Happy Thanksgiving!

FNS 11.25.08 Pain and Protest on the Day of the Butterflies:

Women’s/ Human Rights News

A 1995 novel by writer Julia Alvarez retold the story of the three Mirabal sisters brutally assassinated by the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960. Decades later, the date of the murders, November 25, was declared the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by the United Nations.

In Mexico, more than 200 women’s and human rights activists kicked off a cross-country caravan in Ciudad Juarez to protest against femicide and ongoing violence in all its forms against women.

Initiating their action at the monument to murdered women situated at the foot of the Santa Fe Bridge on the Mexico-US border, the women’s activists embarked on a week-long journey to the state of Chiapas on Mexico’s southern border. Along the route, caravan participants plan to meet with the widows of the Pasta de Concho miners killed in 2006, as well as survivors of violent government crackdowns in San Salvador Atenco and Oaxaca the same year. A meeting was also scheduled with Chihuahua Governor Jose Reyes Baeza.

For many, beginning the caravan in Ciudad Juarez, the site of more than 600 women’s murders since 1993, held both symbolic and urgent meaning. Dr. Julia Monarrez Fragoso, a researcher with Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Ciudad Juarez, said the rape-murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez has become one element of a violent social storm that is now claiming the lives of large numbers of men. Spawned by organized crime and weak government, massive violence has rendered civil society “scared, terrorized” and in need of truth and justice, said the women’s rights advocate.

“The number (of victims) is alarming and we shouldn’t say it’s just a war between narcos,” Dr. Monarrez said, “because in the final analysis, they are human beings and there should be a State that rules a city and takes care of the safety of its inhabitants. That’s why there are laws.”
On November 25, nearly twenty people, mostly men, were reported murdered in Ciudad Juarez. The incidents included the apparent firing-squad style execution of 7 men whose bodies were found outside a high school, and the slaying of a man and his son in front of hundreds of middle school students. Local press accounts report the murders of more than 1,400 people in Ciudad Juarez so far this year.

Even as activists prepared to launch the Chihuahua-Chiapas caravan, the number of female homicide victims kept mounting in Ciudad Juarez and other parts of the state of Chihuahua. For instance, in a period of less than 24 hours November 20-21, five women were killed in Ciudad Juarez in gangland-style slayings.

Two other victims of violent death were recently discovered outside Chihuahua City and near the north-central city of Cuauhtemoc, respectively. In the first incident, an unidentified woman was found dead on a highway where the bodies of previous femicide victims have been recovered, and in the second case, 14-year-old Gabriela Ivonne Valdiviezo Majalca was found naked with her throat slashed on November 23. Valdiviezo had last been seen alive at a dance party attended by her parents and others.

In Ciudad Juarez, approximately 700 women have been murdered since 1993, the first year large-scale killings of women came to public light. Dozens of other women and young girls remain disappeared. Two adolescents, 14-year-old Iveth Rocio Hernandez Cuellar and 17-year-old Hortensia Areli Rojas Romo, are the latest publically-known cases. Both teenagers were reported missing from the same Ciudad Juarez neighborhood on November 18.
Meanwhile, a new report by a Mexican network of non-governmental activists dedicated to monitoring official responses to violence against women, documented the killings of 1014 women in 13 Mexican states from January 2007 to July 2008. With 206 slain women, Chihuahua was ranked second in the overall number of women slain, behind the much more populous state of Mexico. According to the study by the OCNF network, 8,100 women were murdered in Mexico from the end of 2000 to the mid-summer of 2008.

On the broader issue of gender and domestic violence, the official Chihuahua Women’s Institute reported attending 3,353 people who sought professional help to escape violent situations between the months of January and August of this year. Among the solicitants were 103 men.
In a statement prepared for the November 25 commemoration, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan credited the UN Security Council as well as national governments for according increased recognition to the problem of violence against women since the international human rights group launched a global campaign around the issue in 2003-2004. The Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City femicides were an early part of Amnesty’s campaign.
Still, gender violence in Mexico and many other parts of the globe is “endemic,” Khan contended, with issues of war, economics and social development all mixed into the package.
Wrote Khan:

“Recent research in Afghanistan, Armenia, Canada, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jamaica, Haiti, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Venezuela, and the USA has shown that this violence is not only a human rights violation but also a key factor in obstructing the realization of women’s and girl’s rights to security, adequate housing, health, food, education and participation. Millions of women find themselves locked in cycles of poverty and violence, cycles which fuel and perpetuate one another.”

