Jenni Rivera y los 9 Puntos del Feminismo Chingona

Jenni Rivera y los 9 Puntos del Feminismo Chingona

Por Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa | http://www.antifronteras.com

 

Existe un feminismo de barrio con identidad Chicana-Mexicana que ha surgido de las sombras con mayor fervor con la carrera artística de la cantautora Jenni Rivera. Jenni es heredera de un legado de artistas con rabia femenina basadas en México o los EE.UU. que han logrado interrumpir el narrativo machista del corrido, Tejano, mariachi, banda, norteño, al igual que el arte y el cine, tal como Selena, Lydia Mendoza, Amparo Ochoa, Chavela Vargas, Linda Rondstadt, Paquita la del Barrio, Chayito Valdez, Frida Kahlo, y María Félix, entre otras.

El Feminismo Chingona nace dentro del contexto del machismo en el hogar y comunidad Latino-americana—donde la prioridad y el poder son concedidos por su mayoría a lo masculino. Es un machismo con tendencias fuertes, agresivas y violentas, que se siente superior a lo femenino, intenta no demostrar emociones vulnerables,  y se basa en dominar e imponerse por medio del puño duro y “los huevos hinchados” del hombre más chungón—ósea, la autoridad masculina. Jenni Rivera vivió el machismo de su padre y hermanos, al igual que de parejas abusivas donde ella fue sobrevienta de la violencia doméstica y fue afectada por el asalto sexual.

Igualmente, este Feminismo Chingona nace de la opresión de raza y clase económica. Existe la opresión racial hacia las comunidades Latino-americanas estadounidense, con y sin papeles. Hija de padres migrantes de clase pobre, Jenni fue criada en un hogar y comunidad migrante de clase obrera. Jenni estaba en el vientre cuando su madre y padre cruzaron la frontera para establecerse en los EE.UU. Esto le dio raíz a un feminismo que tumba fronteras y que viene de las intersecciones de las discriminaciones basadas en raza, género, y clase económica.

El Feminismo Chingona se declara fuerte, feroz, afirmativo y hasta agresivo. El feminismo Chingona no se deja, y deja de aguantar; te confronta, te cuestiona, te reta, te contradice y te agita con su orgullo y dignidad femenil humana, amenaza tu superioridad y tus privilegios, tu comodidad y valores machistas que por siglos han sido impuestos por la fuerza y transmitidos en nuestras familias desde la colonización Europea. Ella dice lo que piensa sin pelos en la lengua, te agrede si eres injusto porque su lengua es una bala que te deja con los huevos estrellados. Ella siempre aboga por su existencia femenil. Este feminismo es militante, subversivo; está en la defensiva y la ofensiva, dependiendo en la necesidad de la situación. Y no le da miedo de agredir en auto-defensa. Ella esta armada. Se considera guerrera sufrida pero luchona, y el mundo es su campo de batalla. Se acepta y se ama en todo su esplendor, sin discriminar por el peso o las libras de una. Se adueña de su cuerpo y hace y deshace como quiere y cuando quiere, sin el permiso de su familia o los estándares de la sociedad. Utiliza el tono y carácter del machismo y la ultra-masculinidad, y lo voltea, y lo convierte en un feminismo feroz de ultra-feminidad. Si la dudas y no crees en su capacidad o inteligencia o liderazgo, ella te dejara con la boca abierta porque te comprobara con hechos de tu equivocación. No está en contra del hombre, pero si le harta del machismo y el patriarcado, ósea detesta la desigualdad de género. Así que si no crees en la igualdad, ella es tu enemiga. Es feroz, en el sentido de que no es sumisa, ni agacha la cabeza ante nadie, ni aguanta, y si si aguanta, eso es algo temporal porque pronto, como un volcán, estallara y declara YA BASTA.

Ahora, a lo largo de los acontecimientos de su vida y letra de canciones escritas por Jenni, le da voz a un feminismo de barrio chingona. Los 9 Puntos del Feminismo Chingona de Jenni Rivera son los siguientes:

