INADVERTENTLY OR PURPOSEFULLY, intention matters not: On the matter of immigration in this land of immigrants, the “Left” and the “Right” perversely both adopt (to differing degrees) a conservative scarcity-model frame punctuated with the barbs of xenophobia and/or racism.
WHAT USGOV is now doing to México by way of NAFTA and the overwhelming of México’s market by US-subsidized Agribusiness it does directly in other nations through coups and forced legislation. The Empire, in yet another shape, sprawls and burps and bleeds and chews up humans as it moves into its final phases.
THREE THINGS immediately shock the conscious soul upon learning about the murder of Luis Ramirez. The simple manner in which he died is the first of those. His death was a gruesome and violent one, and inarguably racially motivated. And yet, that is not the most horrific part of the killing.
QUESTIONS OF APPROPRIATION and Tokenism are areas one must approach carefully. Human beings are involved and there is nuance, to be sure. Good can be done with methods that are not optimally beneficial to all parties involved. Furthermore, that cost must be weighed by each person. And yet, shapes of Whiteness move behind and around us, often invisible. They must be named.
A COALITION OF VOICES claiming to be acting in the interest of the undocumented are suggesting that they not be counted by the Census. This idea is so wrongheaded that it is a kindness to call it only an honest mistake.
IT’S NOT DIFFICULT TO FIND A MOVIE that portrays the indigenous of this land as heartless brutal savages. Be the people called Apache or Mayan, be the portryal be by John Wayne or Mel Gibson. We enlist words to mask the truth of history. And then, sometimes, we use art to tear that mask away. This is why Art is considered powerful and dangerous by some.
THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DELIGHTS IN TELLING THE HOSTAGE TALE wherein the mighty snipers from the powerful US NAVY took down the wicked scourge of the seas and President Obama is a) Weak or b) Virile. But not even the Green Liberal faction is using the moment to talk about the oppression and poisoning of the Somalis.
LA SANTA MUERTE is threatening Jesus Christ. Those who champion Mister Christ are lashing back. Or perhaps we might say the Mexican Oligarchy is acting like terrorists and destroying symbols that are dear to groups of people who frustrate them. However you word it, the People are under seige on more than one front.
THE WAR ON DRUGS HAS RETURNED even though under increased militarization, drug production actually goes up, as does the body count, while the seizure of drugs decreases. All the facts in hand show, inarguably, that the Drug War model is a failed method of dealing with immigration—even though President Obama seems intent to resurrect it.
IN 1973, Marlon Brando refused his Oscar award for The Godfather. American Indian Sacheen Littlefeather very respectfully declines the award in his place.
PSYOPS is the phrase of the decade. From Fake Iraq news to fake US news and now in the form of secretly produced corridos meant to slip into Mexican society and deter border crossings. La Migra fancy themselves clever with a new jazzy form of deception.
FROM THE ASHES OF THE LA RIOTS arose a lush, 14-acre community garden. The largest of its kind in the United States. Now, bulldozers threaten its future. If everyone told YOU to just give up…would you?
THE GENOCIDAL MOVEMENTS by imperialist colonialist powers against the indigenous all over the world—at least where they might be living in lands with rich resources or access to them—rolls on, and on, and on. A few words from Russell Means, Lakotah Indian.
IT WOULDNT BE WORTH MY TIME to highlight yet one more slanderous, lazy, slimy, fictionalized piece of anti-Mexican propaganda but for the fact that it comes at such an egregious time and under such a prestigious banner…
I CAN’T THINK of a more uplifting message than this: Put your time, energy, and heart into something and the energy will return. It will grow, it will propagate, it will continue. And this lesson can be found in events both small and large.
House of Nezua
the XOLAGRAFIK theater!
