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Alumni of Camp Casey (the first) will surely remember Annie and Buddy Spell who put their organizing and legal experience to work in the bar ditches of Crawford, Texas, supporting their friend (and our hero) Cindy Sheehan. So we’re sharing a press release that brings news of the Spells’ excellence in civil rights–gm

COVINGTON NAACP BRANCH WINS STATE AWARD

THREE LOCAL MEMBERS ALSO RECEIVE INDIVIDUAL HONORS

BATON ROUGE, LA The Greater Covington Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was recognized in Baton Rouge on Saturday afternoon with the “Outstanding NAACP Unit Award” by the Louisiana NAACP. The award, which acknowledges the local group’s community activism in the ongoing civil rights movement, was accepted on behalf of the membership by Branch President James A. “Gus” Davis. Davis, a decorated Viet Nam veteran and long time community activist who only recently assumed leadership of the unit, also received individual recognition by the state organization and was presented with the “Community Service Award”.

Also receiving individual honors from the state were local attorneys and branch members, Annie and Buddy Spell. Mrs. Spell, the immediate past president, received the “Emmit F. Douglas Memorial Award” in recognition of her valuable contributions to the Louisiana NAACP. She received national attention when she was elected two years ago as only the second white, female branch president in the history of the national organization. Under her leadership, the local group established itself as an activist branch both regionally and nationally for not only civil rights actions, but also within the antiwar movement.

Her husband and law partner was honored with the “M. Joy Clemmons Legal Service Award” for his assistance to the state organization in connection with various direct actions addressing criminal defendants’ right to counsel, Katrina relief, and voters’ rights over the last year.
BACKROUND ARTICLES:

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2005-05-24/news_feat.html

http://www.countercurrents.org/us-spell250706.htm

http://peacefile.org/wordpress/?p=232

CONTACT:

Annie Spell

(985) 264-7752 P.S. Smudge the Peace Cat is “good,” says Buddy.

On Sunday border Wall-ker Jay Johnson-Castro became the border talker in a three-way conversation between activists on the USA side of the border wall, Mexicans on the Mexican side, and a troupe of USA Congresspersons who were escorted to the scene by the Border Patrol.

It was at the end of Johnson-Castro’s border wall-k in protest of the already-built walls in California. Protest wall-kers were chatting through the wall with Mexicans on the other side, when up comes a delegation of seven Congresspersons, including Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of the Rio Grande Valley.
“How is it your government lets the new, modern KKK roam free and harass us?” asked the Mexicans through the wall to the Congresspersons.

Johnson-Castro, who has just completed a caravan from “sea to shining sea” along the length of the USA border with Mexico, pledged to the activists, the Mexicans, and the Congresspersons that we will see the day come when the wall between the USA and Mexico is torn down.

“We feel that we can have the rejoicing that people felt when the Berlin wall came down,” said Johnson-Castro. “We the people have to take action.
I even told the congressman that.”

Johnson-Castro says he was touched by the sight of Mexicans stranded “up against the wall” and separated from friends and family.

“They subject themselves to indignity of our country to be with their families or just to feed their families,” said Johnson-Castro via cell phone from California. “This just has got to stop. But we don’t have a government at this point that will stop it. Not even Democrats will stop it until we raise enough hell.”

“You know, it was Clinton who first had the wall put up in San Diego. Democrats and Republicans share this warped mentality of barriers. And they’re building it as fast as they can.”

We look forward to receiving a full report from Johnson-Castro via email. He had a busy weekend protesting the wall and double-checking the mass grave at Holtville, CA.

Stay tuned….

After an 18-month study (ending Jan. 2006) of five prisons used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, , the Homeland Security Office of Inspector General released the following summary on Dec. 22, 2006:

Regarding health care standards, we identified instances of non-compliance at four of the
five detention facilities, including timely initial and responsive medical care [including improper treament of hunger strikers in seven of eight instances; insufficient monitoring of prisoners on suicide watch in five out of 36 instances.]

Also, we identified environmental health and safety concerns at three of five detention facilities reviewed [including undercooked poultry two weeks after inspectors ordered the problem fixed; and when inspectors asked ICE to provide ladders and safety bars to prevent injuries from prisoners falling from top bunks, ICE replied that it wasn’t required and would be too expensive.]