1. SOY GUERRERA CHINGONA, Y TENGO LOS OVARIOS BIEN GRANDOTES. Se valorizan los ovarios, ósea la fuerza, poder, y dignidad femenil. “Fui una guerrillera fuerte/ que por sus hijos luchó / recuerden muy bien que en vida / su madre no se rajo / con la frente muy en alto / despídanla con honor…/ Ya se fue la hija del pueblo / la mujer de los huevotes.” (Canción: “Cuando Muere una Dama”) “Soy madre soltera / y mi vida entera daría por el / por ese pequeño velo por sus sueños / y sueño con el / soy madre soltera lucho como fiera / soy hombre y mujer / y ojalá que nunca me reproche / padre no tener.” (Canción: “Madre Soltera”) “Sigan poniéndome peros / sigan buscándome el clavo / búsquenle hasta que se encuentren / los ovarios que me cargo…. y grandotes. (Canción: “Ovarios”).
2. SOY UNA DAMA DIVINA. Sin importar mi físico, sea grande o pequeña de cuerpo, yo valgo y soy belleza. Me tengo que amar a mí misma. “Yo no he ganado coronas ni concursos de belleza / sin tener joyas muy finas / soy una dama divina / No soy bombón suculento / ni presumo de buen cuerpo / si te echas unos tequilas / soy una dama divina.” (Canción: “Dama Divina”)
3. SOY REBELDE, ATREVIDA, CHAKALOSA, Y MALANDRINA. Interrumpimos y subvertimos el narrativo machista. No aceptamos que nuestras parejas, familias, y la sociedad imponga poder y control sobre nuestras vidas. Nosotras definimos quienes somos y forjamos nuestro propio camino. “Nos dicen las malandrinas / porque hacemos mucho ruido… No somos como las popis / que se paran mucho el cuello / nos gusta la rancherada / de nada tenemos miedo / y le damos gusto al gusto / aunque otras no estén de acuerdo.” (Canción: “Las Malandrinas”) “No soy perfecta y tampoco soy de lo peor / más me defiendo como gata boca arriba / y échense un grito / las mujeres como yo.” (Canción: “Parrandera, Atrevida y Rebelde”)
4. TENGO ORGULLO DE SER CHICANA/MEXICANA/LATINA. Ante tanto racismo y discriminación, es importante sentirnos seguras y muy conectadas a nuestras raíces culturales. Tengo mucho orgullo de ser Mexicana. “Yo soy Chicana, Californiana / y de Jalisco mis padres son / y mis costumbres son mexicanas.” (Canción: “Chicana Jalisciense”)
5. CONDENO AL RACISMO. La justicia de nuestro pueblo es esencial. Tenemos dignidad humana y no podemos permitir ser discriminados como pueblo humilde, obrero, migrante, Latino. “[La SB 1070- ley anti-migrante] es una injusta, discriminatoria, es odio, no respeta a la humanidad y es racista … Lo que esta ley intenta hacer es no solo separar a familias, pero tiene propósito de discriminar y perseguirnos… ¡Tenemos que parar esto! ¡Viva la Raza! ¡Viva la Justicia!” (Discurso en Phoenix, Arizona en marcha contra la SB 1070, 2010)
6. NO TOLERO LA VIOLENCIA DOMESTICA, NI EL ABUSO SEXUAL. “No es necesario tolerar [la violencia de genero], ni por amor, ni por desamor, ni por capricho, ni porque te falte dinero para pagar la renta, o porque te falte dinero para comprar los pampers….Empiezas a ser feliz cuando te amas ti misma. Aprender a amarte a ti misma más que a él es lo más bonito, porque ese amor es lo que te saca a ti y a tus hijos [de la violencia doméstica y el abuso sexual]. (Discurso en la conferencia de National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2010)
7. MI RABIA FEMENINA ES JUSTIFICADA. La rabia femenina origina del machismo y los comportamientos machistas de los hombres. Y cuando sea agredida de ese machismo, igualmente en mi auto-defensa, serás agredido. “Imbécil / Te voy a dar tu boleto / de segunda y sin regreso / porque quiero que / te largues / Imbécil /eres el peor compañero / tan falso cual traicionero / será por falta de madre / Creciste / como perro callejero / pero de ellos aprendiste solamente / sus aullidos / porque ellos / jamás le muerden la mano / a quien les avienta un taco / y tú eres un mal nacido / por eso / mejor se murió tu madre / para no mirar los desgarres / y lo poco hombre que eres / que pena / que habiendo tantos caminos / vinieras a dar conmigo / pretendiendo mis quereres / Imbécil / tienes tan poca vergüenza / que igual que judas me besas / cada vez que te conviene / basura / pero te falta cerebro / y algo mucho más que eso / para ponerte / a mi altura.” (Canción: “Imbécil”)
8. APOYO A LA COMUNIDAD LGBTQ (Lesbiana, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenero). Es importante apoyar a la comunidad lesbiana, gay, bisexual y transgenero porque también son lastimado/as y oprimidos/as. Tenemos que parar el hostigamiento hacia ellas y ellos. Necesitamos tener igualdad para todas y todos.
9. ¡MUJERES UNAMONOS! Es importante tener solidaridad entre las mujeres y lo femenino. “No hay que pelearnos… Hay que apoyarnos mujeres / y dejar al que nos mienta / hay que dejarlo sufrir / que llore y se arrepienta / y que sepa valorarnos / que no nos crea sus sirvientas” (Canción: “Ajustando Cuentas”) porque ¡las mujeres unidas, jamás serán vencidas!

 Claro, como cualquier otro ser humano o teoría política-social, existen las contradicciones. Jenni promovía mucho el alcohol, glorificaba el poder del narcotráfico con sus narco-corridos donde se auto-nombraba la “jefa de jefas”, fue empresaria y lucro mucho con ello y la industria de los medios de comunicación corporativa, y tenía una que otra canción donde no comunicaba mayor solidaridad con otras mujeres, como las canciones “Contrabando” o “Querida Socia”.

Para concluir, Jenni Rivera logro ser una de las pocas Chicanas en agarrar fama Latinoamericana, subvertir el machismo y la supremacía masculina, retar y deshacer la dicotomía de que una tiene que ser “virgen” o “puta”, rompió la expectativa de la mujer dócil, sumisa Mexicana, demostró poder y determinación sobre su cuerpo y sexualidad, y le dio voz a la pobreza, lucha de género, dolor, alegrías y retos políticos/sociales en los que vivió a lo largo de su vida en carne y hueso.

¡VIVA JENNI RIVERA! y ¡VIVA EL FEMENISMO CHINGONA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fight for Ethnic Studies Beyond Heteropatriarchy and Male Privilege: a Call to Address & End Violence in all its Forms

The Fight for Ethnic Studies Beyond Heteropatriarchy and Male Privilege: a Call to Address & End Violence in all its Forms

By Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa | Tucson, Arizona | http://www.antifronteras.com

10 January 2013

“Gender violence must be understood within larger systems of capitalism, settler colonialism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy… One of the major contradictions in political mobilization is that we often replicate the same hierarchical systems we claim to be dismantling. Gender violence is prevalent within progressive movements as it is in society at large.”

(Andrea Smith. “Introduction” The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities, pp. xiv-xv)

As Mexicano/Chicano born men, we come from a long legacy of beauty, but also one of colonization, gender violence, and resistance. As working-class brown cis-males (non-transgender men), we are oppressed through class and race, and those of us that identify as GBTQ (gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer), are oppressed through sexuality and gender as well. Within white supremacy, capitalism, and colonialism, we have been abused and victimized, and through male privilege, and the system of heteropatriarchy, we are perpetrators and abusers.

Heteropatriarchy (straight male supremacy) is all around us—in our personal/political lives. Whether it is in our homes and neighborhoods, and in movement-building in the struggle to defend Ethnic Studies, or to resist anti-migrant attacks such as SB 1070, (In)Secure Communities, or mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, patriarchy and sexism are widespread.

As men we receive privilege from this system of oppression. The list of examples of privilege include (but are not limited to) our parents granting us more socializing freedom than our sisters and expecting less household chores, using offensive, demeaning or sexist language, employing street harassment and sexualized body language that objectifies others, dominating a meeting, group or effort and cutting off, questioning, or undermining female or LGBTQ leadership, using body language, damaging property, and raising voice to intimidate and assert power and control, battering or sexually assaulting the feminine-identified body—these are all are symptoms of a masculine & heterosexual-based system based on domination and aggression that gives masculinity (in its social, political, and cultural forms) power and privilege over anything not perceived as masculine.

One of the most prevalent manifestations of a heteropatriarchal system is the perpetuity of sexual violence. Historically, European colonizers used sexual violence as a primary tool of genocide. As Andrea Smith documents in Conquest: Sexual Violence & American Indian Genocide, “Colonizers have long tried to crush the spirit of the peoples they colonize and blunt their will to resist colonization. One of the most devastating weapons of conquest has been sexual violence.” To successfully rob indigenous lands and maintain the institution of slavery, gender and sexual violence was a central strategy of the colonizers and slave masters. From this (specifically gendered) systematic violence, the United States nation was born, and its legacy still felt and manifested today in interpersonal and internalized ways among oppressed groups.