In a November 25 communique, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned the systematic violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but noted “violence continues being a huge problem suffered by thousands of women in the whole world.” The UN official urged governments to put into practice international resolutions on gender equality that were adopted at the 1995 Beijing Conference and by the 1979 Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Sources: Lapolaka.com, November 25, 2008. El Heraldo de Chihuahua, November 25, 2008. Commondreams.org, November 25, 2008. Article by Irene Khan. Norte, November 20, 22 and 25, 2008. Articles by Nohemi Barraz and editorial staff. La Jornada, November 25, 2008. Articles by Victor Ballinas, Miroslava Breach, Ruben Villalpando, Octavio Velez, and news services. Cimacnoticias.com, November 24, 2008. Article by Lourdes Godinez Leal.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
For a free electronic subscription email fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Guitar class goes on the road

As part of the arts and culture work at SWOP, we took our guitar classes on an educational trip to El Rito, where legendary New Mexican folk musician and teacher, Cipriano Vigil, lives. Cipriano gave us an all day guitar workshop on techniques, styles, and history of New Mexican folk music. He also talked about his role in the social justice and Chicano movement, which is how SWOP and Cipriano connected long ago. We believe that promoting and preserving positive parts of traditions, arts, and culture are essential in building our communities and making social change. Our guitar class will perform at the holiday party at SWOP on December 13th. The classes will be offered next semester as well. Contact Rosina at 247-8832 to sign up.

Bailout who??

"It is our responsibility to ensure that government works to allow the markets to succeed in serving the common good. The common wealth belongs to all of us. Those who benefit most from the common wealth need to pay their fair share! No more tax giveaways!"


- Enrique Cardiel

First Time Voters

Tracy Chacon, who just turned 18, and Salvador Montes, who recently received his citizenship, voted for their first time this past election day. I was able to go with both of them to the polls and share their experience.

Feliz Dia de La Revolucion!

Dia de La Revolucion at Zincantan
November, 2007
Photo by mtkopone on flickr.com

For some history click here.

NMI:Last minute Bush-rule could limit access to birth control

By Gwyneth Doland 11/18/08 2:54 PM

The Bush administration has been trying for months to enact a rule that could severely limit access to birth control, emergency contraception and other reproductive health services. Now, despite fierce protests from doctors, pharmacy groups, women’s rights groups and congressional leaders, the Department of Health and Human Services has exhumed the rule—which some thought dead after months of outcry—and is trying to implement its sweeping restrictions.

The administration has said the rule is necessary to protect workers, but on Tuesday the New York Times reported that three officials from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one of them a Bush appointee, publicly criticized the move, saying it would overturn decades of established civil rights law.

The rest.

My reflection on election '08...

This past election, as we all know, was indeed historic. It brought millions of voters to the polls, including those who have never voted and those who rarely vote. It brought into office a man of color. It also proved that women have a fighting chance to become President as well.

It was also really amazing, how creative the Obama Campaign came to be. Although I’ve only been around for a few elections, I’ve never seen young people rockin’ a presidential candidate as part of their wardrobe. They marketed to young people and came out successful.

Even through all this excitement, I could not feel the thrill that everyone else was feeling. The reason for this is that I could not participate in this election. I know I would have made an educated vote, meaning I would’ve looked up the candidates and their views and then decided whom I most agree with. I know many young people my age and even a few years younger, who would have voted in the same way. Besides, there are no wrong votes; it’s all based on personal opinions and values.

Furthermore, the only way candidates will really listen to the younger population, is if we have the power to decide if they are elected or not. Otherwise it’s like we are ignored and they decide things for us based on what they think is “best” for us. I don’t agree with that. I’d rather they hear from us what is best.
The only solutions I see are to lower the voting age, or put a youth in office, or better yet do both.

NYRA's Top Ten Reasons to Lower the Voting Age
Map of countries that allow youth as young as 16 to vote.