We identified instances of non-compliance with ICE Detention Standards regarding general conditions
of confinement at the five facilities, including disciplinary policy, classifying detainees, and
housing together detainees classified at different security levels [for some prisoners ICE had no files to show; and generally, on laundry day, prisoners usually sat around in their underwear for two-to-six hours while clothes were washed.]

Two facilities also had inadequate inventory controls over detainee funds and personal property.

We further noted that the ICE Detention Standard on Detainee Grievance Procedures does not provide a process for detainees to report abuse or civil rights violations.

In addition, two detention facilities did not issue handbooks specifically addressing detainee’s rights, responsibilities, and rules; and three facilities did not translate handbooks and orientation material into Spanish and other prevalent languages. See Treatment of Immigration Detainees Housed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facilities [OIG_07-01_Dec06.pdf]

complete schedule from Roberto Calderon

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CHICANA & CHICANO STUDIES

NACCS-Tejas Regional Conference
University of North Texas
March 1-3, 2007

Conference Program

[Revised: January 19, 2007]

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Plenary 1—Bienvenida: A Conversation with Mexican American Legislators
University
Theatre, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Reception,
Golden Eagle, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Friday, March 2, 2007

Registration: Wooten Hall 111, 8:30 am – 9:00 am

Session 1: A Critical Conversation on Gloria Anzaldúa’s
Work
Wooten
Hall 267, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Chair, Norma E. Cantú, University of Texas at San Antonio
Glenda Serna-Schaffer, “On the Other-Side of the Bridge,” University
of Texas at San Antonio
Fabiola Torralba, “The New Mestiza Consciousness: Radical Transformations
for a Movement of Inclusivity,” University of Texas at San Antonio
Venetia June Pedraza, “The Borderland Is a Space, Culture, and Theory:
The Social Construction of History, Gender, Sexuality and Memory,” University
of Texas at San Antonio
T. Jackie Cuevas, “Chicana Feminism in the Post-Borderlands: Or, What
Was Chicana Feminism?” University of Texas at San Antonio

Session 2: Cruzando Sierras Voy de Mojad@! Practice, Politics,
and the Unpacking of Popular Immigration Discourse
Wooten
Hall 262, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Alex E. Chávez, “Huapango Arribeño: Performing
the Mexican Immigrant Experience,” University of Texas at Austin
Santiago Guerra, “Contrabando y Coyotes: Trafficking and the
Contemporary Immigration Debate,” University of Texas at Austin

Session 3: The Chicano Movement in South Texas & Struggles for
Immigrants Rights
Wooten
Hall 211, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Patricia Dunn, “The Tenth Anniversary of the César E. Chávez
March for Justice Exhibit,” Institute of Texan Cultures, University of
Texas at San Antonio
Noe Ramírez, “Research Findings on the Community Organization
Activities of the Chicano Movement in South Texas and Their Implications for
Organizing Immigrant Groups,” University of Texas-Pan American

Session 4: Framing the Immigration Debate: Terms of Engagement
Wooten
Hall 230, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

David J. Molina, “The Impact of US-Mexico Economic Integration on the
Flow of Labor and Capital on Each Country,” University of North Texas
Celina Vásquez, “Framing the Immigration Debate—No Soy ‘Illegal
Alien,’” Texas Woman’s University
Paul Dunbar, “Immigration: An American Dilemma,” University of
North Texas
Amalia Guirao, “Policies of Social Exclusion: A Comparative Analysis
of Spanish and U.S. Marginalization of Immigrants in Society,” University
of Texas at San Antonio

Break: 10:15 am – 10:30 am

Session 5: The Living Conditions of U.S.-Born Children of Mexican
Immigrants in Unmarried Families
Wooten
Hall 262, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Yolanda C. Padilla, University of Texas at Austin
Melissa Radey, Florida State University

Session 6: Broadening the Definition of Chicanismo: Immigrants Beyond
Aztlán
Wooten
Hall 267, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Yazmín Lazcano, Texas State University
Barbara Lundberg, Texas State University
Gina Guzmán, Texas State University
Paul Velásquez, Texas State University