Today, when gender violence takes place within activist/organizing communities of color, silence, denial, and organizational and community self-protection are common responses. We may feel that it is a personal matter that isn’t any of our business, or feel pressured to not “harm” the movement by “making it bigger and more public than it needs to be”. However, as Meiver De la Cruz & Carol Gomez write, adopting these stances is “where our movement breaks down and community accountability fails. Our silence and inaction give permission for violence to continue. We must then turn the mirror on ourselves and take a hard look at our own internalized oppressions that act as barriers to responding to domestic and sexual violence, and ask ourselves the tough questions:

· What is our collective responsibility to tackle this private and public conundrum?

· How do we hold ourselves and offenders in our circle accountable for abusive behavior?

· How do we unravel the emotional entanglements and ties that can either cloud or enhance our judgment?

· How do we take a stand?

· [How do we support the growth and transformation of both the survivor and perpetrator of violence?]

· How can communities prioritize domestic and sexual violence as an integral part of the social justice struggle?

· How do we move intimate violence from the private sphere and into the public light without feeling as if we are ‘betraying the cause’ or exposing our communities of color to dangerous public scrutiny and further oppression?” (1)

The truth is that the personal is political and the political is personal. In other words, home and the movement are one and the same. The foundation of our movimiento is both our personal relationships and our lived experiences and traumas. “The trauma we experience in private (whether at home or work) spills over into our community work, and often it either drives us or paralyzes us. [Therefore], it is impossible to respond to sexual violence, domestic violence, sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, and classism as isolated entities.” (1)

It is critical that we connect gender violence to other forms of oppression. We speak out and rally to condemn the cultural and institutional violence of the white supremacy we face from the State of Arizona, but when it comes to addressing and holding ourselves accountable to instances of gender violence in our own families and community, we retreat to denial, avoidance, or explicit enabling. As long as our community is incapable or unwilling to address male privilege, gender violence, and heteropatriarchy, our movement will be one that lacks community accountability, is led by abusers and enablers, and has failed to respect, prioritize, or validate the experiences of women. We cannot fight for Ethnic Studies or Migrant Justice, and at the same time turn a blind eye to the struggle and experiences of our own mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters, comrades, and partners.

“This is not a depoliticized call to focus on personal self-development instead of building movements to dismantle white supremacy, capitalism, and imperialism… [for] our movements to be successful they must prefigure the societies we seek to build. Movements must dispense the idea that we can worry about gender violence ‘after the revolution’, because gender violence is a primary strategy for white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism. Heteropatriarchy is the logic by which all other forms of social hierarchy become naturalized. The same logic underlying the belief that men should dominate women on the basis of biology (a logic that presupposes a gender binary system) underlies the belief that the elites of a society naturally dominate everyone else. Those who are having an interest in dismantling settler colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism must by necessity have a stake in dismantling heteropatriarchy.” (2)

To conclude, I encourage our community to create a safe and open space to consider the following questions:

1. What would a movement against white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, colonialism, and imperialism look like, centered around a gender and LGBTQ consciousness?

2. How do we employ a community strategy to address violence abuse or harm that creates safety, justice, reparations and healing, without relying on police, prisons, criminal justice courts, childhood protective services, or any other state systems?

3. How do we put at the center the experiences of both the individuals and communities involved, and the larger social conditions at work? How do we support both the personal growth of the survivor and perpetrator and at the same time make strides towards community and political transformation?

This is a callout to respect and believe the voices and experiences of survivors of gender violence.

This is a callout to stand in solidarity with women, children, and LGBTQ people by challenging our own male privilege and the system of heteropatriarchy.

This is a callout to make it clear that we do not accept, perpetuate, or enable domestic or sexual violence.

This is a callout to find solutions and processes in community accountability and transformative justice models.

This is a callout to trusting that survivors of gender violence know best, and that others (especially men) not try to guide their process of healing and guide women’s process of liberation, and that men follow the guidance of women in this struggle.

This is a callout to build healthy communities and movements that are safe, empowering, and liberatory for women, children, and LGBTQ people, because if we struggle from below and center our movimiento on those most oppressed, only then do we fight for true liberation for all. Only then will a revolution be truly for everyone.

Just as the Ethnic Studies Movement of Tucson, Arizona demands an end to cultural genocide and violence, this too is a callout, essentially, to address and seek to end violence in all its forms and manifestations. There should be nothing revolutionary or mind-blowing about a revolution that includes and humanizes us all.

Sources:

(1) Meiver De la Cruz & Carol Gomez. “Ending Oppression. Building Solidarity. Creating Community Solutions.” The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities, pp. 27-28.

(2) Andrea Smith. “Introduction” The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities, pp. xv

Beyond the BS1070 Supreme Court Ruling: “Not even the highest court can turn back a determined people!”

Beyond the BS1070 Supreme Court Ruling:

“Not even the highest court can turn back a determined people!”

By Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / 25 June 2012

This can’t be said any other way. Our migrant/Latino community is getting crushed. In fact, we are getting stomped on and beaten like a colorful piñata. The piñata is electoral and the more they hit, the more political points are scored—at our expense.

On the surface, the political class wants to make us think they are at war with each other over immigration. When in reality we have a US Supreme Court ruling over BS1070 that is in complete alignment with Republican and Democrat immigration policies of exclusion, exploitation, and police and ICE collaborations.

In the wake of the US Supreme Court ruling, injustice and oppression are upheld once again. The “papers please” section of BS1070 has been upheld. In effect standing in the tradition of white supremacist historical Supreme Court decisions such as Dred Scott v. Sanford of 1857 in which the court ruled that slaves and their descendants were not protected by the Constitution and were not US citizens.

Also, let’s not forget Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in which the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of «separate but equal», or Korematsu v. United States, (1944) where American citizens of Japanese descent could be taken to internment camps and deprived of basic constitutional rights.

Today’s ruling, which shamelessly requires police officers to ask everyone they stop about their immigration status if they think there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person is undocumented, is a direct descendant of the Dred Scott Decision, Plessy v. Furgeson, and Korematsu v. the United States.