To Young To Vote But Not To Young To Get The Word Out

In these past weeks I was really involved with the Campaign for a Better New Mexico. It has finally come to an end and the election is now over. I was really excited when I found out that I would be helping with CBNM, because I was really excited we would be having a new president, also, I may not be able to vote yet because of my age, but I could be trying to get people out to vote because their voice does matter and it should be heard.

Throughout CBNM, I worked with all kinds of different age groups. I mainly worked with Tracy, who is the other year long intern, Emma, and Monica. I had the best time working with them. I am really happy that I helped get people out to vote, especially the first time voters. It was a new experience for me. I never really cared about the elections or the politicians but now that I understand more about the elections and how this will affect me and the youth of America, I see the importance of voting.

One of the main reasons why I enjoyed doing this is because this is our next president we elected to make our decisions and also, those decisions will impact without fair representation on youth if they are not old enough to vote. I also hope that President Elect Obama will change the other countries look upon America. Other countries see America as a selfish and greedy country. Hopefully President Elect Obama can change our representation in the eyes of others to a more positive one.

More on "Working Across Generations" from nonprofit leadership blog...

http://literature.foundationcenter.org

Leadership Development: What is Your Role?

What are some of the steps you can take to bridge the generational divides at your organization and prepare for leadership transitions? The new book, Working Across Generations, helps you think about your role, whether you are a member of the traditional generation, a baby boomer, Generation Xer, or a millennial:

For example, millennials can concentrate on developing core skills and learning from more experienced staff.

Gen Exers should improving their management skills and focus on strengthening relationships between millennials and baby boomers.

Baby boomers can use their influence to promote emerging leaders and increase their level of authority.

Members of the silent generation may become mentors to Gen Xers and millennals, sharing lessons they have learned over the years.

The book contains many examples and exercises to help you reflect on your values and to determine what steps to take next.

Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership (Jossey-Bass 2008) is written by Frances Kunreuther, director of the Building Movement Project, Helen Kim, a nonprofit consultant, and Robby Rodriguez, executive director of the SouthWest Organizing Project.

Click here to learn more about the book and to read the first chapter

Organizers Rock!

Many organizations have been working through the low energy years to keep a vision of a better world alive. On the KUNM talk show yesterday, I called in and commented about the role of organizers. The show had some strong organizers on, like Roberta and Hakim.

The comment was a response to a listener confused about organizers and pay.

My comment was essentially that - the vast majority of organizers are not paid. Organizers do what they do out of caring about people. We care about ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our communities - and beyond. That caring gives us a responsibility to act. For organizers that action is organizing.

We organize to hold government accountable to its main functions - protecting people, and providing a common wealth in which to thrive.

Protection is not blowing up other countries. Protection means poison-free communities, safe neighborhoods, and making sure things are fair - like paying women equal to men.

The common wealth is what we all create collectively. Making sure we have good schools, infrastructure and support is part of that. How can we all pursue "life, liberty, and happiness" if we do not have health care? Or if we can't afford quality education? Or if people with non-mainstream opinions are blocked out of the political system?

That's why we organize. I'm glad to be among the circle of paid and unpaid community organizers who provide the freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness for all.

From Action to Power

“I have the right to fight for my rights and I won’t let anyone stop me.” ~Sandra Montez

While in New Mexico for The Project, Pushback Network’s week-long, two-state, multi-media electoral project, PBN Communications Coordinator Brigid Flaherty worked in the field helping SWOP Field Organizer Sondra Martinez get out the vote.

While together, Brigid had a chance to talk to Sandra about what prompted her to get involved with the election and her community. Sandra’s husband, Salvador, is a new citizen who was able to cast his first vote this year.

How did you become involved with SWOP?

I moved to this community in 1997. I started working with SWOP because there were no basic services: no hot water, no roads. I saw a meeting going on where SWOP was giving a presentation. I approached SWOP at the meeting and asked if they could help us get basic services.

Before SWOP, I tried going to the county myself. I’d ask them about the public utilities and why the prices were going up and they wouldn’t give a reason. When I met SWOP, I heard they were involved in giving support to people who were losing their land, and that’s how I came involved in SWOP.

What’s your role at SWOP?

