Article

December 20, 2019

Bernie Sanders’s immigration plan: a response from the front-lines of struggle

I live in Queens, New York, one of the most diverse areas in the country. I arrived from Mexico as a child in the post 9/11 period of social militarization, carried out under the veil of “national security”. This era has been marked by scapegoating and repression. Between Republican’s nauseatingly racist attacks on our civil rights and the shallow support of establishment Democrats, the voice of undocumented immigrants is ignored in elections if it does not fall in line behind the Democratic Party, or if we go beyond merely focusing our efforts to register our documented community to vote “blue”.

Despite being taxpayers, we are not allowed to vote, run for office or donate to, fund-raise, or directly campaign for candidates in most local elections and in no state or federal elections. For this reason, civil society and immigrant rights organizations are constrained to waging limited legal challenges and legislative reforms that rely on building alliance with Democrats at the cost of independent action and accountability to the larger community. This marginalization in the electoral arena

December 17, 2019

by Blas Reies

The Gilroy and El Paso massacres: Trump and the long history of anti-Mexican racism in the United States

It’s sad to say that I was shocked and angered but not surprised when I heard of the July 28, 2019 mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which was carried out by a white supremacist. I felt more shock, anger, and apprehension a few days later when I heard of yet another mass shooting carried out by another white supremacist, this time in El Paso, Tejas. Again, I wasn’t surprised that something like this could happen in the U.S. today.

Trump started his campaign for president about three years ago by calling Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals.” He has called us “enemies” of the U.S. and promised to build a wall to keep us out of this country. Once in office, he has called Central Americans “animals,” and their nations “shithole countries.” Political pundits like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have followed suit by claiming that immigration from poor countries makes the U.S. “dirty” and are “destroying America.” They have called Mexico a “hostile foreign power,’ implying that Mexicans in the U.S. are subversive agents. They have said that immigration is a threat to the U.S., which will lead to a less safe country and that it will result in the death of “America.”

November 24, 2019

by Puntorojo Editorial Collective

Luchadores para el control de rentas

La Union de inquilinos surge a traves de la necesidad de evitar mayor desplazamiento en comunidades de bajos recursos Personalmente como organizadora comuniaria por mas de 15 anos en City Heigts en 2003 trabaje arduamete organizando a mas 300 padres de familia por una major educacion incluyendo respeto a nuestra lengua maternal; debido a que City Heigths es una comunidad con una diversidad multicultural, esto nos llevo a enfocarnos en la problematica de vivienda como un derecho humano y de salud que estaba altamente conectado a la desercion escolar, donde los estudiantes se sentian inseguros al sentir que cada 6meses o cada ano se tenian que ir a vivir a otro barrio e incluso a otro Estado.

Entonces iniciamos un proyecto al cual llamamos PCS (Proyecto de Casas Saludables) el cual fue patrocinado por California Endowment, esto nos dio la oportunidad de evaluar 300 viviendas en CH de las cuales mas del 80% resultaron con problemas realmente graves de humedad e infestaciones de ratas,cucarachas, chinches y otros graves problemas que iban desde tuberias rotas hasta techos rotos, ante este grave problema

November 22, 2019

by Blas Reies

Lessons from the coup in Bolivia

What is happening in Bolivia is a coup d’état by the racist, right-wing, and fascist forces
of the country. These are forces that are working to facilitate the attempts of the Anglo-
American imperialists to exploit Bolivia’s resources.

This coup is a threat to the peasants, workers, poor, women, and indigenous people of
Bolivia. It is an undisputed fact that the social programs implemented by the government of Evo
Morales have improved the lives of these people. For example, it has greatly decreased the
percentage of people that live in poverty, it has diminished the level of economic inequality, it
introduced the teleférico public transit system in La Paz, it has built new roads, and it has given
economic aid to the most vulnerable sectors of society.

November 19, 2019

by Justin Akers Chacón

De nopal y espinas

“Nopalito de mi corazón, quiero besarte pero mis labios no saben cómo recibir tu amor.” (Little nopal of my heart, I want to kiss you but my lips do not know how to receive your love.)