Although three other provisions of BS1070 were struck down, the part that promotes a police state of racial profiling and racial discrimination is to be implemented in full force in Arizona. So what’s the good news? There is none. “It could’ve been worse” or “this is a partial victory” are liberal, conformist cop-outs. Partial justice is no justice at all.

In an election year, everything is a strategic, calculated move. The Obama administration, after four years of record numbers of deportations, deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border, homeland security budgets, border militarization resources, detainees at for-profit detention centers, inSecure Communities and 287g programs being implemented nationwide, mixed in with the willful failure to pass the Dream Act and dissing the mythical Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the Obama administration found itself in the shithole when it came to the coveted Latino electorate.

So what does a good ole political strategy do? You give them some crumbs! And you attempt to divide and pacify the most energized and militant wing of the Immigrant Rights Movement. Enter the DREAMers and the DHS announcement of Deferred Action for those 30 years-old and younger who meet specific requirements.

For the past two years, the Dream component of the movement has organized widespread civil disobedience actions throughout the country targeting whatever is most strategic for their goals; the latest target being Obama campaign headquarters. Beyond just trying to appeal to the Latino electorate, there is also a clear attempt by the political class to break-down community and fragment, co-opt and squash a potential rebellion emerging from the migrant grassroots.

Also, this political and economic class needs to extend a racialized permanent underclass living in the shadows without access to education, health care, housing and formal employment. The US needs a constant source of cheap labor. The US Supreme Court decision on BS1070, therefore, is in alignment not only with white supremacist values, but also capitalist ones that prioritize US economic and corporate interests.

As the history of US Supreme Court decisions around slavery and racial discrimination indicate, we cannot expect justice from the courts or judicial system of America.

We need to focus on strategizing, mobilizing, and organizing from below.

Let’s continue to organize and build our base of affected people and allies. The power lies in how much we mobilize and organize. Our community’s fear can be lessened if community organizing and political consciousness-raising is heightened beyond electoral politics.

Change is possible in real and meaningful ways, depending on whether we decide to act and rise up to the historic occasion.

“Not even the highest court can turn back a determined people!”

32,000 Migrant Political Prisoners in the U.S.A

32,000 Migrant Political Prisoners in the U.S.A

By Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa // www.antifronteras.com

November 11, 2011

Cuba. Nigeria. Mexico. Panama. Guatemala. The Philippines. El Salvador. Honduras. Iran. Cameroon. India. Haiti. Colombia. Brazil. Fiji. Vietnam. Pakistan. Barbados. Ecuador. Ghana. Iraq. Guinea. Afghanistan.

These are some of the many countries of origin of the more than 32,000 migrants from all over the world held prisoners in immigration detention centers on any given day throughout the United States.

Their crime? Being born poor, wanting a better life and/or being political or economic refugees and asylum seekers. In many countries, the U.S. has caused either the political conditions that force people to migrate (such as Afghanistan or Haiti) or the economic policies that impoverish people in that country (such as Mexico or Honduras).

Many have been forced to migrate to the United States to improve their chances at survival and sustainability. Feeling the political threat of a migrant population, largely non-white, what does the U.S. government do?

The so-called ‘nation of immigrants’ spends billions of dollars criminalizing, persecuting, targeting, detaining, arresting and deporting the migrant population so highly regarded as a political threat to the national security of this state. Thus, the detention and deportation system is massive.

The ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention system is made up of detention beds, located in about 350 facilities nationwide. Only a few facilities are operated by the Department of Homeland Security/I.C.E. Most are actually state and county lock-ups and for-profit prisons—like Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group—where migrants are detained under federal contracts.

Militarizing the border and persecuting and detaining migrants seem to be key national security priorities. The Homeland Security 2011 budget includes:

• $4.6 billion to support 20,000 Border Patrol agents and complete the first segment of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) virtual border fence.
• Includes $94 million for 300 new CBP Officers for passenger and cargo screening at ports of entry as well as expansion of pre-screening operations at foreign airports and land ports of entry.
• More than $1.6 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs to expeditiously identify and remove from the United States undocumented people. Included in this total is continued support for the Secure Communities program.
• $137 million for enhancements and expansion of immigration related verification programs (E-Verify) at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

• In fiscal year 2011 over 396,906 people went through immigration custody and were eventually deported.
• Over 32,000 immigration detainees are in custody on any given day
• The ACLU and other national groups and reports have documented systematic cases of physical and sexual abuse and medical negligence, among other inhumane conditions, in detention centers. http://www.acluaz.org/detention-report-2011
• The immigration detention system costs taxpayers $166 per day, per detainee (that’s $60,590/year).

For fiscal year 2012, DHS proposes the following:

• Detention Beds: The FY 2012 Budget increases U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Custody Operations funding by $157.7 million to support 33,400 detention beds and remove more than 200,000 criminal aliens in FY 2012.

These statistics speak to how politically and financially invested the U.S. government is to detain and remove as many “removable aliens” as possible.

One point to make clear is that the 32,000 people incarcerated are not detainees. They are political prisoners.

According to Random House Word Menu, a political prisoner is “a person deemed politically dangerous by state and falsely imprisoned for supposed crimes.”

In the past I have had family members held in detention. My mom, dad and myself got a nice, big welcoming by Border Patrol agents–we were placed in detention. I was a baby. I was practically almost born in a detention custody. And currently I have friends in immigration detention. They are political prisoners because their very existence is considered subversive and a threat to the political and economic/capitalist structures of the U.S. nation state. Migrants, by in large, defy border lines, undermine legal structures, reject law enforcement authority, work outside the formal capitalist economy, rarely depend on state institutions, and are mostly non-traceable by the state. In short, migrants represent a defiance to U.S. power, authority and control.

Now a migrant coming to the U.S. to work to feed her family may or may not recognize her actions as political. But the U.S. views them as such and therefore politically imprisons hundreds of thousands (more like millions if you count the larger U.S. prison population). This is the basis of migrant imprisonment, even though it is masked in law and order rhetoric.

By regarding migrants in detention centers as political prisoners rather than detainees we in effect reject the legitimacy of their imprisonment and by extension the entire system of detention, deportation and incarceration.

Prior to 1890 there were no detention centers anywhere.

A world without detentions and prisons is possible.

Please check out the following links:

ACLU Report «In their Own Words» http://www.acluaz.org/detention-report-2011

«Immigration Detention: The Case for Abolition» http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-guskin/immigration-detention-the_b_121374.html

Detention Watch Network http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/aboutdetention

Critical Resistance http://criticalresistance.org/

NMD Report: «A Culture of Cruelty» http://www.nomoredeaths.org/cultureofcruelty.html

The New Genocide: Immigration and the U.S.-Mexico Border

The New Genocide: Immigration and the U.S.-Mexico Border
By Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa // www.antifronteras.com
2 November 2011

On the eve of Dia de Los Muertos, local Tucson, AZ community members commemorated the lives of 183 people that died attempting to cross the Arizona-Sonora border this year alone.