They saw that I had a potential for being very active in my community, someone who seeks out answers to the conditions we’re living in. And they asked if I could come in as a part-time organizer. I thought, sure why not. Recently I became a full-time organizer. I’ve been with them for ten years. I like doing the environmental justice outreach.

How did you get involved in activism?

I had just turned 16 and I hung out with people who were involved in land issues and they brought me in. One thing that happened to me as a result of my involvement in the land grant struggle was that my house got burned down; someone had set up a homemade bomb in the house where I was staying. Luckily no one was injured. We were fighting for justice. I feel like it was a way of intimidating us. By making threats to us, they thought we would stop. Up to this minute, I feel I have the right to fight for my rights and I won’t let anyone stop me.

How has the movement changed from then to now?

The change I see is that when I was younger it was mainly older folks who were doing this. Now I see more youth getting involved and getting educated. At school you hear a lot of lies. They don’t give you the facts about how the land got taken from us and now I see a lot of youth are getting involved and it’s through strategic planning. Now we are more into planning, thinking it through, and making it safe. I also see that people of color are having more power. We don’t get intimidated too easy.

What changes have you seen in terms of women’s involvement in the movement, particularly women of color?

There’s been a lot of change. In the 60’s, it was male-leading. Now, you see female leaders that are coming out. And that has changed a lot.

For more information:

1. On the land grant struggle in New Mexico
2. Chicana Women’s Liberation
3. Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez, “A View from New Mexico: Recollections of the movimiento left”

Juarez Crime Reporter Murdered, Attacks against Press Intensify

El Diario de Juarez journalist Armando Rodriguez Carreon was well-known for countless stories about gangland killings in his hometown of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. For years, the 40-year-old police beat reporter tirelessly published pieces about the latest executions in a violence-torn city.
Rodriguez launched his journalistic career as a technician and photographer for the Ciudad Juarez Channel 44 television station before moving into print during the early 1990s.

His newspaper career closely paralleled the violent rise of the Juarez drug cartel and the women’s slayings that became known worldwide as femicides. Popularly known as “El Choco,” Rodriguez was among the first reporters to write about the discoveries of raped and slain women on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez. Continue Reading...

En Vivo desde Cuba!

The Cuba Solidarity and Justice Delegation arrived late Sunday night in Havana and has completed the first of ten days of meetings with our counterparts in Cuba.

The objective of the delegation is to establish relationships with our organizational counterparts in Cuba in the hopes of more in depth and frequent exchanges to share expertise and ideas in various topics. Members of this delegation include representatives from the SouthWest Organizing Project and the Southwest Workers’ Union. Our organizations have prioritized this process because grassroots and social justice movements from the U.S need to reconnect and build bridges of organizing and solidarity.

After a long day of traveling we arrived to the sweet smell of the Caribbean and the live night life of central Havana. The triumph and energy of the social justice driven revolution in 1959 is alive and well in the Cuban people.

Yesterday our guides (Rita and Nafal) took us on a driving tour of Havana and a walking tour of Old Havana. We learned so much about the history of the country and its estranged relationship with the United States. The effects of the irrational and unjust blockade are tremendous. Because the blockade affects the economy of Cuba, its impact reaches many facets of society including housing, transportation and health care among other things. However, in old Havana we saw a world class restoration effort of one of the most historic sites in the Americas which demonstrates the resolve of the Cuban people to continue to advance in the face of such harsh economic conditions.

Tomorrow we will visit the Group for the Integrated Development of the Capitol city, a community transformation project as well as representatives of the foreign ministry.


Old Havana

The Storm hits Albuquerque on Saturday 11/5

Alixa and Naima, the Brooklyn-based internationally-acclaimed performance duo, Climbing PoeTree will be coming to town with their highly anticipated 2-womyn show Hurricane Season: The Hidden Messages In Water, as part of a 50-city national tour that obliterates the boundaries between performance and activism.



Hurricane Season will feature at 1 Kind Studios, 1016 Coal #3 SW. Doors open at 7 p.m.

(Photo credit: Hurricane Katrina by greenmannowar, Alixa and Naima by honestpuck23 on flickr.com)

Click here for more information.

