Pilgrimage

Powerful.

 

Best Blog Posts of 2007

Jon Swift has compiled a great listing of posts from 2007. Check them all out here.

My contribution:

Man Eegee
“Thoughts on the Goldwater Institute Analysis“
Man Eegee takes a look at how that Republican outreach to Latinos is going.

What are some memorable posts you’ve encountered over the year at various sites in WebLandia?

 

Feliz Navidad

Bud got a new bed for the holiday

Be safe, everyone! I’ll be having familia-time today
and then will be gearing up for a trip to New York.
Feliz Navidad a todos mis amigos

 

Saturday Sara Blogging

Since Bud is on vacation, Sara wanted to stop by and hang out.

 

The Borders Are Moving Again

One of things that amuses me when border policies get “debated” in the United States is the rock-hard belief among Americans™ that the borders of their country are set in stone. They forget the history – the wars, the influence of money, the betrayals, etc – that have carved the “sea to shining sea” myth.

Borders are fluid, just as cultures and traditions are fluid, and separation is never permanent because we are constantly in a state of flux and migration as a species. Every time warped human nature has tried to deny that reality, the long thread of our nature mocks the attempts of those who choose to bottle in humanity.

The flip side of this is, of course, that conquistadors will sometimes get a dose of their own medicine. Nezua fills us in on a huge development today:

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,” long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

linkage

Looks like karma and Manifest Destiny are going to get a chance to duel.

 

Guymon Daily Herald Reports Newspaper Racks Vandalized by Racists

As a followup to my recent post, Nativist Hatred in Goodwell, I thought I’d share with my readers an article that recently appeared in the Guymon Daily Herald, by staff writer Miranda Gilbert:

GDH newspaper racks vandalized

Photo caption: Here’s an example of the propaganda that can be seen on our own Guymon Daily Herald racks. Photo credit: Heather Avey

A group against illegal immigrants are now protesting – illegally.

Paper signs boasting racial slurs next to God’s name were found glued to newspaper racks this week, including the Guymon Daily Herald’s dispensers at Wal-Mart and Dizzy B’s.

The signs appear to be an advertisement, with the fine print reading “Paid for by the Citizen’s for Public Awareness” but no contract was signed for the $50 a week advertisement block.

“They have not paid us for that spot,” said GDH Circulation Manager Peggy Martinez, who has discovered the signs sporadically through the week. “It is a paid advertising spot, but no one from this group has contacted us.”

Law enforcement was notified of the vandalism and an investigation is under way at the Guymon Police Department.

“They’re worried about immigrants breaking the law, ‘illegals,’ but what they’re doing is illegal,” Martinez said.

The signs say, “Support ‘Operation Wetback’ Thou shall enter a country legally. Thou shall leave a country lawfully — God. Support removal of illegals Call Congress.”

Another sign listed the US code and section which states that harboring, abetting and employing illegal aliens is a crime and listed the phone number for Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE).

Anyone with information may call CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800-766-0146 or 338-1899. Callers can remain anonymous.

Whoever put these signs up were cowards, and yes, criminals. And since I am somewhat of a night owl, if I happen to see anyone trying to do this in the future, I’ll be immediately making a few phone calls.

Cross-posted from The Mahatma X Files

 

50,000 Hits? Cool!

Never thought I’d see the day, and am humbled now that it’s here.
50,000 hits. Wow!

Thanks for all you do!

 

Una Identidad Sin Fronteras: Posadas

Today, December 17th, marks the second day in another example of centuries worth of cultural synergy in action – Las Posadas. It is a cultural tradition that gave birth to many iconic aspects of modern Latin@ culture.

Within a decade of the appearance of La Virgen de Guadalupe in Tenochtitlan, Roman Catholic missionaries were working on supplanting the Aztec celebration of the birth of their sun deity Huitzilopchtli, which occurred during the (European) month of December, with one that was more Christian in nature. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, received permission from Rome to institute a nine day period of prayer leading up to Christmas in the “New World”. Now commonly known as a novena, each day for this particular novena was to signify the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy.

Las Posadas, which means the Inns in English, is the reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s experience when they arrived in Belén.

²³⁴⁵⁶⁷In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. – Luke 2:1-8

Each night of Las Posadas, processions of candle-carrying pilgrims make their way in song to pre-determined destinations where they are symbolically and, sometimes truly, turned away. Usually there are figures of Mary and Joseph carried in honor with the procession, as well as a nacimiento (nativity scene) at the house that the people gather. As the nine days progress, verses of the traditional song are added, telling the story of a very different Jesus than is commonly espoused by the rich and elite. Here is the English version, but I’ve only ever heard it sung in Spanish.

Outside
In the name of Heaven
I beg you for lodging,
for she cannot walk
my beloved wife.

Inside
This is not an inn
so keep going
I cannot open
you may be a rogue.

Outside
Don’t be inhuman;
Have mercy on us.
The God of the heavens
will reward you for it.

Inside
You can go on now
and don’t bother us,
because if I become annoyed
I’ll give you a trashing.

Outside
We are worn out
coming from Nazareth.
I am a carpenter,
Joseph by name.

Inside
I don’t care about your name:
Let me sleep,
because I already told you
we shall not open up.

Outside
I’m asking you for lodging
dear man of the house
Just for one night
for the Queen of Heaven.

Inside
Well, if it’s a queen
who solicits it,
why is it at night
that she travels so alone?

Outside
My wife is Mary
She’s the Queen of Heaven
and she’s going to be the mother
of the Divine Word.