White-painted crosses carried the names of each person deceased, most times there were no names to read, but rather a «desconocido» or the «desconocida» (unkown) because they were never identified and sometimes because their bodies were so decomposed that their gender identity was not identifiable.

This is the grim reality in the southwestern borderlands.

Two people die every day attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Over 8,000 mothers, fathers, children, tios and tias have perished in their attempt to seek better life opportunities or to reunite with other relatives since 1994.

These are not mere deaths, it is a new form of genocide.

When people hear the word genocide, Germany’s concentration camps or Rwanda’s killing fields may come to mind. But what if we used the word genocide to describe the United States and its treatment of Latinos? Would that be an exaggeration?

We live in a country where politicians and state legislatures (from Arizona to Alabama) and government agencies (from the Department of Homeland Security to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to U.S. Customs and Border Protection) themselves have publicly admitted their vision of lowering and eliminating the numbers of people of Mexican and Latino origin.

Of course, these goals are masked with law and order rhetoric, such as “Operation Endgame’s” end goal of “removing all removable illegal aliens by the year 2012.” Now, they don’t say they want to get rid of Latinos per se, but who are they kidding? They might as well.

As Michelle Alexander argues in «The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness», the racial caste system in America never ended, it was simply re-designed. The same applies with what we know of genocide today–it has transformed.

Today we are seeing that genocide is taking new form and has evolved into a more institutionalized and sophisticated effort. Through U.S. and state policies, directly and indirectly, people of a particular ethnicity are targeted for elimination (both physical and mental).

According to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II, adopted by the UN General Assembly:

“…any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, is genocide, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

In 1996 Gregory Stanton, the president of Genocide Watch, presented a briefing paper called «The 8 Stages of Genocide» to the United States Department of State. In it he suggested that genocide develops in eight stages that are «predictable but not inexorable».

Mind you, there are clear differences between genocide in Rwanda (‘high-intensity’ genocide) to the one taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border (‘low-intensity’ genocide).

Stage (in bold) Characteristics (follows) and how it relates to the border is in italics:

1.
Classification. People are divided into «us and them».

 As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: People are divided between “legal” and “illegal”.

2.
Symbolization. «When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups…»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Skin color, language and physical appearance are symbols that single out Latinos, as legalized in laws in states like Arizona, Georgia and Alabama and the border line itself.

3.
Dehumanization. «One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases.»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Latinos are dehumanized where the media and political figures equating this population to vermin and disease invading the U.S. Dehumanization then leads to criminalization, where being ‘brown’ in America is tied to criminality and is subject to second-class status and punishment.

4.
Organization. «Genocide is always organized… Special army units or militias are often trained and armed…»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: The U.S. has militarized the border with National Guard troops and states like California and Arizona have welcomed right-wing, white supremacist militias.

5.
Polarization. «Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda…»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Political speeches, mainstream media reports and policies and laws targeting migrant communities create a polarizing and hostile environment.

6.
Preparation. «Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity…»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: People are identified and separated by I.C.E. and Border Patrol agents; people aren’t led to physical killing fields, instead they are detained in detention camps and eventually deported.

7.
Extermination. «It is «extermination» to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human.»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Once deported, many migrants attempt to cross back to the U.S. where they face border policies that facilitate death through a strategy called “prevention through deterrence” where urban areas are fortified while desert areas are left wide open for people to cross. Policymakers knew people would die and believed those deaths would deter further migration. Since 1994, over 8,000 ‘deaths’ and murders have taken place at the U.S.-Mexico border.

8.
Denial. «The perpetrators… deny that they committed any crimes…»

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: This reality has been largely ignored by the mainstream media and political figures.

In short, we live in the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis, but few recognize it as such. Since there are no large killing fields or concentration camps (as of yet) where people are being slaughtered, the deaths continue uninterrupted with no national or international outrage. Yet people of a particular ethnicity and national origin are systematically targeted for death—through U.S. and international economic and political policies.

It’s a new form of genocide.

And for those that are not successfully eliminated, there are 5 tactics on how they are dealt with:

1. Attrition through Enforcement. This tactic is intended to make life impossible, through laws, cutting off access to basic needs such as public services (HB 2008), work (E-Verify, employer sanctions) or public safety (SB1070/Secure Communities/287g). The purpose is for migrants/Latinos to go to another state or they self-deport to their ‘place of origin’.

2. Brutality/Criminalization/Incarceration. Hate crimes and law enforcement brutality is on the rise. Murders by police and border patrol agents are common. And we have more than 32,000 political prisoners in immigration detention centers on any given day. The Latino population is becoming the fastest growing population in federal prisons.

3. Underclass Status. The capitalist state benefits from laws and policies of genocide because it dehumanizes and criminalizes workers, making it so that the Latino population is vulnerable to labor abuse and exploitation.

4. Cultural genocide. Laws such as HB 2281, the ban on Ethnic Studies or the ban on bilingual education attempt to cut the cultural and historical roots of those who have not been physically eliminated (either through deportation or death).

5. Maximize Profits. Here the capitalist, profit-motive looms just as large if not larger than the racist realities of these policies. For-profit prison contractors like GEO and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) continue bidding to build and run migrant detention centers at increasing levels. To no surprise, the militarization of the Southwest border is also generating profits for corporations such as Boeing and other companies providing the government technology, infrastructure and fencing of the border.

The current political and economic system is clearly applying full force a systematic plan of removing the un-assimilated Latino community (and other people of color) by any and all means necessary. Through deportations, imprisonment, police brutality, poverty, unemployment and lack of access to health care and education, Latinos are feeling the thorns of a horrifying strategy that intends to either eliminate this community through death, deportation or preserve them here as a permanent exploitable underclass subjected to violations of human, civil and labor rights.

Throughout history, we can see that the border is part of a larger cycle of violence. It is rooted in the ongoing genocide and colonization of indigenous land and peoples, imperialism, and global economic structures that continue to dominate our world.

It is critical to recognize how these physical borders permeate to all aspects of our lives where our intersecting identities are fenced in, criminalized and attacked not only for being people of color, but also for being poor, women, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer identified.