An historic opportunity

From Pushback Network

While in New Mexico for The Project, Pushback Network’s week-long, two-state, multi-media electoral project, PBN Communications Coordinator Brigid Flaherty interviewed SWOP Field Organizer Joaquin Lujan, on what prompted him to get involved with the election and community.

Why are you involved with the GOTV program at SWOP?

Being a community organizer for most of my life, I never thought we could get the intense feedback from the community like we are now. We’ve gotta push these elections in Albuquerque and around the state because we’re getting somewhere. When I was with the Chicano Movement in the late 60’s and 70’s the racism was really intense. We were dealing with issues where people of color were having nothing done for them. We had no programs set up for Chicanos, Native Americans, African Americans. A lot of the organizing we did was on the basic needs. Well here I am now at 56. And where does the energy of a person my age go? I have found that energy through the youth at SWOP. Because of them I said OK, let me try to be apart of these changes.

Can you tell us about yourself?

My family’s been here for two hundred years. Two hundred years ago our family had land and water rights. And then we saw that taken away. So, in the 60’s and 70’s our movement was about getting our land back. At a very minimum, we needed a certain amount of autonomy because we had land, we had a language, and we were a people. Now, a lot of young folks are asking me for that history. And I say how do we keep that history and also move forward? The election has given us the opportunity to get tighter, to work on those issues, and to talk about history.

What have your experiences been like at the doors?

Well, one time I went to a house where the doors were busted, the windows were broken. And I’m saying wow, does anyone live here? Usually you don’t go to a house like that because chances are they are not registered. And someone came to it and I found the person and they already voted. And I’m seeing those types of things. Before people didn’t feel we had someone that represented us. And now that feeling is out there.

To learn more about the issues Joaquin mentioned in the interview, please check out these links:

1. El Grito del Norte
2. History of the Chicano Movement

SWOP

Happy Veterans Day!

NMI: Costs of war: Those who did their duty deserve proper care

By Kate Nelson 11/11/08 5:00 AM

There is something to be said for those who answer their nation’s call to service. And there is something else altogether to be said for a nation’s duty to serve those veterans upon their return.

On that count, state Department of Veterans Services Deputy Secretary Lou Helwig has some good news, some dangerously stretched budgets and some advice for a nation that needs to prepare for health care costs that could, long-term, outstrip the tallies of both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

“We really haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet,” Helwig said of the 26,000 New Mexicans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. “The most apparent issue is the prostheses they’re wearing, but that’s not the main issue.”

The larger issues are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

“The average veteran has had seven concussions,” Helwig said. “And many are much more than a concussion. With these IEDs (improvised explosive devices), you can get a mild concussion being a mile away.”

Read the rest here.

(Picture by buggs on flickr.com)

NMI: Mapping the N.M. vote

Votes cast in the 2008 presidential election in New Mexico were actually down from the 2004 contest in some counties

By Matthew Reichbach 11/10/08 2:36 PM

RIO RANCHO — President-elect Barack Obama won New Mexico easily on Tuesday. Obama received 120,000, or 14.6 percent, more votes than his Republican counterpart, John McCain, in New Mexico. This landed Obama five more electoral votes on his way to a provisional 365-173 victory in the Electoral College. As a result, New Mexico is once again blue in the ubiquitous red-blue election result maps from different news sources.

But New Mexico as a blue state doesn’t tell the whole story.

Not all of New Mexico went equally to Obama or McCain. Some areas were more favorable to the Democratic candidate, some to the Republican. There are 33 counties in New Mexico, and Obama won 18, or 54 percent of them. The counties that went to Obama include the state’s four largest in terms of voter registration — Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Santa Fe and Sandoval. These four counties account for 56.98 percent of the state’s registered voters. And Obama won these counties by an average of 26.32 percent over John McCain. This was an 116,199-vote advantage. Obama ended up winning by 120,197 votes, according to preliminary numbers from the Secretary of State’s office.

As a point of comparison, Obama outperformed John Kerry’s 2004 totals significantly in these four key counties. Kerry won these counties by an average of 12.07 percent. Kerry, in fact, lost Sandoval County by 2.71 percent to George W. Bush. Kerry won these counties by a combined total of 40,413. Kerry lost the state by 5,988 votes.

The rest.