Session 7: The Latina/o Chicana/o Oral History Project: Nuestro
Derecho a la Educación
Wooten
Hall 211, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Chair, Mariela Nuñez-Janes, University of North Texas
Baltazar Flores, University of North Texas
Chase Walding, University of North Texas
Nezahualcoyotl Paniagua, University of North Texas
Erbin Ayala, University of North Texas
Elizabeth Rovira, University of North Texas
Ryan Gilbert, University of North Texas

Session 8: Mexican American Lawyering I: Las Cuatro Esquinas de
Nuestra Cultura
Wooten
Hall 230, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Isidro Aguirre, “Las Cuatro Esquinas de Nuestra Cultura: Gus
García, J.J. Herrera, Carlos Cadena y Maury Maverick Jr.,” Dallas
Independent School District (DISD)

Break: 11:45 am – 12:00 / Walk to Noon Plenary Session

Plenary 2: Keynote Address – Golden Eagle Suite, University
uni*n (Lunch Served)

Michael A. Olivas, “‘Colored Men’ and ‘Hombres Aquí’: Hernández
v. Texas and the Emergence of Mexican American Lawyering,” University
of Houston School of Law

Break: 1:30 pm – 1:45 pm / Return to Wooten Hall

Session 9: What Does It Mean to Become American? Cultural Deposits
and Withdrawals in the Americanization Process of Young Immigrants
Wooten
Hall 262, 1:45 pm – 3:00 pm

Dolores E. Godinez, University of Texas at Austin
María Luisa Illescas-Glasscock, University of Texas at Austin

Session 10: The Texas Bilingual Education Story: Celebrating Our
Legacy (2005)
Wooten
Hall 211, 1:45 pm – 3:00 pm

Rudy Rodríguez, Producer, University of North Texas
Guadalupe San Miguel, Commentator, University of Houston

Session 11: Mythic Journeys, Political Resistance & Modernity
in Literature & Film
Wooten
Hall 267, 1:45 – 3:00 pm

Ignacio López-Calvo, “Literary and Political Resistance in Alfredo
Véa’s Gods Go Begging,” University of North Texas
Cordelia Barrera, “Landscape, Dreams, and Mythic Journeys in the Works
of Rudolfo Anaya,” University of Texas at San Antonio
Javier Rodríguez, “Becoming the Undocumented: Passages into Mexico
in the Two Recent Films The Gatekeeper and The Three Burials of
Melquiades Estrada,” Notre Dame University

Session 12: Minority School Achievement: An Examination of Culture
and Language in San Antonio
Wooten
Hall 230, 1:45 pm – 3:00 pm

Carmen Guzmán-Martínez, University of Texas at San Antonio
Esther Garza, University of Texas at San Antonio
Hsiao-Ping Wu, University of Texas at San Antonio

Break: 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm

Session 13: “Excavating a Hymn”: Recent Bibliographic
Work in Chicana/o Studies
Wooten
Hall 262, 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Larissa Mercado-López, University of Texas at San Antonio
Megan Sibbett, University of Texas at San Antonio
Marco Cervantes, University of Texas at San Antonio

Session 14: Exploring Cultural Citizenship through Theatre
Wooten
Hall 267, 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Lorenzo García, University of North Te
xas
Glor
ia Benavides, University of North Texas
Dante Martínez, University of North Texas

Session 15: Expanding the Picture of Chicano/a Studies: Teaching Writing
with Images of Immigrants
Wooten
Hall 211, 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Chair, Jaime Armin Mejía, Texas State University
Lupita Murillo Tinnen, Collin County Community College District, Plano
Jennifer Johnson, Texas State University
Lisa Roy-Davis, Collin County Community College District, Plano

Session 16: Unheard Voices: A Documentary Film about Immigrant
Rights, Civil Rights, and Youth
Wooten
Hall 230, 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Chair, Mariela Nuñez-Janes, University of North Texas
John Skrobarczyk, University of North Texas
Jorge Ledesma, University of North Texas
Esther Reyes, University of North Texas
Rumana Rahman, University of North Texas

Break: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Meet Authors & Book Signing: Wooten Hall 267, 6:00 pm – 7:00
pm

Tardeada y Baile: University uni*n, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Conjunto
Aztlán & Others TBA

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Registration, Wooten Hall, First Floor Foyer, 8:30 am – 9:00
am