Inside
Are you Joseph?
Your wife is Mary?
Enter, pilgrims;
I did not recognize you.

Outside
May God pay, gentle folks,
your charity,
and thus heaven heap
happiness upon you.

Inside
Blessed is the house
that shelters this day
the pure Virgin,
the beautiful Mary.

Final Celebration
Enter, holy pilgrims,
receive this corner,
for though this dwelling is poor,
I offer it with all my heart.

Oh, graced pilgrim,
oh, most beautiful Mary.
I offer you my soul
so you may have lodging.

Humble pilgrims,
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
I give my soul for them
And my heart as well.

Let us sing with joy,
all bearing in mind
that Jesus, Joseph and Mary
honor us by having come.

linkage

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the celebrations for Posadas are full of iconic symbols of la cultura mexicana. Piñatas originated during the first fiestas in the form of estrellas to signify the Star of David that alerted the wise men and shepherds to the birth of Christ. Traditional foods such as tamales, buñuelos (cross between doughnuts and sopapillas), and champurrado (chocolate atole) are also part of the usual forms of celebration.

Across the United States, Posadas are being celebrated by communities and neighborhoods, with some gleaning the obvious political realities faced by their families.

NOGALES, Ariz. — With border agents, Customs officers and police looking on, a group of Catholics here turned the international border into Bethlehem and sang Christmas songs into a green metal grille separating the United States and Mexico.

The Saturday afternoon “Posada on the Border” was a dramatization of Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging in Bethlehem the night of Jesus’ birth. Re-enactments occurred simultaneously on both sides of the international line, with those on the U.S. side incorporating border politics into their performance.

In a shadow cast by the cement-and-steel border wall, 11-year-old Gerardo Perez, playing Joseph, and 11-year-old Luz Mariela Robles, as Mary, walked the sidewalk along the international border seeking shelter, or posada.

Led by Miriam Lewis, also 11, who played the angel, they knocked on doors of three “inns” named Arizona, California, and New Mexico/Texas.

Each time, they were rejected and the group prayed for migrants who have died in that state while trying to cross into the United States from Mexico on foot.

Catholic officials say the dramatization was intended as a message that we need to be more welcoming of migrants seeking jobs and homes in other countries.

linkage

This is one of my favorite celebrations of the year because it turns the commercial-infected holiday season into one infused with the spirit of charity and family. Traditionally, gifts were not even opened on Christmas day, but rather on Dia de los Reyes Magos in January, but as with any melding of cultures, I’ll be handing out presents to mis hijados and getting some from family on the 25th. There is one aunt that waits, though, and I smile to think of her.

She lives in the house of my great-grandmother who passed when I was a small child. Although I was a little guy at the time, I can still visualize the corner of her living where the nacimiento was layed out with care – the same nacimiento that was given to me when she passed on – the same that I proudly put out every year during these final days of the year.

It is a reminder of where I’ve been and, more importantly, a re-realization of the charity that is expected of me as a follower of a boy who was born in a stable among animals because his family was turned away.

Mas información:

Posadas – Wikipedia
Navidad en Mexico – Mexconnect.com
Posadas on Olvera Street
Holiday Traditions – Mexico (with Champurrado and Arroz con Leche recipes!)

 

Nativist Hatred in Goodwell

As I was fixing to leave Goodwell this afternoon to run some errands in a neighboring town, I noticed the following two racist signs on adjacent dumpsters at College Corner, a local convenience store. Of course I didn’t have my camera handy at the time, so I waited until this evening to get a couple shots of the offending signs. The only identifying information I could find was on one that claimed it was paid for by some entity called “Citizens for Public Awareness.” A quick drive around town suggests that College Corner was the only location where these signs were posted. Given that store’s location – right across the street from the university campus – I’m guessing the perps were shooting for maximum visibility.

Similar signs have been found in Arizona, as witnessed by my friend Manny, and an ASU student who shot the following video:

I recall that Manny was hoping to research the group behind the signs, so perhaps he’ll chime in and offer some insight. From what I’ve been able to gather, this Citizens for Public Awareness organization doesn’t exactly have much presence on the internet. That said, what little info I’ve been able to dredge up suggests that its founder and president, Nancy Schaefer, has been known to make nativist statements in the past. So, assuming this is the same group, the signs are definitely in character.

I’ll likely be making a few phone calls Monday to see who has jurisdiction over dumpsters, and see what it’ll take to get the signs removed.

All that aside, there is something fittingly symbolic of racist garbage like the above signs glued to dumpsters.

For those requiring some context, here’s a little something on nativism.

Cross-posted from The Mahatma X Files.

 

"More Fertilizer for the Cacti"

The desert claims another victim.

The body of a Nicaraguan woman who died while trekking into the United States with a group of illegal immigrants was found on the Tohono O’odham Nation on Wednesday, a Border Patrol spokeswoman said.

The 46-year-old woman had become ill and fell behind the rest of the group, Senior Patrol Agent Dove Haber said.

linkage

One of the trolls at the Tucson Citizen responds: “More fertilizer for the cacti”

A direct result of politicians and policies that aim to dehumanize the flow of people seekin refuge. Luckily, there are groups and movements that do not forget that we are one global family. Please consider giving a donation to them for the holidays – consider it fertilizer to grow the U.S. a new conscience.

• Border Action Network
• Border Angels
• Coalición de Derechos Humanos
• Humane Borders
• No More Deaths
• Samaritans
• many others, feel free to list any you know in the comments