Category: Uncategorized

  • Email from Riad Hamad: This is Appalling (12/21/06)

    Received Dec. 21, 2006, 9:48 p.m. Here Riad Hamad responds to news that Palestinian families are being held at T. Don Hutto prison in Taylor, Texas. In at least one case, a younger child, who was born American, was placed in foster care.–gm

    Subject: This is appalling

    Marhaba ( hello in Arabic) I just called . . . the attorney in Dallas and will try; to call him in the morning . . . do you know where the children are in foster homes.

    I am very willing, capable and determined to help if you can give me more information about these families and how we can help . . . Looking forward to hearing from you and THANKS for your work for peace and justice in these dark days of humanity led by the evil empire and its emperor George W. Bush.

    Salam/ Peace with justice
    Riad Hamad

  • March 4 March 4 Steps off Monday to Defeat Border Wall

    Hola y’all…

    The March 4 March 4 launches this Monday morning, Feb. 25th, at the University of Texas in Brownsville.

    The walk was designed to impact the debates and the March 4 Texas primaries. Before the launch of this 7-day 63-mile walk, our first objective was accomplished. The Thursday night debates were compelled to address the issues that are at the heart of the Texas borderlands. Border walls, UTB, eminent domain of private property and municipal property, threat to our environment, economy, our amistad, the neglect of the poorest region of the US, including our hundreds of thousands of Veterans, ICE raids, militarization of our borders and the mistreatment of immigrants and Hispanics in general.

    The second mission of the March 4 March 4 is to impact the Texas primaries. We’re already well under way on that. No one will make it to the White House without championing our part of the United States.

    Attached are the March 4 March 4 press release and schedule [under “Read More”]. Many elected officials as well as local citizens and organizations have offered to walk a mile, and hour, a part of a day, a day…and some have offered to support all seven days. There will be a security vehicle and some will caravan behind the walkers in their vehicles. Also attached is the new No Wall Between Amigos sign that we will be making available along the border wall-k.

    Along the route, the border wall-kers will be hosted by the residents of El Calaboz, the ARISE organization in Las Milpas, the residents of Granjeno and Father Roy Snipes of the La Lomita Mission in Mission. On several of the evenings, we will be screening the new documentary “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez”, by Kieran Fitzgerald, about the murder of 17-y-o Esequiel by US Marines on his family ranch in Redford, TX.

    Dinah Bear, a recently retired environmental attorney who served as General Counsel for the Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President, will be joining March 4 March 4 on February 29th for the final three days of the border wall-k.

    Why not schedule to walk for a mile with fellow citizens opposed to the wall. There are 63 miles to choose from.

    Anyone interested in more information can call Sarah Boone of Border Ambassadors at (830)768-1100.

    Join us in this history making event to stop the border wall…

    In solidarity…and amistad…

    Jay

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Connecting the dots
    …Making a difference

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Border Ambassadors
    Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.
    jay@villadelrio.com

    MARCH 4 MARCH 4 SCHEDULE

    Mon., 2/25: UT/Brownsville 9:30 a.m. Press Conference, Start 10:00 a.m. End at FM 1421

    Tues, 2/26: Start at FM 1421, 10:00 a.m. End at FM 1479. Return to St. Ignatius Church for Dinner/Screening.

    Wed., 2/27: Start at FM 1479, 10:00 a.m. End at FM 491

    Thurs,2/28: Start at FM 491, 10:00 a.m. End at FM 493

    Fri, 2/29: Start at FM 493, 10:00 a.m. End at Las Milpas

    Sat, 3/1: Start at Las Milpas, 10:00 a.m. End at Granjeno

    Sun, 3/2: Start at Grajeno, 1:00 p.m. End at La Lomita, 3:00 p.m. for Reception/Cookout


    PRESS RELEASE

    “March 4 March 4” Gaining Momentum

    Del Rio, TX

    February 19, 2008

    The “March 4 March 4” walk from Brownsville to La Lomita Mission in protest of ‘the wall’ is attracting national attention as political pundits emphasize the importance of the Texas vote in the March 4 Primary. Each new story about the Department of Homeland Security threatening the rights of property owners is focusing additional attention on the “Valley” vote.

    Among the groups pledging to join the walk are ARISE, LUPE and No Border Wall as well as numerous faith-based groups and individuals. The March 4 March 4 walk will begin at the UT Brownsville campus at 10 a.m. on Monday February 25. “We welcome walkers for a block, a mile, an hour, a day, whatever is in one’s heart,” says organizer
    Jay Johnson-Castro. “At previous events we’ve pushed wheel chairs, had cyclists and motorists pull in behind the escort vehicle,” he adds.

    That day participants will walk through Brownsville to Highway 281 and follow it (Old Military Road) to FM 1421. On Tuesday, February 26, the walk will begin at the intersection of FM 1421 and 281, proceeding up 281 through the El Calaboz community, to FM 1479.

    Walkers will then return to El Calaboz, home of Dr. Eloisa Tamez, who is being sued by the federal government to gain access to her land. St. Ignatius Catholic Church will host the walkers for dinner and screening of the documentary movie, “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez.” The 17-year-old was shot in the back by Marines in Redford, TX in 1997, while herding goats on family land. In the film, narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, three of the Guardsmen relate the story of the tragedy and how it was affected their lives.

    The public is invited to view the movie at the church with the El Calaboz residents and the walkers. Anyone who would like to see this beautifully crafted documentary is invited to meet with the walkers for the screening on February 26.

    *****************

    Contact: Sarah Boone at 830-768-1100

  • Editor's Choice: Matthew Webster's Spring Break Border Walk

    The Spring Break Border Walk from Roma to Brownsville has been wonderfully chronicled by Matthew Webster’s Walk Diary at Smart Borders

    “It was hotter than a human heart, the organ this entire walk has targeted. Believing that people are innately good, we feel that they simply must not know the wonderful people and beautiful places which a wall would destroy and immigration legislation could enhance.”

  • Happy Valentine's Day from Ramsey and Irma

    Email from Irma Muniz:

    February 14, 2008

    Dear Friends:

    My loving husband, Ramsey, calls and is not concerned about discussing his freedom. His mind is focused on expressions of love, as Valentine’s Day is upon us. I, his wife, cannot find the Valentine’s Day card that he sent me. I have no time for love, as I have an insatiable need to free my husband.

    In the midst of sorrow, love refuses to die . . .

    Valentine’s Day Sentiments
    From my Loving Husband, Ramsey

    There is light and love in your soul,
    which makes the beauty of your heart a part of me
    and those close to you.

    The same beauty is the enlightenment
    that to this day makes me the Mexicano that I am.

    My hunger in these dungeons is not for food,
    but for the love that you have transformed into my soul.

    Humanity celebrates this day once a year.
    We, as lovers, celebrate this most profound love
    every day of our lives. It is so powerful that
    history will record this one day.

    “There is no greater glory than to die for love.”

    “Weeping may linger for the night, but
    in the morning there are shouts of joy.”

    “You have a soul in you of rare Mexicana quality,
    an artist’s nature; never let it starve for lack of
    what it desires.”

    “Between life and death, between the beauty and the
    horror of the world, the quest for freedom is what makes us —
    no matter what the circumstances — free.”

    “Celebrate this day of hearts with all the joy and
    passion that is within you.”

    Amor,
    Ramsey – Tezcatlipoca

    “Love is a power that has no limit. It is the power of imagination.”

    www.freeramsey.com