Looking to Bridge the Generational Gap in Post-Election NM

Albuquerque, NM - The election of Barack Obama has inspired youth across New Mexico and across America to get involved in their communities and in politics. Now, community leaders are looking for ways to build on that inspiration to bridge the generational gap.

Robby Rodriguez directs the Southwest Organizing Project in Albuquerque and is one of the authors of a new book on generational change and leadership. He says it's important for leaders from the older and from the younger generations to begin sharing experiences and developing trust.

"That means working together so that then they can say, 'Oh, yeah, remember when we did this and we did that?' And it helps to lay a foundation of trust that allows people to work better together across generations."

Rodriguez believes the financial crisis may keep a number of leaders from the baby boom generation from retiring in the near future, just as many young people from the so-called "millenial generation" are entering the work force.

"The question is, how is it that organizations can draw on the experience and vision of both younger and older generation leaders to help shape the future together."

He notes one recommendation outlined in the book is the importance of understanding the different approaches to balancing work and family life between the generations. He says while it might appear to the older crowd that younger leaders don't put as much time in at the office, there's likely more work being done on the move using a BlackBerry or at home after the kids are in bed.

Rodriguez adds that the election of Obama and the campaign leading up to it has been a clear indication of the generational change taking place in New Mexico and nationwide.

The book is called Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership and is co-authored by Rodriguez, Frances Kunreuther and Helen Kim from the Building Movement Project.

Eric Mack, Public News Service - NM

• Public News Service - NM
• November 2008
• Citizenship/Representative Democracy
• Youth Issues
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Sundance Grand Jury Award Winner, TROUBLE THE WATER, now playing in ABQ at the Guild

History was made this week. Record numbers of voters turned out to create change. Enjoy the moment. Celebrate the victory. And over the weekend, reward yourself by going to see a film that will both inspire and entertain you.

The film is Trouble the Water, and it is now playing at the Guild Cinema.

Information can be found online: http://www.guildcinema.com/notes11-12.html#trouble

Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury prize, Trouble the Water is a powerful reminder of why we fight for change. It is a transformative story about a remarkable young couple who survive Hurricane Katrina, then seize a chance for a new beginning.

In the words of Executive Producer Danny Glover, "Trouble the Water has the capacity to bring us together to re-imagine our goals, our visions and our missions in life."

It is also one of the best reviewed films of the year: Richard Corliss of Time magazine called it "an endlessly moving, artlessly magnificent tribute to people the government didn't think worth saving." And Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it "one of the best American documentaries in recent memory."

NMI: Lawsuit filed by defeated state lawmakers dismissed

NMI 11/7/08

Robbie Rodriguez, executive director of the SouthWest Organizing Project, another defendant, added that ”This lawsuit was an attempt to silence the work we have consistently done for many years to hold elected officials accountable to the public. We are pleased that the judge saw through the frivolous nature of the lawsuit by these three disgruntled legislators and dismissed it out of hand.”

keep reading >>>

Heath Haussaman also has a write up...

Dia de los Muertos

SWOP led the Dia de los Muertos marigold parade this past Sunday in the South Valley. This year SWOP's guitar class collaborated with the music group Dirty Birdies and played songs including We Like Chile, Que Bonito es Entierro, La Cucaracha, and experimental noise music. We also painted one of the musician's car with calaberas and flowers. Buckets were attached to the car to be used as drums.

The battle over immigration produces a new American voter

By: Marjorie Childress 11/01/08

Photo by: Sandra Montes

ALBUQUERQUE — As the 2008 election cycle began to pick up steam earlier in the year, one of the questions on many minds was the impact of the contentious immigration debates of 2005 and 2006 on the outcome.

Would immigration reform be a major issue in 2008? And would the Latino population swing back to the Democrats from the shift they had made in 2004 toward George Bush, when he got 40 percent of the Latino vote nationally, and about 37 percent in New Mexico?

The impact of the immigration debate in this country, with a shift toward stronger enforcement of immigration laws, the construction of a border fence, and mass raids and deportations of immigrants over the past couple of years, can be seen in the personal stories of immigrants such as Pajarito Mesa’s Salvador Montes, who became a citizen and will vote for the first time this year.

