WHEN CONSIDERING THE MURDER OF BRISENIA FLORES, it does not help us find any valuable truth or approach any larger societal problem to isolate the event and wall it off from the larger context of anti-immigrant and thus anti-Latino hate and hostility in this nation. We have a larger problem on our hands.
A CLASS ACT, these anti-immigrant Minuteman types. Whether it’s being thieves and deceiving those they raise money from, or kicking down doors and shooting little girls and their families, Minutemen brigades are hard at work defending their diseased sense of reality from the world.
TUESDAY, President Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Sotomayor could be the first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court. Predictably, attacks and slurs from the Right are already flying.
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.
FROM THE “SWINE” FLU’S declining fervor to 2009’s May Day marches for worker rights and immigrant solidarity; from the tragic killing of Luis Ramirez to legislative movement on immigration, these are tumultuous times. But it is precisely such conflict and challenge that provides the best opportunities to make lasting change.
THE MOMENT that the news of the “Swine Flu” hit the wires, it was easy to predict what the anti-immigrant faction would have to say about it. This particular cadre of caustic and crazed voices are so locked into their views that their contributions are unnecessary in a dialogue that preferences truth.
THIS IS TOO OFTEN, AN UNIMAGINATIVE AND CRUEL WORLD. Not that world which creation brings forth on her own (though we know not all things Natural are kind), but that which we fashion with the often half-benumbed hands of US culture.
A ‘STARTLING,’ ‘RARE’, ‘MYSTERIOUS’ flu with components from bird flu and human flu and swine flu is turning up in the South West US and México. No one is sure yet why or how this is happening.
NO GROUP OF PEOPLE IS “ALL BAD,” por supuesto! But some groups feel the need to defend themselves from the charge. And some would never dream of explaining a damn thing to anyone.
WE KNEW THAT THERE WOULD BE a faction of people so wed to their own racist thought patterns they would be incapable of dealing with the fact that a non-white person was president of the US. I guess I thought they’d be a bit more honest about it.
THE DIALOGUE ON IMMIGRATION has, historically, been contentious and cyclical. There are times when hysteria peaks, and rational thought struggles to enter the national dialogue. And then, there are moments the truth breaches the surface and shines brightly. This week is one of those moments.
LABOR GIANTS SEIU AND A.F.L.C.I.O have come to an accord on the fight for immigration reform and today proudly told the press of the unified effort, one which will seek, “finally, a principled public dialogue” and one, according to SEIU, that “does justice to our heritage as a nation of immigrants.” Get the link to the Nezua-notated liveblog of the call in this post.
RIGHT WING EXTREMIST THINKERS are imploding. Bomb Shelter Beck cries hot nuclear tears of Armageddon, Hannity has jettisoned Colmes for the like of guest lunatics like Michelle Bachman, and right wing gun nuts are making a run on weaponry for no reason other than that the party that invented pre-emptive war is out of power. Time for some TeaBagging to relieve the stress.
LAST FRIDAY, 13 people were killed at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York. The event shocked the nation and was the worst mass shooting in the United States since the 2007 massacre at the Virginia Tech college. The immigrant community has been especially affected, and immigration opponents are predictably using the tragedy to voice their neverending supply of vitriol toward the undocumented.
PRESIDENT OBAMA MAKES IT CLEAR that he will, indeed, tackle immigration. Even in the face of the opposition that stands today. Including a path to legalization for “millions” of undocumented workers already part of the system. What’s that sound? Sanity?
House of Nezua
the XOLAGRAFIK theater!