Knowing this comes with the responsibility not only to fight to stop this grim reality, but to also organize towards a world free of borders and genocide.

Take a stance and minimally, please refer to the deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border not as mere deaths, but rather as the symptoms of intentional U.S. policies of genocide.

Anti-immigrant forces from Norway to Arizona

Anti-immigrant forces from Norway to Arizona

By Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

The Norwegian attacks that took place Friday July 22 sent shockwaves throughout the world. Anders Behring Breivik, the gunman, said he killed 76 people to spark a «revolution» against the multiculturalism he believed was staining Europe’s heritage.

This act is part of the larger context of hateful, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim tensions growing in European politics. 

For example, as Greece faces a deep debt crisis, racial tensions have risen against the immigrant population. Immigrants from Afghanistan and other countries are blamed for the national crisis and have been the targets of mounting violence.

In Bulgaria, tensions have led to violence against Muslims. This Spring, supporters of the far-right Ataka Party threw stones at Muslims gathered for prayer.

Other patterns of strong anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies have been seen in France, Germany, Hungary,  the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

In light of the Friday attack, many leaders and political analysts are calling for public debate and civil discourse. They argue that if dialogue were to take place, the tragedy could have been avoided.

Living in anti-immigrant, anti-Latino Arizona, would greater public debate and dialogue help to change Jan Brewer’s xenophobia? Or the Minuteman’s white supremacy? What about Joe Arpaio’s terror in Maricopa county? Of course not.

Dialogue is impossible when there is an imbalance of power. How could we have civil discourse or public debate with racist political and economic forces that exercise their power regularly and systematically to create policies that attack and terrorize our humanity?

There is no short-cut to peace. If the world wants peace there has to be real equality and justice for all first.

The Norwegian gunman did literally what politicians and mainstream media in Europe and the U.S. do on a regular basis. The only difference between Jan Brewer and Anders is that Anders pulled the trigger, literally.

Whether in Norway or Arizona, bullets of terror continue to target immigrant and refugee communities. I wonder when the outrage and shock will take place internationally over our daily deaths.

Cronología de Resistencia Local de Jóvenes y Familias

Cronología de Resistencia Local de Jóvenes y Familias

Por Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

Tucson, AZ—Ante tanto ataque racista en el estado de Arizona, crece un movimiento de resistencia fuerte en Tucson. No es un movimiento electoral; no está basado en los partidos políticos; ni en la idea de tomar el poder. Es un movimiento de base liderado por aquellas y aquellos directamente afectados por los ataques del estado—los jóvenes y familias migrantes. Aquí esta una breve cronología de resistencia local a los ataques anti-migrantes y la HB 2281—ley que intenta eliminar a las clases de Estudios Étnicos donde jóvenes de Tucson aprenden sobre la historia y la cultura Mexicana-Chicana:

26 de Abril—En un levantamiento extraordinario en la junta del distrito escolar de Tucson, estudiantes del programa de Estudios Étnicos / Estudios México Americanos (MAS), se encadenaron a las sillas de los miembros del consejo interrumpiendo la junta donde iban a introducir una polémica resolución que habría sido un paso para terminar con las clases de Estudios Étnicos. «Nadie nos escucha, sobre todo el consejo del distrito escolar», dijo Lisette Cota, recién graduada de Pueblo High School y organizadora del grupo juvenil UNIDOS. «Estábamos hartos. Pudo haber sido drástica [nuestra acción], pero la única manera de ser escuchados fue encadenarnos a sus sillas.»

3 de mayo –Después de que los jóvenes de UNIDOS detuvieron el voto que iba a desacreditar a sus clases, el concilio escolar tenía programado  votar de nuevo en contra del programa de Estudios Étnicos en la junta del distrito escolar del 3 de mayo. Pero esta vez la comunidad, miembros de distintas fes e iglesias, veteranas del movimiento y jóvenes pidieron ser escuchados por los miembros del concilio después de que el tiempo de comentarios de la audiencia terminó.

Siete mujeres, incluyendo la veterana del movimiento Chicano  Lupe Castillo y ex-alumnos de Estudios Étnicos -fueron detenidas por la policía por expresar su amor por el aclamado programa.

Alrededor de 300 manifestantes que no fueron permitidos entrar a la junta bloquearon las entradas de la sede del Distrito Escolar.

La policía comenzó a agredir y atacar a los manifestantes, hiriendo a madres y estudiantes.

Pero aun la comunidad canto pacíficamente «¡Estamos aquí para defender a nuestra Educación!»

Es importante enfatizar los grandes esfuerzos a través de los años que han mantenido una fuerte resistencia ante los ataques contra Estudios Étnicos como el Concilio Asesor de Estudios Mexico-Americanos, SES (Save Ethnic Studies) y los maestros y SJEP (Social Justice Education Project).

12 de Mayo—Grupos locales de derechos humanos y justicia migrante realizaron una manifestación enfocándose en lo que ellos ven como la raíz de las leyes anti-migrante del país: el dinero que están generando las empresas de las prisiones privadas. Rosita López, madre y organizadora del grupo comunitario Corazón de Tucson afirma, “somos una campaña coordinada a nivel nacional para presionar a empresas financieras que retiren su apoyo financiero de la industria carcelaria privada.” La campaña se enfoca en Wells Fargo por sus inversiones en las empresas de cárceles privadas Corrections Corporation of America y Geo Group, Inc.

La manifestación del 12 de mayo consistió en una conferencia de prensa de unos 50 miembros de la comunidad pertenecientes a diversos grupos de la comunidad local, incluyendo Corazón de Tucson, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, No Más Muertes / Rechazamos la Campaña contra el Racismo, Centro de Southside Trabajadores, Estudiantes por la Justicia en Palestina, Voz Judía por la Paz, UNIDOS y otros.

Karla Hernández, madre de dos hijos y organizadora de la campaña, expresó su grave preocupación por las empresas que se benefician de la separación de las familias y el encarcelamiento de miembros de la comunidad. «Hay inocentes y madres y padres trabajadores en estas prisiones», afirmó. «Esto tenemos que parar.»

7 de Junio—Ante los ataques a Estudios Étnicos en las escuelas de Tucson, hay dos grupos que están tomando la educación en sus propias manos, independientemente de lo que diga la legislatura de Arizona. Durante los últimos seis años, el grupo comunitario Tierra y Libertad Organization (TYLO) ha tenido veranes de la escuela de libertad donde utilizan el modelo de educación popular para involucrar y desarrollar liderazgo juvenil. Según Hilda Cortez, 15, es importante este espacio porque “apoya a que los jóvenes como yo tengamos un mejor entendimiento sobre las realidades socio-económicas de nuestros barrios.”