Montes first came to the United States in 1972. Originally from the home of Pancho Villa — Parral, Chihuahua — Montes was a trained welder by the time he was 13, working in the mines in Mexico. But it was very difficult to make enough money to support his family, so he came to New Mexico off and on to work until making it permanent in 1985 when he got his green card.

For the rest click here.

Fresh New Faces

Hello everyone! Our names are Tracy Chacon and Cheyenne Saiz. We are new additions to SWOP's famila, as the Year-Long Interns. We are currently working on the Campaign for a Better New Mexico. In the next year, we will be working on the Take Control Campaign where we left off this past summer. So you can get to know us a little better, here is a little about ourselves.

Well to start off, my name is Cheyenne, I'm 15 years old, and I just started a new school called El Camino Real Academy. It's pretty different, because first off, it is a charter school, and secondly, it's actually a big picture school, and we learn through internships. I was born and raised in the South Valley. Take it from me, I have been through a lot. For example, not being treated equally or even just looked down, because I don't live up to the "standards' that society has placed upon communities. I have been targeted by the military, just because I am a youth of color and I want to do something to stop it.

That is why I was so excited when I heard about SWOP and their Take Control Campaign. The first time I got involved with SWOP was through the guitar classes. While I was there, I heard they had an opening for the summer internship. So of course, I applied and got the job. I believe that youth should not be targeted for the color of their skin, nor should the military have open access to your private information without your consent. During the summer, I worked on the Take Control Campaign, by informing youth about the other side of the military and encouraging them to opt-out. My next step was applying to become a yearlong intern, in hopes of getting New Mexico's voice heard through CBNM, also, to continue working on the TCC. I am so glad I got involved with SWOP, because SWOP wants NM's voice to be heard, as I do, and for the youth to be treated as equals.

Hi everyone, my name is Tracy. I recently just started to go to UNM and so far, I love it. It definitely is a new experience for me, but I’m up for the challenge. I have always been a really passionate person, because when I was a kid, things were kind of hard. My mom worked 18 hours a day to take care of my three brothers, and me so I never really saw her. Everyday was a struggle trying to get food on he table. “No matter what anybody says,” my mom always told me, “we have to fight for what we think is right.”

For the next year here at SWOP, my main focus of work will be around Highland High School. I will be working with the students and teachers through workshops around the Take Control Campaign. I am very excited to be a part of the SWOP family. The work I do is very important to me, because everyone has a voice, and they deserve to be heard.

Hopefully, you learned a little bit about us, and if you want to give us some information about you, don’t be afraid to come on by and tell us.

It's about the future

PBN: From Greenville to ABQ...a new southern strategy?

Carol Weahkee discusses SAGE's electoral GOTV effort

The New SWOPista!

Sarai Metzli Bejar Gutierrez is the new addition to the SWOP familia! She was born October 20th, to Joann (Communications Organizer) and Fernando (SWOP Member). She weighed 7lbz 5 oz and was about 20 inches long. She was in the hospital for a week afterwards since she was reaching dangerous levels of jaundice. She is now okay and was released from the hospital on Saturday, the 25th of Oct.

Diego, Maye, and Sarai













Taking a nap.













Sarai taking a bath.

SAGE helps to register 1100 voters in Acoma

From PBN:

“Acoma, New Mexico, has 1,100 registered voters. They are working hard, with SAGE Council, to make sure that their Tribal leadership is heard all the way from the statehouse to the White House!”

Pushback Network Communications Coordinator Brigid Flaherty, after working all day with PBN partners SAGE Council in Acoma, NM, to help get out the vote!

Karlos pipes in: Acoma is said to be the longest continually inhabited pueblo or township in North America...

What's this door-knocking thing about anyway?

No whining, says Tracy

“We think that people with enough knowledge will vote their best interest.”

Freestylin' the vote

Watch that barbed wire!

This time it's different

Some scenes from Mississippi...more from PBN

More GOTV pics

See pics from the Pushback network here.

Voting...It's all good

Get off the road...and vote!

Aurea hits the road with Brigid, from PBN...

Salvador casts his vote

From our friends at PBN...



NMI: Why Salvador became a citizen...

Last day to vote early

PBN: Pictures from SWOP vote-walk prep

Update: You can also follow our partners in the Mississippi Delta at Southern Echo's hot new website!

Follow SWOP on the doors today