las entrañas de mi ser, came to a close during the week of November 10-17, 2012. Anyone with information regarding La Muñequita please give us a call at Esperanza at 210.228.0201 or call Veronica directly at 210.737.4206. La Muñequita has much sentimental value for Veronica as a family heirloom and we are hoping for her return, soon.

Camp ECo.logiC,

a 3 day program for high school students interested in environmental issues will take place December 27-29 from 8:30am to 5:30pm at mcCarty Ranch along Hwy 281 North (Bulverde).

It offers students an opportunity to learn about global climate change, our food system, and our water supply looking at both global challenges and local concerns. Guest speakers and teachers in the fields of environmental science will present. Cost is $100 and covers all resource material and two freshly prepared meals. Deadline to apply: December 17, 2012. For more, see: campecologic.intuitwebsites.com

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PAIDSan Antonio, TX

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Haven’t opened La Voz in a while? Prefer to read it online? Wrong address? TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL lavoz@esperanzacenter.org CALL: 210.228.0201

LA VOZ de ESPERANZA • December 2012/January 2013 Vol. 25 Issue 10•

@ Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

922 San Pedro

$106-11pm

Live Music with

Eddie “Lalo” Torres y Su Conjunto • Los Hermanos De Leon • Santos Sosa y Sus Estrellas

Special Performance by Salvador “Pavo” García

SaturdayJan 19th 8pm$5 más o menos @

Esperanza

Join us for our monthly concert

series with singer/songwriter Azul

Join us as we kick off the restoration of our

National Register Landmark, Lerma’s Nite Club!

Saturday, Dec 15th2012

photo by Bernard Sanchez

Save the Date for an

Homenaje to Eva Garza

Saturday, Feb 23 @ Esperanza

A s 2012 ends please consider gifting the Esperanza a tax deductible donation to commemorate our 25th anniversary.

Or sign up today and join our growing list of monthly donors! Any amount will be appreciated. To begin the new year

as a monthly donor, call Imelda at 210.228.0201.

Have a safe and happy holiday season! - Esperanza staff