Igualmente, el grupo de UNIDOS inició una escuela de verano donde pase lo que pase con sus clases, tendrán un espacio libre donde seguirán aprendiendo de su historia y en cómo organizar por sus comunidades. El Instituto de Estudios Étnicos correrá hasta el mes de Agosto.

14 de Junio—Los jóvenes de UNIDOS organizan, con el apoyo de maestros y miembros de la comunidad, una vigilia pacifica de toda la noche en frente de las oficinas del Distrito Escolar. “Organizamos esta vigilia para demostrar nuestro apoyo a nuestras clases de Estudios Étnicos y dejarle saber a la gente que aquí estamos, unidos y no nos daremos por vencidos”, dijó Mayra Feliciano, 18, organizadora juvenil de UNIDOS. El joven Santiago Celaya, 16, agrega “yo busco enterarme más sobre mi cultura y mis raíces.”

1ro de Julio—La comunidad de Tucson se levantará de nuevo para estar en solidaridad con el pueblo de Georgia, donde la HB 87, otra ley similar a la SB 1070 está programada para entrar en vigor. Se organizará una protesta, como parte del Día de Acción Nacional, en frente del banco de Wells Fargo para llamar atención a la corrupción de las prisiones privadas.

Los barrios de Tucson luchan por educación equitativa, acceso a su cultura, y por poner fin a las detenciones y deportaciones.

Tucson está presente, indudablemente,  ¡luchando por un pueblo digno y libre!

La Discriminación Contra Gays es Como la del Migrante

La Discriminación Contra Gays es Como la del Migrante
Por Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL
 
Miles de partidarios del matrimonio gay salieron a las calles después de que Nueva York se convirtió en el sexto estado en los EE.UU. en legalizar el matrimonio gay.

Después de varios días de difíciles negociaciones y retrocesos de última hora por dos senadores republicanos, el proyecto fue aprobado, para respirarle vida a un movimiento nacional de derechos gay que se había estancado en un proyecto de ley casi idéntico hace dos años.

Aunque este logro demuestra un paso para adelante en la lucha por la igualdad, debemos seguir luchando por derrumbar la raíz de la homofobia y la discriminación social.

Vivimos en un país que nos discrimina y nos divide basado en nuestra raza, clase económica, género y orientación sexual. Muchas veces nos enfocamos en  luchar por la justicia de nuestra comunidad migrante, pero a veces nos olvidamos que otras comunidades también sufren.

Muchas veces discriminamos a personas de nuestra misma comunidad y nuestra propia familia porque son gay, lesbiana, bisexual, o transgénero. Pero no podemos ser hipócritas exigiendo justicia y reforma migratoria por nuestra comunidad indocumentada, cuando a la misma vez no sabemos valorar y respetar a personas que son gay.

La comunidad gay también vive indocumentada; con temor de revelar su estatus (de orientación sexual), vive en el closet con preocupaciones de ser discriminada y agredida, y también no tienen los mismos derechos ante leyes y pólizas porque la comunidad gay, como la comunidad migrante, es explotada y discriminada.

Es con mayor razón que estos dos grupos oprimidos—migrantes y personas gay—deben unirse y aceptarse como compañeros y compañeras en la misma lucha contra un opresor común. Esta lucha no se trata de solo lograr matrimonio gay o una reforma migratoria; se trata de cambiar este sistema que se beneficia de nuestra desunión. Mientras un grupo sea oprimido, el prójimo nunca será liberado.

Es por eso que luchamos, como el lema  Zapatista nos recuerda, “por un mundo donde muchos mundos quepan”.

R.I.P. CARLOS LAMADRID: BORDER/POLICE STATE TERROR MUST END – Speech

R.I.P. CARLOS LAMADRID: BORDER/POLICE STATE TERROR MUST END – Speech

April 8, 2011

http://www.antifronteras.com

Tucson, AZ – Today I speak this—with the help of Malcolm X’s take on police brutality. I usually write my speeches in Spanish. But this time I want the echo of my rage to be heard and wound the ears of those deaf people sitting inside this federal building behind us.

We want an immediate end to the police brutality and terrorist acts perpetrated against our community. Yes, a complete end to the police brutality and terrorist acts that our people are confronted with every single day, every single week, every single month, every single year across the southwest and beyond.

Carlos Lamadrid, of Douglas, Arizona, was shot not by the KKK, not by the Minutemen, not by the Tea Party. He was shot 3 times through the back by a government-paid Border Patrol agent. Carlos was 19 years old.  Today the government government assassin is free, while our brother is buried, and his family today is in mourning.

Carlos is only the latest case in a long list of murders by border patrol agents. It’s not the exception, it’s the rule:

Francisco Javier Dominguez, shot execution style as he was going to his knees and surrendering when an agent fired. There were two federal trials resulting in hung juries. The jury was all white and today the government assassin is free, while our brother is buried, and his family still in mourning.

Sergio Adrian Hernández, jóven de 15 años asesinado por la patrulla fronteriza with a bullet to the head on Mexican territory in june 2010. Today the government assassin is free, while our brother is buried and his family still in mourning.

Ramses Barrón Torres, a 17-years-old youth was killed January of this year, shot by border patrol in the back of the right arm, with the bullet continuing into his chest cavity, puncturing a lung, and lodging in the left side of his ribcage. The government assassin is free, while our brother is buried and his family still in mourning.

We don’t ever forget. You don’t kill our brothers. You don’t shoot one of us and then grin in our faces. You don’t shoot one of us and then shake our hands and think we forget. You don’t shoot one of us and then ask us to vote for your one party-system. No! we never forget, we will never forget.

Someone will pay… Somewhere somehow someone will pay.

People today got the audacity to say this country is based on the principles of democracy, equality and justice.

Nah! This country is based on nothing but hypocrisy… this country is based on nothing but the right of policemen and politicians to mutilate and shoot down brown people.

This is the brutality we are talking about; this is the crime that we are talking about.

And the mainstream media is right:

We got violent abusers on a rampage.

We got cold-blooded killers on a rampage.

We got criminals on a rampage;

But it ain’t undocumented people, it ain’t our families and communities. And it ain’t our youth.

It’s them: this government, these laws, this police state terror is on the lose. Outright U.S. government-sponsored assassins on the loose. And we gotta stop them.