Session 17: Who’s Really Invading Our Space? “Intelligence
Community,” Environmental Racism, Human/Civil Rights Abuses & Anti-Immigrant
Infrastructure in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Wooten
Hall 214, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Kamala Platt, University of Texas-Pan American
Nadeshda I. Garza, University of Texas-Pan American
Pedro Sandoval, University of Texas-Pan American

Session 18: South Texas’ Spatial Politics of Domination and
Resistance
Wooten
Hall 213, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Chair, María Quezada, University of Texas at San Antonio
Lori Rodríguez, University of Texas at San Antonio
Andrea Figueroa, University of Texas at San Antonio
Jennifer Vásquez, “Conroe: Ex-urbanization of a Small Texas Town,” University
of Texas at San Antonio
Francisco Aranda, “Family Photos/Records of Place,” University
of Texas at San Antonio
Jesús Reyes, “’People of Earth’: Texas and Northeastern
Mexico Coahuiltecan,” University of Texas at San Antonio

Session 19: A Border (Reality) Checkpoint
Wooten
Hall 262, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Sara Inés Calderón, Reporter, ¡Ahora Sí!,
Austin, Texas
G. Daniel López, Photographer, The Brownsville Herald, Brownsville,
Texas

Session 20: The Emergence of a Student Social Movement: A Case Study
of Walkouts in Dallas, Texas
Wooten
Hall 267, 9:00 am – 10:15 am

Hortencia Jiménez, University of Texas at Austin
Laura Barbarena, University of Texas at Austin
Michael Young, University of Texas at Austin

Break: 10:15 am – 10:30 am

Session 21: Memoir & Autobiography: Personal, Family & Community
Narratives
Wooten
Hall 230, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Josephine Méndez-Negrete, “Reading from her book, Las Hijas
de Juan,” University of Texas at San Antonio
Francisco R. Aranda, “Family Photos/Records of Place,” University
of Texas at San Antonio

Session 22: Mexican American Lawyering II: Education, Labor & Justice
for Immigrants
Wooten
Hall 262, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Virginia Marie Raymond, “Dangerous Innocence and the Limits of Equal
Protection: Plyler v. Doe at Twenty-Five,” University of Texas
at Austin
Benny Agosto, Jr., “Can Undocumented Workers Sue for Lost Wages?” Abraham,
Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Matthews & Friend, Houston, Texas & Chair
of the Editors Board, Texas Bar Journal

Session 23: Gender, Political Activism & Electoral Politics
in Tejas
Wooten
Hall 267, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Juanita Luna Lawhn, “Emma Tenayuca: Leftist vs. Nationalist,” San
Antonio College
De Ann Rose, “A City Divided: The Murder of Santos Rodríguez in
Dallas, Texas,” University of North Texas
José Angel Gutiérrez, “Ciro Rodríguez’s Political
Lifesaver: Mid-Decade Redistricting in Texas,” University of Texas at
Arlington

Session 24: Art & the Literary Postmodern: Neoindigenism & the
Mexican Diaspora
Wooten
Hall 214, 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Jesús Cantú Medel, “Neoindigenism in Chicano/a Art: A
Site for Praxis in Art Education in Pro-Immigrant Activities,” Houston
Community College, Northline
Micaela Pérez, “Journey of Self Consciousness: Self, Identity,
and Community,” University of Texas at San Antonio
Luis Velarde, “Representations of Displacement, Migration, and Diaspora
in Gómez-Peña,” University of North Texas

Break: 11:45 am – 12:00 Noon

Plenary 3—Despedida: The State of Mexican American Studies in
Texas
Wooten
Hall 222, 12 Noon – 1 pm

TBA

Exhibits

Exhibit 1: Patricia Dunn, “The Tenth Anniversary of
the César E. Chávez March for Justice Exhibit,” Institute
of Texan Cultures, University of Texas at San Antonio

Exhibit 2: Michelle Mears, “Mexican American Holdings
in the University of North Texas Archives,” University Archives, University
of North Texas

Exhibit 3: Noemí Martínez, Río
Grande Valley Zines & Projects

Exhibit 4: University of North Texas Book Store

Note: Exhibits and the registration table will be found in
Wooten Hall 111 on Friday, March 2, 2007. On Saturday, March 3, 2007,
the exhibits and registration table will be located in Wooten Hall’s
first floor foyer.