I open my artist statement with a line of prose written by spoken word artist, Chris “L7” Cuadrado, because his vision sparked intrigue in me. I want to dig deeper about the ways in which a person, especially as one who self-identifies as Xicana, navigates their relationship with others and how they sustain their well-being in a white supremacist capitalist Imperialist hetero-ableist Patriarchy. The imagery or symbol that is of interest to me and in my work is the cactus, as a Mexican cultural symbol, and the human body. This body of work illustrates the human body as a site of oppression and the mind as a site of resistance to systems of patriarchy.

November 19, 2019

by Justin Akers Chacón

Mother nature is on fire

This piece reflects how there is mass forest fires occurring everywhere, especially in the Amazon Forest. I read an article about if more of the forest were to burn, it won’t be able to recover and will continue to die. The woman is center is suppose to be a native woman, who are often the leaders for environmental movements and for reclamation of indigenous land. Her hair is the smoke from the forest of the earth burning.

November 19, 2019

by Justin Akers Chacón

Servin’ em up

Among the bum rush for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination bid, Latinx, Chicanx workers should be reminded that Julián Castro isn’t their friend, nor does he represents their class interests. The Democratic Party along with Republicans are parties of the bosses that hold up workers in a circus and spectacle of blackmail every few years, exchanging one mask for the other. Nowadays the mask has dropped, for the true ugly face of American capitalism is embodied in the Trump administration and that makes Democrats worried. In such a racist climate, workers must unite against the system as a whole cause if they do not, no matter what social movement for change that will exist–every 4 years it stops and dies at the ballot box for the Democrats. ¡Cuidado Compa!

November 17, 2019

by Justin Akers Chacón

Chicago Boys del Siglo 21: ¿Cómo piensa el enemigo del pueblo Chilenx?

Esta semana tuve la oportunidad a último minuto de asistir a una charla sobre las protestas en Chile, en nada más ni nada menos, que la Universidad de Chicago. No sabía exactamente con qué me iba a encontrar, pero lo que descubrí fue algo más siniestro de lo que me había imaginado. Una sala llena de tecnócratas- Chicago Boys del siglo 21- analizando las protestas en Chile. Casi llamaron a seguridad, una señora sentada a mi lado se quejó porque yo ‘gesticulaba’ mucho cuando hablaba, y hasta me acusaron de machista y ‘violentar’ a una abogada Chilena de ojos azules, por interrumpirla cuando hablaba puras mentiras. Pero al fin, me quedé en la sala con el propósito de reportar sobre cómo el enemigo del pueblo Chilenx piensa.

November 17, 2019

by Justin Akers Chacón

“We are at the beginning of the end of neoliberalism in Chile”

We can say that, in effect, the Chilean ruling classes really sold the image of a “Chilean Jaguar” as an indisputable model of economic growth for Latin America. President Sebastián Piñera even spoke of an “oasis of stability” in Latin American. Less than a week after these remarks, we witnessed the beginning of an unprecedented mobilization and then the president declared on television that: “the country is at war”. In reality, behind this showcase of “modern” and neoliberal Chile we find some of the deepest social inequalities in the world and especially in Latin America. The violence of capitalism applied since 1973 with the dictatorship and after 1975 with the “neoliberal turn” brought about by the Chicago Boys, was continued after the 1990s under the various democratic governments.

November 17, 2019

by Blas Reies

Lecciones del golpe de estado en Bolivia

Lo que está ocurriendo en Bolivia es un golpe de estado por las fuerzas racistas, derechistas y fascistas de ese país. Estas son fuerzas que están trabajando para facilitar los intentos de los imperialistas angloamericanos para explotar los recursos del país.

Este golpe de estado es una amenaza para los campesinos, obreros, pobres, las mujeres, y la gente indígena de Bolivia. Es indiscutible que los programas sociales que implementó el gobierno de Evo Morales sí mejoraron la vida de esta gente. Por ejemplo, ha disminuido por mucho el porcentaje de personas que vive en la pobreza, ha disminuido el nivel de desigualdad económica, ha introducido el sistema teleférico de transito público en La Paz, ha construido nuevas carreteras, y les ha dado bonos a los sectores más vulnerables de la sociedad.