We won’t get justice in the courts.  People of color can’t get justice in the court system of amerika. The only way u get justice is in the street, the only way u get justice is on the sidewalk, the only way u get justice is when u make justice for urself. We will never get justice in their court system.

We want peace! we want justice! we want respect! we want to carry ourselves with dignity!

But we don’t want to walk around in a police state, giving people the right to think that they can take our life and that’s all that’s gonna happen from it.

So I’m telling u, don’t u ever expect justice from amerika. Don’t u ever expect a just immigration reform from this system. Don’t u ever expect liberation and freedom and democracy from this system.

This country was built on bloodshed, and it continues to give us bloodshed.

This country was built on war and violence, and it continues to give us war and violence.

So today we are here to condemn state violence.

These border policies of profit and control and genocide have intentionally killed over 153 people in Arizona last year alone. This quiet genocide, that goes unnoticed and uninterrupted, will only intensify.

Mientras exista migra, mientras exista ICE, border patrol, mientras existan fronteras, NUNCA habra paz.

We demand an immediate end to the existence of ICE, border patrol, police and borders!

Para concluir: I send the Lamadrid family my deepest condolences. Rest in power Carlos Lamadrid. Tú no has muerto en vano porque nos das la fuerza para seguir luchando por un mundo donde una muerte como la tuya nunca jamás sucederá. May your spirit always be with us as a reminder of why we continue to fight for the complete destruction of this neo-apartheid system.

But more importantly, may ur spirit send us the strength to live in dignity and possess the strength, courage, and undying determination required to reach a beautiful world full of peace, love, justice and equality.

We will never forget you. But rest assured, somewhere somehow, justice will be served.

Nosotros cobraremos justicia, y la justicia será cumplida—de eso nos encargaremos.

Que descanses Carlos, en el gran panteón de héroes y mártires.

Gracias. My deepest apologies for not moving fast enough…

Prisiones Privadas y la Corrupción en Arizona

Prisiones Privadas y la Corrupción en Arizona

Por Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

La SB 1070 cayó como tormenta a la comunidad Latina de Arizona y del país entero el año pasado. Aunque la situación de Arizona ha seguido igual de pésima que lo que se vivía antes de la SB 1070, la demanda por más centros de detención sigue creciendo.

Según Gillian Brigham, el oficial de Asuntos Públicos del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (I.C.E.), en el año fiscal 2009, “I.C.E. detuvo a 383.524 personas, con un promedio de 32.098 personas encarceladas a diario, repartidas en 270 centros de detención de inmigrantes a lo largo de la nación.”

En Arizona, la demanda por más cárceles aumentó con la aprobación de la SB 1070, un proyecto de ley que parece más bien ser un modelo de negocio donde la industria de las prisiones privadas se enriquece al encarcelar a la comunidad obrera Latina.

En Octubre del 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) sacó un reportaje desenmascarando que la SB 1070 fué un complot siniestro entre legisladores de Arizona—incluyendo el desdichado Russell Pearce—y una empresa llamada CCA (Corrections Corporation of America).

Corrections Corporation of America es una empresa privada que se especializa en el diseño, construcción, ampliación y administración de las prisiones, cárceles y centros de detención. El gobierno contrata a CCA para manejar sus prisiones—entre más contratos con el gobierno tenga y entre más leyes criminalizando a la comunidad migrante existan, cientos de millones de dólares se irán a los bolsillos de CCA.

Es por eso que nació la SB 1070: una ganancia política y económica.

Russell Pearce no introdujo la SB 1070 primero a la legislatura de Arizona, si no primero la compartió y recibió aprobación de un grupo secreto llamado ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).

ALEC es una organización de membresía donde legisladores estatales y las empresas más poderosas se unen para desarrollar proyectos de ley para el beneficio de los ricos y sus intereses empresariales. Empresas como ExxonMobil, Wal-Mart, Geo Group y la Asociación Nacional del Rifle pertenecen como miembros. Otro miembro es CCA – la mayor empresa privada de prisiones en el país.

Por dos años, Pearce y CCA han estado viniendo a estas reuniones. Es aquí donde la industria de las cárceles tuvo una participación critica en la creación de la SB 1070, póliza que les dará buen negocio.

Pero el chisme se pone hasta más interesante; la corrupción y el complot de Arizona se extienden:

• En cuanto Pearce metió la SB 1070 en la legislatura en enero del 2010, 36 co-patrocinadores se unieron a la propuesta, la mayoría también siendo miembros del grupo ALEC.
• Esa misma semana que se introdujo la propuesta, CCA contrató a personal para presionar a legisladores en el capitolio de Arizona para asegurar la aprobación de la SB 1070.
• Treinta de los 36 políticos co-patrocinadores recibieron donaciones de los grupos de presión y de las mismas empresas de cárceles privadas, como CCA, Management and Training Corporation y Geo Group en los meses después de la introducción de la propuesta.

• En Abril, la gobernadora Jan Brewer firmó la propuesta en ley, teniendo ella misma sus propias conexiones a las empresas de prisiones privadas. Los registros estatales de cabildeo muestran que dos de sus principales asesores – su portavoz Paul Senseman y su director de campaña Chuck Coughlin – son ex cabilderos (personal dedicado a presionar a políticos para crear o pasar ciertos proyectos de ley) de la empresa de prisiones privadas CCA.

Hasta los niveles más altos del gobierno Arizonense se encuentra la corrupción y el conflicto de intereses.

Es muy claro que la democracia en el estado de Arizona ha sido vendida a las empresas de prisiones privadas. CCA ha comprado a los legisladores, la policía y los agentes de la patrulla fronteriza. CCA ha comprado a leyes injustas racistas como la SB 1070 y los ataques a la enmienda 14 para someter a la población Latina/migrante y siempre contar con una población vulnerable a ser explotada y encarcelada. CCA ha comprado a la gobernadora y al gabinete convirtiendo a Arizona en su gran banco donde saquean sus ganancias.

El estado de Arizona ha sido vendido a CCA y otras grandes empresas.

Mientras esta sea la realidad, la justicia, igualdad y democracia estarán igualmente presas.

Como una miembra del grupo comunitario Corazón de Tucson dice, “Ahora es el tiempo de unirnos y organizar a nuestra comunidad para romper las garras de la corrupción. Otro Arizona no solamente es posible, es urgentemente necesario.”

Para más información:

• NPR. “Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law”.  Por Laura Sullivan
• InTheseTimes.com. “Corporate Con Game: How the private prison industry helped shape Arizona’s anti-immigrant law”. Por Beau Hodai