Tag Archives: fundraiser

“Tell’em Who You Are” screening at Camaradas El Barrio

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Preview Screening & Fundraiser

DATE: DECEMBER 10, 7p.m.
LOCATION: Camaradas El Barrio, 2241 1st Ave /115 St./ Manhattan

Please join us in support of the documentary “Tell’em Who You Are.”

We will be screening exclusive clips from the film followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Michelle García.

The Wall is rising along the southern border. Even as the federal government reports construction delays and cost overruns, the Department of Homeland Security condemns hundreds of acres of privately owned land, Tejano owned land, the birthright of gU.S. citizens, whose roots in the region run centuries deep.

You are invited to preview a documentary film, a work in progress that strikes at the Border Wall by rescuing memory of a region and its people whose land and identity has come under siege for over 150 years and the story it tells about being an “American.”

Film Summary:

The U.S.-Mexico border occupies a mythical place in the U.S. psyche, a wasteland of lawlessness, dirty and wild. With that image firmly rooted in our minds,, the U.S. government sold the public on the idea of a multi-billion dollar Border Wall across hundreds of miles of the southern border.

Turns out, there’s some truth to those tales and legends. Blood once soaked the brush country and Tejano and Mexican rebels sacked towns and traded gunfire with Texas Rangers and Army soldiers. My heart pumps with the blood of those rebels, I am their heir and successor and the spirit of their cause summons me home.

Tell’em Who You Are is a return home, the embattled South Texas frontier, to recover memory, the historical memory of the Tejano-owned land that will be lost to the wall. Fighting on the front lines of Border Wall battle are the descendents of those largely known Tejano rebels and revolutionaries, continuing in a struggle for respect that began over a century ago. Our ancestors, the bandits and outlaws of Hollywood stories were actually Tejanos defending their protect land,identity and dignity from colonization. More than a century later, their fight is now ours.

Puerto Rico eyes statehood status

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By Brian DeBose

Washington Times (April 26, 2008)

The status of Puerto Rico — commonwealth, U.S. state or independent — could be settled soon by the island’s populace if Congress will allow it.

Earlier this week, a bill to allow Puerto Rico residents to hold an official vote on whether to become a U.S. state or continue commonwealth status, passed a congressional committee for the first time, and the head of Puerto Rico’s governing party says the time has never been more ripe for the Caribbean island to become the 51st state.

The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, which is pro-statehood, has been trying to get Congress to sanction a vote for more than two years and says it thinks a bill can be passed this year. Previous referendums on the island’s status have been held by its government without U.S. authorization.
“In the past, we’ve never had a federally sanctioned vote, which caused turnout to drop to about 70 percent, and we feel we can reach our average of 83 percent participation if we have Congress’ support,” said Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth D. McClintock, a party member.

Mr. McClintock’s party is at the height of its political power, controlling both Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives and Senate, and 42 of the island’s 78 mayoral posts. Party Chairman Luis Fortuno is the territory’s nonvoting delegate to Congress. In addition to that, their chief rival and leader of the opposing party, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila has been indicted on 19 count of campaign-finance violations and mail fraud, negating his ability to effectively advocate against the bill.

Rep. Jose E. Serrano, New York Democrat, introduced the Puerto Rico Democracy Act in 2006, along with with Mr. Fortuno, but the bill had been languishing in committee until this week. “I am very pleased that the process is finally moving forward to allow Puerto Ricans the ability to decide once and for all whether they would like to be a state or an independent nation,” Mr. Serrano said.

Mr. McClintock wants a congressional floor vote by summer in order for his party to reach its goal of a referendum on the territory’s status before the end of next year. “We are very excited now, because my trip here was to advocate for the bill to come out of committee, and an hour before I arrived Tuesday, it was moved, and we are now calling for Congress to hold a vote on the floor,” he said. Mr. McClintock is also involved in the Democratic presidential race as co-chairman of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s National Hispanic Leadership Council.

He said it should be no surprise that recent polls of Puerto Rico voters show her getting 50 percent to Mr. Obama’s 37 percent in advance of the island’s June 1 Democratic primary, in which 63 delegates are up for grabs. While both Mrs. Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have significant Puerto Rican populations in their states, her policy record is far more robust in terms of issues specific to Puerto Rico.

“In six years, she has either sponsored or worked to get passed a number of bills, including the domestic-manufacturing tax cut, and working to expand the child care tax credit so that any Puerto Rican with a child is eligible,” he said. Currently, Puerto Ricans must have three or more children to receive a child tax credit. He also said Mrs. Clinton has visited the island many times, most notably after Hurricane Georges to make sure the island received Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Mr. Obama’s only recent trip has been a fundraiser, in which he met with Mr. Acevedo Vila, but not with Mr. McClintock.

“Senator Obama has not sponsored or co-sponsored any legislation related to Puerto Rico,” Mr. McClintock said. “I have had two private meetings and one political meeting with her, and none with him.”